We entered the Weekend with a great idea as to what the College Football Playoff field would look like. The winner of Boise State vs UNLV would earn a bid, as would the winner of Arizona State Vs Iowa State, and the winners of the SEC, ACC, and Big Ten Title games were all soundly in. The only way we would see chaos heading into Selection Sunday is if Clemson stole a bid by winning the ACC and of course they did it.
Heading into the selection committees decision, here is how we see the College Football Playoff field shaking out.
Rank | Team | Why they're here | Previous Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
1. | Oregon Ducks | Big 10 Champions | 1st |
2. | Georgia Bulldogs | SEC Champions | 2nd |
3. | Boise State Broncos | Mountain West Champions | 4th |
4. | Arizona State Sun Devils | Big 12 Champions | 12th |
5. | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | At Large | 5th |
6. | Texas Longhorns | At Large | 6th |
7. | Penn State Nittany Lions | At Large | 7th |
8. | Ohio State Buckeyes | At Large | 8th |
9. | Tennessee Volunteers | At Large | 9th |
10. | Indiana Hoosiers | At Large | 10th |
11. | SMU Mustangs | At Large | 3rd |
12. | Clemson Tigers | ACC Champions | Unranked |
The first four seeds are pretty straight forward, Oregon is the lone unbeaten team therefore they'll get the first seed, Georgia won the SEC, so they'll get the second seed, since SMU lost Boise State moves into the third seed by winning the Mountain West, and the 4th seed goes to Arizona State the Big 12 Champions after they demolished Iowa State.
Notre Dame is the most likely team to get the 5th seed despite not playing this weekend as they were the 4th ranked team last week and didn't lose like Penn State and Texas. The Longhorns get the 6th seed while Penn State lands 7th as the Longhorns were ranked ahead of Penn State last week. At 8th the Ohio State Buckeyes get the final home game as the committee had it last week.
Tennessee and Indiana both stand pat after not playing this weekend, the committee said the teams not playing were all but, ranked so we'll keep it the same.
The biggest debate will be over who gets the final at large bid between Alabama and SMU as the Tide held that spot last week. The Mustangs have the better record and likely shouldn't be penalized for losing a game they earned playing in. The Crimson Tide have a better win, a better strength of schedule, and would likely win if the two teams played. At the end of the day we go with SMU as the committee will have to ensure that playing in the Conference Championships matter.
Finally, the Clemson Tigers will be the 5th ranked Conference Champion therfore earning the 12th seed into the College Football Playoff. The Committee may switch Clemson and SMU's seeds but, regardless they'll be 11th and 12th.