Poll: Week 8 Poll (AP Poll)

21 in both polls. Better than we deserve.

AUDub said:

21 in both polls. Better than we deserve.

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You really think so? Look at the teams behind you. Do you really believe that they would beat you on the field?

B1GTide said:

You really think so? Look at the teams behind you. Do you really believe that they would beat you on the field?

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One of them did.

It looks like the committee shouldn't have too much trouble selecting the playoff teams since many of the top 15 will have to play each other. Right now the PAC 12 would be the conference shut out. I don't see ND becoming a factor because they must still play 4 ranked teams and the odds are they lose at least one of those.

Clemson still in great position to make the playoff if they win out. I think only Auburn truly eliminated themselves in this upset heavy weekend. Washington and Washington St are functionally alive but their resume really works against them if there are 4 or more 1-loss power conference champions. USC really needs to beat Notre Dame but ND not to fall apart.

A lot can change but it sure does look like this is the long and short of the playoff race (no particular order on these slots):

CFP slot 1: Alabama v. Georgia
CFP slot 2: Penn St v. Wisconsin v. Ohio State
CFP slot 3: TCU v. Oklahoma v. Oklahoma St
CFP slot 4: Miami v. Clemson v. Virginia Tech v. North Carolina State

Notre Dame beating USC could change things and I wonder what "slot" gets the short stick to make way for ND if they finish 11-1.

I'm officially putting it out there. If Clemson doesn't lose anymore and Georgias only loss is to a (fingers crossed) undefeated Bama team in the SEC championship game, Clemson still gets put ahead of Georgia.

Whatever can be done to avoid two SEC in the playoffs

I'm always looking ahead, and right now I'd draw the line at the top 13 in terms of teams that pose a threat to Alabama (both in the playoffs and with the committee). Right now things are shaping up for even a one loss Alabama team to get in, but I'd be scared of seeing how that might compare to the ranking of one loss Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Clemson, or Ohio State.

Notre Dame is a team to watch. They have USC and Miami coming up. Either they bolster another resume, or they could end up with a pretty good one themselves. Either way I'll be cheering for a few of those teams to lose against unranked opponents, Miami, Oklahoma, and USC all could have lost yesterday and that would have absolutely paved Alabama's path to the playoffs.

B1GTide said:

You really think so? Look at the teams behind you. Do you really believe that they would beat you on the field?

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AU is probably better, but Stanford and WVU could play with them. LSU already has beaten them - though AU is probably the better team at this point. IMO, AU is a good team, but they were a bit overrated. They have beaten no good teams and one decent team (MSU). The rest were bad to terrible. They are still getting a lot of credit for losing close to Clemson. IMO, too much. Their D is good but not elite - Kevin Steele is their DC. Stidham falters against a good D and especially on the road. They are probably ranked about right. They could easily lose 3 more in the regular season and will likely lose 2 of them.

I don't see a 4-team playoff with multiple teams from the same conference happening because the playoff was imagined as way to spread the wealth and randomness of champions. The old system coalesced around Southern team (SEC or ACC) v. rest of the country national title game and the hope was to increase the odds for the rest of the country. Half the field may end up being from the South through the SEC and ACC every year but I can nearly guarantee that there will not be a second ACC or SEC in that group of four.

The best thing about all this is, the remaining games will expose the posers By the end we will know who is good and who is and was over rated. The fact Notre dame is even mentioned at all floors me. They had one shot in 2012 and showed their scheduling props them up. When they met a real team they were shown for what they are, mid pack mid level has been. If they played any real top 5 team they would get killed. Let it go pollsters, you handed them a shot and they folded.

rgw said:

I don't see a 4-team playoff with multiple teams from the same conference happening because the playoff was imagined as way to spread the wealth and randomness of champions. The old system coalesced around Southern team (SEC or ACC) v. rest of the country national title game and the hope was to increase the odds for the rest of the country. Half the field may end up being from the South through the SEC and ACC every year but I can nearly guarantee that there will not be a second ACC or SEC in that group of four.

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Yeah maybe but a one loss UGA losing only to number one is better than any 2 loss conference champ. The best 4 teams should get in no matter what conference, or how many from one conference go.Is it to hard to understand that 2 top 4 teams can be from one conference? Better a one loss non conference champ that is actually good than a 2 loss conference champ that gets killed first round.

rgw said:

I don't see a 4-team playoff with multiple teams from the same conference happening because the playoff was imagined as way to spread the wealth and randomness of champions. The old system coalesced around Southern team (SEC or ACC) v. rest of the country national title game and the hope was to increase the odds for the rest of the country. Half the field may end up being from the South through the SEC and ACC every year but I can nearly guarantee that there will not be a second ACC or SEC in that group of four.

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Only happens if multiple P5 conference winners have 2 or more losses. This is certainly possible this year.

IMO, at this point, OSU looks like the only serious threat to Bama. Any of the playoff teams could beat them, but it would be a surprise, unless it was OSU who is beginning to looking formidable. Maybe it's because of a soft schedule to this point ? I believe they will likely run the table to the playoffs. They supposedly have an elite DL. The secondary is inexperienced but improving.

tattooguy21 said:

I'm officially putting it out there. If Clemson doesn't lose anymore and Georgias only loss is to a (fingers crossed) undefeated Bama team in the SEC championship game, Clemson still gets put ahead of Georgia.

Whatever can be done to avoid two SEC in the playoffs

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What would be really interesting is to have this scenario:

Undefeated SEC Champ Alabama
Undefeated B1G Champ Penn State
Undefeated Big 12 Champ TCU

and then the following from which to choose for the fourth spot:
1-loss Georgia
1-loss Notre Dame
2-loss ACC Champ Clemson
2-loss PAC 12 Champ USC

uafan4life said:

What would be really interesting is to have this scenario:

Undefeated SEC Champ Alabama
Undefeated B1G Champ Penn State
Undefeated Big 12 Champ TCU

and then the following from which to choose for the fourth spot:
1-loss Georgia
1-loss Notre Dame
2-loss ACC Champ Clemson
2-loss PAC 12 Champ USC

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ND would get in unless the GA loss to Alabama was by a whisker.

B1GTide said:

ND would get in unless the GA loss to Alabama was by a whisker.

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Meaning head-to-head means nothing.