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Apparently, FanDuel leaked the spreads for the first round of the playoff. Miami is out. Notre Dame is in. Oregon opens up with JMU -20.5.

AL beat GA in GA. IMO that's what will get them in the CFP. Better SOC and SOR than ND or Miami.

THIS: Canes WarningScott VanPelt states Miami win over ND is THE data pointOn his eponymous SVPod, Scott VanPelt stated Miami's win over Notre Dame is not just a data point, its THE data point.

I love this! Bring on Tony P's PO format ASAP. Notre Dame had 'better losses?' I watched 10-2 Miami defeat 10-2 Notre Dame. Miami's best win is the defeat of No. 10 ND. ND is 1-2 vs the top 25, was battered in South Bend by an A&M team that was propped up by a crummy in-conference schedule. ND's best win was a 10-point home win over No. 16 USC in a typhoon. When two teams are as close as these two, using anything other than head-to-head results is simply speculation. I watched both teams destroy Pitt. Both looked capable of defeating one another. The format sucks. Both teams have Blue Chip Rosters and playing to their potential, both could win a Natty. Tulane and JMU will not win a title this year or in any other year.

I can imagine Novosad not going to Kentucky---it could be that Stein won't want him. After all, Stein has coached Novosad for a few years now and may have come to the conclusion that he will not develop into a starting college quarterback.

I would switch UGA and tOSU, but agree that the beatdown Bama took in the SEC CG leaves them out. In a perfect world ND, Miami and Bama all get relegated to the Weed Whacker Bowl.

Both Stein and Lupoi have been mentioned as candidates for several HC positions for weeks now. DL has had time to think about current coordinators with other teams or delve into his black book for possible OC and DC positions if needed. OBD is a top tier program, and DL could hire a great experienced OC and DC from many other teams if he wanted. Both Mehringer and Hampton have been co-coordinators in the program for a few years now. I have to believe that Stein and Lupoi have been mentoring them for these future positions. DL has had the privilege to personally work closely with and assess both Mehringer and Hampton as potential coordinators. DL has a goal to win a national championship, and he knows that whoever he hires for OC and DC will have to be very good with play calling, recruiting, and player relationships. I don’t think in his mind he would hire less than the best. In Dan Lanning I trust.

The ACC went 4-6 against the SEC this year. Not exactly outright domination warranting no chance to prove it on the field in the CFP. Personally I like seeing the cross conference game of the best from all the conference getting their chance. If we only picked the "best teams" in the eyes of the TV rating bias media then it would be SEC vs B1G and ND every year with maybe one other. Should USC be in the playoffs? They only loss to teams ranked over 500. Could they beat Ta&m or Oklahoma, I think so. But did they prove they belong during the regular season, no. No conference should have more than 3 teams. These mega conferences make it so the regular season no longer determines who belongs at the top.

Not that I disagree with you but, at the end of the day (not Ryan), does it matter if you are the two or three seed? You’d have to play the winner of the 11/6 or 10/7 game. It probably depends on who those 6 and 7 seeds are and how you match up against them. I’d probably prefer to play Ole Miss given how much of a mess they are in right now. I would be shocked if the committee dropped Ohio State lower than #3.

It will be JMU coming to Autzen. Book it.

I don’t want Miami in because I enjoy watching Mario get jobbed. But all kidding aside, they deserve that last spot. Alabama has spent most of the season showing us that they are not good enough for the field this year. Rushing for negative yards yesterday? Last week the committee said they like how physical Alabama was. What is going to be the story this week? Then you have the FSU loss, barely beating an injured Missouri team, needing two late scores to beat South Carolina, needed a 4th down conversion to beat a 5-7 Auburn, losing to Oklahoma. If this was ANY other team in another conference, they would be in the low teens in the rankings. Right now Miami is a better football team than Alabama, and in my opinion, it’s not that close.

The discussion of this at 24/7 sports a few weeks ago was informative. They said that in the practices that they had observed, Brock Thomas was clearly a more accurate passer than Luke Moga. It was apparent to me that Thomas runs quite well and has respectable arm talent. He was a 3 star prospect who had scholarship offers from other colleges. He is at the U of O because he wants to be there. They speculated that Novosad had a lingering injury at the time of the Wisconsin game. However, the Stetson Bennett comparison may be applicable.

