What's your prediction for the Final Four?

Notre Dame drops to 4 sitting out this weekend, Bama gets easy win on them and is in NC against anyone, we win it. Nick plays better in NC games better than any other team. getting ND first round almost 100% assures NC game for us. ND is not a top 10 team much less top 4. I doubt they could beat more than one or two top 10 teams. Sorry ND yu schedule is as big a joke as UCF's.

Bama v Notre Dame
Clemson v Oklahoma


That’s what it should be if you want to rank the best to worst.

It feels great waking up and already being in the playoffs. No extra prayers or staring at phones needed in church today!

twofbyc said:

I hope this is true. OU avenged it’s only loss and won its conference championship, while ND sat on its butt.
I think, though, there may be a desire to see Tua vs Murray, and unless it’s in a semi it probably won’t happen.
So it’s either that order or reverse 3 and 4. I see no other teams in the mix.
Unless the committee penalizes OU for not having a defense, which is possible.
Me? I wouldn’t mind UCF at 4; I do so want to shut them up for a while. The longer their false bravado lasts, the mystique it inspires could surpass Boise State of years ago. I’d prefer shutting it down sooner rather than later. Just dreaming here. [emoji854]


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While the media and fans might want to see “Tua vs Murray”, I would be completely surprised if the committee took that into their decision making. They have ignored all other intriguing storylines in the past when selecting the top 4. Doing so now would be a complete break from their established formula.

I think Georgia belongs in the top four, but to be honest, playing them keeps me on the edge of my seat and I'd just as soon not have to play them again this year.

I also hope Notre Dang gets humiliated again. It bothers me the way they've wimped out of a conference playoff over the years.

To be clear, no one can say with certainty that Georgia is one of the 4 best teams. We can guess that they might be, or even that they probably are, but they lost to both Alabama and LSU - getting blown out by LSU. So, yeah, maybe they are one of the four best teams, but maybe not. And that doubt is why W/L records have to count.

1. UCF
2.Alabama
3.Clemson
4.ND

Oh, wait, dang I woke up I was having a nightmare. This is what I meant.

1.Alabama
2.Clemson
3.ND
4.OU

1. Bama
2. Clemson
3. ND
4. Oklahoma

Could possible sneak in UGA but they can't put them in a first round rematch with us, so I think that is out the window. Unless the committee punishes ND for being independent and puts UGA #3 and ND #4.

Right now I'm watching Championship Drive on ESPN2 and their playoff predictor gives Ohio State a better chance than OU. I wonder what methodology they use.

I don’t want anymore of UGA this year plus, I just don’t think a 2 loss non conference champ should get in.

The regular season has to count, you just can’t ignore a loss because they looked great in their most recent loss. At some point, losing has to eliminate you. If they get in they are saying that the LSU game didn’t even matter, nor did the SECCG so, why bother playing these games if the results don’t matter.

If they only had 1 loss then yes, there in but, 2... I’m sorry that just doesn’t cut.

RammerJammer14 said:

While the media and fans might want to see “Tua vs Murray”, I would be completely surprised if the committee took that into their decision making. They have ignored all other intriguing storylines in the past when selecting the top 4. Doing so now would be a complete break from their established formula.

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However, if you look closer, they go for the guaranteed money.

2014 - Alabama vs Ohio State (NOT TCU)

And if we had won, it would have been the "everyone wants to see" Oregon-Alabama game


2015 - Alabama vs Old Coach's First Team, a showdown if OU won

(To be fair - this is the ONE time I might agree with you)

2016 - set up a potential rematch no matter what happened, either Alabama-Clemson or Alabama-Ohio St (nobody seriously thought Washington was going to win)

2017 - took the guaranteed money Clemson-Alabama in round one and set up either an All-SEC in Atlanta (BIG MONEY for tickets), Clemson-UGA (also big ticket money since it's in SC), or even OU-Alabama blue bloods match


This time around?

Alabama-Notre Dame is GUARANTEED money.
Alabama-Clemson IV is GUARANTEED money.
Alabama-Oklahoma is GUARANTEED money.

How do you set that up?

Match us up with the Irish and it's win/win so long as we win the game.
Then we get the Tua/Murray OR we get Round IV.

They'll insist it has nothing to do with it, but they're lying.

RammerJammer15 said:

Is there a chance that ND drops out like TCU did in 2014?

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I would say no, simply because they’re Notre Dame. Traditions aside, their SoS is stronger than TCU’s was, IIRC.
Don’t get me wrong - I don’t think they should be there. Everyone should play conference championships or no one should; their half-butt arrangement with the ACC is a joke.


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1. Alabama 2. Clemson 3. Oklahoma 4. Notre Dame. I believe GA gave us the best game as part of our playoff pre-game. We took their best shot and won the game. Good wake up for our team who has not really been challenged up to that point. It came at the right time and will help our team get in the right mindset to win another National Championship. Roll Tide.

RammerJammer14 said:

While the media and fans might want to see “Tua vs Murray”, I would be completely surprised if the committee took that into their decision making. They have ignored all other intriguing storylines in the past when selecting the top 4. Doing so now would be a complete break from their established formula.

