Sunday Hangover: Could the SEC put three teams into the college football playoff?

I know what you're thinking: it's only been two weeks of college football. How can you start thinking about the playoff? Well, you are right. It is early but we have seen a pretty good sample size of what is going on. With LSU’s big win at Texas, they have made a good argument to be among the elite. The Tide is rolling and Georgia has potential to run the table. If this continues through December 7, the three best teams in the nation could very well be members of the Southeastern Conference.

Clemson

Yes, they have Mr. Wonderful at quarterback and they play in a weak conference but they have shown to have some issues. If they lose one game, it might be enough to keep him out of the playoff.

Pac-12 Winner

Oregon and Washington are probably eliminated with their early season losses. Utah hasn't looked dominant though they could win the conference with an unscathed record. However, there's a good chance nobody comes out of that conference undefeated. 13-0 is probably the only recipe for a PAC-12 team getting into the playoffs.

Texas or Oklahoma

There is a very good chance that these two Big XII teams end up playing each other twice - once in the Red River Shootout and once in the Conference Championship Game. There is alos a strong possibility of them splitting the series.

Big Ten Champ

It's looking like the winner of the October 26 Ohio State-Wisconsin game will be in the driver's seat for that conference title. Michigan and Penn State looked far from being playoff material on Saturday.

Notre Dame

The Irish have to beat Georgia in Athens. If that happens, this whole argument could be shot.

Three SEC Teams

The above scenarios are not as improbable as you might think. In order for this to happen, Alabama, Georgia, and LSU probably cannot afford to collectively lose more than two games. However, they may be able to get by with one loss apiece, depending on what the rest of the nation does. It would be far-fetched to think a one-loss team from these other conferences would be selected over a one-loss SEC team as long as the defeats are not along the lines of Ohio State’s devastating 2018 loss to Purdue.

If this outline comes to fruition, the fanbases outside of the SEC will be melting down at an epic level. If committees of the past have taught us anything, it is that they don’t care about conference affiliations and truly aim to get the best four into the playoff - as it should be.

Current Playoff Committee