College Football Top 25: Postseason

Posted byjachoman9Posted inCollege Football, College Football Rankings

My final rankings before the postseason, and my penultimate playoff discussion:

  1. Oregon Ducks 13-0
  2. Notre Dame Fighting Irish 11-1
  3. Georgia Bulldogs 11-2
  4. Texas Longhorns 11-2
  5. Ohio State Buckeyes 10-2
  6. Penn State Nittany Lions 11-2
  7. Tennessee Volunteers 10-2
  8. Alabama Crimson Tide 9-3
  9. Ole Miss Rebels 9-3
  10. South Carolina Gamecocks 9-3
  11. Clemson Tigers 10-3
  12. SMU Mustangs 11-2
  13. Indiana Hoosiers 11-1
  14. Arizona State Sun Devils 11-2
  15. Boise State Broncos 12-1
  16. Miami Hurricanes 10-2
  17. BYU Cougars 10-2
  18. Texas A&M Aggies 8-4
  19. Missouri Tigers 9-3
  20. Iowa State Cyclones 10-3
  21. Florida Gators 7-5
  22. Baylor Bears 8-4
  23. Colorado Buffaloes 9-3
  24. Syracuse Orange 9-3
  25. Illinois Fighting Illini 9-3

Just Missed

  • Army Black Knights
  • LSU Tigers
  • Louisville Cardinals
  • Iowa Hawkeyes
  • Kansas State Wildcats

Conference Comparison

SEC: 9 (3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 18, 19, 21)

Big Ten: 5 (1, 5, 6, 13, 25)

Big 12: 5 (14, 17, 20, 22, 23)

ACC: 4 (11, 12, 16, 24)

Independent: 1 (2)

Mountain West: 1 (15)

Playoff Discussion

This week was the absolute worst case scenario for Alabama. It seemed like Clemson was going to win going away after the first quarter, but SMU came roaring back, and probably should have won game if it weren’t for giving up the big kickoff return at the end of the game. So, what will the committee do? What should the committee do? What would I do? What if the format was a little better? I’ll answer all of these questions.

What Will the CFP Do?

First of, I will project what their top 25 will look like:

  1. Oregon 13-0
  2. Georgia 11-2
  3. Texas 11-2
  4. Penn State 11-2
  5. Notre Dame 11-1
  6. Ohio State 10-2
  7. Tennessee 102
  8. SMU 11-2
  9. Indiana 11-1
  10. Boise State 12-1
  11. Alabama 9-3
  12. Arizona State 11-2
  13. Miami 10-2
  14. Ole Miss 9-3
  15. South Carolina 9-3
  16. Iowa State 10-3
  17. Clemson 10-3
  18. BYU 10-2
  19. Missouri 9-3
  20. UNLV 10-3
  21. Army 11-1
  22. Illinois 9-3
  23. Syracuse 9-3
  24. Colorado 9-3
  25. Memphis 10-2

I don’t think the committee will punish any of the conference championship losers except for technically Texas and Penn State in order to protect their head-to-head criteria. If they don’t punish SMU, then they shouldn’t punish anyone else. I’ll tell you, I will by very angry if Iowa State and/or UNLV drop in the rankings if SMU doesn’t.

So this is my projected Committee seeding:

1 Oregon

2 Georgia

3 Boise State

4 Arizona State

5 Texas vs 12 Clemson

6 Penn State vs 11 Indiana

7 Notre Dame vs 10 SMU

8 Ohio State vs 9 Tennessee

What the Committee Should Do?

The committee should drop SMU, Iowa State, and UNLV, because were all extremely disappointing. Every time SMU has played a top 25 team this year, they have lost. Alabama has been at their best against the better teams they have faced. Alabama is a better team than SMU, they have 3 more ranked wins, and they would have trashed Clemson. Ole Miss has the best resume out of the 3 loss SEC teams in my opinion as all of their losses were extremely close, and they have emphatic, dominant wins against UGA and SC.

So what should their rankings look like? (Alabama will be ahead of Ole Miss because they clearly have made up their mind that nothing will move around with teams that did not play):

1 Oregon

2 Georgia

3 Boise State

4 Arizona State

5 Texas vs 12 Clemson

6 Penn State vs 11 Alabama

7 Notre Dame vs 10 Indiana

8 Ohio State vs 9 Tennessee

What I Would Do

1 Oregon

2 Georgia

3 Clemson

4 Arizona State

5 Notre Dame vs 12 Boise State

6 Texas vs 11 Ole Miss

7 Ohio State vs 10 Alabama

8 Penn State vs 9 Tennessee

Better Formats

Here’s what the playoffs would look like if the playoffs ether didn’t have auto-byes or if they did not have auto-bids entirely:

No auto byes:

1 Oregon

2 Georgia

3 Texas

4 Penn State

5 Notre Dame vs 12 Clemson

6 Ohio State vs 11 Arizona State

7 Tennessee vs 10 Boise State

8 SMU vs 9 Indiana

No auto bids:

1 Oregon

2 Georgia

3 Texas

4 Penn State

5 Notre Dame vs 12 Arizona State

6 Ohio State vs 11 Alabama

7 Tennessee vs 10 Boise State

8 SMU vs 9 Indiana

I personally think that Alabama and Ole Miss would have a legitimate chance of winning the championship if they were given a chance, but hopefully SMU can prove me wrong. Listen, I don’t dislike SMU, I think their uniforms are sick, and Kevin Jennings is a stud, but I really think Alabama and Ole Miss are better.

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