Binge Sports: The College Football Playoff: Who Gets In? (The Return of the Fan Vote!)
The fan vote is back! Welcome to Binge Sports coverage of the inaugural College Football Playoff. After years of dealing with the dreaded BCS, the human element has been brought to the world of college football. The conversation we’ve been dealing with for years has been “Well, what about that third team that’s left on the outside looking in?” And now, it will probably be the same. Just substitute “fifth” for “third” and we’ll go from there. Instead of relying on computers to give us the top two teams to play for a title, a committee has been formed to vote in the top four teams, who will battle in January in the first-ever playoff in big time college football. Over the next few weeks, I’ll give you the top ten teams as ranked by the committee, their current record, their remaining schedule, and how they get in. At the end, you’ll have the chance to vote for the four teams that you think will get in. I’ll reveal the results when the teams are officially announced in a few weeks. Let’s start at the top with a familiar face.
(1) ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE
CURRENT RECORD: 9-1, lost to Ole Miss
REMAINING SCHEDULE: v. Western Carolina, v. Auburn, SEC Championship?
HOW THEY GET IN: I know everybody is upset that Alabama is back at number one and thinks there may be some bias here, but no matter how you look at it, Alabama deserves to be here, as much as we all may hate it. But they’re not a shoe-in just yet. Yes, they’ve got a cupcake this week, but as we’ve seen before, the Iron Bowl against Auburn could derail their title hopes once again. If they do survive that game, just getting to the SEC Championship against Georgia or Missouri may get them in.
(2) OREGON DUCKS
CURRENT RECORD: 9-1, lost to Arizona
REMAINING SCHEDULE: v. Colorado, @Oregon State, Pac-12 Championship?
HOW THEY GET IN: The Ducks have already won the Pac-12 North, so we know they’re into the conference championship game. Logic says they should win their final two regular season games. But their opponent for the Pac-12 title game has yet to be determined as the teams in the South division are battling for the right to face Oregon. If I had to put money on it, I’d say that Oregon wins out and gets in.
(3) FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES
CURRENT RECORD: 10-0
REMAINING SCHEDULE: v. Boston College, v. Florida, ACC Championship?
HOW THEY GET IN: It’s going to be very difficult for the committee to keep Florida State out, barring some crazy scenario that sees them lose these games to sub-par opponents like BC and Florida. I don’t think they’re as strong as they were last year, but they’ve kept on winning, coming from behind many times, including the Miami game last weekend. It looks like they’ll play Duke or Georgia Tech in the ACC title game, which shouldn’t be too much of a struggle, but stranger things have happened.
(4) MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS
CURRENT RECORD: 9-1, lost to Alabama
REMAINING SCHEDULE: v. Vanderbilt, @Ole Miss, SEC Championship?
HOW THEY GET IN: Here’s where things get tricky. First of all, the best thing for Mississippi State would be for Auburn to beat Alabama. As far as what they can control themselves, they shouldn’t have a problem with Vanderbilt, but a big rivalry game looms with #8 Ole Miss in the last week of the regular season. If they win out and Alabama wins out, they’ll have to hope that the committee can see past them not being in the SEC Championship game and put them in ahead of another conference winner, such as……….
(5) TCU HORNED FROGS
CURRENT RECORD: 9-1, lost to Baylor
REMAINING SCHEDULE: @Texas, v. Iowa State
HOW THEY GET IN: There’s certainly no guarantee that TCU even wins the Big 12. Remember the head-to-head loss against Baylor in the 61-58 game of the year candidate? While ranked ahead of Baylor at the moment, they’ll have to hope that the committee just sees them as a stronger team at the end of the year. And with no conference championship game, they don’t have a chance to exact revenge on the Bears.
(6) OHIO STATE BUCKEYES
CURRENT RECORD: 9-1, lost to Virginia Tech
REMAINING SCHEDULE: v. Indiana, v. Michigan, Big 10 Championship?
HOW THEY GET IN: A few weeks ago, nobody was really considering Ohio State as a contender. But they went up to East Lansing and put a beating on Michigan State, followed by another impressive win against a surprisingly good Minnesota team. They should handle Indiana this week and “The Game” against Michigan shouldn’t be too much trouble either (damn, it pains me to my core to write that). It looks as if a showdown with Wisconsin in the Big 10 Championship is coming. Will the committee reward Urban Meyer for being….well, Urban Meyer, or is the Big 10 just not good enough this year? A few upsets up top wouldn’t hurt the Buckeyes either.
(7) BAYLOR BEARS
CURRENT RECORD: 8-1, lost to West Virginia
REMAINING SCHEDULE: v. Oklahoma State, v. Texas Tech, v. Kansas State
HOW THEY GET IN: As I said above in the TCU portion, if Baylor can win out, they’re the automatic champion of the Big 12. That head-to-head win against TCU looks damn good right now, but that loss to West Virginia doesn’t. Their finisher against Kansas State won’t be any picnic either. The good news is that they’re at home for their final three games, which may play a big part in deciding the Big 12.
(8) OLE MISS REBELS
CURRENT RECORD: 8-2, losses to LSU and Auburn
REMAINING SCHEDULE: @Arkansas, v. Mississippi State
HOW THEY GET IN: It’s hard to see Ole Miss getting in now after recent back-to-back losses against LSU and Auburn. But they do have that big game with Mississippi State coming up and they are the team that pinned that loss on the Crimson Tide. But they would also need a ton of help at the top and a loss in either of the next two games would easily eliminate them.
(9) UCLA BRUINS
CURRENT RECORD: 8-2, losses to Utah and Oregon
REMAINING SCHEDULE: v. USC, v. Stanford
HOW THEY GET IN: This is another long shot, but their two losses are to good teams. If they can somehow make their way into the Pac-12 title game and knock off Oregon, the Bruins will at least give themselves a chance.
(10) GEORGIA BULLDOGS
CURRENT RECORD: 8-2, losses to South Carolina and Florida
REMAINING SCHEDULE: v. Charleston Southern, v. Georgia Tech, SEC Championship?
HOW THEY GET IN: They have to get to the SEC Championship and win and hope for other help. It’s as easy as that and highly unlikely. They may not even get that far if Missouri can win out.
Okay, there you have it for this week. And now I leave it to you. Which four teams are you picking to go the inaugural College Football Playoff. Pick your four below and back up your votes with comments below or tweeting @BingeSports and/or @THElukenorris. I’ll be back next week with an update. And remember, Binge Sports has all the balls.
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