Ohio State, Michigan, TCU, USC, and Clemson Are All Possible CFP Teams With 1 Loss. LSU with 2 losses also alive!
Last week I wrote about possible scenario’s for one loss teams in the CFP race.
Tennessee’s loss shook up the CFP picture quite a bit.
Per the Allstate Playoff Predictor, the Vols’ odds of reaching the final four plummeted from 60% to 9% with the loss, and TCU (up 21 percentage points), Michigan (10 percentage points), USC (6), Clemson (6), Ohio State (6) and LSU (3) all benefited. scenarios for one loss teams in the CFP.
Lets Look At Some The Possible CFP Scenarios, Especially that Ohio State – Michigan Game
Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan and TCU are all in if they win out (but either Michigan or Ohio State will lose to the other this coming weekend). If the Michigan-Ohio State game is very close it’s still possible that both could still be ranked in the top 4 a week from today when all the smoke clears.
TCU’s lack of dominance failed to impress the committee, and the Horned Frogs started out seventh behind a one-loss Alabama. That doesn’t say positive things about TCU’s chances of getting in with a loss.
LSU has two losses. Here’s how they could still get in. Despite two losses, LSU was up to sixth in last week’s rankings and will get a shot at No. 1 Georgia in the SEC championship game. If they beat the Bulldogs and either Michigan or Ohio State lose big and USC or TCU lose one more game, the Tigers would have a great shot to get in.
USC or Clemson–Who Has The Edge?
USC was ahead of Clemson in the “potential one-loss conference champion” pecking order, and the Trojans not only scored a ranked win over UCLA this week but could also grab two more in the coming weeks against Notre Dame on Saturday and a Pac-12 championship game competitor to be named later.
Clemson can score only one more ranked win, against North Carolina in the ACC championship game. That likely means USC will remain ahead of the Tigers if both teams win out. However, if the committee decides to rank South Carolina this week, as I did(I have them in at #25) that would give Clemson another chance at beating a ranked team and could possibly put them ahead of the Trojans.
If you don’t have another popsicle headache now, trust me you will by late Saturday night. I will be rooting for a 3 point or less win by either Michigan or Ohio State plus victories by USC over Notre Dame and LSU over Texas A/M. This would absolutely further my claim to chaos and would infuriate Craig Shemon to no end.
