Final Playoff Rankings Thread

[Jens1893]

Discuss here

 

[Big Jim]

1) Clemson
2) Georgia
3) Oklahoma
4) Alabama

 

[Jens1893]

 

[Johnny Juzang]

Southern Cal had a tougher schedule than alabama or osu. And more top 30 wins. And no bye week. And were more drpleted by injury.

 

[Sykobuff]

Fowler, herbstreit and espn talking usc and how they deserve more discussion.

Some feel Alabama is a better team and ohio state losing so bad to iowa.
But, ohio st won their conference.

Either way, people gonna be upset.

 

[Jens1893]

Fowler, herbstreit and espn talking usc and how they deserve more discussion.

Some feel Alabama is a better team and ohio state losing so bad to iowa.
But, ohio st won their conference.

Either way, people gonna be upset.

This is compelling on so many levels. 2 of the biggest brands in college football, the 2 coaches with the biggest name, the 2 most popular conferences, North v South ...

 

[dio]

No 2 sec teams

 

[hawg1]

Just pick the one favored by Vegas.

That would be Bama.

 

[manhattanbuff]

1. Clemson. They don’t just hold serve. Clemson embarassed Miami. #1 team coming in looked like they are truly the best team in FBS.

2. Georgia. The Dawgs found redemption in a monster win in Atlanta against an Auburn team who were the source of UGA’s only defeat. Found their mojo with 238 yards on the ground.

3. Oklahoma. Barely nudged by UGA, OU comes in red hot with the best offensive player in the country on fire with huge plays and loads of TDs. OU has huge wins against good teams. Their matchup against UGA will be mouthwatering.

4. Alabama. Their only loss was on the road in a rivalry game versus a very strong Auburn club. Ultimately, that loss is less of a resume killer than the 31 point smooth beating an unranked Iowa team administered on tOSU in Iowa City.

 

[azbuff]

Ohio State's win tonight was not as impressive as it needed to be. Alabama is the better team. Manhattanbuf pretty much has it right.

 

[Buffnik]

I'd rank them:

1 - Oklahoma
2 - Clemson
3 - Georgia
4 - USC

I'll take Oklahoma dismantling Ohio State on the road and a 7pt loss to Iowa State over Clemson's close win over Auburn and 3pt loss at Syracuse.

Georgia's a no-brainer at 3 for me. Avenged its only loss and had a nice win at Notre Dame. But they didn't even catch Alabama or LSU on the SEC schedule this year and GA Tech was bad, so there's not enough meat on that bone to jump the other 2.

Alabama has wins over LSU and Miss State (dominant in neither), lost to Auburn and didn't even win its division. Ohio State lost by 31 at Iowa and had that humbling home performance against Oklahoma. Credit for gagging out a win against Penn State they shouldn't have and lots of credit for beating a very solid Wisconsin team that played nobody (so we still have no idea if they're all that good).

USC played 9 conference games and added Western Michigan (Cotton Bowl New Year's Six last season), Texas and @Notre Dame for the non-conference on top of that. Didn't have a bye week all season. Lost at Wazzu (#16 at the time, not sure where they are now) by 3 on a Friday night after they'd had to play on the road 6 days earlier. Lost at Notre Dame (#13 at the time - bad loss by 35) the week after playing Utah, which we know takes a lot out of team with how physical they are. Two good wins over Stanford. Only had 3 games against non bowl teams: 5-7 Cal, 5-7 CU and a ****ty 1-11 OSU. That's a damn difficult slate to play over 13 straight weeks with no bye. Bama had a bye before playing LSU and a quasi bye (Mercer) before playing Auburn. OSU got a bye before its game with Penn State (PSU had to play Michigan the week before)... a game that took so much out of them we saw the next week's result against Iowa. They even got Illinois the week ahead of the Michigan rivalry. If people look more closely at the schedules and what teams had to go through to achieve their records, I think it's pretty clear that USC was ****ed by the schedule makers while Bama & OSU had the table set for them.

