What teams can still make the College Football Playoff entering Week 13?

If 10-2 LSU slays Goliath Georgia in Atlanta, the Bayou Bengals will make the CFP

LSU has the hardest game left, which is vs. No. 1 Georgia in Atlanta for the SEC Championship. Obviously, the Tigers need to beat a woebegone Texas A&M team in College Station to ensure they get to the conference title bout at 10-2, however, David slaying Goliath in the college football capital of the world would be enough for LSU to be the first two-loss team to ever make the field.

In that situation, LSU and Georgia would both probably make the playoff with the Bayou Bengals as a two-loss SEC champion and the Dawgs getting in as a 12-1 at-large team. This crazy scenario eliminates the loser of The Game. It would also make college football fans furious because a one-loss ACC champion Clemson is out and perhaps a one-loss Pac-12 champion USC does not get in.

It would be pure chaos if LSU were to upset Georgia in Atlanta, but let’s not count on it happening.

USC will only get in if Trojans beat Notre Dame and win the Pac-12 Championship

Barring LSU messing the whole thing up in Atlanta, USC will be making the College Football Playoff for the first time, as long as the Trojans beat Notre Dame on Saturday and then either Oregon or Washington in the Pac-12 Championship game. To beat UCLA, Notre Dame and the Pac-12 runner-up in succession would be more than enough for the Selection Committee to let them in.

Of course, USC cannot lose either of these games, or the Pac-12 is eliminated from playoff contention for yet another season. After nearly blowing it to UCLA on Saturday night, all the pressure is on USC in the next two weeks. While USC does control its own destiny, the Trojans defense needs to get better instantly, as they can get got down the stretch vs. strong competition.

For USC to even be in this position in Lincoln Riley’s first year in Los Angeles is simply remarkable.