SEC bubble teams left out have the same complaint long held by strong conferences in FCS and D3 where weaker conferences still get auto bids over stronger conference teams left out (not an issue in D2). Regardless, the best half dozen or so teams that have any chance of winning it all are in the...
Positives and negatives to the SMU pick over Alabama.
Positive: It validates the playing of conference championship games.
Negative: It diminishes strength of schedule. We won't be seeing SEC teams adding a 9th conference game nor scheduling tougher non-conference games.
I'll quibble with this. I like 5 auto bids. There's really only two AAA power conferences now in the SEC and BG10, a AA power conference in the ACC, and the A/JV power conference in the BG12. 5 auto bids are pulling in some teams that might not otherwise be considered in the actual top 12 if not...
I was going to say the same. Dallas/Fort Worth is a massive football crazy market. Regardless, Alabama has a national brand while SMU was on absolutely no ones radar until this year in the ACC.
I have some secondhand ties to SMU. They have a lot of money, crazy boosters, and are going nowhere...
I think, and hope, the CFP retains SMU over Alabama. It would set a terrible precedent to punish a team that loses a close conference championship game while rewarding a team for not playing. Past precedent like not punishing TCU in 2022 for losing to K State in the conference championship...
Clemson barges their way into the CFP. So, the final two CFP spots are between SMU, Indiana, and Alabama.
5 Highest ranked conference champs
Oregon - bye lock
Georgia - bye lock
Boise - bye bubble
ASU - bye bubble
Clemson - bye bubble
Next 5
Texas
Penn State
Notre Dame
Ohio State
Tennessee...
Yeah, I didn't see the game but saw the box score. Johnnies ran the ball...wait for it...9 times the whole game. You'd think they'd try running it once in a while just to burn clock, wear down the opposing defense, and help out your own defense...
Effing Rossi mailed it in before the Purdue game last year after interviewing for the MSU job. Fleck hinted at something going on behind the scenes in the week leading up to that. Rossi can go pound sand.
The SEC championship game sounds like Georgia basically playing a home game. If I'm Texas, I'd put up a stink about the game being held there every year. It's akin to the BG10 being played at Ford Field every year.