Predicting the 2017 CFP teams
The College Football Playoff committee is still weeks away from choosing which four teams will make the third-ever CFP. However, it’s never too soon to make a prediction. Here are the four teams poised to compete for a National Championship come January.
No changes made
It is hard to fathom that the 2016 college football season is already halfway over. It seems like yesterday that Notre Dame was in the AP top 10 (they are now a dismal 2-4, fresh off a loss to the traditional powerhouse that is the North Carolina State Wolfpack). With half the season already gone, it is officially time to start predicting who will make the third College Football Playoff.
No. 1: Clemson Tigers
Dabo Swinney’s Tigers made it through the first half of their schedule unscathed and are currently the No. 3 team in the country. The back half of its schedule—not including a trip to Tallahassee in a matchup against Florida State—appears favorable. Even the game against the Seminoles looks winnable for Clemson. The Tigers won’t drop in any poll, but losses from Alabama and Ohio State in crucial games down the stretch (more on those two later) allow Clemson to slide right into the No. 1 seed of the CFP.
No. 2: Michigan Wolverines
Michigan is on the rise since its hiring of Jim Harbaugh as the head coach. Whether it’s his signature khakis or slumber parties with potential recruits, whatever Harbaugh is doing in Ann Arbor is working. The Wolverines currently sit at No. 4 in the AP poll, but unlike Clemson, have a strong second half of their schedule, with games at Michigan State, at Iowa and at Ohio State remaining. The game in Columbus is going to be one of the most anticipated games of all time. Michigan is winning its games by an average of nearly 40 points, and while the Buckeyes are one heck of a football team, the Wolverines end up having the last laugh. As a result, they’ll enter the CFP as the No. 2 seed.
No. 3: Washington Huskies
Washington, like Michigan, has tough games on the back half of its schedule. The Huskies travel to Utah and Cal in back-to-back weeks. That being said, Washington did just run its truck over the Oregon Ducks, winning 70-21 in Eugene. The Pac-12 has historically been a conference that has not gotten as much respect as the other Power Five conferences. This can be attributed to several things, such as East Coast viewers not wanting to stay up until one or two in the morning to watch them or the annual gap that is created between the top-tier Pac-12 teams and the bottom-tier Pac-12 teams. However, the playoff committee will not overlook the Huskies this year. According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, Washington has a 30 percent chance to finish the season undefeated, so barring any late-season upsets, the Huskies will make the playoff as the No. 3 seed.
No. 4: Tennessee Volunteers
This one might come as a shock to some people, but the Tennessee Volunteers have just as good a chance at making the playoff as anyone. The Vols are the only team on this list that have a loss, but that loss came to one of the only two teams they could afford a loss to, Texas A&M. The rest of the season for the SEC will play out something like this: Alabama will beat Tennessee this coming week. It will be a close game, the Vols will make sure of it, but Bama will come out on top. After this week, Tennessee has a very favorable schedule and will end the regular season at 10-2. The Florida v. LSU game will not even need to be rescheduled. Florida will lose to Arkansas and/or Georgia. This will put the Gators at best at 10-2, and since Tennessee owns the tiebreaker over the Gators, the Vols will be in Atlanta. After beating Tennessee, the Crimson Tide host Texas A&M. The Aggies have finally broken through their yearly struggles in week six and will upset Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Both teams win out, but A&M with the tiebreaker goes to Atlanta. The SEC Championship Game will go a lot better for the Vols than their first meeting with the Aggies. Being only a few hours from Knoxville, the Georgia Dome will be a sea of orange, and Tennessee does what it should have done in College Station pretty easily: Win. The Vols won’t turn the ball over seven times, key players such as Darrin Kirkland Jr. and Cameron Sutton will be back in the lineup, and game won’t ever be in question for Tennessee. The Vols might have two losses on the season at this point, but the committee will give them enough respect over a one-loss Ohio State team and put them in as the No. 4 seed.
Who gets snubbed
Every year, one Power Five conference has to be snubbed. It’s math, folks. There are only four playoff spots. This year, like 2014, it’ll be the Big 12. The reason can be summed up in four words: No conference championship game. In addition, there hasn’t been a team that has distanced itself from the rest. While both Baylor and West Virginia remain undefeated, it’s highly unlikely they end the season that way.
Following Houston’s stunning loss to Navy, the Group of Five will also miss out on the CFP for another year. If the Cougars could’ve ended the season undefeated with wins over Oklahoma and Louisville, they had a legitimate chance of finding their way into the final four.
Can two teams from the same conference make the playoff?
As crazy as it sounds, yes. Imagine this: both Michigan and Ohio State are undefeated when the face off at the end of the season. When No. 1 Alabama loses to Texas A&M, both the Buckeyes and Wolverines join forced in the top three. If No. 3 Clemson loses to Florida State—and we assume Ohio State tops No. 8 Wisconsin this week—it’ll set up a No. 1 vs No. 2 matchup in Columbus. No matter how that game plays out, can the committee get away with not including both teams?
We’ll just have to wait and see. There’s only half the season left and it’ll be here before you know it.
Edited by David Bradford
Featured image by Allen Randall, courtesy of Creative Commons
Matt is a sophomore journalism and electronic media major at the University of Tennessee. He enjoys watching any and all sports, and is an active member in the Pride of the Southland Marching Band. Follow him on twitter @mattraymond271
