If the Playoff Committee was hoping for an easy way to decide the top 4 playoff teams, I am very sorry. The exact opposite is to be decided and announced Sunday at 12:30 ET time. First, lets see what each team did this Saturday.
#2 Oregon got it started early on Friday night in Santa Clara, as they exacted revenge on a Wildcat team that gave them their only previous loss on the year. Quarterback Marcus Mariota all but sealed his Heisman trophy for best player, as the Ducks rolled over Arizona 51-13. This win pretty much locked Oregon into the Playoff, but where?
#1 Alabama, after a slow start, did what most expected, and stomped the back to back SEC East Champion Missouri Tigers, 42-13. The Crimson Tide also locked themselves into the Playoff, but the question will be whether they’ll be #1, or if Oregon will leapfrog them.
#4 Florida State, who has barely escaped countless times this year, did it once more. They squeaked out a 37-35 thriller over the triple option running, upset minded #11 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Will another close victory be enough for the undefeated Seminoles to get in?
The biggest debate coming into the day was who would get the tiebreaker between #3 TCU, and #6 Baylor. Baylor beat TCU 61-58 earlier in the year, but TCU seems to have a better team, and a stronger schedule. Today, TCU beat woeful 2-10 Iowa State 55-3, but Iowa State is plain awful. Baylor beat a great #9 Kansas State team 38-27. Both won a share a share of the BIG 12 title, but that is also controversial as the BIG 12 doesn’t have a conference championship game. Baylor fans will be enraged if TCU gets in instead of them, but that may not be a problem, since both of them might be left out.
#5 Ohio State, with their 3rd STRING quarterback, absolutely demolished, destroyed, and just threw #13 Wisconsin and their Heisman hopeful out the window. The Buckeyes steamrolled the Badgers 59-0! The Buckeyes all of a sudden might just jump in to the Playoff.
It all comes down to the committee. Who is in, who is out? I have Alabama, and Oregon as a sure 1 and 2. Oregon could jump over Alabama though. Then comes the hard part. You would think an undefeated team in Florida Stae would surely get in, but will the close wins be enough? What about TCU? They were originally at 3. Will they drop down and out? Ohio State, with their impressive performance probably deserves to get in, but over who? And what about Baylor? If the committee says TCU is better than Ohio State, shouldn’t Baylor get the edge over TCU. There are a lot of scenarios, but I think TCU and Florida State stay at 3 and 4, leaving Baylor and Ohio State out. Tune in at 12:30 ET on ESPN on Sunday.