Holy crap LSU is bringing it.

If your team loses a game, tough luck if you don’t make the playoff. You had it in your control and failed. Minnesota could still lose to Wisconsin or Iowa. Ohio State could still lose to Penn St, Michigan or Minnesota. The list goes on.

 

Bama is still there. They've lost 2 games in the past 2 years, both against another Top 4 team and both with Tua on crutches. Penn State will get blown out by tOSU but someone will take a bad loss.

 

Here is some craziness for you:

WHAT IF you have the following at the end of the year:

LSU @ 11-1 with a loss to Ga. in the SEC Title game
Ala @ 10-1 with a loss to LSU
Geor @ 11 -1 with a loss to SC in regular season play but SEC champs

tOSU @ 11-1 with a loss to PSU and BIG10 Champs
Min @ 10-1 with a loss to OSU
PSU @ 10-1 with a loss to Min

Clemson at 12-0 and ACC Champs
Oregon @ 11-1 and Pac Champs
Baylor @ 12-0 and Big12 Champs

 

Until the rankings come out Monday.

 

Ughm....might wanna check your facts. Tua certainly was healthy for that National Title game in San Fran earlier this year.

 

BEST CASE SCENARIO!!!

Glorious chaos and strife!!

 

Hell of a game. Credit Tua for playing as well as he did, kid is a baller.

Still lots of playoff chaos to come, but Burrow for Heisman is almost a lock!

 

Then it comes down to what it always comes down to - which four teams can draw the best TV ratings and sell the most game tickets?

 

they’ve consistently said that whoever wins the conference championship game has the first shot at getting a bid.

 

It could actually happen that way. What a mess that would be. Exciting season so far. Holy cow. Oh and, what if erryone dropped a game? Lawd.

 

Keep telling yourselves that. Everyone said the same thing last year and after making fools of ND 30-3, Dabo flew his boys into San Fran and kicked Saban's asshole straight through his throat.
Trust this. NOBODY wants to play Clemson in the postseason.

 

The game lived up to the hype. The respect the LSU players showed Tua afterwards reflected their understanding of what he'd done in the condition he was in. Najee Harris' stock certainly rose with that performance.
A word of caution for the Clemson acolytes: Nothing lasts forever. Being the strutting prick when the team you cheer for is successful comes back at you hard when the fall arrives, and it always arrives. Notre Dame, Miami, and Alabama fans can tell you. And so can Kentucky, North Carolina, and Duke basketball fans. Or the Valiban, for that matter. Appreciate the talent, regardless of the team.

 

But being an obnoxious prick when your team is winning is half the fun. F@ck that noise.

 

Alabama, LSU, etc. are all certainly talented teams and Tua plays with a ton of heart as did Jalen Hurts. Coming off a high ankle sprain surgery just 20 days ago, to playing LSU is nothing short of amazing.
That said, as a Clemson fan it's the same shit every year and frankly, it gets old. "They don't play anybody." "The ACC is weak." "Wait til the post season and (insert team here) will kick their ass."
It rarely happens. Bama is the only team to beat them in the post season in the playoff era. They've won 2 of the last 3 national championships. They've won 25 straight games. They are the only FBS team ranked in the top 5 in both overall offense and defense. The initial playoff rankings come out and they get slotted at #5?
Uhhh, OK. You'll have to excuse Tiger fans for having a little chip on their shoulder I guess.

 

Ohio State fans are obnoxious while losing too. Bama fans at the games in person are nice as hell, but the online trolls are completely brain dead morons.

 

If Clemson wins out they deserve to be in the playoffs. It's also still fair to say they haven't played anyone, and haven't looked as dominant as years past. It will all come out in the wash (playoffs).

 

How so? They are scoring more points per game, winning by a larger margin and allowing less yards and points per game than last year. This is what I'm referring to. The "they don't look as dominant" narrative is complete bullshit. They had a scare game at UNC. Big deal. They have one every year. Last year Syracuse knocked Trevor out of the game and almost beat them. The year before, Bryant got knocked out and they lost at Syracuse. The year before that, Pitt beat them with a last second FG. Winning games against Power 5 teams is tough. Ask GA that lost to SC. Better yet, ask Ohio State that lost to Purdue by 30 last year. Trevor not playing up to the ridiculous expectations early this season is what got the talking heads going. After slicing Bama's D to pieces in January, everyone expected him to come out and put up 400 yards and 5 TDs every week. He came out flat. He ain't no more.

 

It's fair to say they haven't played anyone. Not one of the teams they have played this year is currently ranked, and nobody in their right mind can argue that Texas A&M deserved the #12 ranking they had early in the season when they played Clemson.

By contrast LSU has now beaten 4 top 10 teams. I'm not an LSU fan but damn, I can't understand why the F they didn't start out in the BCS rankings at #1 over Ohio State, who has played exactly zero top 10 ranked teams this season. But those folks are smarter than me so there's that.

Clemson got lucky this year with their schedule. It happens. They have arguably the weakest strength of schedule of anyone in the playoff hunt and you can't argue that it doesn't matter. While other teams are having to keep their starters out there playing with everything they've got well into the 4th quarter (and falling prey to the complications of fatigue related injury) Clemson has the luxury of running up scores on second tier teams and resting their starters, keeping them healthy.

Waltzing into the playoffs relatively uninjured while everyone else is banged up, then mopping up a championship still gets you a championship. Your fans certainly appreciate it and are eager to turn a blind eye to the hollowness of the victory. But everyone else knows.

 

Ohio State can't be Big10 champs with a loss to PSU unless PSU drops another Big10 east game. If PSU beats Ohio State, they'll both have identical Big10 east division records and PSU will own the tie break via winning their matchup with OSU. In that scenario, PSU would play Minnesota (or whoever wins the Big10 west) in the Big10 title game. The winner of that game would likely be in the playoffs. A one loss PSU Big10 champ with a win over Ohio State is certainly in the top 4.

Lots of ball to be played yet. Ohio State is about to enter the real challenges in their schedule. We saw yesterday how a team pounding cupcakes can fare against real competition. Real world, I think Clemson, Ohio State, and Clemson win out including their title games. That leaves a pile of teams fighting for that 4th spot. An Oregon team that beats a top ten Utah to win the Pac12 title likely gets the nod unless Baylor runs the table and is an undefeated Big12 champ.
This is what is so fun about college football and precisely why the playoffs should not be expanded past 4 teams. The regular season games are critical as it is. Win and you're in. Lose and you didn't belong in the first place. Every game is an elimination game.

 

So Ohio State and Alabama get a pass for the complete shit schedule they've played to this point? Bama played one decent team and lost to them. Ohio State has played nobody yet. Your argument doesn't hold water. Outside of LSU and Auburn, Bama plays Sister Mary Catherine's School for the Blind every week. They never schedule tough out of division games. Clemson plays two SEC teams in the regular season every year while Bama is playing New Mexico State and Southern Mississippi. Oh, and they play Western Carolina next week. Woo, how can they possible handle all these hammers? Pull up their schudule and tell me they should be worn out and banged up from it.
LSU played a tough ass schedule this year and handled business. They absolutely should be ranked #1 and deserve it. Compare FL, GA, A&M and LSU'S schedule to Alabama. Saban intentionally schedules dog turds. The ACC is weak no doubt, but that's not Dabo's fault. FSU was a national champion recently and fell off. Miami sucks now. VA Tech sucks. Syracuse won 10 games last year and can't get out of their own way. Tigers still show up and beat what's in front of them.