From Playoff Come Big Payoffs

How did Florida get in over MI in 2006 and Alabama win it all in 2011 without winning its own division in the SEC?

The Pac-12 won’t be sending a team to the championship game, unless Florida and North Carolina win theirs, and maybe even then they won’t.

Let’s take them one at a time, shall we? But sometimes, less is more.

We’ll see how Herbstreit’s selections compare to the College Football Playoff committee’s rankings when they come out Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN. All have serious enough faults to preclude them from playing for the national title. More on that later.

This year’s field will be set if the nation’s top two teams simply do their jobs. “Belief in the work we put in, belief in our preparation, belief in our struggles – belief that our struggles helped us to be a better team”. It would be interesting to see whether Stanford’s credentials – two losses but seven quality wins, including one vs. Notre Dame and three more vs. UCLA or USC plus a Pac-12 title – might be enough to supplant the Big 12 champ. Barely scraping by underachieving rival SC on Saturday won’t knock Clemson from its lofty perch, mainly because the Tigers are one of only two remaining unbeaten teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision, what we all used to call Division I. North Carolina could upset Clemson in Charlotte. The Tar Heels are dogged by their season-opening loss against what turned out to be a disappointing SC team. As the rankings stand, Alabama and Oklahoma would face off in this semifinal. The Crimson Tide has a date with Florida to decide the victor of the Southeastern Conference on Saturday. The Sooners will sit tight while they wait for the playoffs to start.

The screaming matches have turned to Georgia, which fired Mark Richt on Sunday after he only averaged 10 wins per season for 15 years. Quality wins: Oklahoma State, Baylor, TCU. (Like Notre Dame, the Sooners would also presumably prevail over a 2-loss SEC or Big Ten champ.) Otherwise, win impressively in Bedlam, and hope the committee picks the Sooners over the Irish. Of course, had Notre Dame beaten Stanford on Saturday, we would have had a juicy debate.

The Sooners took care of business, wining 58-23 behind a monster day from quarterback Baker Mayfield and the two-headed ground game onslaught of Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon, both of whom ran for more than one hundred yards. Up next is the ACC title game against North Carolina, who has played an exceedingly weak schedule but nonetheless will come into the game on a roll. Otherwise, beat FSU, have Alabama lose to Auburn, and then beat either Alabama or Mississippi (if Ole Miss beats Mississippi State) to win the SEC title, and hope for the best.

No. 5 Michigan State blew out an overmatched Penn State 55-16 thanks to several big plays, including two defensive touchdowns.

The Cardinal can not end up in the Foster Farms (again), and for that both parties are probably thankful. Quality wins: Ohio State, Oregon, Michigan.

■Michigan State (11-1, CFP rank – 5): The Spartans have been in must-win position ever since losing at Nebraska on November 7, and that doesn’t change now.

However, if Clemson or Alabama fall in their respective conference title games, the playoff picture could get very complicated. Notre Dame enters the contest at 10-1, while Stanford is 9-2.

Baylor (9-2): The Bears could beat Texas 100-0 this weekend and still remain on the outside looking in.

Coaches are getting canned while getting haircuts while Oklahoma is resting comfortably only weeks after a loss to Texas that, in today’s toxic environment, might have also gotten Bob Stoops fired. ClemsonLast Week: No. 1… There’s a less-than-nil chance that the selection committee doesn’t have a member of the “Best Conference in America” in their tournament.

One of the trickier points is that while the committee says a loss is a loss is a loss, it appears they do judge losses a little differently. That was important because Navy is one of Notre Dame’s most impressive wins this season.

For aNewDomain, I’m Rodney Campbell. Unreal when you consider that Miles is 110-32 as the Tigers’ head coach, including a national championship in 2007.