For entertainment purposes only, obviously, since I put very little stock in this stuff. I can see the rationale, though.
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JERRY PALM
Bracketology/Bowls Expert
College football bowl projections: SEC, Big 12, ACC in; Pac-12 out of '15 playoff
August 12, 2015 11:10 am ET
>> More projections: Every 2015 college football bowl predicted
Preseason bowl and playoff projections are out for 2015, and you will not be surprised to see that the defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes begin the campaign as the projected No. 1 seed in my bracket.
TCU, which was controversially left out of last year's playoff, is the projected No. 2 seed, while predicted SEC champion Auburn would be the No. 3 seed and the Horned Frogs' opponent in the Cotton Bowl semifinal.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF
BOWL MATCHUP PREDICTION
Cotton Bowl (Dec. 31) Semifinal TCU (Big 12) vs. Auburn (SEC)
Orange Bowl (Dec. 31) Semifinal Ohio State (Big Ten) vs. Clemson (ACC)
Clemson, which projects as the ACC champion, slots into the No. 4 spot against the Buckeyes in the Orange Bowl.
One of the many unfortunate things about this playoff format is that it is designed to leave at least one of the major conferences out. The result of that is that it focuses too much on the conferences instead of the teams. There was a lot of gnashing of teeth in the Big 12 offices all summer as they pondered how to try to "fix" the problem of being left out, when it was as much happenstance as anything.
Who will get left out? This year, the league that could be going through that self-evaluation is the Pac-12, which would be a tough pill for some to swallow, especially those that think it is catching up to the SEC in the battle for the title of "best" league. The Pac-12 is absent from these projections, in part, due of that depth. Combine strong teams at the top (Oregon, USC) with the rest of the South division, which is especially good, and you have a conference that may make it difficult for its top teams to post a good enough record to compete for a playoff spot. The Ducks and Trojans also have very difficult nonconference games road against Michigan State and Notre Dame, respectively. These are must-wins if either team is going to make a run at the playoff.
While it's not the preseason projection, something similar could happen in the SEC, due in large part to the stacked West division. The difference with the SEC is most of those teams are not burdening themselves with overtly tough road games of consequence in nonconference play.
The ACC, which is arguably the weakest of the five major leagues, is another candidate to get excluded. There is less of a margin for error for the top teams in that league, as was shown last year when the committee seeded an undefeated Florida State third.
Could more than one conference be on the outside looking in? You can forsee a scenario where Michigan State goes 11-1, beating Oregon and losing only to 13-0 Ohio State, and joins the Buckeyes in the playoffs. That would result in two leagues getting left out.
The SEC and Pac-12 are also strong enough at the top to conceivably have two contenders for playoff spots. So, yes, while I am projecting the strength of the Pac-12 could be its downfall for the playoff, it's also possible that -- given the right results -- that same strength could be the reason the league gets two teams competing for the title.
Odds and ends for the 2015 bowls:
• There are 39 bowls this year, up one from last year with the addition of the Cure Bowl. (If the halftime show isn't also The Cure, then something is terribly wrong.)
• The bowls that get the most attention are those filled by the selection committee, which this year will be the Rose, Sugar, Peach and Fiesta. The Rose gets the highest rated Big Ten and Pac-12 teams not in the playoff, while the Sugar will match top teams from the SEC and Big 12. The three highest-rated teams from any league, plus the highest-rated team from the Group of Five conferences will fill the other two games.
SELECTION COMMITTEE BOWL GAMES
BOWL MATCHUP PREDICTION
Sugar Bowl (Jan. 1) Big 12 vs. SEC Baylor vs. Alabama
Rose Bowl (Jan. 1) Big Ten vs. Pac-12 Wisconsin vs. Oregon
Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 1) At-Large vs. At-Large USC vs. Boise State
Peach Bowl (Dec. 31) At-Large vs. At-Large Florida State vs. Michigan State
• Even though we need 78 teams for all those bowls, I only had to find one team that wasn't fully eligible to fill the field. I have 6-6 Boston College in a bowl, even though two of their projected six wins are against FCS teams.
