There certainly is a case for SEC being a solid notch ahead of the other conferences and getting benefit of the doubt, but.... there's a solid argument the other way too.
- Bama - got waxed and bullied by FSU, looks like a very flawed team, was similarly bullied by Oklahoma, squeaked by a not-so-great Auburn team who probably wins if they don't drop about 200 passes and have lots of mental errors. This team only has one loss in the SEC and plays for the title.
- Georgia - they look like the best team in the SEC - but 13 points in a listless game against a Georgia Tech team Pitt ran up and down the field on; same Pitt team that ND and Miami absolutely throttled and looked next level against.
- Arkansas - despite their record, they were very competitive in most SEC games - they got absolutely steam-rolled by ND.
- A&M - congrats on getting the win vs. ND early in the season. It counts, but ND looks like a different team and A&M looked like a squad who had a perfect schedule, waiting for a top 15 to give it to them on the chin, which...
- Texas - very much did. And they handled Oklahoma. Texas is a dangerous team, but who struggled with a lot of lesser competition across the season. They can probably beat anyone in the right conditions, but aren't really a top 15 team.
- Kentucky - bad record, but they played a lot of SEC teams close - got absolutely trucked by Louisville in out of conference rivalry game final.
- Oklahoma - take a good long look at this team - are they really that deserving? I think a very strong case Texas should be ahead of them, considering that Texas beat them pretty convincingly and the loss @OSU is probably about equivalent value to Oklahoma's win over Michigan. They are flawed in many ways... I think ND and Miami a probably favored over them on a neutral field and have comparative records and you can make a strong case for BYU being more "deserving".
I could go on. There are also positive things that can be said and I would not be at all surprised if the SEC does well in the playoffs. I also will not be at all surprised if they get steamrolled in games against Ohio State, ND, Indiana, Texas Tech and Oregon.
So... tell me why these rankings don't make sense this Tuesday:
- Ohio State
- Indiana
- Texas Tech
- Oregon
- Georgia
- A&M
- Ole Miss
- Miami
- Notre Dame
- BYU (jumps to #7 if win Big 12; but if they lose and Bama wins SEC is out)
- Texas (ACC champ will go here)
- Oklahoma (G5 champ will go here)
- Alabama (if they win SEC, BYU gets bounced out if BYU loses to Tech; if Bama and BYU lose then ND (or Miami) is out)
- Vanderbilt
- Utah
The argument for the above is basically:
- The 3 one to zero loss Big 10 and SEC teams are locks
- Texas Tech looks the part. I put them in lock category -- that's 7 spots.
- Two more conference champs = 9 spots
- For the final 3 at large -- with 3 slots to each of Big 10 and SEC and considering the arguments that can be made for and against, why not give the benefit of the doubt to spreading the love; i.e., ND, Miami and BYU. 'Bama will have a chance to play its way in. And if you want to either put BYU in the position (putting a 4th SEC team in the "could get bubbled out by 'Bama or BYU winning", I'm also fine with that).
