This is why I haven't chimed in. I think we win out...and I pick Auburn to win this weekend against a battered ole miss team.
We will get our chance against Auburn.
The Barn vs. The Rebels: Who you pulling for?
- Thread starter bradley30
- Start date
This is why I haven't chimed in. I think we win out...and I pick Auburn to win this weekend against a battered ole miss team.
We will get our chance against Auburn.
I said that knowing the committee has special provisions for ND along with conference champions. To me that is total bull, but you may have something here. Maybe, just maybe, they're enough people on the committee that realize ND is getting an automatic pass for playing 5 teams from the mighty acc. That's less games than F$U is having to battle through.
The specific quote I heard was tie breaker. So, what about the Big 12? They don't play a championship game, so I guess we can set them aside. Notre Dame doesn't play a conference championship either nor can they be champions. That now means we are talking about 4 conference champs. Let's just give FSU an undefeated season, that leaves 3 conference champs. It's entirely possible that there are no one loss conference champs, but we are assuming that the SEC, Pac 12, and Big 10 all have viable candidates.
Let's look at the AP poll.
#5 Oregon. Their SoS is 34 and they have a signature win with Michigan State. They have a legitimate chance of getting in, but the SoS gap is in no way going to be made up by a conference championship game. They are basically the best shot other conferences have though and I think have the best shot after SEC teams.
#8 Michigan State. At this point their signature game is a loss. Their SoS is a dreadful 63 (committee criteria). Promoting them all the way to four, without a lot of losses in front of them would involve flaunting of the publicly announced committee criteria.
#7 Ole Miss/#9 Georgia. Ole Miss has a 7 SoS, and Georgia has a 22 SoS. There's no question if either of those teams win out, they'll have the best resume of the 1 loss conference champions.
The main problem the committee has is positioning. It's not simply wanting to move Alabama down, it's how they position those other teams. If the first poll comes out, and Georgia, Michigan State, Notre Dame, and Oregon are all ahead of Alabama, then we have cause for concern, because of obvious bias. But, if they don't do that, as I've said, they're stuck.
The argument is that the committee might sit on their hands and then vote a straight ballot for conference champions. They won't be able to justify that, not to the other members of the committee, and not to the public. Let's take Michigan State for example, already a soft schedule, they have may be two more ranked teams upcoming and that's counting their championship game. So, the idea is that those two ranked teams will somehow form a more compelling argument than beating 1/4/17, which sounds like a date but is actually the AP ranking of upcoming Alabama opponents.
If you just ignore Alabama's resume, which the committee might do in their first ranking, you can come up with something that says Alabama doesn't deserve in. But, right now Alabama has an SoS of 3. They also have, by far, tougher upcoming opponents than any other non-SEC team, and this includes conference championship games. So, you're saying there really might be a scenario in which everyone in the room says who did you have ranked #3 last week? "Alabama". Who played the toughest schedule? "Alabama". Who had players hurt in their loss? "Alabama" Who beat the most ranked teams? "Alabama". Ok, but the other team won their conference championship game, so let's ignore all of that. If they're that bad, they won't bother ranking Alabama high at all, they'll make their job easier and screw them over starting at week one.
Perhaps the most annoying thing in all of this is the argument that both Notre Dame and conference champs automatically get in. What some people might not be aware of, is that along with a tepid alliance with the Big 12, the SEC allied with Notre Dame in the discussions to resist conference championship requirements. Notre Dame is a partial member of the ACC and they lost to FSU. They might go to a playoff, but only if the committee considers something other than conference champions.
I don't think Alabama wins out, I never did. The deck is stacked against them, too many factors can cause them to lose a game (injuries, turnovers, officiating, etc...), and their margin for error is very low.
