Tuesday’s ranking release basically laid out the template for the four-team playoff: Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma and the Big Ten championship-game victor, Iowa or Michigan State, appear to be headed toward semifinal matchups on New Year’s Eve in the Orange and Cotton bowls.
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Clemson plays North Carolina for the Atlantic Coast Conference championship; Alabama plays Florida for the Southeastern Conference title. Utah is one of eight teams Alabama, Ohio State, Florida State, Baylor, TCU, Michigan State and Clemson and the only one from the Pac-12 that has been ranked in every College Football Playoff ranking since its inception in 2014. A loss to UNC would put the committee in a tough position.
On a brighter note, Long did go onto say that Clemson could lose this weekend and still may find itself in the College Football Playoff. The Spartans have gained 4.3 yards per carry, a bad 109th in the nation, while Iowa allows 4.2 yards per carry, 20th best in the nation (doesn’t include sacks).
Because of this schedule, the committee has relegated a one-loss North Carolina to No. 10 behind three teams with two losses.
“A win at the beginning of the season, end of the season over highly-ranked teams are equal to us”, Long said.
It’s undeniably true that the Playoff field is set, should the current top two hold serve in their respective conference championship games. The Tar Heels, winners of 11 straight, moved up four spots and have a chance to dash the national title hopes of Dabo Swinney’s team, which has been the top squad in each week’s CFP rankings this season. The Cardinal will face No. 20 USC in the conference championship game Saturday.
Stanford (10-2) moved up to No. 7 from No. 9 a week ago after its 38-36 win over Notre Dame on Saturday.
A win over No. 1 and a conference championship would drastically alter the Tar Heels’ resume, but they have a lot of ground to make up.
There’s only a slim window for a team outside the top five to sneak into a national semifinal, but the opportunity exists. The four semifinalists and final CFP rankings will be revealed at 12 p.m. ET Sunday on College Football Selection Day on ESPN.
The Ohio State Buckeyes have been resuscitated.
Committee protocol states that “conference championships won” are used when assessing “otherwise comparable teams”.
Maybe that’s the most frustrating part about the entire committee thing. The loss knocked Notre Dame out of playoff contention, and gives the Cardinal an outside chance at crashing the playoff party.
Long cited Clemson’s 6-0 record against teams with winning records, and the Tigers’ two wins against current top 10 teams.
But the Buckeyes are sitting back waiting for upheaval and a shot to get in the playoff field.
The American Athletic Conference championship game between Houston and Temple should also send the victor to a New Year’s Six bowl game, probably the Peach Bowl. However, a loss to the Tar Heels would drastically change the outlook for the Tigers’ season and could be enough to bump them out of the top four entirely.
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The committee has sent North Carolina a strong statement about strength of schedule. Will the Tar Heels jump Clemson and Ohio State, which would not win the Big Ten and ACC, respectively?
