GeotechDuck No. 1 Share Posted December 1 (edited) I think the interesting story line this week is who is going to be ranked 11 and be the last at-large team in the field prior to CCG week. The three candidates that I see are Miami, Alabama, and South Carolina. Miami - Can Miami really be in the field with 2 losses to unranked teams (should have been at least 4) and no ranked wins. If they are, something is seriously wrong with the process. Alabama - Will Alabama get the nod based on past history? They are in slightly better position than Miami, even with the additional loss. South Carolina - Took 3 early losses, but have been on an absolute roll since about the middle of October. In that time they have racked up 3 wins against teams in the CFP Top 25. IMO, South Carolina is the team that deserves this last spot. Question - If Clemson wins the ACC Championship is SMU safely in? IMO, they should be. Edited December 1 by GeotechDuck 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Marsh No. 2 Share Posted December 1 If the loser of the ACC doesn't get in, I doubt Miami has a shot. The ACC and Big 12 conference championship losers will not be treated like those from the B1G or SEC. However, I think if SMU loses to Clemson they stand a remote chance of getting an invite regardless, though I suspect they might be the 12 seed at that point. One of two three loss teams, probably from the SEC, are going to sneak into this thing. I don't like it personally because they have 4 OOC wins that are pretty uninspired. Georgia and South Carolina, however, do have wins over Clemson which are at least decent. The bottom chunk of these rankings are going to be bonkers. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Moderator No. 3 Share Posted December 1 If, as I expect them to, Georgia beats Texas, the Longhorns should be longshots to make the Playoffs. If 3 L Alabama gets in, then Finebaum really is the Chairman of the Committee. Without the Replay Center Miami doesn't have a chance, and they'll be the team everybody wants to play if they get in. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeotechDuck Author No. 4 Share Posted December 1 On 12/1/2024 at 1:20 PM, David Marsh said: If the loser of the ACC doesn't get in, I doubt Miami has a shot. The ACC and Big 12 conference championship losers will not be treated like those from the B1G or SEC. However, I think if SMU loses to Clemson they stand a remote chance of getting an invite regardless, though I suspect they might be the 12 seed at that point. One of two three loss teams, probably from the SEC, are going to sneak into this thing. I don't like it personally because they have 4 OOC wins that are pretty uninspired. Georgia and South Carolina, however, do have wins over Clemson which are at least decent. The bottom chunk of these rankings are going to be bonkers. Yeah. Thinking South Carolina probably did enough to get the last spot, but we will see on Tuesday. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Marsh No. 5 Share Posted December 1 The AP poll out today still puts Ohio State and now Penn State on the same side of the bracket as Oregon. Still not loving that idea. It feels like the No. 1 seed is by far the worst. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Moderator No. 6 Share Posted December 1 On 12/1/2024 at 3:06 PM, David Marsh said: The AP poll out today still puts Ohio State and now Penn State on the same side of the bracket as Oregon. Still not loving that idea. It feels like the No. 1 seed is by far the worst. Absolutely. If Alabama, or Georgia, or osu2 was No.1, this wouldn't be happening. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Marsh No. 7 Share Posted December 1 On 12/1/2024 at 3:29 PM, 30Duck said: Absolutely. If Alabama, or Georgia, or osu2 was No.1, this wouldn't be happening. We'll have to see how the rankings shuffle out for the CFP and then see what comes of the final rankings as well. Right now it feels like there is a north v south bracket. And if they wanted to build a bracket that way that would be one thing. Kinda sucks that it's turning out that way by default. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 8 Share Posted December 2 On 12/1/2024 at 1:13 PM, GeotechDuck said: I think the interesting story line this week is who is going to be ranked 11 and be the last at-large team in the field prior to CCG week. The three candidates that I see are Miami, Alabama, and South Carolina. Miami - Can Miami really be in the field with 2 losses to unranked teams (should have been at least 4) and no ranked wins. If they are, something is seriously wrong with the process. Alabama - Will Alabama get the nod based on past history? They are in slightly better position than Miami, even with the additional loss. South Carolina - Took 3 early losses, but have been on an absolute roll since about the middle of October. In that time they have racked up 3 wins against teams in the CFP Top 25. IMO, South Carolina is the team that deserves this last spot. Question - If Clemson wins the ACC Championship is SMU safely in? IMO, they should be. USC - East problems. 