Will Alabama be able to hold off Florida? Preference is only given to the team seeded No. 1.
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If it can win the Pac-12 championship Saturday against USC, Stanford is likely to move up at least two spots, jumping the loser of the Big Ten title game as well as Ohio State, which did not win its Big Ten division. While Oklahoma’s victory over Oklahoma State may carry more weight, both teams have a single loss and Alabama’s metrics in both strength of schedule and predictive categories are the best of any team in the country.
Bowl Possibilities: Ohio State (11-1) guaranteed itself of a trip to a New Year’s Six bowl with its 42-13 win over MI. The loss dropped the Wolverines (9-3) from No. 10 down to No.15. However, North Carolina at No. 10 did not make up enough ground in the past week to get close enough to scoop up an open top four spot. They likely need Clemson and Alabama to lose big and for Iowa to trounce Michigan State to even smell No. 5, let alone No. 4.
Another coach who went into last week with an uncertain status is Les Miles, whose LSU Tigers are No. 21 after spending a week outside of the poll.
A Stanford victory today eliminates one team ahead of it in the committee ranking.
North Carolina is probably a long shot even if it beats No. 1 Clemson. Stanford moved to No. 7 and could get into the mix by beating USC in the Pac-12 Championship Game and having some top-four upsets.
“The committee debated long and hard about the No. 1 and No. 2 teams”, College Football Playoff committee chairman Jeff Long said.
The Big XII, shut out of the bracket last season, looks like it may be the very first conference in the playoff this time around. 11 and 12, respectively.
Ultimately, Long said the committee felt Clemson’s two wins over top-10 teams and undefeated record played a factor in the decision. Of the Cyclones’ nine losses three of them, to Toledo, Oklahoma State and Kansas State, were by a touchdown or less.
At. No.19, Houston (11-1) is the highest team from a Group of 5 conference.
The intrigue will finally be put to bed Sunday when the final College Football Playoff rankings and matchups are set. The No. 1 team will be placed where it has greater home-field advantage. Then, after the championship games have been played the committee could have an honest discussion about the teams that should fill the spot or spots to round out the final four. The other major games include the Fiesta Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl and teams like Iowa/MSU, Stanford, Baylor, Ole Miss, Ohio State and Notre Dame could be in line for those games.
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The committee’s final ballot will be decided after each conference crowns their champions this weekend. We’ve seen a Big 12 team sitting at No. 3 heading into championship weekend fall out of the playoff completely, when TCU fell to No. 6 in the final edition of the 2014 rankings.
