My Top Five for November 15 Big shakeup this week. Based on personal observation. 1. Alabama ( definitely the top team at this point ) 2. Clemson ( hanging by a thread to this spot ) 3. Notre Dame ( may have lost another starter yesterday. Finish with two on the road, 3000 miles apart ) 4. Oklahoma State ( close call with... ) 5. Oklahoma If Ohio State beats MSU and Michigan they will likely jump in to the Top Four in my pool but can't justify them there at this point.
Mine at this point would be Clemson Ohio State Alabama Ok. State In waiting no particular order Notre Dame Michigan State Iowa Baylor TCU Florida Oklahoma If by some miracle Florida would win out, meaning beating Alabama, they would be in. Same for Michigan State and Iowa. The above have Conference playoffs. Notre Dame win out and likely in. Clemson has to stay unbeaten to get in, if they have one loss they are out due to playing in the ACC which is not as strong a conference as the Big 10, SEC and Big 12 at this point. No representative from the Pac 10.
No Pac12. Bedlam sorts out OU and Okie State... also, doesn't Okie State play Baylor this weekend? I really love how the Disney brand spent the day talking up Baylor only to have OU show up at the party with Baylor's date. I still have a major issue with the disingenuous approach the Big 12 takes by back loading the schedule. However, the American public is stupid and they will forget that these guys have all had 9 bye weeks leading up to the big fireworks show at the end. With all that said, I have a hard time seeing Okie State unless they run the table. I don't see OU over ND because at the end of the day, you look back at every redeeming quality OU has and it would come from beating a bunch of teams that beat no one, and they got their ass kicked by Texas. If ND wins out, they're in IMHO. Stranger things have happened though. I would say Clemson has this on lock, but I am trying not to jinx them. An unbeaten #1 Clemson helps ND's case and I would absolutely love to play them again. I think Alabama is the best team right now, but they are the best team who got whipped by a coin flip Ole Miss team. Ohio State has enjoyed their vacation and now get to show the big finish. The Buckeyes may well run the table, but I've just got this feeling that someone is going to get them... Maybe a Khaki clad marauder from Palo Alto?
I don't see how you can have at top 5 without undefeated defending Nat'l Champion on a 23 game winning streak (or something like that). OK State wasn't impressive vs Iowa State and had to come from behind to win, OU was impressive vs Baylor at Baylor so I give them a lot of credit. Like all playoffs, whether it's the HS playoffs or the Pro's. It doesn't really matter all that much who you played, just that you beat them. In the Pro's it doesn't matter that you won the worst division in the NFL, just that you got into the playoffs and then win out. It's the same in HS, undefeated fine, but teams with a couple of losses get in and if they are hot at the end of the year they can win out, taking down teams that in theory played tougher schedules and were undefeated, to win the State Championship. I'd have 1.Alabama ...they are playing the best of anybody right now. 2. Clemson...unimpressive win vs Syracuse, but they are undefeated. 3. Ohio State...long win streak, undefeated, defending NC. 4. ND 5. OU for all of them, including UF, and other B10 and B12 teams...it's win out and you are in...lose and you are out.
I've been watching all of those "Who's In?" type shows on sports cable ( just very nice to see Florida's name again up on the board of relevancy ).... and in any event right now there is one bottom line for teams in the Big Ten, ACC, SEC, Big 12 and Notre Dame..... win and you're in. Now.... I realize that's 5... only 4 goes. But really.... what are the chances that all of those teams win all of their games? If it happens I believe it comes down to ND and the Big 12.... and if it's once beaten OU... I see ND sqeezing them out. If it's unbeaten OKSt.... that could be a tight finish.
That's what I meant when I said earlier that we may or may not get bumped. All we can do is be the best team in the stadium on game day. P.S. If we finish the season with one loss, and Clemson still is #1, we should be in on the basis that no other team can match the "quality" of our narrow loss to the top team in the playoff ranking. We'll see.
The only one loss team ND would be competing with in that scenario would Bama or Florida.... and Bama is already up there at #2 and UF would have to beat FSU and Bama in back to back weeks to get to that point.
ND is not competing with either Florida or Bama. It's understood that a one-loss SEC champ is in. As of now, that one-loss team is Bama. If Florida loses a 2nd game and beats Bama, neither would be in the playoff.
Exactly Sid... I knew you were saying that. So it would get down to the Big 12 and ND.... and in that scenario I really do think the Texas loss would put ND ahead of the Sooners. But the Irish could not beat out an unbeaten OKST. So the Irish need to take care of business and hope for Big Ten chaos more than anything and/or a one loss Big 12 champ otherwise.
Every team has to do something special at this point to win out. I would say whoever does get in deserves it if they have won the rest of their games. I just hope we don't have 5 very viable teams and one has to be left out. All it takes for that not to happen is a loss.... and the possibility someone gets one is much greater than every team with a chance winning out.
Sid, I think you are correct. Notre Dame, if they win out, will have a very good argument for being in the final 4. One thing that will play against them is no conference championship game. If Alabama wins out, they will have one of the very top strength of schedules in the country and the SECCG going for them. There are still football games to play so some of this may sort itself out. I'm with Corey, lets go to an 8 team playoff. "Eight is Enough"!!! 8)
Through Nov. 21 1. Alabama 2. Clemson 3. Michigan State 4. Baylor 5. Notre Dame Notes: Irish wilting away at exactly the wrong time. Buckeyes secret is out.
I like Michigan State, but I don't think they belong in the top 5. Ohio State had not played anybody before yesterday, so I don't assume its undefeated record was indicative of a top team. Michigan State lost a couple of weeks ago to a woeful Nebraska team. Maybe this year, the B10 just isn't as good as advertised. I guess we'll see if the B10 champ gets a pass into the final 4. I'm not sure it's warranted.