ESPN’s Trevor Matich explains which Playoff team is left out if Georgia upsets Alabama
By Keith Farner
Published:
There isn’t much drama yet with the College Football Playoff rankings, but that hasn’t stopped college football experts from predicting how potential scenarios would play out if certain teams win out, or if there’s an upset in the SEC Championship Game.
Trevor Matich took his swing at the fall out from a possibility of Georgia beating Alabama with Clemson, Notre Dame and Michigan winning out. Matich, in a conversation on Wednesday on “The Paul Finebaum Show,” said the Wolverines could win out from the No. 4 position and be left out of the CFP.
Matich’s top four, without suggesting an order, would be Clemson, Notre Dame, Georgia and Alabama.
“If Georgia beats Alabama in a close one in the SEC Championship Game, Georgia is in the Playoff,” Matich said. “They will be the SEC champion with one loss and the best individual win of the season with the win over Alabama should they beat them in the championship game. But Alabama is still better than any team in the country. Paul, if you think Alabama faced Michigan on a neutral field right now, who is the better team, who wins, Alabama or Michigan?”
Matich’s argument jibes with what the committee has revealed in recent rankings, meaning the on-the-field resume carries weight.
“The committee would think that too, so if that happens, if Georgia knocks off Alabama in the SEC Championship, if Clemson and Notre Dame win out. Then Michigan can win out from their No. 4 position and still not make the Playoff.”
Some of the matchups down the stretch are Notre Dame against Florida State, Syracuse and at Southern Cal. Clemson is at Boston College, home against Duke and South Carolina to close the regular season.
Georgia and Alabama each play Auburn along with UMass and The Citadel, respectively, along with Georgia Tech and Mississippi State. Michigan is at Rutgers, home against Indiana and at Ohio State to close the regular season.
"If Georgia knocks off Alabama in the SEC Championship and Clemson & Notre Dame win out then Michigan could win out from the #4 position right now and still not make the playoff" – @TMatich pic.twitter.com/yh050KPu7D
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) November 7, 2018
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
