The College Football Playoff

[bob blue devil]

Agreed. I don't see how a one-loss SEC team, in about every year over the last twenty, is not a top-four team. The league is just that good, even if weighed towards the West division many of those years.

Having said that, Florida won't be that team.

and thank goodness for that!

[OldPhiKap]

and thank goodness for that!

Don't tell Stray Gator!

[bob blue devil]

Don't tell Stray Gator!

i won't if you won't. i don't need to be on the bad side of someone so sharp!

[OldPhiKap]

i won't if you won't. i don't need to be on the bad side of someone so sharp!

Damn straight, Skippy!

And he also seems like a darn nice guy, had a chance to meet him briefly before the Notre Dame game.

That remaining schedule is pretty daunting under the Best of circumstances, though.

[ipatent]

i don't see it, but, then again, i think the conference championship is worth something. if you value conference championship at zero, i see how you could start making the argument for these teams. it would be really funny to watch the committee try to explain why they took texas a&m or alabama over a 1-loss conference champ florida - everyone would go completely nuts!.

You make an excellent argument, and it might prevail, but I'd bet a one loss Alabama would get in over Florida even if Florida beats Alabama in the title game. Then who do you leave out to put Florida in the final four if Washington, Clemson and Michigan are unbeaten.

[OldPhiKap]

You make an excellent argument, and it might prevail, but I'd bet a one loss Alabama would get in over Florida even if Florida beats Alabama in the title game. Then who do you leave out to put Florida in the final four if Washington, Clemson and Michigan are unbeaten.

It seems to me that the committee would view an Alabama-Florida game in that scenario as a play-off (or more appropriately, play-in) game.

[sagegrouse]

You make an excellent argument, and it might prevail, but I'd bet a one loss Alabama would get in over Florida even if Florida beats Alabama in the title game. Then who do you leave out to put Florida in the final four if Washington, Clemson and Michigan are unbeaten.

Picking the loser of the SEC title game, if the Gators are the winner, will sink the entire Florida peninsula, break the Internet, and result in the pillorying of the selection committee.

[Wander]

Any combination of an undefeated Clemson, an undefeated Washington, an undefeated or one loss Michigan, a one loss Ohio State, a one loss Texas A&M, a one loss Louisville and even a one loss Alabama with a close loss to Florida in the SEC title game could edge a one loss Florida out. Florida would have an argument, but I don't think its a cinch.

Undefeated teams, sure. But I don't understand why any non-conference champion would have any argument whatsoever over a 1-loss SEC champion Florida. bob blue devil lays out the individual scenarios well. Louisville's best win is at home against a team that Florida will have beaten on the road.

The SEC East sucks and is undertalked about in its suckage this year, but by beating FSU, LSU, and the SEC West champion (all away from home!), Florida would be a lock. Of course, I doubt Florida will actually win those 3 games, but that's another story.

[ipatent]

It seems to me that the committee would view an Alabama-Florida game in that scenario as a play-off (or more appropriately, play-in) game.

They might, and computer rankings aren't officially used, but SOS, etc. that factor into the Sagarin ratings are used, so they may gave you and idea how things would play out..Michigan and Ohio State get a lot of respect in these, and Bama is off the charts. A Florida win over Bama may be seen as an outlier.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sagarin/

[bob blue devil]

They might, and computer rankings aren't officially used, but SOS, etc. that factor into the Sagarin ratings are used, so they may gave you and idea how things would play out..Michigan and Ohio State get a lot of respect in these, and Bama is off the charts. A Florida win over Bama may be seen as an outlier.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sagarin/

i don't disagree that you could make an argument that a 1 loss not conference champ michigan or alabama would actually be a better team than 1 loss conference champ florida. and the committee's job first and foremost is to rank teams by how good they are... that said, i would be stunned if the committee ignored the optics and regarded a florida win over bama in an sec title game as an 'outlier' (even though it may actually be one). the response would be AMAZING! plus, while it's not clear, the description of how the committee is supposed to rank things would tilt the scale toward florida.

the website related to the playoff is actually quite confusing when it comes to the criteria - there is an explanation in the FAQ as well as a "protocol" section. the "protocol" is written as a proposal, rather than an actual governing document - quite odd this was posted rather than a final version... maybe someone else on here knows where the official version is.

in case anyone is interested in the committee's criteria per the FAQ:

What is the mission of the selection committee?
The committee’s task is to select the best teams, rank the teams for inclusion in the playoff and selected other bowl games and then assign the teams to bowl sites.

