College Football

[Carey]

Top 12 (From the 3rd TOP 25 Rankings)

Oregon
Ohio State
Texas
Penn State
Indiana
Notre Dame
Alabama
Miami
Ole Miss
Georgia
Tennessee
Boise State

 

The Third Non-Permanent Playoff Slotting (According to ESPN & Off of the Rankings)

Byes:

1. Oregon [B1G, Plays 8 vs 9 winner]
2. Texas [SEC, Plays 7 vs 10 winner]
3. Miami [ACC, Plays 6 vs 11 winner]
4. Boise State [GO5, Plays 5 vs 12 winner]

 

12/21/24

5. Ohio State vs BYU [05 vs AQ]
6. Penn State vs Georgia [06 vs AL]
7. Indiana vs Ole Miss [07 vs 10]
8. Notre Dame vs Alabama [08 vs 09]

AQ: Represents BYU, currently Number 14.  If things had ended over the weekend & they won their conference championship game, they'd get in over Tennessee.

AL: Represents Georgia currently Number 10.  If things had ended over the weekend, they'd get bumped down a spot.  That is because 2 conference champions, including Boise State from the Mountain West, are ranked below them. 

The Mountain West is a Group of Five conference (GO5 or G5), and per the rules, the highest ranked GO5 team gets into the CFB Playoff.  Given that one of the so-called Power 4 leaders are below them, based off of the rules that the 4 highest ranked conference winners get a first-round bye, they meet that criteria.  The byes into the second round is not limited to the Power conferences (fortunately).

Based off of most recent rankings, after wondering if the 11th ranked team can miss out due to the placements of the teams, it appears that my weekends thoughts were confirmed.  In fact, both teams ranked 11 & 12 can miss out, and they would if Boise State were ranked lower.  For example, if Boise State & SMU were flipped, so be it, as it changes absolutely nothing.  Unless SMU beat Miami in a conference title game.  That would mean Georgia is out, except not (Miami totally drops below Ole Miss & Georgia).

Until proven otherwise, while the rankings are a fun exercise IMO, it's totally moot.  Although it may be a stretch, the Big XII winner jumps Boise.  I do think that the winner of BYU and Colorado (assuming that's the matchup) would have to win out.  Plus they might not have to in the event Tulane beats Boise State