College Football Playoff: Stanford Killed The Chaos
By Ty Duffy
Stanford beating Notre Dame was bad for the playoff scenarios business. Despite David Shaw’s darndest efforts pocketing timeouts, that’s what happened. Heading into championship weekend, the picture appears rather settled.
Oklahoma is in. The Sooners blew out the Cowboys in Stillwater. They are 11-1 with the strongest résumé the Big 12 could have offered.
The Big Ten Champ is in. Iowa would be undefeated. Michigan State would have beaten Ohio State and Michigan away from home and lost on a bad call. Either is guaranteed a top four place.
The SEC Champ is probably in. Florida could beat Alabama and make things interesting. After limping past FAU and scoring two points against Florida State, that prospect appears unlikely. Don’t completely discount an 11-2 Florida from the S-E-C that just knocked off Bama.
That leaves the ACC. Clemson is a lock going in undefeated. A UNC upset – conceivable with Clemson only a (-5) favorite – is the only way things get interesting. That discussion would come down to…
- Stanford: 11-2 (with a USC win). Tough aggregate schedule, but Notre Dame likely the only ranked win.
- North Carolina: 12-1. Just beat the No. 1 team. That’s their only argument.
- Ohio State: 11-1. Probably the best team of the three, but only one ranked win and no conference championship.
Even that most chaotic of situations probably would not be much a debate. The path of least resistance would be to take Stanford, the conference title, and the tougher schedule. It’s probable the committee process will work flawlessly this year: four clear teams, no decision weightier than slotting bowl games.