Personally, my angst is simply with the committee and the many people who for one reason or another argue that the committee's only job is to pick conference champions. That's wrong on so many levels and if it does occur, it will be a perversion of the post season. I honestly want to see a one loss non-SEC champ Alabama team because I want to see them make their mind up now. If they're going to ruin college football, let's get it over with and let it be known from the start. Make them decide it now, if they get to decide down the road, once most fans have become playoff zombies, it's much more likely they get away with it.
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Some either haven't heard this, or read the General's interview, or are choosing to ignore both. As you say, the rankings that come out tonight will tell us all we need to know. There is still a lot of football left to be played and it's all moot if Bama doesn't win out. If they are ranked 5 (like the CBS poll), and beat numbers 1 and 3, no way they get left out. No way. I am not certain they won't put ND ahead of Bama, and CBS having the ducks at 10 is, well, lets just say, funny. But if Bama wins out, look at the number of teams in the Top 10 - Top 20 they will have beaten; I think more than anyone else.
I agree and it is an easy decision. We need Ole Sis to lose and we control our destiny against everybody else. I will be pulling hard for the Barn on Sat.
Right on. The only thing that matters to us is beating LSU which will be a big challenge. Then we have to beat the number one team. Then we have to beat an outstanding AU team. Besides ole miss could lose two more. AU will beat them and so will Miss St.
I can't root for the barn, just not in my makeup. I hope they loose and Ole Sis will fall again.
Ok, all you fellow Bama fans pulling for Ole Miss, you need to check yourselves!!!!!!! Looking at the rankings if Ole Miss wins out, we are toast. You need to put your hatred for our rival aside and pull for what helps Bama! We need Auburn to take out Ole Miss then we can take care of Auburn. I mean really, are you a Bama fan or an anti Auburn fan?!?!?!
Toast? The committee kind of threw a curve by making quality wins their main criteria, but Alabama's schedule is loaded with 3 potential quality wins, and two of those would give them a head to head edge. Even if Oregon stays ahead, Alabama can play their way to 4th, and if the committee stays true to valuing quality wins, they'll jump Oregon as well.
Alabama's only quality win at the moment is WVU, the Texas A&M win has become devalued unfortunately. Oregon has two quality wins. But, Alabama has three potential quality wins on their schedule, and Oregon only has one. If you add to that the fact that Alabama has two top ten upcoming, Oregon's resume really won't stack up.
Of course I'd have preferred they went with the AP rankings, or even the computer rankings, but I still contend that Alabama can play their way in and does not need a bit of help.
We are toast IMO if Ole Miss wins out. With Oregon's ranking, the committee is pretty serious about conference champs. Ole Miss wins out, we are out of the SEC Championship. Why take a chance and pull for Ole Miss just because of the hatred for AU? All we need is AU to win and we control our destiny.
Already said it earlier in thread, but after the rankings I am 100% hoping (not pulling for) Auburn wins. There is no other way to look at it from an Alabama perspective.
I've been arguing here since the week of the Ole Miss loss that Alabama had a clear path to the playoff. Nothing, not one thing, since then has changed that and from the start I was willing to accept both FSU and Ole Miss not losing.
We can say Oregon is ahead because they might be conference champs, but they're one of four one loss Pac-12 teams. You know where they ranked the others? 12, 14, and 17. In other words, they put all their eggs in the Oregon basket. Same with Michigan State, you can say sure they win and they're in, but Ohio State is all the way down at 16. If Ohio State wins, then what of their conference champ stuff? Ohio State winning is kind of a double whammy though, since it also devalues Oregon's win. Even if you buy into the conference champ stuff, their eggs are all in three baskets. Oregon, Michigan State, and TCU. Mind you, that's who I said they'd probably have to wager on, but if either of those teams stumble, they probably take their conference's playoff hopes with them. Two of those teams though, two (three if you count Ole Miss) of them have to move/stay ahead of Alabama to keep Alabama out.
At least we've laid the Notre Dame talk to rest for now.
How did that feel? I think I would throw up in my mouth if I said those two words...
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