College Football 2016

[100% pro-life no matter what]

If A&M beats Bama tomorrow, I like our chances to get two teams in the College Football Playoff.  The SEC West, in my opinion, has six of the top 15-20 teams in the country.  It's not their fault that some of them will have five losses, because someone has to lose their games against each other!  It will be proven, yet again, when the SEC dominates in bowl season, just like last year, when people didn't give us enough respect.  Mississippi St. might not go to a bowl game, even though they are a good enough team to take BYU to overtime in Provo, because their early-season post-Dak growing pains will be too much to overcome in the SEC West.

The other thing that is incredible about this season is the number of brand names in serious jeopardy of not going bowling:

Michigan St.
Notre Dame
Oregon
Mississippi St. (reached #1 just two years ago)
UCLA
Texas

No way the SEC gets two teams from the West in. The committee has made it clear that it values conference champions far above non-champions. No way they put, say, a 1 loss Bama or A&M that doesn't even win its own division over a one loss (or even some 2 loss teams like a 2 loss Wisconsin that won a rematch in the B1G championship) ACC/Big XII/Big 10/Pac-12 champion. Plus, the SEC West just flat out isn't that great this year. It's possibly still the best division in CFB, but the non-conference results (losses by LSU, Auburn, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State, and wins that were either unimpressive or over unimpressive teams by Arky, Bama, and A&M) definitely make that a debatable proposition.

If they DO let in a non-conference champion, I think that 1 loss Louisville and the loser of the Michigan/tOSU game will have just as good a claim (or better) as the 2nd in the West.

Let me give you a hypothetical from last year:

Arkansas fails to convert on the 4th & 25 miracle flip in Oxford.  Ole Miss wins the West with 2 losses.  Alabama was already inside the top 4.  Do you really think they would have dropped Alabama out?  My understanding is that conference championships are essentially used as tiebreakers, and I think that, sooner or later, a conference will get two of the four (which will probably lead to expansion, just like when Alabama and LSU had their 2011 rematch).  Assuming Ole Miss beat a reeling Florida team in the SEC Championship Game, what do you think would have happened?

[Dereich]

If A&M beats Bama tomorrow, I like our chances to get two teams in the College Football Playoff.  The SEC West, in my opinion, has six of the top 15-20 teams in the country.  It's not their fault that some of them will have five losses, because someone has to lose their games against each other!  It will be proven, yet again, when the SEC dominates in bowl season, just like last year, when people didn't give us enough respect.  Mississippi St. might not go to a bowl game, even though they are a good enough team to take BYU to overtime in Provo, because their early-season post-Dak growing pains will be too much to overcome in the SEC West.

The other thing that is incredible about this season is the number of brand names in serious jeopardy of not going bowling:

Michigan St.
Notre Dame
Oregon
Mississippi St. (reached #1 just two years ago)
UCLA
Texas

No way the SEC gets two teams from the West in. The committee has made it clear that it values conference champions far above non-champions. No way they put, say, a 1 loss Bama or A&M that doesn't even win its own division over a one loss (or even some 2 loss teams like a 2 loss Wisconsin that won a rematch in the B1G championship) ACC/Big XII/Big 10/Pac-12 champion. Plus, the SEC West just flat out isn't that great this year. It's possibly still the best division in CFB, but the non-conference results (losses by LSU, Auburn, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State, and wins that were either unimpressive or over unimpressive teams by Arky, Bama, and A&M) definitely make that a debatable proposition.

If they DO let in a non-conference champion, I think that 1 loss Louisville and the loser of the Michigan/tOSU game will have just as good a claim (or better) as the 2nd in the West.

Let me give you a hypothetical from last year:

Arkansas fails to convert on the 4th & 25 miracle flip in Oxford.  Ole Miss wins the West with 2 losses.  Alabama was already inside the top 4.  Do you really think they would have dropped Alabama out?  My understanding is that conference championships are essentially used as tiebreakers, and I think that, sooner or later, a conference will get two of the four (which will probably lead to expansion, just like when Alabama and LSU had their 2011 rematch).  Assuming Ole Miss beat a reeling Florida team in the SEC Championship Game, what do you think would have happened?

Easy, we get a post-championship ranking of

1.Clemson (13-0)
2. Michigan State (12-1)
3. Ole Miss(11-2)
4. Oklahoma (11-1)
-------
5. Alabama (11-1)
6. Iowa (12-1)
7. Stanford (10-2)

SEC/ACC/B1G winners get in easy. Pac-12 winner has 2 losses, is out. So it's down to two 11-1 teams, regular ol' Bama and Big XII winner Oklahoma. The committee flat out isn't putting a 1 loss team which couldn't even win its division over another team with the same record but who was a conference champion. Plus, Oklahoma has a few other things to boost it up like its only loss being a close one in a major rivalry against another blueblood and being widely seen as much improved over the year; remember, Oklahoma went in to the playoffs favored against Clemson and seen by Vegas as the best shot at beating Bama.

