College football Top 25 — How each team makes the playoff

Spring practice is only a few weeks away for most college football teams, so what better time than now to spring hope for teams across the country.

Using Mark Schlabach’s Way-Too-Early Top 25, we look at 25 possible paths to the 2024 College Football Playoff. For teams like Georgia and Ohio State, the road is simple, while for others it requires a little more creativity.

Regardless, each team from No. 1 to No. 25 has the same goal right now, and this is how they could make a run to the sport’s biggest stage.

If Georgia is going to get back to the CFP and have a chance to win three straight national titles, it will have to find a quality replacement for quarterback Stetson Bennett. A former walk-on, Bennett had a storybook career and was the engine behind Georgia’s transformation on offense. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken interviewed for jobs with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Baltimore Ravens, but it seems that he’ll be back in Athens this coming season. Carson Beck, who attempted 58 passes in the past two seasons combined, probably has the edge heading into spring practice. Beck led two late scoring drives in Georgia’s 65-7 rout of TCU in the CFP National Championship in January. He has a stronger arm than Bennett but isn’t quite as mobile. Brock Vandagriff, who is probably more dynamic than Beck, and redshirt freshman Gunner Stockton will also be in the mix. — Mark Schlabach

The defense must start to become a big-game asset again, not a liability, after struggling to contain Michigan and Georgia in its past two games. Coordinator Jim Knowles is entering his second year, and his true value as a playcaller and a tactician should be more on display this fall. Ohio State’s offense will always be potent with Ryan Day (and now Brian Hartline) at the controls, even though a quarterback change after C.J. Stroud‘s exit could create some initial turbulence. But the Buckeyes won’t get past Michigan on the road — or perhaps Penn State and Notre Dame — if they don’t start limiting big plays and making more of their own. There’s enough experience in all three levels of the defense — J.T. Tuimoloau, Tyleik Williams and Jack Sawyer up front; Tommy Eichenberg and Steele Chambers in the middle; and Denzel Burke and Lathan Ransom in the secondary — to avoid the breakdowns that showed up against Michigan and Georgia….