Oklahoma Sooners shouldn’t be in 2015 College Football Playoff

The Buckeyes, the defending national champions, are nearly guaranteed to be left out of this year’s playoff semifinals unless several teams tumble this weekend. Northwestern came in at #14 this week with a 10-2 record, (Another example of a major bounce back year for the Big 10) but the Badgers have fallen out of the rankings.

For the team, that loss was a wake-up call and they still believed its goals were in reach whether they were getting the publicity out or not. You can whine, but it’s tough to argue with Alabama coming in at #2. Most sensible people understand what Selection Committee chairman Jeff Long is saying when he notes that there were multiple revotes between Clemson and Alabama for the No. 1 spot and that he thought at some points during the meeting that Alabama was going to wind up in the top spot. The downfield passing game might not be there, and there aren’t a lot of huge plays all over the field, but this team doesn’t beat itself, it’s great in tight situations, and it always seems to find a way. It looks like we’re headed that way, writes Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman.

This, of course, is one big hypothetical. But if the game is close or is decided in overtime, there is a chance the CFP committee penalizes Dabo Swinney’s crew and moves them down a spot or two. That will leave them as a top-two seed. A victory for the Tide would stand as their sixth over a ranked opponent, with the 30-16 victory over then-No.

Notre Dame trails only Oklahoma in wins over Top 25 teams. “Now a year later without them going to Indianapolis, they’re kind of on the outside looking in”.

Yes, Bowling Green is good, but this is a Northern Illinois team that’s been one of the better MAC teams for years now and beat this same Bowling Green team 51-17 in this game last year (BGSU won by 20 the year before, but that was under Dave Clawson, not Dino Babers).

The Big 10 and the SEC tied for the most teams in the most recent poll, with each conference placing five teams in the rankings.

Alabama is the highest ranked one-loss team, Stanford is the highest ranked two-loss team (Notre Dame is second), Ole Miss is the highest ranked three-loss team and USC is the highest ranked four-loss team. Playing Oklahoma in its backyard in Dallas, or Iowa, or Michigan State? The Big 12 doesn’t play a championship game and the Sooners have locked up the league title.

The selection committee jumped the Tar Heels from 14th to 10th, but that leaves little doubt that victories over two FCS schools (North Carolina A&T and Delaware) are more of an albatross around North Carolina’s neck than a loss to Texas is for Oklahoma. The Sooners, one would assume, are already there, as the Big 12 doesn’t have a title game. Although Clemson might have their hands full, a win should guarantee them at least a spot in the top two.

Oh wait, I almost forgot to mention the Buckeyes! We’ve moved forward. But I think there are still things out there for our football team to accomplish. Even after their dominant performance against new darling MI?

I’ll not name the source or even hint at it, other than to say I trust them, they are very familiar with the process and I know they know what they are talking about. I’ll leave that to the folks in Stamford. The Bulldogs played in five conference title games during his time as coach, but his resume and four straight wins to close the season weren’t enough to convince Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity to keep Richt in Athens.

I’d prefer to see Oklahoma and Alabama battle it out, but I can’t wait to see the actual semifinal matchups on Sunday.