Bama fans probably hiss and holler and I'm sure Finebaum's show would be full of BILE but you have to remember that the playoff was created because the outrage over the Bama-LSU championship was so bad that the government was threatening the NCAA. The committee would be faced with two teams with strong arguments with the very likely threat of backlash if they ignored the championship tiebreaker.

The only scenario where I can see 2 from a single conference getting in is if that 4 vs 5 is a "weak" 10-3 or 11-2 champion vs a clearly top 2 11-1. I doubt it'll happen any time soon.

[Хahar 🤔]

If A&M beats Bama tomorrow, I like our chances to get two teams in the College Football Playoff.

lol stop rooting for a conference if you want anyone to take your "analysis" seriously.

The SEC West, in my opinion, has six of the top 15-20 teams in the country.

lmao no

It's not their fault that some of them will have five losses, because someone has to lose their games against each other!

turn off Finebaum

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

If and only if Alabama is the loser of that game, it would hypothetically be possible if and only if Wazzu won the Pac-12 and Baylor/WV both lose a game/don't win Big 12 and even then, Michigan is a serious threat for preference with a name brand loss. Louisville lost to a flawed Clemson team and is not a brand name so I guess Bama has preference there, but that's a lot of if'so.

Just root for Alabama, the team that can actually win. A&M is not a serious team. I still consider Arkansas and Ole Miss better. Arkansas has grown a lot since game 1. Auburn is a severely one dimensional team that I don't take seriously except perhaps as a big upset potential in a rivalry game (bigger than today). LSU, you are judging off of a slow starting big win against Southern Miss? Even more one dimensional than Auburn but perhaps (?) slightly better.

[Crumpets]

I don't often talk football, but after UW's win today and Ohio State's loss, I just have to say mwahahaha.

[Dereich]

While we're talking about interesting scenarios, what does the committee do if the champions look like this?

ACC: undefeated Clemson
Pac-12: Undefeated Washington
B1G: 1-loss tOSU
Big XII: Undefeated WVU
SEC: Undefeated Alabama

All of these teams are good enough at their best to not lose any more games. I'm sure there would be serious pressure on the committee to include the B1G champion, especially when its an Ohio State that has looked really good, but do y'all think they would really slight an undefeated P5 champion to do so?

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

I think it's pretty clear that if both Washington and Baylor/West Virginia remain undefeated, there is no chance of getting two teams from the same conference into the playoff barring a catastrophic meltdown in the ACC and the SEC.

While we're talking about interesting scenarios, what does the committee do if the champions look like this?

ACC: undefeated Clemson
Pac-12: Undefeated Washington
B1G: 1-loss tOSU
Big XII: Undefeated WVU
SEC: Undefeated Alabama

All of these teams are good enough at their best to not lose any more games. I'm sure there would be serious pressure on the committee to include the B1G champion, especially when its an Ohio State that has looked really good, but do y'all think they would really slight an undefeated P5 champion to do so?

I think the B1G would be left out. The only scenario where I see an undefeated Big 12 champion edged out by the B1G is if Michigan wins out without any losses, or if WVU barely scrapes it out against Iowa State (or some equivalent team) and Ohio State crushes Michigan and then crushes Nebraska/Wisconsin (by like 20-30 point margins).

[DINGO Joe]

In B4 smilio brings weird Wyoming tears of joy.

[Santander]

Ugh, if only Northwestern and Utah won today.

[DINGO Joe]

In B4 extreme's tears of tears.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

In B4 extreme's tears of tears.

About what game?  I'm pretty happy with today's results, for the most part.

[Dereich]

Tennessee losing and ceding the East's crown (as well as any claim to being a good football team) to Florida, I assume.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Tennessee losing and ceding the East's crown (as well as any claim to being a good football team) to Florida, I assume.

I'm not a Tennessee fan and pretty much laughed for the fourth quarter of that game.  The SEC East is a big mess right now.  I think Florida will lose both games at West opponents, though, which will give them three losses.  But, I don't trust Tennessee to run the table of Mizzou/Kentucky/Vandy.  It's actually realistic that Kentucky could win the East.  And, with just three losses, if Vandy somehow ran the table, even they could.  It really seems like no one wants to win that division (which only has one crossover win against the West all season).

In the West, Ole Miss is now in serious jeopardy of missing out on a bowl game.  They will likely need to beat both Vandy in Nashville and Mississippi St. in Oxford the last two weeks to get to six wins.

[Dereich]

Tennessee losing and ceding the East's crown (as well as any claim to being a good football team) to Florida, I assume.

I'm not a Tennessee fan and pretty much laughed for the fourth quarter of that game.  The SEC East is a big mess right now.  I think Florida will lose both games at West opponents, though, which will give them three losses.  But, I don't trust Tennessee to run the table of Mizzou/Kentucky/Vandy.  It's actually realistic that Kentucky could win the East.  And, with just three losses, if Vandy somehow ran the table, even they could.  It really seems like no one wants to win that division (which only has one crossover win against the West all season).

