1. What this all really means …
Yeah, yeah, yeah … this all has to play itself out, and we’ll know the answers soon enough.
But what fun is that? The wild and rampant speculation is what makes this all a blast.
At the very least, we know that seven teams completely and totally control their own destinies. If any or four of these seven win out, they’re in, and it won’t matter what Alabama, Oregon, Utah and/or Oklahoma does.
No. 1 LSU – win out, and in as the No. 1 seed. Lose one game and finish 12-1, 100% in if it’s the SEC champ, 98% in if it loses the conference title game.
No. 2 Ohio State – win out, and in as no worse than the No. 2 seed. Lose one game and finish 12-1, 100% in if it’s the Big Ten camp, let’s just say 75% shot of being in if it loses the conference title game.
No. 3 Clemson – win out, and in no matter what. Lose one game, and let’s eyeball this as 90% certain of being out because of its schedule. 95% out if it loses the ACC Championship.
No. 4 Georgia – win out, and in no matter what. Beating Auburn at Auburn and taking out – likely – No. 1 LSU would put the Dawgs in as a two or three seed.
No. 8 Minnesota – win out, and in no matter what. Lose a game, but beat Ohio State for the Big Ten championship, and … 99% in no matter what. Barring an LSU loss, beating the Buckeyes would be the best win by anyone this year.
No. 9 Penn State – win out, and in no matter what. A 12-1 Big Ten champ is in, especially if it beats Ohio State along the way, and either gets revenge on Minnesota, or beats Wisconsin.
No. 13 Baylor – win out, and in no matter what. No way, no how, no chance is a 13-0 Power Five champion not getting into the College Football Playoff. That would mean the Big Ten and SEC championship losers are absolutely out.
Everyone else … win out, and hope for the best.
– Rapid-fire first reaction
– This week’s big whiff
– The known unknown
– The Group of Five situation
– What it all really means
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