The Road to Las Vegas: Review-Journal’s Week 9 CFP projections

Editor’s note: Each Sunday the Las Vegas Review-Journal will select the four teams most likely to be in the CFP semifinals ahead of the title game in Las Vegas on Jan. 25.

Saturday was a day that college football fans had circled on their calendars since the schedule was released as a day to make sure no plans were made that would get in the way of a full day on the couch watching marquee matchups with playoff implications.

It turns out it would have been a pretty good day to catch up on some errands, at least in the middle of the afternoon.

Georgia blew out fellow Top 10 SEC rival Mississippi. Kentucky looked like a fraudulent contender against Tennessee. LSU brought out all of its stars of the past to escort Lane Kiffin into the stadium but forget to tell its current players to show up against Alabama.

Ohio State once again proved it is a a shell of itself without Julian Sayin, but Oregon couldn’t take full advantage because the Ducks have long since played their way out of the picture.

At least Texas had to rally at Missouri before winning by two touchdowns.

The only games that remotely salvaged the viewing experience were the first major showdown of the day as Utah remained undefeated against arch-rival BYU in a game in which both teams pulled out all the stops and the last game as Miami tried to mount a furious comeback before falling.

Here are this week’s Review-Journal CFP Las Vegas Top Four projections:

1. Georgia (8-1)

It’s not supposed to look like that when you go on the road to play a Top 10 team in the SEC. Gunner Stockton barely had to throw the ball, but was effective when he did let it go. The Bulldogs still have a couple potential stumbling blocks before a potential championship game, with a home game against Missouri and a road game at South Carolina, but Georgia looks like the best team in the country.

2. Utah (9-0)

The Utes’ defense came up big with four interceptions of Bear Bachmeier, the last of which came in the final seconds to close out the win. Utah will be favored to close the regular season undefeated and there could be an utterly chaotic tiebreaker scenario to determine its Big 12 opponent if Texas Tech suffers a loss along the way

3. Indiana (8-1)

The Hoosiers had a bye week and it probably came at a great time. Quarterback Josh Hoover has not looked healthy for some time and the offense hasn’t been sharp in a month. Still, they have coach Curt Cignetti and a favorable closing stretch. UCLA should go into the Big Ten title game unbeaten, but Indiana gets the nod here as the potential winner because they have been through a schedule that should have them prepared for a big moment.

4. Miami (8-1)

Yeah, the Hurricanes lost on Saturday night. But they lost by a touchdown at Notre Dame without their best player. The other two options here are Alabama and the Irish. The Crimson Tide should play Georgia in the SEC title game, but that loss would drop them from the top four. If Miami wins out, Notre Dame’s only argument would be a head-to-head home win with Miami’s best player missing. Nod goes to the Hurricanes.