Chaos in College Football Playoff: Which Teams Are in the Hunt?

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00:00You know, good to have Bill Bender from the Sporting News back again, because I talked

00:08to him last week.

00:09And Bill, I don't even think we could have imagined the amount of chaos, and everybody

00:14loves chaos in college football.

00:16It really is what drives the sport.

00:18It's even crazier now because of 12 teams instead of four, because I don't think that

00:23half of those games would have got anywhere near the attention they got if there was still

00:28only a four-team playoff that we were playing with.

00:32Let me start with the SEC, I suppose, because you gave me the whole breakdown last week

00:37about all the two-loss teams and everything.

00:39Well, now I've got three-loss teams, Bill, in Alabama and Ole Miss.

00:43Have we completely dismissed the three-loss teams, or do we have scenarios where, specifically

00:50Alabama, they could sneak in the back door?

00:53Yeah, I think they're the interesting one, because they always go to the front of the

00:58line no matter how many losses they have.

01:00They were the first one-loss team, the first two-loss team, and now here they are, the

01:05first three-loss team.

01:07And it was a bad weekend, though.

01:09It was really bad for them, how they looked.

01:12It wasn't just the loss to Oklahoma, it was not being able to complete a pass, looking

01:16overwhelmed on the offensive side.

01:18I don't know that they're deserving even if somebody does lose.

01:22Here's one of the complicated discussions we're going to have.

01:25What if, are you taking a three-loss Alabama over the two-loss loser of the ACC championship

01:33game?

01:34To me, like, SMU deserves an at-large bid more than Alabama at that point.

01:40We were just having this discussion, like, ten minutes ago here, me and Joe were having

01:44the same talk.

01:45Like, SMU and Miami obviously have to, well, Miami definitely has to, because if they lose,

01:51Clemson's going to walk through the door.

01:53But if SMU takes care of business against Cal, and they stay with one loss going into

01:58that game, and Miami and SMU play a great game, fun, competitive, both teams look deserving,

02:06I think they should both be in, Bill.

02:10And I know that people want SEC, and it's the big brands, and it's the big numbers and

02:16all of those things.

02:18I don't know if you can squeeze Indiana and the loser of that game, but maybe we can.

02:24Why not?

02:25We got 12 now, Bill.

02:26Can we squeeze both in?

02:27Well, I think we will squeeze Indiana in, despite what happened in Columbus, which you

02:33and I talked about, where Indiana's not in Ohio State's zip code.

02:37We saw that on the field.

02:39But to compare them against Ohio State right now, Ohio State looks like one of the two

02:42best teams in the country.

02:43I'll get to the other one here in a minute.

02:46But Indiana still deserves to be in.

02:49By the end of the day, they were looking a lot better once Ole Miss lost at Florida.

02:55Texas A&M took their loss.

02:56And now the SEC, the masters of spin, there's a chance they may have to spin an SEC championship

03:04game with a three-loss Texas A&M if they beat Texas, and a three-loss Georgia if Georgia

03:09Tech somehow beats them.

03:10Can you imagine the things we would hear in the week leading up to that game in Atlanta

03:14if that happens?

03:15I don't think it will, but it's fun to think about.

03:18Yeah, and really, you could spin it a little bit further, Bill, because what happens if

03:24Texas, and I don't think they could do this because I don't think they're that great of

03:27a team, but what if Texas A&M somehow pulled off both Texas and Georgia the following week,

03:33and then you have, they have three losses, Georgia's got three losses, Alabama's got

03:38three losses, and Tennessee and Texas get to sit there and go, well, we only have two,

03:41so I guess we're in.

03:43Right?

03:44Then you just back up and go, we're in.

03:45Right, and here's the thing, the SEC, the one argument I buy from them, it is tough

03:50to win on the road.

03:51If you looked at the winning percentage of home teams in the SEC before this season,

03:57you knew that Jordan Hare was a tough place to play, and you knew the Swamp was a tough

04:00place to play, and Oklahoma was a tough place to play, and now you jammed all these teams

04:04in the same conference.

04:05And one argument I will give them is their middle class is a lot better than the Big

04:10Ten's middle class.

04:12So, like, five through 12 from the Big Ten's pretty rough on a week-to-week basis.

04:16I know Minnesota ran with Penn State last week, but when you're trying to sell me Michigan

04:20or a barely six-win USC against Notre Dame, those kind of things, I do think it's much

04:26tougher to win on the road at places like Florida and Oklahoma than it is at those places.

04:34Is there any way that we can petition for Kansas to play in the Big 12 title game after

04:39the last three weeks, and can we get them in the game, because they've been the most

04:44exciting team to watch the past three weeks, the way they've been knocking off all of these

04:48heavies.

