I think it’s fair to say that going into today, Georgia, Ohio State and Tennessee are the three teams best positioned to be in the playoff. Assuming TCU and LSU take another loss before it’s all said and done, it’s time to look hard at the Pac 12 for a fourth team.
I’m still not sold on Oregon. They have that 49-3 matzo ball vs Georgia at the top of their resume. Not only that, they really got a favorable schedule in the Pac 12 where all their toughest opponents had to come to Autzen. They beat UCLA there. Washington and Utah go to Autzen tonight and next week. And they ducked USC. (See what I did there?)
USC is well positioned. They have the best loss of Pac 12 teams (43-42 at Utah in a thriller), they look like a dominant offense, and they get UCLA, Notre Dame and likely a Pac 12 title game to offer a late push to the committee. Now we’ll find out how good they really are.
UCLA is still hanging around with just the one loss at Oregon. Aside from next Saturday vs USC, they should be able to bank two more wins and need to beat USC to make it to Vegas.
It’s still possible that the actual best team of this bunch is Utah. They’re the only ones who beat USC. They’re the only ones who smoked Oregon State. They still only have one conference loss and I’m not sure they should be an underdog next week at Oregon. They might well still win the Pac 12 title.
What I personally want to see is Utah and USC both make it to Vegas, because I think they’re the two best Pac 12 teams and I want a rematch from their Salt Lake City game.
If you’re a fan of Michigan, Ohio State, TCU, Bama, LSU, etc., what you want to want to see is Utah beat Oregon; USC beat UCLA; Notre Dame beat USC; and then USC win the Pac 12 title. What you absolutely don’t want to see is a one-loss Pac 12 champion.
It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …