CFP Loser Rankings: Ranking Alabama and other almosts by their obvious resume flaws
By John Buhler
Who thought 12 teams was certainly more than enough? With College Football Playoff expansion, we saw the previous field of four triple in size to that of 12 for the 11th installment of the current postseason format in FBS college football. The five highest ranked conference champions all got automatic qualifiers, while the seven other seeds were handed out to the best remaining teams.
While there has been some debate about the necessity of the four highest ranked conference champions getting a bye to the national quarterfinals, there have been countless others when it came to rounding out the seven remaining at-large teams. Conference runner-ups like Penn State and Texas were always going to be a part of it, as were Power Four behemoths Tennessee and Ohio State.
But when it came down to the last few teams in, some Power Four teams felt that they deserved being in more than ACC runner-up SMU and the fourth Big Ten team in at-large Indiana. Yes, they were far more deserving and yes, they were probably going to get their teeth kicked in during their first-round matchup. Both can be true. What I want to know is what team that did not get in belonged in the most.
Here are half a dozen teams that I feel had some level of argument of potentially making it in this year.
6. BYU Cougars
The BYU Cougars were the No. 17 team in the final College Football Playoff rankings before the postseason began. They finished the season 10-2 as a serious contender to come out of the Big 12. Their best win on the year was very early on by winning a low-scoring one vs. playoff-bound SMU. The Cougars went 7-2 in Big 12 play, but back-to-back defeats to Arizona State and Kansas did them in.
BYU got off to an unexpected fast start and was a force to be reckoned with in the Big 12. However, their collapse down the stretch left them as a team completely out of it, resulting in them not getting to the conference title bout. Had it been a 14-team playoff with two AQ spots reserved for the Big 12, the Cougars would have gotten in over the No. 18 Iowa State Cyclones, who Arizona State defeated.
BYU was effectively eliminated from the playoff as soon as they lost to Kansas after the ASU upset.
5. Iowa State Cyclones
Iowa State was one game away from making the playoff. The Cyclones finished the season ranked No. 18 heading into bowl season. They got absolutely embarrassed in the Big 12 Championship Game by Arizona State. The Clones finished the regular season at 10-2 before falling to ASU in the title bout. While they did not have a quality win on their resume, they did beat Iowa and Kansas State.
Overall, Iowa State's two regular-season losses to Texas Tech and Kansas were viewed quite differently. Losing by one to a halfway decent Red Raiders was not the end of the world. Falling to Kansas in a barn burner put their playoff chances on life support. They needed to win Farmageddon over rival K-State to get in, but the Cyclones ran out of gas when their playoff chance was on the line.
Iowa State needed to beat Arizona State in the Big 12 Championship to get in and got dismantled.
4. Miami Hurricanes
The Miami Hurricanes looked like even more of a lock to make the expanded College Football Playoff field than even BYU. Miami ended up being ranked No. 13 overall in the final playoff rankings, but they were dead in the water as soon as they lost to Syracuse on Thanksgiving weekend. While falling to Syracuse was not bad by any means, it only made the previous defeat to Georgia Tech look worse.
At 10-2 (6-2), Miami did not have a quality win on their resume. They did beat halfway decent teams like Duke and Louisville, but neither ACC team finished the regular season ranked inside of the top 25. Had the Hurricanes just gotten to Charlotte with an 11-1 (7-1) record, they would have gotten in over Clemson, as the Tigers needed to win the ACC to have any shot of making it in as a 9-3 (7-1) team.
As soon as Miami lost to Syracuse, it was no longer all about The U, as they were out of the playoff.
3. Ole Miss Rebels
We have arrived at the first of three SEC teams who may feel that they were good enough to at least compete in this year's playoff. The Ole Miss Rebels were ranked No. 14 in the final playoff rankings before the postseason. They finished the season with a 9-3 (5-3) record. While they had two great wins over Georgia and South Carolina, they had three losses, one of which was absolutely horrific.
Although falling to LSU in a rivalry game was not the end of the world, the Florida defeat near the end of the year is what knocked them out. It was not the worst third loss of the year, but it compounded into something Ole Miss simply could not overcome. Now why is that. Well, the loss to Kentucky during homecoming was about as bad as it gets. Kentucky went 4-8 this year and did not go bowling.
The Florida loss is what knocked Ole Miss out, but it was how bad the Kentucky loss that ended them.
2. Alabama Crimson Tide
Alabama finished the season ranked No. 11 overall. The Crimson Tide were the first team out of the playoff this season, as ACC champion Clemson "stole" their bid and a higher ranked SMU team got in over them. Alabama went 9-3 (5-3) this season. While they had big wins over Georgia and South Carolina, their three losses are what did them in. They fell to Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Oklahoma.
Losing The Third Saturday in October to rival Tennessee was not the end of the world, but the Vanderbilt loss was a bad one that got worse throughout the season and the Oklahoma defeat was probably the worst defeat of any team seriously vying for a playoff spot. Although Vanderbilt and Oklahoma were bowl teams, they only achieved bowl eligibility because of their wins over Alabama.
If Alabama really wanted to make the playoff, then the Crimson Tide should not have lost to OU.
1. South Carolina Gamecocks
And we have arrived at the best team, in my opinion, that did not make the playoff. That would be the 9-3 (5-3) South Carolina Gamecocks. Yes, I know that they lost the head-to-head matchups to Alabama and Ole Miss, but they were playing arguably the best football down the stretch of any team not named Arizona State. I thought winning The Palmetto Bowl over Clemson may have been enough.
The other problem that South Carolina had to do with was no matter what they did, the Gamecocks could not get past Alabama and Ole Miss in the rankings. Beating the eventual ACC champion may have helped, but their first loss of the season to LSU did not help their cause. Only the Ole Miss loss was by a wide margin. South Carolina had no terrible defeats, as well as two quality wins on the year.
The Missouri win was largely undermined by the LSU loss. Head-to-head is what hurt South Carolina.