SEC Football Q&A: Will LSU and Alabama Both Make the College Football Playoff?
The latest edition of the Game of the Century in Tuscaloosa went the way of the home team, with then-No. 4 Alabama topping former No. 2 LSU 30-16 in a game that wasn't as close as the final score indicated.
The loss shook up the SEC West, because not only does Alabama now hold a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Tigers, but it also gave Alabama control of its division-title destiny after Ole Miss lost to Arkansas in overtime earlier in the day.
How will the Tide's win over LSU impact the College Football Playoff? Could both LSU and Alabama make it?
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
That question and more in this week's edition of SEC football Q&A.
Say it with me, and say it with feeling: "Two teams from the same conference will not get into the College Football Playoff."
That is, of course, unless there really are no other viable options.
Is that the way it should be? Of course not. Winning a geographically determined conference doesn't make a team elite, and losing one—by no means—should exclude a school from being one of the top four teams in the country.
That's the way it is, though.
Conference championships matter in the eyes of the selection committee. ESPN.com's Ryan McGee—who went through the mock selection process each of the last two years—told me a few weeks ago on my SEC: Smothered and Covered podcast that it's the most important factor.
The committee simply won't project champions during its midseason rankings, which is why it delivers funky rankings like last week's that had two SEC teams and the first rankings last year that included three teams from the SEC West.
If LSU were to win out, finish 11-1 and not play in Atlanta, it would be behind all undefeated and one-loss Power Five conference champs, as well as Notre Dame. At the very worst, the Big 12 champ, ACC champ (likely Clemson) and Big Ten champ (Ohio State, Michigan State or Iowa) will have one loss.
Stanford and Notre Dame each have one now and play each other later this month. Either Notre Dame will win and finish 11-1 or Stanford will play in the Pac-12 Championship Game against one-loss Utah. Simply put, there's way too much traffic in front of LSU right now, and that jam won't be cleared up prior to the end of the season.
LSU's best hope is for Alabama to get upset and for the Tigers to win out, otherwise the playoff is a pipe dream.
Without a doubt. Not just SEC Coach of the Year but National Coach of the Year.
Think about the tire fire of an offense Jim McElwain took over at Florida. The offensive line was a mess due to graduation and unexpected attrition, the only experienced quarterback—dual-threat Treon Harris—was a square peg McElwain tried to fit into a round hole in his pro-style offense, and Demarcus Robinson was the only established playmaker outside.
He solved all three problems in his first six games. The offensive line came together, Will Grier established himself as a star, and the trio of Robinson, Brandon Powell and Antonio Callaway all made major impacts at receiver.
Then, the 12-to-6 curveball crossed his plate in mid-October, when Grier was suspended for a year after violating the NCAA's policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
Through it all, Florida has stayed the course. Its only loss was the week of Grier's suspension, when Harris fought tooth and nail on the road against LSU. Has it been pretty? Not always. Last week's 9-7 win over Vanderbilt was downright ugly.
Style points shouldn't count for McElwain in the race to be named National Coach of the Year. He inherited a mess with the Gators, had more problems arise midseason and can call himself and his team "champions."
Sorry, Jim Harbaugh.
I have given Texas A&M and head coach Kevin Sumlin the benefit of the doubt quite a bit over the last couple of years, and it's getting to a point where I'm running out of patience.
The offense has so much potential, but quarterbacks have regressed in each of the last two seasons, and offensive coordinator Jake Spavital falls in love with east-west plays about as fast as Kenny Chesney switches college football team allegiances. Luckily for Aggies fans, Spavital might be on his way out after the season, according to a report from Jeff Tarpley of GigEm247.com.
The defense, while improved, still struggles against the run. The Aggies have given up a conference-worst 218.33 yards per game on the ground and were just gashed last weekend by Auburn, which gained 311 yards on the ground. If Texas A&M can't stop the run, it can't force teams to pass and play into its own defensive strength: the pass rush.
It's getting to a point where there needs to be some sort of progress toward a division title for Sumlin, otherwise that $5 million contract he agreed to in December 2013 will look comparable to the New York Mets paying Bobby Bonilla $1.19 million through 2035.
Sumlin needs to legitimately contend for the SEC West next year, otherwise he might be stuck in "good but not great" territory for the rest of his college coaching career.
Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Statistics are courtesy of cfbstats.com.
Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter, @BarrettSallee.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
