The initial release of the College Football Playoff selection committee’s rankings prompted all the typical conversations. You’d also need G5 front runners like Toledo, Western Kentucky, Houston, San Diego State, Boise State, Utah State, Marshall and Appalachian State (among others) to fall flat. Didn’t stop the Tide from being the No. 1 seed in last year’s playoff, ahead of four other one-loss teams and one unbeaten. While the first four past year only featured one team (Florida State) that remained there throughout the process, what can we expect this time around? They may not have a Heisman frontrunner like LSU does in running back Leonard Fournette and apart from their win against Notre Dame, they haven’t beaten any other great team, but it’s hard to argue that they’re not the most complete team right now. They have quality wins in both the non-conference and in the respected SEC, they have a team that looks like it should be good, and they have a reputation for being good. They were followed by LSU, TCU, and Michigan State. At number two are the LSU Tigers, third are the Ohio State Buckeyes, and taking the last playoff spot are the Alabama Crimson Tide. Memphis is the top team out of a non-Power 5 conference.
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The CFP committee would then have undefeated conference champs in three conferences, a one-loss Pac-12 team with impressive wins, and a two-loss SEC champ with a head to head victory over Alabama. The chairman of the committee is an SEC West AD (Jeff Long at Arkansas), so should we really be surprised? But those same high-scoring teams play against Big 12 opponents, which mainly play in shootouts.
The only team ranked in the AP top 10 but not the CFP top 10 is Stanford, which checked in at No. 11, flipping spots with the Gators.
Michigan State’s schedule is stronger than both TCU’s and Baylor’s. Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and the Bears remain, which means it’ll be a survival of the fittest finish.
Like Baylor, TCU faces a jam-packed Big 12 slate down to the wire.
Kelly reiterated he was trying to control his sideline when he aggressively approached Grimes, who appeared to be speaking to an official, and grabbed him by the jacket and pushed him multiple times.
Ranking: No. 6 in CFP rankings, No. 9 in the AP Top 25. For an outsider like Memphis, relegated to 13th despite a ideal record and a big win, there may not even be a chance at 13-0. Michigan State has been battling tons of injuries lately, but that hasn’t seemed to stop them. Temple narrowly lost to Notre Dame in a thrilling contest Saturday night. If the rankings stay consistent and winning is all that matters from here on out, an 11-1 Irish squad would nearly certainly be in the Final Four. They don’t have as many opportunities to impress as TCU or Baylor in the next 5 weeks, but they have a chance at a statement game with the season finale at Stanford. Any team who takes the championship of a league that is winning 85.7% of its games against non-conference opponents deserves to represent that conference-especially if they’ve swept the toughest division in all of college football in the process.
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-The Pac-12 looks all but out of the playoff. “I don’t think anybody should be having a party, and I don’t think anybody should be disappointed”.
