The College Football Playoff bracket is almost here, and the anticipation is palpable! After a season of thrilling games, the moment of truth has arrived. The selection committee is now hard at work crunching numbers and making tough decisions.
One thing is certain: Indiana, with a flawless 13-0 record, will be entering the playoff as the top seed. But the real drama lies in the battle for the remaining spots.
Here's where it gets controversial...
Alabama, Notre Dame, Miami, Duke, and James Madison are all vying for a place in the playoff, but only two of these teams are likely to make it. The committee will have to weigh Alabama's significant loss to Georgia. While the other teams were not playing games.
And then the committee will have to decide whether Duke, unranked and with five losses, gets in over James Madison, which won the Sun Belt Conference and is 12-1. The Dukes are hoping to join American champion Tulane as a Group of Five gate-crasher: The CFP has never had two G5 teams in the mix before.
The top four seeded teams, including Indiana, Ohio State, Georgia, and Texas Tech, will receive first-round byes. The next eight teams will compete at the home stadiums of the higher-seeded teams, starting on December 19th. The subsequent rounds will take place between December 31st and January 1st, and then January 8th and 9th at traditional bowl-game sites. The final showdown is scheduled for January 19th near Miami.
The biggest debate and most of the second-guessing will center on the Alabama-Notre Dame-Miami decision.
Some believe the committee placed the Crimson Tide at No. 9, one spot ahead of the Fighting Irish, last week to create room for the Tide to lose, slide in the rankings but still make the field. Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer says his team shouldn’t be punished for advancing to a conference championship and losing.
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman wants the committee comparing his team to Alabama because, that way, the Irish could presumably end up at 9 or 10 and squeak into the bracket.
What he doesn’t want is for the committee to compare his team to No. 12 Miami. On August 31, the Hurricanes beat the Irish, and if those two squads are ranked right next to each other, that head-to-head matchup could be the difference even if it seems like a long time ago.
What do you think? Will the committee make the right choices? Who do you think deserves a spot in the playoff? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
