3 SEC teams that don't deserve spot in College Football Playoff rankings of Week 14
The SEC and the College Football Playoff are deeply intertwined. The league not only fields the best teams but often has the most surprising or appalling ommissions from the four-team CFP. But with a 12-team playoff comes a comprehensive top-25 ranking by the CFP committee. Some SEC teams are worthy of inclusion — and some are not.
Here are three that don't deserve a spot and why they should be left out.
3 SEC teams that don't deserve spots in College Football Playoff rankings
3. Texas A&M
OK, the problem with the Aggies is that they could still prove their outsider status wrong. Yes, the Aggies could beat Texas in the regular-season finale and then overtake Georgia for the SEC crown and earn their way into the playoff. But that scenario is unlikely. Absent those events, the Aggies just come up short.
The Aggies took an early, bad loss to Notre Dame — but Notre Dame is likely in the playoff. They also suffered a 24-point beatdown against South Carolina. A&M stumbled when they couldn't afford to stumble.
A loss last week to a 4-6 Auburn team shouldn’t have been a genuine challenge. A&M fell behind 21-0 and failed to capitalize on several chances to take control of the game. That loss deservedly knocked them out of legitimate playoff contention. Not all losses are created equal, and losing to a sub-.500 team on a day when two other SEC contenders also took their third losses of the season was disastrous.
2. LSU
This one is obvious, but just in case the Tigers’ one-score win over Vanderbilt brought anyone back on board: there’s no room for a four-loss LSU team in the playoff field. Losses to a 6-5 USC team and a 6-5 Florida team alone would make their playoff case awkward.
Neither Texas A&M nor Alabama is in the CFP field. That means LSU's four losses four losses came against non-playoff teams. Three losses in a row late in the season is significant.
It’s not to say an 8-4 (or even 9-4) team will never make the playoff, but this LSU team isn’t the one to break that barrier.
1. Missouri
The Tigers’ case for the CFP is simple: they’re an SEC team and could finish 9-3. The problem is that while some 9-3 SEC teams might sneak into the playoff, Missouri isn’t one of them.
The Tigers lost by 34 points to an Alabama team currently outside the CFP field, by 31 points to a Texas A&M team that’s even farther out, and to South Carolina. Their wins? Narrow victories over non-powerhouses like Boston College, Vanderbilt, Auburn, and Oklahoma.
Missouri doesn't play like a CFP team. It's a reasonable supposition that they're not any better than teams like Iowa State or Duke. Their good fortune came in their schedule, as they avoided Texas, Georgia, Tennessee and Ole Miss. That shouldn't be enough to qualify them for the CFP.
What do you think of the SEC teams above? Should any of them sneak into the playoffs? Weigh in below in our comments section.