College Football Playoff: Potential Outsiders Who Could Make It
The College Football Playoff bracket has room for an outsider. Michigan and Ohio State face off in what might be as well be a national championship playoff game. One of those Big Ten teams will come out of Saturday with a loss and will fall into a “tie” with a collection of other one-loss teams.
If Georgia, Ohio State or Michigan, and TCU can finish their seasons undefeated, they’ll be guaranteed a spot in the four-team bracket. That will leave the committee to decide amongst a collection of one (or two) loss teams. Let’s take a look at some teams who could potentially fill that spot – and deliver a compelling game to the national audience.
USC Trojans
Currently sitting at #5 in the playoff rankings are the University of Southern California Trojans. The Trojans are 10-1 on the season and 8-1 in the conference. Their only loss on the season came against Utah in overtime on the road.
There are compelling reasons to select them for the playoff. They’re the 2nd ranked total offense in Division I. They put up 40 points a game easily and would be an entertaining matchup against any of the undefeated teams in the bracket. They are led by Caleb Williams, who should be a top candidate for the Heisman this year.
The Oklahoma transfer reunited with his old coach Lincoln Riley at USC, and the results have been spectacular. Williams has 33 TDs and 3 interceptions on the season. The Trojans will need to win their last game against ranked Notre Dame this Saturday, and not stumble in the Pac-12 championship game.
Clemson Tigers
It’s not January college football without Dabo Swinney. Clemson is most likely the class of the ACC and sits at #7 in the college football rankings. They would need a certain amount of chaos to happen to leapfrog some of the other teams in the rankings, but they have put up an excellent season in a tough conference.
The Tigers have beaten ranked teams Wake Forest, NC State, and Syracuse. The only loss on their record is a road loss at Notre Dame. Ironically enough, they would need Notre Dame to play spoiler for them against USC to bolster their case for the college football playoff.
SEC Potential Outsiders: LSU
Alabama & LSU are hovering around the edges of the college football playoff too. We’ve all seen those scenarios over the years where a major SEC clash occurs and it shapes the playoff for most of the regular season. When conference championship game time comes around, an undefeated team can take a loss and set the whole playoff bracket off.
The possibility for that exists in the SEC. Right now, it looks like LSU and Georgia would face off in the SEC Championship. Although they are a 2-loss team, having a win like beating undefeated Georgia would certainly improve their resume with the College Football Playoff committee.
Read more football news.