I don't think there's anything close to a clear #4 and I'm tempted to put UCF in that slot because of that. But sticking to P5 teams and believing strongly that conference championships matter (which knocks Alabama out since they're not obviously better), I think USC has the best resume after the top 3.

 

[ahoelsken]

1. Clemson. They don’t just hold serve. Clemson embarassed Miami. #1 team coming in looked like they are truly the best team in FBS.

2. Georgia. The Dawgs found redemption in a monster win in Atlanta against an Auburn team who were the source of UGA’s only defeat. Found their mojo with 238 yards on the ground.

3. Oklahoma. Barely nudged by UGA, OU comes in red hot with the best offensive player in the country on fire with huge plays and loads of TDs. OU has huge wins against good teams. Their matchup against UGA will be mouthwatering.

4. Alabama. Their only loss was on the road in a rivalry game versus a very strong Auburn club. Ultimately, that loss is less of a resume killer than the 31 point smooth beating an unranked Iowa team administered on tOSU in Iowa City.

Completely agree, but I've got OU and Georgia flipped. That's a conversation over who gets to wear their home uniforms in the Rose Bowl.....and not much else.

 

[FlaBuff]

UCF.

Because screw your facist P-5 cartel.

 

[buffaholic]

USC bad loss vs ND is too much to overcome.
Same with the tOSU loss at Iowa.

 

[Alfred91]

I hate Alabama getting in as a non-conference champ, but they're getting in over two 2-loss teams, even if Ohio State and USC won their conferences.

I get the argument for USC, but if Ohio State's win over #4 and previously unbeaten Wisconsin wasn't good enough, then how can you say USC's win over Stanford was?

 

[LaserDeathHawk]

Colorado. The Buffs should the last one in. For God’s sake guys

 

[somebody]

I hate Alabama getting in as a non-conference champ, but they're getting in over two 2-loss teams, even if Ohio State and USC won their conferences.

I get the argument for USC, but if Ohio State's win over #4 and previously unbeaten Wisconsin wasn't good enough, then how can you say USC's win over Stanford was?

Wrong-thinking, people have blasted Wisconsin for weaker schedule all year long but bama gets a pass? Conference championships should be highly considered.

 

[SINKRATZ]

Something tells me the Pac 12's lack in national exposure is going to hurt USC and they won't really have a chance (though they should).

Ohio State has 2 pretty ugly losses, I mean does anyone really want to see an Ohio State- Oklahoma rematch? They got waxed in the first game at home.

Alabama's schedule wasn't really all that difficult, but they have one loss, which you would consider a decent loss compared to Ohio State and I just think they're the better team.

 

[Alfred91]

Wrong-thinking, people have blasted Wisconsin for weaker schedule all year long but bama gets a pass? Conference championships should be highly considered.

I don't think any non-conference champs should get in. But the committee has already shown that they don't always care about that, just see Ohio State and Penn State last year.

Alabama is one of the best teams in the country every year. They're ranked 5 in the most recent poll. They're getting in, no matter what we think of it.

 

[14er]

8 team playoff would be fun, but I digest.

Bama is the better team.

Clemson wins it all.

 

[manhattanbuff]

I don’t think a team can be considered one of the nation’s 4 best teams if they lose any of their games by 30+ points.

 

[onealcd]

It’s about wins. Ohio’s State has more big wins than Alabama and deserves to be in. You already know Alabama isn’t the best team in the sec and Georgia is going to get another team from another conference. USC doesn’t have the wins this year either.

Clemson, Georgia, Oklahoma and Ohio State should be in and the whole “best 4 teams” crap is realistic.

 

[onealcd]

The committee also needs to send a huge a message to the SEC that the 8 game conference schedule and these bull**** late season fcs games need to be addressed.

 

[Buffnik]

I don’t think a team can be considered one of the nation’s 4 best teams if they lose any of their games by 30+ points.

That's fair.

And I'd say that I can't consider a team one of the 4 best if it can't win its division over a team that isn't one of the nation's 4 best.

I'd be much more supportive of Alabama if Auburn had won the SEC instead of finishing as a 3 loss team.

