College Football Playoff rankings: Alabama makes case for No. 1, ACC could get 2 teams in

The College Football Playoff rankings will no longer be concerned with Big 12 nonsense.

Only four Power 5 conferences have a chance at getting a team into the College Football Playoff.

With the Oklahoma State Cowboys losing at home to the Texas Longhorns in overtime, the Big 12 can essentially kiss its slim playoff dreams goodbye. The Pokes needed to go undefeated to have any realistic shot of getting in. With the benefit of the doubt falling to the wayside, it leaves the door wide open for a Pac-12 team to get in or better yet, two teams from the same conference.

College Football Playoff teams through Week 9

They Alabama Crimson Tide have been pushing for the top spot for a few weeks now. Well, guess what? They just might do it here soon. While many of the AP voters may end up siding with the Clemson Tigers, there is no doubt about what undefeated southeastern juggernaut has looked better this year. I mean, Clemson nearly lost at home to the unranked Boston College Eagles.

But again, this is not about what Clemson did or didn’t do, but rather what Alabama is all about. The Crimson Tide are absolutely dominating the opposition. The offense hasn’t skipped a beat without Jaylen Waddle the rest of the way. If Nick Saban needs to ask a lot of its defense, it might mess around and shut out the Mississippi State Bulldogs’ Air Raid attack while they’re at it.

Clemson survived a first-half scare from Boston College on Saturday to improve to 7-0 on the year. Though the Tigers stayed perfect by defeating the Eagles, they had to do so with a true freshman quarterback making his first career start in D.J. Uiagalelei. Though he played well, he has to be even sharper vs. the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on the road in Week 10.

It’s not just that Trevor Lawrence will be missing a second consecutive game due to a positive COVID-19 test, but Clemson may not be the perceived juggernaut we all think the Tigers are. They should be able to navigate the ACC unscathed and get to the playoff, but it wouldn’t be the most shocking thing in the world if they fall at some point before the title bout in Charlotte.

Though they got a little bit of a scare on Halloween night from the Penn State Nittany Lions, we all know who the best team in the Big Ten is. The Ohio State Buckeyes are in a class by themselves with other likes the Wisconsin Badgers a good ways back of them. When you have a Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback in Justin Fields, you’re going to put up more points than anyone.

Can Ohio State go undefeated in Big Ten play? Definitely, as Penn State was seen as one of their toughest roadblocks of the season. Frankly, the issue for Ohio State may not be their battle with other teams. It’s totally out of their control, as the Big Ten has to battle the coronavirus. The only thing slowing down the Buckeyes is if they can play enough games this fall to get into the mix.

The biggest game of next weekend will not be down in Jacksonville, but it will be up in South Bend. Notre Dame will host Clemson in a battle of “ACC” unbeatens. The winner of this game will be in the driver’s seat to get to Charlotte and reach the College Football Playoff. While Clemson is seen as the superior team, Notre Dame has a proven starting quarterback in this one in Ian Book.

Book has been on a playoff team for the Golden Domers and has navigated a perfect season before. So this isn’t uncharted territory for him and Brian Kelly’s team. What will be challenging is trying to slow down Tony Elliott’s offense, or better yet, putting up enough points on Brent Venables’ defense. Notre Dame has a puncher’s chance at pulling off the upset, but it’ll be tough.

First two teams out

Though the offense leaves a ton to be desired, the Georgia Bulldogs are the first team out because of its menacing and multi-faceted defense. The pass rush is as good as it has been in years, the run defense is consistently strong and the secondary can take away the passing game from lesser quarterbacks in the blink of an eye. While the offense can run, slinging it continues to be an issue.

While head coach Kirby Smart stays confident with Stetson Bennett IV as his starting quarterback, he had two bad interceptions in the exhilarating 14-3 win over the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday. If Smart gets smart, he’ll do the right thing and start JT Daniels over Bennett vs. the Florida Gators with the SEC East crown on the line down in Jacksonville. It won’t happen, though.

Coming in as the second team out is the Texas A&M Aggies. Like Georgia, their only loss this year came to Alabama earlier in the season. With a big win over Florida shortly thereafter, the Aggies have gotten into rhythm under head coach Jimbo Fisher. While Texas A&M won’t get to Atlanta this year, they can get into the playoff if they win out. It’s not out of the realm of possibility.

While a New Year’s Six bowl feels more like what’ll be up Texas A&M’s alley, you have to like what you’ve seen out of the Aggies so far. Kellen Mond has emerged as one of the very best quarterbacks in the SEC. Because Texas A&M is finally playing sound complementary football, we have reason to believe the Aggies may get to Atlanta at some point in the next few years or so.

So how do we feel about the playoff picture heading into November? Alabama and Ohio State will stay in the top four barring shocking defeat next week. The winner of Clemson at Notre Dame gets a top-four spot. The same principle may apply to whoever wins down in Jacksonville between Georgia and Florida. If the Oregon Ducks look good, maybe they get into the top six for Week 10?

The biggest takeaway from this weekend is Oklahoma State and the Big 12 don’t belong this year.

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