In the West, Ole Miss is now in serious jeopardy of missing out on a bowl game.  They will likely need to beat both Vandy in Nashville and Mississippi St. in Oxford the last two weeks to get to six wins.

If not Tennessee, who is your team?

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Tennessee losing and ceding the East's crown (as well as any claim to being a good football team) to Florida, I assume.

I'm not a Tennessee fan and pretty much laughed for the fourth quarter of that game.  The SEC East is a big mess right now.  I think Florida will lose both games at West opponents, though, which will give them three losses.  But, I don't trust Tennessee to run the table of Mizzou/Kentucky/Vandy.  It's actually realistic that Kentucky could win the East.  And, with just three losses, if Vandy somehow ran the table, even they could.  It really seems like no one wants to win that division (which only has one crossover win against the West all season).

In the West, Ole Miss is now in serious jeopardy of missing out on a bowl game.  They will likely need to beat both Vandy in Nashville and Mississippi St. in Oxford the last two weeks to get to six wins.

If not Tennessee, who is your team?

Vanderbilt (it's not always fun, so I also root for the SEC)

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

In B4 smilio brings weird Wyoming tears of joy.

lol, A joyous day indeed! Major freakout did happen. In addition to my favorites, we have the local Temple and gorgeous beautiful Wisconsin take major steps towards division titles. Amazing! Also, talk of Western Michigan as the G5 rep will really heat up with #MACtion on Tuesday night (right along with the first rankings)! Ain't it just like a dream.

I don't think either Temple or WYO will be considered for a rank, but they are probably both right in the 31-35 range. Just got to keep winning and one may sneak in later on.

If only Clemson got knocked off, but with the tiebreakers not in their favor, maybe we can save that one loss for the ACC Championship game


Big game next week will be for Penn who makes a tough trip to Princeton...need that win to turn November the 11th into a de facto Ivy League Championship game!! Really always dreamed of going to that!

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

That special teams no-call during the punt return for the Washington-Utah game was egregiously bad. I hope that ref crew gets suspended.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Oregon wins, maybe next year will be better, and 2018 may see oregon return to Mariota era greatness

[DINGO Joe]

Tennessee losing and ceding the East's crown (as well as any claim to being a good football team) to Florida, I assume.

I'm not a Tennessee fan and pretty much laughed for the fourth quarter of that game.  The SEC East is a big mess right now.  I think Florida will lose both games at West opponents, though, which will give them three losses.  But, I don't trust Tennessee to run the table of Mizzou/Kentucky/Vandy.  It's actually realistic that Kentucky could win the East.  And, with just three losses, if Vandy somehow ran the table, even they could.  It really seems like no one wants to win that division (which only has one crossover win against the West all season).

In the West, Ole Miss is now in serious jeopardy of missing out on a bowl game.  They will likely need to beat both Vandy in Nashville and Mississippi St. in Oxford the last two weeks to get to six wins.

If not Tennessee, who is your team?

Vanderbilt (it's not always fun, so I also root for the SEC)

Lies.  Claiming to be a Vanderbilt fan is like claiming to be a Tulane fan.  You just go the game for the booze.  Come to think of it...

[100% pro-life no matter what]

The first College Football Playoff rankings have been released, and we have 5 SEC teams in the top 13, including two of the four who are in for now.  If Alabama and A&M win out, I feel good about getting two teams in.  I will be down in Auburn this weekend, which should be a really fun atmosphere.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

The first College Football Playoff rankings have been released, and we have 5 SEC teams in the top 13, including two of the four who are in for now.  If Alabama and A&M win out, I feel good about getting two teams in.  I will be down in Auburn this weekend, which should be a really fun atmosphere.

How many times does this have to be explained? Washington should almost breeze through the next 3. They would be exposed so badly if they were let in - might as well give Alabama a bye.

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

The first College Football Playoff rankings have been released, and we have 5 SEC teams in the top 13, including two of the four who are in for now.  If Alabama and A&M win out, I feel good about getting two teams in.  I will be down in Auburn this weekend, which should be a really fun atmosphere.

How many times does this have to be explained? Washington should almost breeze through the next 3. They would be exposed so badly if they were let in - might as well give Alabama a bye.

My Bears should hopefully take care of that on Saturday.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

I had a really good feeling Nick Fitzgerald was starting to come into his own! Decision-making and accuracy still have a long way to go, but he's gonna be a good one. The committee should be ashamed that they were unable to see what most passerby fans could tell. Not a good team. Healthy Trevor Knight or not.

[DINGO Joe]

The first College Football Playoff rankings have been released, and we have 5 SEC teams in the top 13, including two of the four who are in for now.  If Alabama and A&M win out, I feel good about getting two teams in.  I will be down in Auburn this weekend, which should be a really fun atmosphere.

How many times does this have to be explained? Washington should almost breeze through the next 3. They would be exposed so badly if they were let in - might as well give Alabama a bye.

My Bears should hopefully take care of that on Saturday.

Hope is not a game plan.

[RI]

Glad to see UW vindicated thanks to MS State.