 

[SINKRATZ]

It’s about wins. Ohio’s State has more big wins than Alabama and deserves to be in. You already know Alabama isn’t the best team in the sec and Georgia is going to get another team from another conference. USC doesn’t have the wins this year either.

Clemson, Georgia, Oklahoma and Ohio State should be in and the whole “best 4 teams” crap is realistic.

How can a team that lost by 30 to Iowa be one of the best 4 in the country? I'm all for rewarding conference championships, but they got whipped at home to one of the top 4 already. Alabama and Ohio State both beat 3 top 25 teams.

And I'm not sure everyone would agree that Alabama isn't the best team in the SEC.

 

[Buffnik]

The committee also needs to send a huge a message to the SEC that the 8 game conference schedule and these bull**** late season fcs games need to be addressed.

This is a huge point.

It's one thing if you schedule like Georgia with its 4 non-conference games. They played Notre Dame and the Georgia Tech rivalry game plus App State and Samford. Two P5s, a quality G5 and an FCS is a reasonable schedule. They've played 10 games against P5 competition in the regular season.

Alabama? They played Florida State (which turned out to be very mediocre this year, but I don't hold that against Bama). After that, it's 2 G5 teams at home and an FCS home game. They've only played 9 games against P5 competition.

So let's compare Alabama with its 9 P5 opponents vs Ohio State and USC. I think this is a HUGE point when comparing 1 loss to 2 losses.

Ohio State: Oklahoma plus 2 G5s in its non-conference + 9 Big Ten games. Then a conference championship. They've played 11 real games.

USC: Texas and Notre Dame plus 1 G5 in its non-conference + 9 Pac-12 games. Then a conference championship. They've played 12 real games.

That has to matter for the same reasons that the committee was penalizing Wisconsin for its schedule (3 G5s so they only played 9 real games - same as Alabama). But Wisconsin played a 10th in its conference championship. If we're going to play the Alabama argument, Wisconsin should be the 4th team in since they went 9-1 in real games as opposed to Alabama's 8-1. Wins over Northwestern, Iowa and Michigan are as good as wins over Florida State, LSU and Mississippi State, then Wisconsin was more competitive in its Ohio State loss than Alabama was in its Auburn loss.

I really don't know what Alabama's argument is.

 

[SINKRATZ]

That's fair.

And I'd say that I can't consider a team one of the 4 best if it can't win its division over a team that isn't one of the nation's 4 best.

I'd be much more supportive of Alabama if Auburn had won the SEC instead of finishing as a 3 loss team.

Georgia lost to the same 3-loss Auburn team and lost badly. The only difference is they were in a much weaker division and got a shot to play then again. Alabama not winning its division sounds much worse than it was.

 

[Buffnik]

P.S. If the number of games against P5 competition and the grind of a season don't matter, then UCF should be the 4th team. It's an obvious choice if your only criteria is going to be record and eyeball test in its wins.

 

[Buffnik]

Georgia lost to the same 3-loss Auburn team and lost badly. The only difference is they were in a much weaker division and got a shot to play then again. Alabama not winning its division sounds much worse than it was.

Alabama should have played more than 9 games if it wanted to be able to lose.

 

[onealcd]

How can a team that lost by 30 to Iowa be one of the best 4 in the country? I'm all for rewarding conference championships, but they got whipped at home to one of the top 4 already. Alabama and Ohio State both beat 3 top 25 teams.

And I'm not sure everyone would agree that Alabama isn't the best team in the SEC.

The committee has shown it cares about wins, Alabama has two top 25 wins over LSU and Mississippi State which is really nothing compared to Penn State, Michigan State and Wisconsin and a loss to what is probably going to be the number one team in the country. Then you look and see the schedule Ohio State player compared to Alabama and it doesn’t really compare imo. Yes they had a bad game against Iowa on the road but that doesn’t mean that alabama is better. I actually think the eye test lends itself to Ohio State too, Alabama has been struggling down the stretch with all of their injuries on defense and a mediocre passing qb.

And I don’t really care who sec fans think is the best team, bama was clearly beat by auburn after their both had their mid season “bye” week and that same auburn team was dominated a week later, there is no argument here.