How many teams could Trevor Lawrence lead to the College Football Playoff?
By John Buhler
SEC (5)
As with the Big Ten, there are five teams in the SEC that could get to the playoff with Lawrence at quarterback. Three schools are good enough as is, a fourth may say it’s in that class, but probably isn’t and a fifth would get a huge boost by landing Lawrence. These five teams are the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Auburn Tigers, the Florida Gators, the Georgia Bulldogs and the LSU Tigers.
Alabama Crimson Tide
Alabama is the presumptive favorite to win the SEC West to reach the College Football Playoff for the sixth time in seven years. Tua Tagovailoa may have turned pro but Mac Jones might be good enough to lead the Crimson Tide all the way this year. Jones is fine, but he’s no Lawrence. By putting him in crimson, Clemson fans would cringe at the sight of this massive football heel turn.
Alabama plays USC on a neutral-site in the non-conference. The Crimson Tide also host Georgia out of the SEC East this year. Outside of a road game in hostile Death Valley, Alabama has the benefit of playing most of its tough games at home. By beating LSU, Alabama could lose once in SEC play and face either Florida or Georgia in a rematch in Atlanta to make it back to the playoff.
Auburn Tigers
No SEC team would benefit more by adding Lawrence to the quarterback room than Auburn. We know the defense will be good, but Lawrence is a massive upgrade over a promising, but raw Bo Nix at quarterback. Simply put, Nix is not ready to beat elite Power 5 teams like Alabama or Georgia on the road. Lawrence could beat either Alabama or Georgia, possibly both, on the road.
Because they play in the SEC, Auburn could have as many as four quality wins over top-25 teams with Lawrence in the fold. If North Carolina improves in Mack Brown’s second year, that could be another big win. Auburn may not be able to beat Georgia in an SEC Championship game rematch if the Tigers were to get a rare win in Athens, but they would chomp the Gators to make the playoff.
Florida Gators
Florida is in the boat as Alabama in that the Gators are arguably good enough to get to the playoff as is without Lawrence. Getting Kentucky and LSU at home is massive for the Gators, but winning on the road vs. Tennessee won’t be easy. What this really comes down to is Lawrence is better than Kyle Trask and he will certainly beat Georgia down in Jacksonville to win the division crown.
Whoever wins between the Dawgs and the Gators in Jacksonville is the overwhelming favorite to win the SEC East. Florida would be favored over Alabama and Auburn with Lawrence as its starting quarterback. Beating LSU twice in a season would be so difficult, but the Gators would have a good shot at going undefeated and be the No. 1 seed with Lawrence as their quarterback.
Georgia Bulldogs
Alabama, Georgia and Florida can all make the playoff as is this year. However, the Dawgs are expected to start a quarterback who has never played in the SEC before in Wake Forest graduate transfer Jamie Newman. He can get the Dawgs to Atlanta this year, but beating Alabama on the road, Florida in Jacksonville and Auburn at home is a tough task for any Georgia quarterback.
Newman could do it, but we know Lawrence would definitely be able to beat the Gators in Jacksonville and keep Auburn from winning in Athens again. Lawrence might be talented enough at quarterback to shock Alabama at Bryant-Denny in the third week of the season. With Lawrence, Georgia would win the SEC as a top-two seed and would play Ohio State for a national title.
LSU Tigers
2019 was a magical year for LSU football, but it was also last year. Joe Burrow might be a Bayou Bengal in his heart, but he’s about to be a Cincinnati Bengal in the NFL. Myles Brennan has big shoes to fill replacing The Geauxt, but Lawrence wouldn’t have issues carrying the torch if he wanted to double-down on Death Valleys. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. Clemson would be irate.
As currently constructed, LSU will be a good team in 2020, but will definitely take a step back. The Tigers have tough games vs. Texas and Alabama, as well as at Florida and at Auburn. LSU is probably dropping two of those as is, but adding Lawrence turns one of those defeats into a win. The Tigers could get to Atlanta with him and might be able to beat Georgia or Florida in a rematch.
First team out: This one is obvious, it’s Texas A&M. 2020 is a huge year for Jimbo Fisher’s program. The schedule won’t be nearly as daunting as it was a year ago. This team could win 10 games with Kellen Mond at quarterback if everything goes according to plan. But since nothing ever does in College Station, so the trend will continue for the Aggies, even with Lawrence at quarterback.