04:49That is such a mess.

04:50You're talking about the SEC being a mess.

04:53The Big 12 has Arizona State, BYU, Colorado, Iowa State, and really, if we got the charts

04:59and graphs out, Bill, they've even got, like, three or four other teams that, in some real

05:03chaos scenarios, could play in the title game.

05:06How do you even possibly see that shaking out?

05:09I think Arizona State will win and reserve their spot, and isn't it as simple as if Iowa

05:13State wins against Kansas State, they're in, I think?

05:18I believe Arizona State and Iowa State have the path.

05:22They are the two that, if they win, they're in, but winning in that conference has not

05:28been easy the past few weeks.

05:30Or completing a game without the students getting on the field, right?

05:35How does that keep going on, Bill?

05:36What are we doing out here?

05:39I thought the worst was Oklahoma.

05:41There was 28 seconds on the clock, and they all started running on the field.

05:46Wow.

05:47That, like the, not to get too off-topic, but that and the throwing things on the field

05:52penalize the team immediately, and then it won't happen.

05:56If you give Arizona State a 15-yard penalty in that situation, and all of a sudden the

06:01hail marries from the 35-yard line, do you think it would ever happen again?

06:05Do you think the coaches and the administrators would ever let it happen again?

06:09I actually saw an even better one, Bill, and I forget who said this over the weekend on

06:13social media, but 15 yards for every five minutes that we're not off the field.

06:19So for every five minutes you're not off the field, another 15 yards closer, you get to

06:23go for that final play.

06:24I like that.

06:26Just keep moving them up.

06:27That'll get them off the field quick.

06:28If they keep moving them up.

06:30Right.

06:31And well, now that, but now that they did survive, I do like Arizona State this weekend

06:35against Arizona.

06:36I think they take care of business, punch their ticket in, and then it's a toss-up to

06:40me.

06:41BYU will probably win that late game against Houston.

06:44So for Iowa State, do you beat Kansas State?

06:47It's a bad matchup.

06:48Kansas State can run the ball, and that's how you beat Iowa State, if you can establish

06:52the running game, Farmageddon, what a rivalry game name.

06:56That's a tight one.

06:57Well, I definitely think those back-half late-night Big 12 games are going to offer

07:02some clarity.

07:03And I'm even second-guessing Oklahoma State-Colorado at this point.

07:07I'm wondering if the Cowboys, wouldn't that be something if that's the only Big 12 game

07:10they win?

07:12I would not second-guess anything in that conference at this point.

07:18I think that if I'm Brett Yormark, I'd like to see Deion and Colorado somehow find their

07:24way into the game in Dallas the following week, just from a, obviously, viewing perspective

07:29and things like that, an attention perspective.

07:32But everything's on the table in the Big 12.

07:35Boise, I wanted to bring them up with you for this reason.

07:39They've kind of been playing with fire the past couple of weeks.

07:42Like the Wyoming Stinks, you know, the Nevada game a couple weeks before that.

07:47They're not just dominating and blowing everyone away.

07:51Is the door open here, because now, correct me if I'm wrong.

07:55If UNLV wins Saturday night, they play UNLV again, right?

07:57Mountain West title game.

07:58Correct.

07:59Played a tough game with them the first time.

08:02If UNLV beats them, UNLV or maybe a Tulane sneaking in from the American?

08:08I like Tulane.

08:09If Tulane played Boise tomorrow, I would probably pick Tulane.

08:13The way that they've been playing offense up in the 40s, having a really nice season.

08:17They play on Thursday night against Memphis.

08:19That ought to be a high-scoring game there, too.

08:21So they're just waiting for that to happen and open up the door.

08:25And Boise better be careful.

08:26I didn't like how they looked against Wyoming.

08:27I love Ashton Gentee, obviously.

08:30Everybody does.

08:31They're going to need more than that.

08:32And if you look, they've kind of alternated taking care of business with playing with

08:36fire, like you said.

08:38And here's the other thing.

08:39I do think they'll be ranked as that fourth by team in tomorrow's rankings.

08:43You're seeing that across a lot.

08:45But when it's all said and done, the Big 12 champion will end up hopping them.

08:50There's no question in my mind that if Arizona State or one of those teams wins, they'll

08:53get the fourth seed.

08:55I agree.

08:56Especially if Arizona State closes with all these wins and a Big 12 championship, they're

09:00going to win it.

09:01I've got 20 seconds.

09:02Texas or Texas A&M Saturday night?

09:03Who do you got?

09:04Give me the Longhorns by a touchdown.

09:06I know there's going to be a lot of fanfare, but I think they quietly go in and win.

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