Giving the SEC 5 teams in the playoffs just seems wrong, sorry Bama you got it haded to you by a 5-7 ACC team. Leaving out the ACC completely shouldn't even be an option. All power conferences should have a chance to prove their leagues ability on the field.

Bama sat some starters due to injury, so the committee will likely put them in at 10. I don’t see Miami jumping Notre Dame due to their two conference losses in a really bad ACC. UGA deserves the two seed and Ohio State deserves the three seed. However, something tells me the committee is going to drop Ohio State to the four seed to ensure a SEC team has the opportunity to play in the national championship game.

Here’s a college football seeding projection that I like: 1. Indiana 2. Ohio State 3. Georgia 4. Texas Tech 5. Oregon 6. Ole Miss 7. Texas AnM 8. Oklahoma 9. Notre Dame 10. Miami 11. Tulane 12. James Madison Would love to be on the other side of the bracket as Ohio State and Georgia based on what I saw yesterday. Let them battle in the semi-finals. https://www.si.com/college/oregon/football/oregon-ducks-college-football-playoff-path-opponents-james-madison-texas-tech

I would personally put Notre Dame and Miami in and leave Alabama out. The shellacking in the SEC Championship Game should not be ignored. Who would you put in?

TEAM ODDS Notre Dame -1050 Alabama -320 Miami +164 Texas +2500

I would not want Bama at Autzen. Give me one of the group of 5 schools to “ease” into the playoffs. Oregon is currently an 18+ point favorite over any of them. Of course, we will have to play clean and execute, or anything can happen. After watching all of the games yesterday, I believe that Indiana, Georgia and Ohio State are the teams to beat. Texas Tech is a paper tiger, IMO, who hasn’t played anyone. Oregon can compete and beat anyone, if we bring our A game and Dante Moore plays well. I’m excited to see the bracket and how things unfold. One prediction had Ohio State and Georgia on the other side, which I would not mind one bit…

My suspicion is that Novosad would play if Dante couldn’t go for an extended period of time. He is as good as gone in the transfer portal. Hopefully we don’t find out because Dante Moore is one, if not the best QB, in college football. He is still learning and will make mistakes but he can make throws that I haven’t seen many college QBs be able to make. NFL scouts/GMs are drooling over his highlight tapes.

I believe that 12 is a good number and wish they would start the playoffs earlier with the championship game on January 1. Eliminate the automatic qualifiers and have the 12 most deserving teams in the tournament. If Tulane, James Madison, et al want to play in the playoffs you had better schedule some top teams OOC to prove that you belong. No matter how many teams you have in the tournament there will be people complaining. Look at the NCAA basketball tournament. If you play in a major conference and have less than 2 losses you should be in; with 2 losses you are on the bubble and your fate will be decided by the committee; three or more loses and you should be eliminated.

Alabama just had to keep the SEC Championship Game close and they would have been in the playoff, IMO. They even failed to do that and should be out.

If Novosad and Moga are not able to beat out Thomas over the course of the season then there is no reason for them to stay on the team. Thomas is a great story (homegrown kid) but not a QB that is going to take you where Oregon wants to go. I will be absolutely shocked if they are both not in the portal come January. I am guessing by then the Ducks will know what Moore is doing. If he goes pro, we are absolutely getting a QB from the portal.

I can't imagine Novosad not following WS to Kentucky. He knows the offense that Stein would design and would likely already be starting at a bunch of P4 teams not named Oregon. This could change if Dante declares and the 2026 qb #1 is an open battle between Novosad, Moga, Smith and Beaver (still getting used to that name in green and yellow). I suspect that since Thomas rose to be the #2 this year, that there was either a fall off in performance from the scholarship qbs or injury issues. Regardless, if Dante stays I imagine Stein takes Novosad with him and Oregon works to develop the successor internally. If he declares, DL hits the portal for a plug and play qb while working to have Moga, Smith or Beaver ready for 2027, and Novosad is still gone. While it would likely derail Oregon's CFP run if Moore goes down and Thomas takes the helm, there is precedent for a recent NC won by a team with a walk-on qb and a very good defense. Think 2022 Georgia with Stetson Bennett at qb and DC Dan Lanning.

Novosad and Moga will probably transfer. If that happens they have to transfer between January 2-16 which is during the playoffs.

Lanning was totally serious when he said that Thomas earned the backup job in practice.