Updated: Piecing Together the College Football Playoff Puzzle

statecollege.com

Matt Linder

The Thanksgiving weekend served up more than turkey, stuffing and apple pie.  There were two key upsets in college football with differing implications for the playoff selection committee.

The Associated Press

Let’s start with Friday’s upset of the #2 ranked Miami Hurricanes by the Pittsburg Panthers.  Coming into the game, this did not look like a competitive matchup.  Pitt was 4-7 and The U was undefeated.  However, feeding off of their home crowd, the Panthers came away with a 24-14 victory.  So how does this loss affect the Hurricanes playoff chances?  In reality, it does not have much of an impact as the loss did not push the U out of the ACC Championship game.  As long as Miami beats #1 Clemson in the conference title game, they will replace Clemson in the top four and certainly get a chance to compete for a national title.  If the Hurricanes lose, Clemson will likely hold onto their top spot and get the opportunity to defend their crown.

The Associated Press

The second (less shocking) upset occurred on Saturday.  The then ranked #6 Auburn Tigers handily defeated their bitter in-state foe #1 Alabama in the Iron Bowl.  The final score was 26-14.  Alabama committed multiple unforced errors which is very uncharacteristic of a Nick Saban coached team.  The film room in Tuscaloosa this week will be an unenviable location on campus.  The loss to Auburn leaves the Crimson Tide at number five in the rankings and out of the SEC Championship game.  In order to sneak back into the top four, Alabama needs a minor miracle. The college football playoff is likely to be made up of the winners of the SEC (#6 Georgia or #4 Auburn), ACC (#7 Miami or #1 Clemson), Big 10 (#8 Ohio State or #3 Wisconsin) and #2 Oklahoma if they win.  However, if the Sooners lose their conference championship game to TCU, that could open up a spot for the one-loss Crimson Tide.

Last year, the committee put Ohio State in the final four, even though the Buckeyes did not win their conference.  I do not see it happening this year for Alabama since there are so many quality teams fighting for the playoff.  Also, let’s say #6 Georgia loses to #4 Auburn in the SEC Championship game, which would drop them to 11-2.  Putting an 11-1 Alabama team that did not even make the conference championship in the playoff over a two-loss Georgia would not be fair.  The committee would be penalizing Georgia for getting to the SEC title game (and losing) while rewarding the Crimson Tide for not even playing in the game.  It will be interesting to see how the conference championship games unfold this Saturday and which teams the thirteen-man committee chooses for the playoff.  Saturday cannot come soon enough!

If you have any questions, comments or criticisms feel free to reach out to me at mattlinder2@gmail.com