Ultimately, Long said the committee felt Clemson’s two wins over top-10 teams and undefeated record played a factor in the decision.
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The top four spots in the latest College Football Playoff rankings saw no change, but heading into the final weekend of the season a number of scenarios could play out and completely alter who will play for this year’s national title.
Clemson vs. Oklahoma projection in the college football championship has Oklahoma winning 71.7% chance (60.4% last week) of the time against the Tigers by an average score of 36-28 (31-27 last week) according to the simulations.
Since only four conference champions can get into the playoffs, a victory over the Tigers does not guarantee North Carolina a spot in the playoffs.
Oklahoma is No. 3 in the College Football Playoff selection committee rankings, putting the Sooners safely in position to be in the final four with their season completed. The seeding may not matter much, but many think Alabama and Oklahoma are the two best teams in the country, so getting them away from each other in a 2-3 semifinal would be interesting.
Big Ten Championship: Iowa vs. Michigan State- This game is basically a playoff quarterfinal between the No. 4 team in the Hawkeyes and the No. 5 team in the Spartans.
Some say the SEC is the strongest, but to compare them to the Big Ten you have only one game to measure; an opening week game between Alabama and Wisconsin. Iowa is fourth and Michigan State is fifth, with Ohio State sixth and Stanford seventh. If a league title is all that it is supposed to be, a two-loss Stanford should jump the 11-1 Buckeyes with a W.
Regardless of where Oklahoma ends up in the final committee rankings, it seems likely that the Sooners will need to beat both of their last two bowl opponents in order to win the national title.
How North Carolina wins: Hit on a few big plays through the air.
Michigan State: The Spartans lose the Big Ten Championship, don’t go to the Rose Bowl and aren’t dropped below No. 11 TCU/No. 12 Baylor. Michigan State edge out Ohio State just because of the human voters, nothing else. If Clemson wins, Clemson is your champion. “It depends on how the other teams play and what the results are above and below them”. The playoff semifinals will match the No. 1 seed vs. the No. 4 seed, and No. 2 will face No. 3. The second question is harder to answer as history shows it is difficult in the college game to beat a team twice in one season.
Another possibility could be Clemson vs. the Iowa-Michigan State victor on Saturday. Stanford (10-2) 8. Notre Dame (10-2) 9. The perpetually overhyped Irish fell to #8 this week, just one spot behind the team that ousted them from the top 4, Stanford. However, Alabama still has to beat Florida in the SEC Championship game this week and a second loss could be enough to push them out of the top four. There do not appear to be any great teams with the possible exception of Oklahoma and Alabama. After halftime, when Ohio State had a slim 14-10 advantage, the Buckeyes dominated on both ends of the field, limiting MI to just three points and 111 yards with three turnovers (one INT and two turnovers on downs). The highest ranked team gets the spot.
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Again, I’m not saying don’t rank the Trojans, but they shouldn’t be ahead of LSU (which not only has better wins, but less losses), Temple or even Navy.
