College Football 2020: 5 (Potentially) Stupid SEC Predictions – Page 5

1. Three SEC teams will make the College Football Playoff

If we’re really doing this, the most likely scenario will either be the three Power Five champs and UCF finally getting a cookie, or two SEC teams and the other two P5 champions, but driving with a 3-wood is for squares …

Three SEC teams are going to make the College Football Playoff.

The CFP has already stated that it’s business as usual. If there are college football games, the CFP will end up ranking the top four at the end of the fun, even if it’s more difficult this year.

– 50 Most Interesting Games of 2020

So here’s the (potentially) stupid call.

The ACC champion will be in. It’s almost certainly going to be Clemson, but don’t be so shocked if it’s Notre Dame, or someone else if the Tigers lose in South Bend and drop the regular season finale at Virginia Tech.

The Big 12 will be a really, really fun mess. Oklahoma is still the star, but Texas and Oklahoma State are fantastic, and everyone other than Kansas is good enough to beat anyone else on the right day.

For the most part, assume the same unwritten CFP rules still apply. Win your Power Five conference and do it with one loss or none, and you’re almost certainly in. This year, you’re absolutely in.

Also assume that the top Group of Five champion – AAC, Conference USA and Sun Belt are the ones still playing – has to go unbeaten to at least be in the discussion.

The Sun Belt and Conference USA champs wouldn’t have enough juice – for most, no giant non-conference games to hang their hats on – to make the final four no matter what, but UCF, Memphis, Cincinnati, or anyone who could go unbeaten in the AAC might have a shot.

Don’t expect the AAC champ to go unbeaten.

– CFN 2020 Preseason Rankings 1-76

Remember, the College Football Playoff’s job is to pick what it things are the four best teams. The SEC won’t be tested outside of its own conference, so for this one year, the idea of going 8-2 and finishing third might not be the dream-killer it normally is.

Let’s say Georgia loses to Alabama on October 17th, but beats everyone else. The Alabama-LSU winner goes off to the SEC Championship, the loser finishes 9-1, and then the winner and Georgia both end up being considered good enough to be among the final top four no matter what happens in the SEC Championship.

And maybe it’s Florida.

If the Gators beat Georgia, the LSU game matters. Maybe Georgia beats Alabama. Or maybe Georgia goes 8-2, and its two losses are to the Gators and the Crimson Tide, who square off in the SEC Championship with each at 10-0.

There are a ton of other ways to do this, but to cut to the chase, there will be one team outside of the SEC Championship that will be worth of the top four, and the two teams in Atlanta on December 19th will certainly be worthy.

– 2020 CFN SEC Preview
– SEC Week 1 Instant Predictions
– CFN All-SEC Team & Top 30 Players
– CFN SEC Team-By-Team Predictions
– SEC Schedule, Most Interesting Games

[protected-iframe id=”361699434b6d70baf15f631ed2408ac1-97672683-92922408″ info=”https://www.googletagservices.com/tag/js/gpt.js” ]

Pages: 12345