College football roundtable: Sleeper playoff contenders

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In six short months, the stretch run of college football begins, with the final two weeks of the regular season sure to shape the playoff pairings and races for major awards. All this week, we’re looking forward to late 2016 as the Power 5 conferences jockey for postseason position.

Up first: Which team is your sleeper to earn a spot in the New Year’s Eve College Football Playoff semifinals?

ACC: Louisville

Florida State and Clemson are givens. North Carolina won’t merit serious discussion with two FCS teams on its schedule. That brings us to Louisville, a team with high expectations after an impressive bowl win over Texas A&M. The Cards return all their best players, including dynamic quarterback Lamar Jackson and hybrid end/linebacker Devonte Fields, the former Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. Their schedule is a bear; they play preseason Top 25 Florida State, Clemson and Houston. If they can find a way to sneak past all three and make it to the ACC championship game undefeated, their strength of schedule should be enough to put them in the playoff discussion. It should also be noted that Louisville lost to Clemson by a combined nine points the past two seasons and hung with Florida State early in both games. Florida State and Clemson are still the best in the Atlantic, but Louisville cannot be completely discounted. — Andrea Adelson

Big 12: TCU

It’s easy to write off TCU’s hopes of a first College Football Playoff appearance. Dynamic quarterback Trevone Boykin has moved on, and NFL first-round pick Josh Doctson will be making plays in Washington this fall, after being part of the duo that carried the Horned Frogs in several wins a year ago. However, a young …

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