[ThePassionOfTheChryst]

It's very hard to see North Carolina jumping a Pac 12 champion Stanford even with a win over Clemson in their conference title game. 

The committee is preaching strength of schedule as a differentiator and North Carolina played two BCS schools and plays in a conference loaded with patsies.  Also, Carolina is behind Stanford in the penultimate poll and the ACC is generally regarded as the weakest of the power 5 conferences.

I guess they could score style points with an impressive win but Stanford has a very good chance of slipping into the playoffs if Clemson falls.

Now, it's an open question for me how much I'd prefer a playoff game (vs Oklahoma?) vs a Jan 1 date in Pasadena with Ohio State.  The playoff game gets the slight edge intellectually but emotionally it's close.  The Rose Bowl is still the gold standard of the post season to this Stanford fan.

You would rather not play for a national title than play for one?  To each their own I suppose.

But if we handle business this Saturday, and UNC knocks off Clemson -- I'd bet we sneak in.

[ThePassionOfTheChryst]

It's very hard to see North Carolina jumping a Pac 12 champion Stanford even with a win over Clemson in their conference title game. 

The committee is preaching strength of schedule as a differentiator and North Carolina played two BCS schools and plays in a conference loaded with patsies.  Also, Carolina is behind Stanford in the penultimate poll and the ACC is generally regarded as the weakest of the power 5 conferences.

I guess they could score style points with an impressive win but Stanford has a very good chance of slipping into the playoffs if Clemson falls.

Now, it's an open question for me how much I'd prefer a playoff game (vs Oklahoma?) vs a Jan 1 date in Pasadena with Ohio State.  The playoff game gets the slight edge intellectually but emotionally it's close.  The Rose Bowl is still the gold standard of the post season to this Stanford fan.

You would rather not play for a national title than play for one?  To each their own I suppose.

But if we handle business this Saturday, and UNC knocks off Clemson -- I'd bet we sneak in.