SEC favorite Auburn is projected to earn a spot in the second College Football Playoff. (USATSI)
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There's also video at the link.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...s-sec-big-12-and-acc-in-pac-12-out-of-playoff
-------------
JERRY PALM
Bracketology/Bowls Expert
College football bowl projections: SEC, Big 12, ACC in; Pac-12 out of '15 playoff
August 12, 2015 11:10 am ET
>> More projections: Every 2015 college football bowl predicted
Preseason bowl and playoff projections are out for 2015, and you will not be surprised to see that the defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes begin the campaign as the projected No. 1 seed in my bracket.
TCU, which was controversially left out of last year's playoff, is the projected No. 2 seed, while predicted SEC champion Auburn would be the No. 3 seed and the Horned Frogs' opponent in the Cotton Bowl semifinal.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF
BOWL MATCHUP PREDICTION
Cotton Bowl (Dec. 31) Semifinal TCU (Big 12) vs. Auburn (SEC)
Orange Bowl (Dec. 31) Semifinal Ohio State (Big Ten) vs. Clemson (ACC)
Clemson, which projects as the ACC champion, slots into the No. 4 spot against the Buckeyes in the Orange Bowl.
One of the many unfortunate things about this playoff format is that it is designed to leave at least one of the major conferences out. The result of that is that it focuses too much on the conferences instead of the teams. There was a lot of gnashing of teeth in the Big 12 offices all summer as they pondered how to try to "fix" the problem of being left out, when it was as much happenstance as anything.
Who will get left out? This year, the league that could be going through that self-evaluation is the Pac-12, which would be a tough pill for some to swallow, especially those that think it is catching up to the SEC in the battle for the title of "best" league. The Pac-12 is absent from these projections, in part, due of that depth. Combine strong teams at the top (Oregon, USC) with the rest of the South division, which is especially good, and you have a conference that may make it difficult for its top teams to post a good enough record to compete for a playoff spot. The Ducks and Trojans also have very difficult nonconference games road against Michigan State and Notre Dame, respectively. These are must-wins if either team is going to make a run at the playoff.
While it's not the preseason projection, something similar could happen in the SEC, due in large part to the stacked West division. The difference with the SEC is most of those teams are not burdening themselves with overtly tough road games of consequence in nonconference play.
The ACC, which is arguably the weakest of the five major leagues, is another candidate to get excluded. There is less of a margin for error for the top teams in that league, as was shown last year when the committee seeded an undefeated Florida State third.
Could more than one conference be on the outside looking in? You can forsee a scenario where Michigan State goes 11-1, beating Oregon and losing only to 13-0 Ohio State, and joins the Buckeyes in the playoffs. That would result in two leagues getting left out.
The SEC and Pac-12 are also strong enough at the top to conceivably have two contenders for playoff spots. So, yes, while I am projecting the strength of the Pac-12 could be its downfall for the playoff, it's also possible that -- given the right results -- that same strength could be the reason the league gets two teams competing for the title.
Odds and ends for the 2015 bowls:
• There are 39 bowls this year, up one from last year with the addition of the Cure Bowl. (If the halftime show isn't also The Cure, then something is terribly wrong.)
• The bowls that get the most attention are those filled by the selection committee, which this year will be the Rose, Sugar, Peach and Fiesta. The Rose gets the highest rated Big Ten and Pac-12 teams not in the playoff, while the Sugar will match top teams from the SEC and Big 12. The three highest-rated teams from any league, plus the highest-rated team from the Group of Five conferences will fill the other two games.
SELECTION COMMITTEE BOWL GAMES
BOWL MATCHUP PREDICTION
Sugar Bowl (Jan. 1) Big 12 vs. SEC Baylor vs. Alabama
Rose Bowl (Jan. 1) Big Ten vs. Pac-12 Wisconsin vs. Oregon
Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 1) At-Large vs. At-Large USC vs. Boise State
Peach Bowl (Dec. 31) At-Large vs. At-Large Florida State vs. Michigan State
• Even though we need 78 teams for all those bowls, I only had to find one team that wasn't fully eligible to fill the field. I have 6-6 Boston College in a bowl, even though two of their projected six wins are against FCS teams.
SEC favorite Auburn is projected to earn a spot in the second College Football Playoff. (USATSI)
------
There's also video at the link.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...s-sec-big-12-and-acc-in-pac-12-out-of-playoff
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