Extra Points: Is It Possible That The SEC Could Get THREE teams in the CFP?

Tony Barnhart (Mr. College Football) and Mark Blaudschun (A Jersey Guy) both love football, but sometimes they have different opinions. Topic: Is it possible

Tony Barnhart (Mr. College Football) and Mark Blaudschun (A Jersey Guy) both love football, but sometimes they have different opinions.

Topic: Is it possible that the SEC could get three teams in the College Football Playoffs?

Talk about a layup.

If the CFP selection committee is doing its job as outlined, it is certainly possible for the SEC to get three teams in, despite the fact that it would drive the rest of the country absolutely bonkers.

Here's how it happens. Now follow closely Jersey Guy.

Alabama and Georgia win out and both go to the SEC Championship game at 12-0. They play a great game that comes down to a field goal.

More importantly, Alabama and Georgia  make it clear that they are the two best teams in college football. Both get into the CFP.

Now the committee looks around for teams three and four. If there is an undefeated Big Ten champion, they get in. If Oregon goes 13-0, they get in. Oklahoma could get in at 13-0 but the Sooners have to start playing better on offense.

What about the ACC? The only undefeated teams in that league right now are Wake Forest (4-0) and Boston College (4-0).

But what if everybody loses, and the committee is looking at a bunch of one-loss teams to fill those last two spots? Wouldn't an 11-1 Ole Miss team that played Alabama to the buzzer and won the rest of its games convincingly be worthy of consideration?

Remember than in 2017 Alabama got into the playoffs even thought the Crimson Tide did not win the SEC West. Alabama beat Georgia for the national championship

The selection committee's job is to pick the four best teams for the playoffs regardless of conference affiliation.  Ole Miss and quarterback Matt Corral could make a compelling case.

Now would the committee actually pull the trigger and put three SEC teams in? If we had to bet the ranch, we would say no. Poltically it  would just be too difficult. 

In 2011 Alabama and LSU played for the BCS national championship after meeting earlier in the season. Our friends in the other conferences, especially The Big Ten, were not happy. 

Three years later we had a four-team playoff.

A Jersey Guy

Mr. CFB  you made our point in one sentence. " Politically, it would be just too difficult.''

You think?

If 3 of the four teams in the CFP semifinals were SEC schools, the tsunami of  disinterest and criticism from the Atlantic to the Pacific would turn Tennessee into  a state with a coast line.

As  one CFB official said when asked about what would happen if 3 SEC teams were in the Final Four, "We'd be in a committee meeting to expand the playoffs by next year before the championship game was over.''

The "four best'' team theory is nice, but it is a still only a theory. And, yes, the SEC, may indeed have the three best teams in college football this season. They may even have the four best.

But this is not college basketball, where game action allowed the Big East to have Villanova, Georgetown and St. John's all make the Final Four in 1985.

So, this time we agree. Is it possible? Yes.

Is it feasible.

No way.

But if it does happen in this wild and wacky world of CFB this season, you can count on expanding the playoffs to 12 teams being put in the high speed commuter lane.