ACC Championship: Clemson (8-0) vs. Pitt (6-2)
Both teams clinched their division with best record.
Bowl eligible: Clemson, Notre Dame, UVA, BC, Syracuse, NC State, Duke, Pitt, GT, Miami, WF
Last chance for bowl: VT
No bowl: UNC, Louisville, FSU
SEC Championship: Georgia (7-1) vs. Alabama (8-0)
Both teams clinched their division with the best record.
Bowl eligible: Georgia, Alabama, Florida, LSU, Kentucky, Auburn, Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Missouri, South Carolina, Vanderbilt
No bowl: Ole Miss, Arkansas, Tennessee
Big Ten Championship: Ohio State (8-1) vs. Northwestern (8-1)
Ohio State has the head-to-head over Michigan (also 8-1), while Northwestern clinched the West with the best record.
Bowl eligible: Ohio State, Michigan, Iowa, Penn State, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Northwestern, Minnesota, Purdue
No bowl: Rutgers, Nebraska, Illinois, Maryland, Indiana
Pac-12 Championship: Washington (7-2) vs. Utah (6-3)
Washington has the head-to-head tiebreaker over Washington State (also 7-2), while Utah clinched the South with the best record.
Bowl eligible: Washington, Washington State, Utah, Oregon, Stanford, Arizona State, Cal
No bowl: Oregon State, UCLA, Colorado, USC, Arizona
Big 12 Championship: Oklahoma (8-1) vs. Texas (7-2)
Both teams had the two best records in the conference. Third place was WVU at 6-3.
Bowl eligible: Texas, Oklahoma, WVU, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Baylor, TCU
No bowl: Texas Tech, Kansas, Kansas State
College Football Playoff outlook
The first criteria established by the CFP committee is number of losses. These teams have 1 loss or fewer:
-Alabama (12-0)
-Clemson (12-0)
-Notre Dame (12-0)
-Georgia (11-1)
-Oklahoma (11-1)
-Ohio State (11-1)
-UCF (11-0)
All of those teams except Notre Dame have a conference championship left to play.
Right off the bat, we can ignore UCF. The committee is not going to respect them, even if they are undefeated, to allow them in the CFP. (Especially considering the devastating injury to their QB this weekend.) That means there are six teams in play for four spots.
It's safe to say that Notre Dame and Alabama are in the CFP. Notre Dame is the only team currently guaranteed to enter bowl season undefeated, so you can't leave that team out. Even if Alabama loses the SEC championship game, the rest of their season has elevated them enough to keep them in.
Which teams are "win and in"? Obviously, Alabama and Clemson would get in as undefeated teams. Georgia would most likely get in at 12-1 by having the most impressive win on their resume. Outside of that, I believe the other teams would be at the mercy of the other games going on.
Oklahoma's only loss of the season came from Texas, who they will face again next weekend. If they win, they could play the card that they beat every team they faced.
It's hard to say that any of these teams are definitely in a "lose and out" situation. If all of them lose (obviously excluding the SEC winner), then we're still in the same situation we are now.
Ohio State probably has the worst loss (Purdue) of the bunch. Their best chance at getting into the top four would be a Georgia loss combined with a Clemson or Oklahoma loss.
I think Clemson's biggest threat to the semi-finals would be a loss to Pitt combined with an Ohio State win, especially if Oklahoma wins on top of that.
I think the easiest path to the final four teams would be Alabama defeating Georgia, and then Oklahoma or Ohio State losing their title game.
Still have quite a bit to unpack here.
No comments:
Post a Comment