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Editor’s note: This article was originally published by USA TODAY Sports and has been republished below in its entirety.
Is it possible the College Football Playoff picture is getting clearer with the Big Ten and Pac-12 yet to start their season?
Florida’s flop at Texas A&M and Georgia‘s manhandling of Tennessee established the Bulldogs as the clear favorite in the SEC East. The stumbles of LSU and Auburn have left Alabama as the leader in the conference’s West division. Georgia travels to Alabama this Saturday in what should be the first of two games between the schools. The latter showdown in the SEC title game would send the winner to the playoff. The loser would be in great shape when being evaluated with teams from the Pac-12, Big Ten or Big 12.
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The home field should help the Tide this week. The edge, right now, goes to the Bulldogs when playing on neutral ground in Atlanta, leaving both with one loss and comfortably in the field.
Ohio State and Clemson remain clear favorites in their conferences, rounding out the four participants in the semifinals.
However, like everything in college football, nothing is set in stone. Oregon and Oklahoma State have the best opportunity to upset things. The Ducks will be hampered by a shortened schedule that lacks a ranked opponent, but an unbeaten season would be worthy of consideration. The same is true for the Cowboys, who still have to navigate the toughest part of their Big 12 schedule without a hiccup.
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With the expectation that the NCAA will waive the required six-win threshold for teams to play in the postseason, we will continue to fill out the entire bowl schedule. Conferences are expected to be able to fill their allotment of games.
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