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College Football Playoff debate centers around these 5 teams

Joe Cox|
An SEC title game loss for Alabama leaves Kalen DeBoer's Tide in the thick of the CFP debate.
An SEC title game loss for Alabama leaves Kalen DeBoer's Tide in the thick of the CFP debate. | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

In this story:

Alabama Crimson TideDuke Blue DevilsTexas LonghornsMiami (FL) HurricanesNotre Dame Fighting Irish

Much of the College Football Playoff field is set, but the debate over the last couple spots will mark the final hours ahead of CFP selection. The top teams have punched all but guaranteed tickets, and a few unlikely teams will sneak in guaranteed spots, but at the end of the day, a couple of talented but flawed teams will own the day in the selection argument.

On the list of teams all but guaranteed, write in Indiana, Ohio State, Georgia, Texas Tech, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Tulane, and probably James Madison. That's ten spots. Two remain and here's a sampling of the talking points and problems for the top remaining candidates.

Alabama

The Tide had a chance to guarantee their spot, but instead took a third loss of the year in the SEC title game against Georgia. The 28-7 loss raises some concerns. Alabama will be the only three-loss team under serious consideration. With two loss teams like BYU and Miami also on the Playoff fringes, Alabama is by far the most controversial team in this discussion.

That said, everybody wasn't moved by the third loss or planning to penalize the Tide for reaching the SEC title game (unlike Ole Miss or Texas A&M)

Miami

The Hurricanes won 10 games and beat Notre Dame. But they also lost to Louisville and SMU in conference play and found themselves outside of the ACC championship game. With an 8-5 Duke team winning the league title, Miami is probably the ACC squad with the best resume... but is that enough to earn an at-large spot?

But aside from those advocating for their CFP spot, Miami does have a problem with missing the league title game... and with those bad losses.

Notre Dame

The Irish are 10-2 and of course, as an Independent, don't play a conference title game. It's worth noting that Notre Dame started 0-2 and has now won 10 games in a row heading into CFP selection. Marcus Freeman himself (what with having the week off) made his play for the Irish.

But everybody isn't impressed with the Irish, who played a chunk of the putrid ACC for most of its regular season schedule. The case against the Irish (and their Independent status) isn't hard to make.

Texas

If anybody other than Alabama fans was furious at the Tide, it was probably Texas backers. After all, the last thing the Longhorns needed was another 3-loss SEC team trying to claim a Playoff spot. Texas is generally assumed to be on the outside, not due to a 25-point loss to Georgia or a Week One loss to Ohio State, but due to a 29-21 loss to 4-8 Florida.

Steve Sarkisian tried to counter the narrative and defend the Longhorns, but he is facing an uphill battle as the Longhorns are well behind the top three teams on this list.

Duke

This is the longest of long shots. An 8-5 Duke team winning the ACC means the league was likely bypassed in the race to the top five ranked league champions. Tulane AND James Madison will make the Playoff and Duke won't. It's hard to pass on a power league champion, but Duke has more issues that anyone.

Duke lost by 26 points to Illinois, actually lost head-to-head to Tulane, lost to UConn, and the high point of their season before winning an ugly ACC title game in overtime was a one-point win over Clemson.

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Joe Cox
JOE COX

Joe is a journalist and writer who covers college and professional sports. He has written or co-written over a dozen sports books, including several regional best sellers. His last book, A Fine Team Man, is about Jackie Robinson and the lives he changed. Joe has been a guest on MLB Network, the Paul Finebaum show and numerous other television and radio shows. He has been inside MLB dugouts, covered bowl games and conference tournaments with Saturday Down South and still loves telling the stories of sports past and present.

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