What criteria does the selection committee use to rank the teams?
The committee selects the teams using a process that distinguishes among otherwise comparable teams by considering conference championships won, strength of schedule, head-to-head competition, comparative outcomes of common opponents (without incenting margin of victory) and other relevant factors that may have affected a team’s performance during the season or likely will affect its postseason performance.

Selection committee members have flexibility to examine whatever data they believe is relevant to inform their decisions. They also review a significant amount of game video. Among the many factors the committee members consider are strength of schedule, head-to-head results, comparison of results against common opponents and conference championships won. The playoff group has retained SportSource Analytics to provide the data platform for the committee’s use. This platform allows the committee members to compare and contrast teams on every level possible. Each member evaluates the data at hand, and then the individuals will vote to produce a group decision.

[Olympic Fan]

The first rankings will be announced in a few minutes and if Alabama, Michigan, Clemson and Washington aren't the top four (in some order), we'll have some major fireworks.

It will be really interesting to see how the one-loss teams are ranked ... and that could change going forward (for instance, I could see Louisville ahead of Ohio State at the moment, but if OSU wins out and Louisville wins out, the OSU win over Michigan would trump the Louisville win over Houston).

I'll be back in an hour or so.

[Wander]

Getting in under the wire to make my prediction that Louisville fans are going to be disappointed with these rankings throughout the season.

[Wander]

OK, I'm not sure I actually made it under the wire, but I did post that before I saw the rankings. Not surprised at all. Louisville is way overhyped.

[pfrduke]

I would take the committee more seriously, and as a body not interested in media spin and controversy, if it didn't do silly things like put Washington behind Texas A&M

[MarkD83]

http://www.espn.com/college-football...ing-washington

Look at the rankings on the right side of the screen in the box.

Notre Dame is #4. Am I missing something?

[Troublemaker]

Is there a site that accurately simulates the BCS rankings? I'm guessing no, because there seems to be suspense in these releases when, if such a site existed, there should be none?

[Olympic Fan]

Surprise. surprise ... Texas A&M ahead of Washington.

Frankly, that's BS (and more evidence of the committee's SEC slurping)

Top 10
1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Michigan
4. Texas A&M
5. Washington
6. Ohio State
7. Louisville
8. Wisconsin
9. Auburn
10. Nebraska

Not as bad for Louisville as the ESPN talking heads think. They need Michigan to give Ohio State a second loss and they need LSU to give Texas A&M another loss ... but the two teams behind them both have two losses. The only way a two-loss Wisconsin or a two-loss Auburn jumps them is by winning a conference title. Yeah, the Cards need a lot o help ... but knew that.

I repeat my earlier mantra - no way an unbeaten power 5 team gets left out ... no way a two-loss team get in (and know you can come up with a convoluted scenario where that happens, but it won't -- it's convoluted).

BTW: The Big 12 is dead.

[tbyers11]

http://www.espn.com/college-football...ing-washington

Look at the rankings on the right side of the screen in the box.

Notre Dame is #4. Am I missing something?

The inset box in that article (for some reason) links to the week 11 rankings from 2015

[pfrduke]

http://www.espn.com/college-football...ing-washington

Look at the rankings on the right side of the screen in the box.

Notre Dame is #4. Am I missing something?

The box is from sometime last season.

[ipatent]

Wow, Texas A&M in the top 4, and with a favorable schedule the rest of the way will be tough to knock out. If Michigan loses to Ohio State, the Big 10 could be left out.