Alabama Edges Miami for Final Bid in the Penultimate College Football Playoff Rankings
Ah, there it is. The penultimate edition of the CFP Rankings is out, but it’s quite confusing to make sense of it all. The addition of a 12-team College Football Playoff has been entertaining throughout its inaugural season, and we're trying to solve this puzzle in real time. Ohio State’s loss to Michigan last weekend hurt, but the Buckeyes are clearly in the field. It’s Alabama (3 losses), not Miami (2 losses), who has a foothold on the final spot in the projected bracket. Let's cause a racket.
The CFP Explained (Err… Sort Of)
The five highest-ranked conference winners will earn automatic bids to the CFP with the top four earning first-round byes. The CFP committee’s rankings do not directly correlate to the seeding of the bracket. Here's what that means: SMU (8) and Boise State (10) would get first-round byes, making them effectively the 3rd and 4th seeds in the bracket while pushing all other teams down into first-round games. Arizona State (15) is also theoretically in as the Big 12 winner and fifth conference champ, putting the cut line between #11 Alabama (IN) and #12 Miami (OUT). Make sense? Of course not.
🗣️ Making a Racket: If it were up to me, the committee would seed the top 12 teams regardless of conference and play ball. Alas, no one asked me to join the committee... another one of their questionable decisions. Here’s a look at the projected bracket followed by the 1-25 rankings.
Projected Automatic Bids (5): #1 Oregon (Big Ten), #2 Texas (SEC), #8 SMU (ACC), #10 Boise State (Mountain West) & #15 Arizona State (Big 12)
Projected At-Large Bids (7): #3 Penn State, #4 Notre Dame, #5 Georgia, #6 Ohio State, #7 Tennessee, #9 Indiana & #11 Alabama
College Football Playoff Rankings
1. Oregon (12-0) | --
2. Texas (11-1) | ↑1
3. Penn State (11-1) | ↑1
4. Notre Dame (11-1) | ↑1
5. Georgia (10-2) | ↑2
6. Ohio State (10-2) | ↓4
7. Tennessee (10-2) | ↑1
8. SMU (11-1) | ↑1
9. Indiana (11-1) | ↑1
10. Boise State (11-1) | ↑1
11. Alabama (9-3) | ↑2
12. Miami (10-2) | ↓4
Rest of the Top-25: 13. Ole Miss (9-3), 14. South Carolina (9-3), 15. Arizona State (10-2), 16. Iowa State (10-2), 17. Clemson (9-3), 18. BYU (10-2), 19. Missouri (9-3), 20. UNLV (10-2), 21. Illinois (9-3), 22. Syracuse (9-3), 23. Colorado (9-3), 24. Army (10-1), 25. Memphis (10-2)
📊 Poll: Which team do you think was most deserving of the final spot? (click to vote) -- Alabama | Miami | South Carolina | Ole Miss
