I agree Scott that pretty much ends that speculation. I had a hard time believing Fisher would leave the Aggies.
Speaking of Notre Dame this article agrees that they have a chance at the playoff. Not odds on favorites, but enough of a chance to keep an eye out. The Monday After: Notre Dame is forgotten College Football Playoff contender, possible chaos agent
Yeah I can't see why Jimbo would be interested in LSU, it's not like they have better facilities, more money and access to more players than A&M. Sure Louisiana has a lot of great HS talent and most of it wants to go to LSU, but we have a lot of talent in Texas, more in terms of numbers and being where they are located A&M can recruit in Louisiana.
We have a shot, if we finish 11-1 we'll for sure rise to #5 without weird stuff happening. Obviously all 3 Big 10 teams ahead of us can't win out at least 2 of them will pickup a 2nd loss. We'll likely be #8 this week and with just 2 of the 3 Big 10 teams losing we could move up to #6. If Oregon loses to Utah this weekend in Salt Lake City they could fall below the Irish moving us eventually to #5. That's where it gets dicey. If Alabama picks up #2, will they stay ahead of ND? Same if Cincy picks up a 1st loss will they stay ahead of ND? It could happen but I still don't quite feel like this Irish squad is a typical playoff team. We aren't as good as the 2020 squad and I don't think we are as good as the 2018 squad either.
There will be an outcry of unfairness, as Cincy went to South Bend and beat the Irish. Head to Head. Sort of the same as 1 loss Michigan being ranked ahead of 1 loss MSU, Head to Head was ignored. I do think that if we played them again it'd be another close game and we could win this time, but we could also lose. We are a better team than we were that day if for no other reason than our OL hasn't lost any players to injury in the last month and that has helped stabilize it. But it's a long way from being a great OL. True Freshman LT, LG is a RS Freshman who wasn't in the 2 deep in fall camp. Both have done pretty good and I'd expect them to be starters the next 2 or 3 years.
If they lose to Auburn I think you are correct. If you lose in a very close well played game to Georgia then maybe/maybe not. But what if you lose to Auburn, you will still go to the Champ game and if you beat Georgia then I think 2 losses or not you are in! That's a lot of ifs, and as I've said before this is a year where there are a lot of teams that are pretty equal and should have a shot and a 12 team playoff would do that, unlike some of the previous years where it was pretty clear who the top 4 were.
I do think that none of the teams this year are as good as the top 3 were last year...Clemson,Ohio State and Alabama, and that includes Georgia who as we all know has a great defense but only a good offense. The 2020 Tide would have handled them.
I'm going to stand by my belief that 2 losses should disqualify you. Last year's Alabama team had an unstoppable offense and a pretty good defense and was a much, much better team than this year's.
kp, don't fall into the trap of a certain record being a cut off to qualify. There are going to be years (and our current situation is a good example) where there is a lot of parity, and some teams with a MUCH harder SOS should get in over those that had an easier path. As Terry said, if Bama finishes 11-1 as I expect, and stands toe to toe with Georgia but loses a 3 point-ish game they certainly should be in the conversation for top 4. After comparison to the other candidates they might be in and might not, but don't automatically count them out just because of a champ game loss against the probably best team in the land.
I hear.what you're saying Scott, but with multiple 1 loss teams, I think letting a 2 loss team in really cheapens the regular season. At least while we are.in a 4 team playoff.
That's valid, but in the example were talking about the 2nd loss isn't regular season. As I said, no guaranty Bama would be in, just that they need to be considered against the other candidates.