11-30-2015, 04:39 PM
Oklahoma (11-1) won the Big 12, meaning the committee won't squeeze out the conference a second straight year.
A second lock is the B1G winner of MSU (11-1) v. Iowa (12-0). No matter what else happens, this is a one-bid conference.
Should Stanford (10-2) beat U$C (8-4), it still needs either Alabama (11-1) or Clemson (12-0) to lose. Both teams have enough of a cushion, I think, that even an extremely ugly win over a drastic underdog -- say, by 1 point in triple OT -- won't uncrimson the Tide or cage that Tiger. Nor would a victorious Florida (10-2) or North Carolina (11-1) leapfrog the Cardinal, per strength-of-schedule metrics.
A second lock is the B1G winner of MSU (11-1) v. Iowa (12-0). No matter what else happens, this is a one-bid conference.
Should Stanford (10-2) beat U$C (8-4), it still needs either Alabama (11-1) or Clemson (12-0) to lose. Both teams have enough of a cushion, I think, that even an extremely ugly win over a drastic underdog -- say, by 1 point in triple OT -- won't uncrimson the Tide or cage that Tiger. Nor would a victorious Florida (10-2) or North Carolina (11-1) leapfrog the Cardinal, per strength-of-schedule metrics.