College Football Playoff bracket for Week 9: Projecting top four seeds, first-round matchups, bubble teams

Heading into Week 9 of the college football season, Miami sits atop the AP Top 25 after a dominant 52-23 victory against Pitt, with quarterback Darian Mensah completing 31 of 37 passes for 387 yards and four touchdowns. In the SEC, Kentucky improved to 7-1 with a 34-17 win over Vanderbilt, while LSU beat Auburn 38-17 and Texas edged Ole Miss 34-27 to remain in the playoff picture as two-loss at-large contenders. The College Football Playoff bracket projection places four SEC teams in contention, with LSU and Texas potentially facing a pivotal matchup at Tiger Stadium on November 14 that could affect their playoff hopes.