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College Football Playoff Bubble Watch: After upsets, which one-loss teams get left out?
The job of the College Football Playoff selection committee just got a lot harder. After a Week 11 full of upsets, finding consensus among the committee members won't be so easy before the third edition of playoff rankings are released Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN. But we're here to help sort through all the noise.
With Alabama the only undefeated Power 5 team remaining, the Crimson Tide will be an obvious choice for No. 1 spot. However, the real question is who takes the Nos. 2-4 spots among a number of one-loss teams.
Before the rankings are released (and remember, this week's rankings are coming out later than normal because of college basketball games on ESPN), here’s a look at the cases for and against eight teams in playoff contention, ordered by their likelihood of appearing in the top four this week. (We're using this week's AP poll for rankings of opponents, since last week's playoff rankings are now outdated.)
Alabama (10–0)
Strength of schedule (via Sagarin ratings): 6
Last week: Won 51–3 vs. Mississippi State
This week: vs. Chattanooga
Best wins: vs. No. 15 USC, No. 16 LSU, No. 23 Texas A&M
Losses: None
Case for: Alabama has been dominant is almost every game this season. This past week, it stomped Mississippi State, doing what none of the other teams that were ranked in the top four could do—win. Quarterback Jalen Hurts has gotten better and better as the season has gone on, and the defense is outstanding.
Case against: None. You can criticize the SEC as a whole for having a down year, but Alabama doesn't seem to have much in the way of flaws.
Consensus: In. Doesn't get any easier for the committee.
