While the playoff committee doesn’t rank the power 5 conference, there is no way conference strength – which means OOC results doesn’t figure in to a committee members thought process.
Let me point out on my philosophy on these rankings – your most recent OOC results count a lot, and you’ll see me reference that throughout the season.
We’ll give each conference a relative strength value 1-10.
Let me explain my relative rankings
0-5 : Conference lacks depth no elite teams
6-7: Conference lacks depth, and there are 1-2 elite teams, and 1-2 quality teams
7-8: At least 2 elite teams, and at least 2 quality teams.
8-9: 3 elite teams, and at least 2 quality teams
9-10: 1/2 of conference is elite and/or quality teams.
1) SEC – 8.0
Ah it’s that point in the season where the SEC takes a BYE week out of conference when the cupcake portion of their schedule begins.
Alabama and Georgia plays the Citadel and UMASS, so good warm ups before their rivalry games.
Playoff Contenders
Alabama, Georgia
In the Playoff Picture
NONE
2) Big 12 – 6.9
Frankly I don’t trust Oklahoma. They barely escaped Oklahoma State, and defensively they are still a mess.
West Virginia stays on the fringe of the playoff picture by beating TCU.
Oklahoma gets a BYE week too with Kansas, but West Virginia’s game at Oklahoma State will be tricky.
Playoff Contenders
Oklahoma
In the Playoff Picture
West Virginia
3) Big 10 – 6.8
No movement in the Big 10 as Michigan and Ohio State remain on collision course in two weeks.
With Ohio State playing Maryland and Michigan facing Indiana, they should be fine heading into their huge game.
Playoff Contenders
Michigan
In the Playoff Picture
NONE
4) ACC – 6.6
With no big OOC games, it’s hard for conferences to move past one another until they start playing each other. This upcoming week Syracuse plays Notre Dame in a monster matchup. If the Cuse win that game I’d move the ACC up.
Clemson continues to roll after their 20 point win over BC.
They get Duke this week.
Playoff Contenders
Clemson
In the Playoff Picture
NONE
5) Pac 12 – 6.5
Washington State just can’t move up until some of the teams in front of them start losing. They beat Colorado this past week, but that doesn’t help enough.
They get Arizona this week. They can only win and hope.
Playoff Contenders
NONE
In the Playoff Picture
Washington State
The Rest
Notre Dame predictably blew out FSU this past week. That does nothing for them. This week they’ll get a much bigger test against Syracuse. It’s win or go home for the Irish.
UCF will get a test against Cincinnati. UCF may want to come up big in that, it’s one of their few national TV opportunities.
Playoff Contenders
Notre Dame
In the Playoff Picture
UCF
My Current Playoff Teams
As my personal criticism of the playoff committee, I don’t think the top 4 seeds order should be released until the final rankings. The playoff committee’s inconsistent and ever changing criteria is causing unnecessary frustration and confusion. It’s one of the improvement points I’d have for them.
If I had a vote this is who I would put in the playoff right now.
In – Notre Dame | Alabama | Clemson | Michigan
Just Missed – 5) Georgia 6) Oklahoma 7) UCF 8) Washington State
Make sure you follow the All Sports Discussion Twitter account at @AllSportsDACC and please like our Facebook Page
Leave a Reply