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We’re finally to that point in the season where the talking heads are going to go crazy on the playoffs and why your team shouldn’t be in so that the SEC can have at least two candidates! We at OffTackleEmpire have put together our own playoff standings given that, well, we’ll probably see some bias somewhere tonight.
Things do look a bit clearer though, at least for the first shot they’ll take at the standings thanks to the Big 12. Both Baylor and West Virginia lost and given the lack of conference championship game and weak OOC, the Big 12 is most likely the Power 5 conference left out of the playoffs. Let’s see how things shook out:
| "Writer" | Number 1 Seed | Number 2 Seed | Number 3 Seed | Number 4 Seed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aaron Yorke | Alabama | Washington | Clemson | Michigan |
| WhiteSpeedReceiver | Alabama | Washington | Clemson | Michigan |
| MNWildcat | Alabama | Michigan | Washington | Clemson |
| Creighton M | Alabama | Michigan | Louisville | Washington |
| alnamaisIV | Alabama | Washington | Michigan | Clemson |
| DJ Carver | Alabama | Michigan | Washington | Clemson |
| Candystripes for Breakfast | Alabama | Washington | Clemson | Michigan |
| GoForThree | Michigan | Alabama | Clemson | Louisville |
| Graham Filler | Alabama | Clemson | Washington | Michigan |
| Insertname | Alabama | Michigan | Clemson | Washington |
| LincolnParkWildcat | Alabama | Michigan | Washington | Clemson |
| StewMonkey13 | Alabama | Michigan | Clemson | Ohio State |
Which leaves a Top 4 of the following:
| Rank | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama | 44 |
| 2 | Michigan | 22 |
| 3 | Washington | 18 |
| 4 | Clemson | 15 |
As expected, the four undefeated teams are the top teams for the playoffs. What gets interesting is if Clemson or Washington lose. Who is up next? Both Louisville and Ohio State received votes, so they’re the presumed five and six seed respectively. My personal vote would be to flip them considering Louisville needed a last minute play to win against Virginia but let’s hope we don’t go there.
This week gets pretty interesting for a few teams, let’s take a look:
- #1 Alabama takes on #15 LSU. Alabama should dominate this game. Alabama should win with ease. The problem is that rivalry’s never work that way, as witnessed by MSU holding Michigan to three points in the second half of last week’s game. I don’t think Alabama falls from the playoff even if they lose but this could shake things up and open up the case for other one loss teams.
- #6 Ohio State takes on #9 Nebraska. Again, Ohio State should win this game but their recent play says otherwise. They have most likely the second most talented team in the nation to Alabama but are young and struggling through some growing pains. The passing game needs to get back on track if they want to make some noise.
For reference, the nightmare scenario for the Big Ten is Ohio State winning out through The Game, which throws tie breaker scenarios in for both divisions and a potential two loss champion scenario for the Big Ten. What would the playoff committee do?