re: Could Clemson still make the Playoff with a loss this weekend?

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6-0

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And make a playoff? That's dumber than shite.

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No one is saying there would be a 3rd ND-Clemson game. The playoff would be Bama-Clemson and Notre Dame-Ohio State. The only way there would be a 3rd Notre Dame-Clemson game is if both teams won.

The chances of BOTH Clemson beating Bama AND Notre Dame beating Ohio State (both would be Vegas upsets) are very slim. So there's a 80-90% chance you're not going to get that 3rd ND-Clemson game. But if both those upsets did somehow occur, I imagine there would be little doubt in the CFB world that those two teams were truly the two best teams at that point, so why not have a Championship with the two best?

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Clemson beating Alabama, after losing twice to Notre Dame, would be a huge upset. It could happen, but Clemson, in that situation, would be a huge underdog to Bama, probably on the same order as A&M. Why is that an inherently better matchup, under those facts?

Part of the problem with playoff selection is how much one "earns" a spot in the playoffs. Does what you do during the season entitle you to a spot, or is it simply a matter of selecting the four teams we would most like to see? Clemson, with Lawrence, is certainly a team that people would like to see matched up with Bama, but if they have two losses, will they have earned that? You really can't look at the Clemson resume, assuming a hypothetical loss to ND, and make the case that they've done anything more than A&M to earn a position in the playoff.

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I guess ask yourself this. Which two games would you rather see:

#2 Notre Dame vs. #3 Ohio State
#1 Alabama vs. #4_______

Would Clemson or Texas A&M be the better opponent to face Alabama? Which would be the more exciting game?

Anyone who's honest knows Clemson would be a better game to watch. No serious person outside of College Station, TX actually thinks that the Aggies would give Bama a better fight than Clemson.

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You posted this while I was composing my last reply, and it touches on a point I was making. Let's set aside Clemson, and go with another hypothetical. Suppose Ohio State only played five games, total, instead of six. Is the fact that people think Ohio State has a strong team enough reason to give them a playoff spot with that thin a resume? What if things had really gotten crazy and they only played four? Is the "eye test" all that matters?

Everyone thought that UF would wax LSU. Didn't happen. If we're going to base our decision off of what COULD be, we have to equally entertain the chance that they could get their arse beat.

It's why Ohio State being part of the conversation is kind of ridiculous. Don't sit there and tell me "they look like one of the best 4 teams" when they've only played 5 games. Base this off what teams HAVE done, not what they COULD do and then lean towards the most positive hypothetical outcome for that team. If Clemson loses twice, they should not be given a THIRD opportunity to beat a team they couldn't do twice. A rematch is one thing. A rematch of a rematch in the same season? GTFO

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Is the "eye test" all that matters?

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No, not by a long shot. This year is hard to weigh exactly what is more important to the committee, but there are eliminating factors one of those have got to be L's.

In every other year, 2 L's = you're out, I really don't see it being different this year. Let's try to be pragmatic, the playoff selection committee is under a lot of pressure/scrutiny, even during a normal year, giving them an "easy out" of moving a 2 loss team out of the top four would not be met with much objection from the media or CFB world in general.

This year, the pressure on the committee squarely resides on what should they do with an OSU team that only played 6 games. I believe that every single person on that committee is praying that Clemson wins by 2ish scores so they can go 1 Bama, 2/3 OSU/Clemson (either order), 4 ND. Given that scenario the vast, vast majority would agree that they "got it right".

The second easiest situation for them is ND & OSU win, and A&M beats TN. That way they can slide A&M into the 4th spot, because, hey, they've been sitting at 5 since the first rankings, why wouldn't they get in. The only controversy at that point would be... Do they jump A&M to 3 to punish OSU for only playing 6 games thus making them the sacrificial lamb for Bama? Either way they still "get it right" by having the right 4 teams in, so public scrutiny would be minimal.

Anyone who thinks the committee will do anything other than follow the path of least resistance isn't being intellectually honest with themselves.

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If it were Alabama or Clemson. No one would have a problem if C19 took 2-3 games from them. And they were sitting at 6-0. It’s the same thing.

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bullshite. There are several teams with more than 6 wins, including top 20 wins. How in the hell would it be fair for tOSU to get a playoff spot over those teams? I can;t believe anyone is even trying to make a case for that bullshite.

There is a less than zero percent chance Clemson would make it in this scenario. Look at the entire history of the cfp and you'll see that nothing like that has ever happened. And it wouldn't happen this year either.

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Look at the entire history of the cfp and you'll see that nothing like that has ever happened. And it wouldn't happen this year either.

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There has also never been a year in which most teams didn't play an OOC game and that some teams had opponents cancel on them due to a raging pandemic. Obviously this is not just any other season.

The committee always tries to find the "Four Best Teams" and COVID is only going to allow them to look past certain data points even more so than normal to make sure they get those four best teams.

A&M is not a Top 4 team. Everyone knows that. Even A&M fans have to know that.

They only beat Vanderbilt by 5 points
They trailed Auburn in the 4th quarter
They didn't even have to play Ole Miss, who would have been an above average opponent on their schedule.
They were destroyed by Alabama by 4 touchdowns

Literally they are basing their entire Playoff resume off one one single win in which they beat a soon to be #14 ranked Florida team by just 3 points after a 4th quarter Gator meltdown.

For all those folks asking, "When has a team that only played 6 games ever gotten into the Playoff?" and also, "When has a 2-loss team ever gotten into the Playoff?", maybe stretch your mind a bit to also ask, "When has a team that didn't win their Division and also didn't have a single win over a Top 10 team ever gotten into the Playoff?"

Because if Bama beats Florida badly on Saturday, that's a very pertinent question to ask yourself.

It’s a stupid system but if the goal is to get the four best teams in the playoffs Clemson should be in win or lose this weekend.

It would be great if college football could just expand the playoffs and include all division champs. This nonsense of arguing who’s best would stop and it would be decided on the field like every other sport.