College Football Playoff: Each conference's best title contenders in 2019 Who are the best bets to win a national championship in 2019? We know the first two answers. Clemson and Alabama have combined to win the last four College Football Playoff championships and have cast a large shadow over the other 128 teams in the FBS. MORE: SN's post-spring top 25 Who will make the College Football Playoff? This year's semifinals are Dec. 28 at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta and the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz. The championship game has been pushed back to Jan. 13, 2020 at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in New Orleans. How many teams can win the whole thing? We’ll get to that, but Sporting News keeps dropping that total with each season. It was 11 in 2017 and eight in 2018. Sporting News will reveal its bowl projections this month. In the meantime, here's the conference outlook at how we arrived at our projected contenders; we organized them into teams that could win the national title, teams that could make the Playoff and potential wild cards. We weren't far off last year. It’s not hard when you start at Alabama and Clemson: Here's a closer look:

1 ACC National title: Clemson

Playoff contenders: None

Wild cards: Syracuse Why? Including conference championship games, Clemson is 40-4 in ACC play in the College Football Playoff era. Florida State has the next-best record at 26-15. Syracuse has pushed Clemson the last two seasons and gets the Tigers in the Carrier Dome on Sept. 14. The Coastal Division, however, has too many what-ifs with Miami, Virginia, Pitt and Virginia Tech. Until proven otherwise, it's Clemson and everybody else — and the Tigers know what's at stake, given how much their strength of schedule gets picked at even when they are undefeated.

2 Big Ten National title: Ohio State

Playoff contenders: Michigan, Penn State

Wild cards: Wisconsin, Northwestern, Nebraska Why? Ohio State has a new coach in Ryan Day, but the Buckeyes have more than enough talent to get back to the Playoff after just missing the last two seasons. Michigan and Penn State didn't make the national championship cut; Urban Meyer had a 13-1 record against the Wolverines and Nittany Lions, and it’s on Jim Harbaugh and James Franklin to turn the tables on Day before we talk national championships. Michigan is the Playoff contender closest to taking that next step. The Big Ten West has six different teams that could win the division, and that makes it hard to think a team can get out of the mess without two losses or more. We like Nebraska’s upside with Scott Frost and won't apologize for that.

3 Big 12 National title: Oklahoma, Texas

Playoff contenders: None

Wild cards: Iowa State Why? Texas is the only national championship contender listed that has not played in the College Football Playoff. That might seem like hyperbole, but the victories over Oklahoma in the regular season and Georgia in the Sugar Bowl are a sign Tom Herman is getting the Horns big-game ready. It's a process, and the next step for Texas is to take the Big 12 title back from the Sooners. Oklahoma has won the last four Big 12 championships and played in the Playoff three times. Now it’s on Lincoln Riley and Jalen Hurts to lead the Sooners to the championship game. Iowa State could break up the OU-Texas championship game, and the Cyclones are a chaos team worth monitoring.

4 Pac-12 National title: None

Playoff contenders: Washington, Oregon

Wild cards: Washington State, Utah, Stanford Why? This is the only Power 5 conference that lacks a listed national championship contender, and that might infuriate Pac-12 fans. The conference has missed the Playoff the last two seasons, and it’s on Washington and Oregon to change that perception. They are the two schools that have been to the Playoff, and quarterbacks Jacob Eason and Justin Herbert have talented rosters around them. Stanford and Washington State still have to prove it, and the Pac-12 South is a mess. The fact USC and UCLA aren’t on here needs to change, too.

5 SEC National title: Alabama, Georgia

Playoff contenders: LSU, Florida, Texas A&M

Wild cards: Mississippi State, Auburn Why? Georgia is the best answer to break up Alabama and Clemson's monopoly. The Bulldogs led Alabama in the fourth quarter each of the last two seasons, and Kirby Smart has recruited at an elite level. Georgia hasn't won a national title since 1980, however. LSU has to clear the Alabama hurdle, and that hasn’t happened since 2011. It won't be any easier in Tuscaloosa this season. Florida and Texas A&M are another cycle away from jumping into that national championship discussion, though both will have ample chances to disprove that notion on the field this season.

6 Independents National title: None

Playoff contenders: Notre Dame

Wild card: Army Why? Notre Dame was a national championship contender on this list last year, and the Fighting Irish remain a top-10 team in our post-spring top 25. The Irish, however, have something to prove after the 30-3 loss to Clemson in the Cotton Bowl. The Irish also have a tough road schedule with trips to Georgia, Michigan and Stanford. Army also visits Michigan, and that will determine whether the Black Knights — who have won 21 games in the last two seasons — can register on the national radar.

7 Group of 5 National title: None

Playoff contenders: None

Wild card: None Why? What do you want us to say? UCF won 25 straight games, went undefeated in the regular season twice and did not get a chance to play in the College Football Playoff. The Knights, Boise State and a few others will contend for a New Year’s Day Six spot, but now that the precedent has been set it’s tough to imagine a Group of 5 team breaking through until the Playoff field is expanded.