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Well, if OU is put in at fourth, there will be those who think it did play a part.
That’s why I hoped Selma’s order will be correct.


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B1GTide said:

To be clear, no one can say with certainty that Georgia is one of the 4 best teams. We can guess that they might be, or even that they probably are, but they lost to both Alabama and LSU - getting blown out by LSU. So, yeah, maybe they are one of the four best teams, but maybe not. And that doubt is why W/L records have to count.

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As some sports talking heads not named Herbstreit have noted, they gave up a 14 point lead and lost by 7.
You have to beat the teams you play to be considered the best, and it should be a season-long endeavor; otherwise, a team could lose their first three games, come on like gangbusters and beat the brakes off of everyone else (including top ranked teams) not be eligible for a conference championship but say, at the end of the season, they are one of the four best teams in the country. Although they might be at that moment, they were not that good all season long and that has to matter or this whole thing is a total and complete farce.
How many losses are too many?


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selmaborntidefan said:

However, if you look closer, they go for the guaranteed money.

2014 - Alabama vs Ohio State (NOT TCU)

And if we had won, it would have been the "everyone wants to see" Oregon-Alabama game


2015 - Alabama vs Old Coach's First Team, a showdown if OU won

(To be fair - this is the ONE time I might agree with you)

2016 - set up a potential rematch no matter what happened, either Alabama-Clemson or Alabama-Ohio St (nobody seriously thought Washington was going to win)

2017 - took the guaranteed money Clemson-Alabama in round one and set up either an All-SEC in Atlanta (BIG MONEY for tickets), Clemson-UGA (also big ticket money since it's in SC), or even OU-Alabama blue bloods match


This time around?

Alabama-Notre Dame is GUARANTEED money.
Alabama-Clemson IV is GUARANTEED money.
Alabama-Oklahoma is GUARANTEED money.

How do you set that up?

Match us up with the Irish and it's win/win so long as we win the game.
Then we get the Tua/Murray OR we get Round IV.

They'll insist it has nothing to do with it, but they're lying.

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Haha, you are so cynical. I do agree that OSU jumping TCU was some blue-blood privilege. Anticipated revenue certainly could have played a roll.

The others, I can’t really recall who got left out, although I think OSU has been left out once or twice to teams like Washington who they were probably better than. I fully expected them to put Bama-Georgia together for round 1 last year due to SEC vs SEC, and the potential reduced viewing interest in a inter-conference, regional NC game. But they didn’t.

I was never for the playoff, but it has certainly helped us win at least 1 NC. What it is starting to turn into though imo is the same 5-6 team’s every post season. Clemson played OU in the semis in both 2015 and 2016. We have played Clemson 3 out of 4 times. Really the only rotating team has been #4. This year it looks like it could be Clemson-OU and/or Clemson- Bama AGAIN. The matchups are just getting...old.

I don’t think the committee is going to have a hard time honestly. It’s pretty simple this year. ESPN and the talking heads are desperately trying to drum up controversy because they want big ratings for their boring show that starts in a few hours.

UGA looked horrible against LSU, OSU looked horrible against Purdue. OU avenged their only loss. OU is in, simple. The committee’s biggest debate is where to put them, 3 or 4.

My guess

Bama
Clemson
OU
ND

UGA
OSU
UCF

Seems obvious to me.

1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Notre Dame
4. Oklahoma

Although I do think it’s possible to see Notre Dame and Oklahoma flip due to Notre Dame sitting at home yesterday.

This push to include Georgia is humorous and indicative of how good everyone thinks Alabama is. But the blowout loss to LSU is too much to overcome.

twofbyc said:

I would say no, simply because they’re Notre Dame. Traditions aside, their SoS is stronger than TCU’s was, IIRC.
Don’t get me wrong - I don’t think they should be there. Everyone should play conference championships or no one should; their half-butt arrangement with the ACC is a joke.


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You know, I think that this could be very interesting. The question (maybe I heard Heather Dinich too much this year) is what makes teams "comparable". I think that one could say that the extra game played by OU and OSU gives them the 12th win, which, by the way, is the exact same amount of wins that Notre Dame has.

So, if they are "comparable", then you go to the tiebreakers:

1) Conference Championships: OU - Check, OSU - Check, ND - Nope...
2) Common Opponents: As stated before, OSU had better results against Michigan AND Northwestern than did ND
3) Wins against current top 25: OU - 3, OSU - 3, ND - 3 (BTW, Clemson has 2, UGA has 3, and Bama has 5...)
Plus, this could change if Iowa State and Northwestern drop out of the rankings today...
4) Losses: ND - none, OU - 1, by 3 points to your biggest rival, OSU - 1, by 29 to a 6-6 Purdue team that lost at home to Missouri

If it were me, I'd probably put teams in this order:

1) Alabama
2) Oklahoma
3) Clemson
4) Ohio State

However, I think that it will be:

1) Alabama
2) Clemson
3) Oklahoma
4) Notre Dame