3 losses. A loss to 3 loss Bama. A loss to 3 loss Ole Miss. I do not see the Committee jumping South Carolina over Bama even in the absence of Saint Nick. Tuesday night I think we will see the Tide Rolling into the last at-large spot. The Committee will tick off the ACC in back-to-back seasons. I see no justification for a two-loss Miami, a two-loss SMU (a home loss to two-loss BYU), or a three-loss Clemson getting an at-large bid. Before Saturday's results, the ACC had a shot at 3 spots. With Iowa stealing a win from Nebraska yesterday to finish 8-4, the first time with 10 wins Iowa State might have an argument if it loses a close game to ASU; the two teams have never played one another. Texas is getting B1G props for winning on the road at Michigan (I think?) and yesterday's win by Michigan boosted the Longhorns SOS. The Wolverines' win was at best a push for the Ducks SOS but Oregon finished the regular season with the ESPN No. 1 strength of record. Which is nice. The B12 is slipping its champ in and that's it. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Moderator No. 9 Share Posted December 2 On 12/1/2024 at 5:54 PM, Jon Joseph said: Texas is getting B1G props for winning on the road at Michigan (I think?) and yesterday's win by Michigan boosted the Longhorns SOS Their SOS is embarrassing. When they played @ Michigan in the 2nd week of the season, the 1-0 defending champions were ranked. Following Michigan, Texas played, UTSA, ULM, Mississippi St. and Oklahoma, before being rolled by Georgia. 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 10 Share Posted December 3 We're No. 12! Alabama, Ole Miss, South Carolina, SMU, MIA, Other Suspects? College Football Playoff: Which teams are in position for the final spot? SPORTS.YAHOO.COM Eleven of the 12 playoff spots are likely wrapped up, leaving a handful of teams vying for the final berth. Isn't it nice to have ZERO beefs (maybe a small meatball from Bielema ) coming out of B1G HQ? Now, we need a 2-loss ACC team to knock out a 3-loss SEC team and we can watch Greg Sankey going PO'd Hanky-Pankey. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duckman60 No. 11 Share Posted December 3 On 12/1/2024 at 5:54 PM, Jon Joseph said: USC - East problems. 3 losses. A loss to 3 loss Bama. A loss to 3 loss Ole Miss. I do not see the Committee jumping South Carolina over Bama even in the absence of Saint Nick. 2 of Bama's loses came to teams that become bowl eligible only because they beat Bama, 6-6 Vandy & 6-6 Oklahoma. I believe USC should get in before Alabama. USC has won 6 in a row and 3 of them were against ranked teams. Alabama has gone 4-2 in the last 6 and got smoked by an average Oklahoma team. USC is playing much better then Alabama right now. I know Alabama beat them earlier in the season but there has to be more criteria then that. But because the committee does not have any specific standards they can fudge. They will pick Alabama because of their name, not because they are better. I hope this is not true. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJacksPlaidPants Moderator No. 12 Share Posted December 3 On 12/3/2024 at 3:01 PM, Jon Joseph said: We're No. 12! Alabama, Ole Miss, South Carolina, SMU, MIA, Other Suspects? College Football Playoff: Which teams are in position for the final spot? SPORTS.YAHOO.COM Eleven of the 12 playoff spots are likely wrapped up, leaving a handful of teams vying for the final berth. Isn't it nice to have ZERO beefs (maybe a small meatball from Bielema ) coming out of B1G HQ? Now, we need a 2-loss ACC team to knock out a 3-loss SEC team and we can watch Greg Sankey going PO'd Hanky-Pankey. I can say with the utmost certainty that Clemson beating SMU will only eliminate SMU from the playoffs. Bama will get in with the 11th or 12th seed no matter what. The committee might make controversial decisions, but they have come out smelling like a rose on most of them (i.e. 2014 Ohio State, 2017 Bama, 2020 Ohio State, 2022 Ohio State, 2023 Bama). 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 13 Share Posted December 3 Duckman 60. I get all of your sound reasoning. But, both Bama and Ole Miss defeated South Carolina, these teams are all 9-3. Was USC-East's win over Clemson aided and abetted by a late interception all that? Louisville had a better win at Clemson than the Gamecocks. USC was ranked below both Bama and Ole Miss last Tuesday and I don't see Bama and Ole Miss with rivalry game victories against SEC opponents being jumped tonight. I think Bama with its win over UGA is the last AL team in. Maybe, Sort Of, Kind Of? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
