BYU basically has to win their conference to make it imo. Even total utter chaos happens a loss would kill them vs TT.
The Bama thing is what I keep going back to. Does the committee punish Bama if they lose the SECCG? Say to UGA and it happens convincingly. Does the committee punish UGA if they make it and lose to GT and whoever they play?
This is where ND and their schedule becomes problematic. Losses to two CFP level teams. One win vs a CFP level team. We share an insane amount of opponents with them. If the results are similar and we have the H2H, how can you justify them in over us?
But the bigger issue and why I think the SEC might go nuclear on ND. Why should Bama be punished in favor of us or ND? If say things shake out to where we are #11. Bama is #10 and ND is #9. Bama loses to someone in the SECCG. Does Bama drop below us? The committee would essentially be rewarding us and ND for not playing in a conference title game. If they don’t, they have to make a decision, does H2H weigh more than who you lost to. The SEC would have to stake a case for either who you did beat matter or who beat you for Bama. I’d imagine they’d pick who you beat. Which benefits us. They’d tout Bama beating UGA, Vandy, Mizzou, Tennessee over losses because then it opens up the FSU conversation. The minute Bama touts wins it benefits us. Indirectly.
But idk. I’m so far down this CFP rabbit hole rn I’m confusing myself.
Hahaha I am in the same boat. So many permutations and combinations. Say what you will about conference tiebreakers but those are an organized method of determining rank unlike the crystal ball and curtains process going on here.
Last year the committee had it easy because both of the XII teams had two losses going into the game. None of them were even ranked in the top 15 before ASU’s victory. This year they face the challenge of possibly having two one loss teams in there. They didn’t knock out 11-2 SMU so I am reluctant to state that a 11-2 TT gets knocked out.
I believe a 11-2 TT would get in over a 10-3 Bama team; BYU winning the XII. If TT wins the XII, Bama goes 10-3 with a close loss to A&M; Bama still gets in, imo.
I feel like they are trying to prepare for that scenario by avoiding the repeat of last year; which is why Bama is above BYU whose “good loss,” not only is better than Bama’s; but they additionally have no bad losses!
I cannot tell if they are going to ***** us over two years in a row. I don’t see them putting Bama above Notre Dame after losing to A&M or the week after they beat Auburn.
I think they want the Big12 to hold off Miami because we are directly comparable to alabama’s superior as well as indirectly to Bama since we beat FSU. Because if Utah and BYU holds off Miami, they buy time before say BYU and Bama both lose in conference championship games; they get to keep their list as static as can be. Why bump Miami for not playing in a CCG will be their propaganda line. Swapping out UVA/SMU/GT as the ACC conference champion in place of Miami.
It’s a super small thing; but we will be helped if North Texas wins out & beats Tulane. Their only loss is to USF. Now, the committee would be staring at a scenario wherein the last three teams in — have lost to Miami or lost to a team Miami beat. That’s ugly and damning after last year’s fiasco.
History tells us **** near impossible for the dozen teams ahead of us to go 24-0 these next two weeks. But who knows. If it does happen; it would have been three weeks straight of the chair guy pestered about Miami.
Im not sure the committee/larger media/NCAA-CFB world could accept such a blantant rigging where head to head and common opponents dissipate. It’s bad for the sport, and it would be used as an example consistently in ways that the Travis/FSU/Bama and Clemson/Miami/Bama scenarios could not be used.
It seems like for all intents and purposes, they’re expecting Bama to be this year’s UGA and beat A&M to be Texas; then only put us in if BYU loses; but if BYU wins, we’re out and Tech would still get in. This is where ASU being ranked at 25 while SMU and Louisville are unranked means something.
GT beating UGA then losing in the conference championship game is their true nightmare scenario for them.