The path to the college football qualifiers for the 12 contenders



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The college football playoff selection committee will unveil its first top-25 ranking for the season on November 24, and due to the late departure of the Pac-12, Notre Dame’s downfall with the ACC and a bizarre Big Ten, the championship is more open to discussion in the top half of the standings.

Six weeks before the final selection committee standings were announced last season, there were five teams with at least a 50% chance of making the playoffs and no other team with more than 15%, according to the Allstate Playoff Predictor. This year, there are still eight teams with at least a 15% chance of reaching the playoffs – and that includes all Power 5 conferences except the Big 12 and Independent BYU.

But what about Cincinnati? Wisconsin? State of Oklahoma?

It’s time to dive deeper into what each team needs to do to improve their playoff chances by the December 20 selection day. and don’t let that happen again.

“We’re 7-1,” coach Dabo Swinney said after the Tigers’ double overtime loss to Notre Dame. No one was handing out a trophy tonight. Nobody was riding a stage this evening. We have a long way to go. We have a lot of guys who have grown up and learned a lot from this year. It is obviously difficult for everyone. the only thing we can’t be is 11-0. We can always be 10-1, that’s the best we can be. But you can’t gain 10 ‘until you gain eight. “

Here’s a look at Clemson’s journey to the playoffs, along with all of the other contenders, ranked in order of their current place in the Associated Press Top 25 poll:

1. Alabama
Where they are now: The Tide should have a comfortable place in the top four of the committee. Alabama is currently No. 1 in ESPN’s record-breaking metric strength, reflecting how lucky an average Top 25 team could hit the same record given the schedule. This is generally the way the committee views resumes. If multiple teams end up undefeated, Alabama’s schedule will be looked at in more depth in this No.1 Debate, but there’s no reason to think the Tide won’t be ranked. ESPN’s Football Power Index gives Alabama at least 87% chance of winning in each of its remaining matches.

Biggest obstacle in the playoffs: Florida. With their victory over Georgia on Saturday, the Gators took the lead in the SEC East and are on track to face Alabama in the SEC Championship game. It only takes an upheaval to change the picture of the playoffs, and if Florida can lead the table and win the SEC title, nothing is guaranteed for Alabama. It’s possible the committee will pick both Florida and Alabama, but what if there’s an undefeated Pac-12 champion? What if Clemson and Notre Dame both made the top four in talks?

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