The College Football Playoff scenarios are running rampant.
The number of undefeated and one-loss teams with vested interests in conference championship Saturday is an all-time high.
ESPN college football analyst Heather Dinich, who appeared on “Get Up” on Tuesday ahead of the latest CFP poll, was asked what happens if No. 8 Alabama beats No. 1 Georgia in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday in Atlanta.
Well, two things, she said.
“The first is that Alabama and Texas could be in a great debate in that selection committee meeting room if Texas wins the Big 12 earlier that day,” she explained. “Because Texas would have something that Georgia does not: A win against the SEC champs by double digits in Tuscaloosa. And as (Texas coach Steve Sarkisian) says, if that was easy to do, more people would be doing it.”
The second thing is what to do with a one-loss Georgia team, which been No. 1 in the country all season long.
“The committee would have a great headache as to what to do with Georgia with one loss and no conference title,” she explained. “You have to remember the bar in that committee meeting room for teams that don’t win their conference championship is a lot higher. I think it is going to be extremely difficult for Georgia or any other team that doesn’t win its league his year to get in.”
She added a Texas loss in the Big 12 title game or Florida State falling to Louisville in the ACC championship game would be game-changers.
“But Alabama is going to have a better resume than Texas in the end because no one has a better opportunity to impress the selection committee than Alabama,” Dinich said. “The committee would have to weigh Alabama’s resume against that head-to-head, and it might not be as easy as people think.”
Back in Week 2, Texas defeated Alabama 34-24 in Tuscaloosa.
The CFP poll will be released Tuesday. The broadcast, set for 6 p.m., will be live streamed on DirecTV Stream (free trial), fuboTV (free trial) and SlingTV (half off first month).
Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.
