While Long told of vigorous debates in the committee room over Clemson or Alabama for No. 1 – Clemson has held it for all five weeks of the rankings – and over Iowa or Michigan State for No. 4, he did not note the same doubt around Oklahoma at No. 3 and cited the Sooners’ four victories over current Top 25 teams. Whether by a stroke of luck or just genius scheduling by the conference, however, the Big 12 has its “one true champion”, Oklahoma, and a spot in the College Football Playoff.
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To a lesser extent, Clemson (77%) and North Carolina (14%), meeting in the ACC championship game, may also be a play-in game if the Tar Heels can do enough to impress the committee.
Meanwhile, Iowa (40%) and Michigan State (61%) will face off in the Big Ten title game, which is now effectively a play-in game for the playoff, with Silver giving the Spartans the edge. It would be hard to explain leaving the Big 12 out two years in a row when it had a team ranked No. 3 before championship Saturday.
“A win at the beginning of the season, end of the season over highly-ranked teams are equal to us”, Long said.
Playoff chances: If Alabama wins convincingly and top-ranked Clemson merely squeaks out a win, then the Tide could have a shot at the No. 1 seed.
Missouri Athletic Director Mack Rhoades interviewed Dykes a year ago when he was searching for a new coach at Houston and is now taking another look at him. Particularly in the SEC and ACC title games. Not only that, but to further reduce the possibility of two teams from one conference getting into that playoff, the new Selection Committee listed among its criteria that there would be a preference for conference champions. The Spartans adding another quality win to their resume improves Ohio State’s portfolio, which is largely bereft of signature wins. If the Tar Heels win, what would the committee do? No doubt, Auburn proved that they belonged on the field with No. 2 Alabama but came up short. An expansion of the playoff could take place in the coming years, but with conference championship games serving as de-facto first round playoff games, bubble teams like Michigan State and UNC have a chance to seize a spot. 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. While the rankings seem to have always favored Big 12 stalwarts like the Sooners, Texas and Oklahoma State, both TCU and Baylor made major statements past year that they are conference powerhouses, leading to controversy over the final playoff rankings. Alabama is second, followed by Oklahoma, Iowa and Michigan State. There are going to be some really good teams who miss out on the top four, for various reasons. But anything can happen in a conference championship game.
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The guess here is Stanford makes the playoff in this scenario. LINE: Michigan State -3.5ABOUT MICHIGAN STATE (11-1, 7-1 Big Ten): Senior Connor Cook (2,730 yards, 24 touchdowns, four interceptions) was named the Big Ten’s top quarterback and senior Aaron Burbridge (75 receptions for 1,158 yards and seven touchdowns) was selected as the top receiver, and the duo lead an offense averaging 33.4 points per game.
