The College Football Playoff picture for this year is starting to take shape, but what would the rankings look like if the BCS was still in place?

The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) is the system that was used to determine a national champion from 1998-2013. The series was dominated by the SEC as the conference racked up nine National Championships in that time frame. The Big 12 and ACC were the only other conferences to record multiple championships with two apiece.

The Playoff was instituted in 2014 and has yet to feature two teams from the same conference in a single Playoff. While a few things would have to fall just right, the latest Playoff Top 25 seems to indicate that there is still a possibility of two SEC teams making the final four this year.

Auburn (No. 2) and Georgia (No. 6) will play in the SEC Championship Game this weekend where the winner will likely make the Playoff. Meanwhile, Alabama is ranked No. 5 and could stand to move up should another team in the top four fall this weekend.

The SEC is looking good in the Playoff rankings, but the BCS rankings would likely not put the conference in a favorable position this season. Jeffrey H. Anderson with The Weekly Standard shared a look at how this year’s teams would rank in the BCS system. According to Anderson, no SEC team would rank in the top three heading into Championship Weekend.

The system would rank Wisconsin and Clemson as No. 1 and No. 2 with Auburn, Georgia, and Alabama on the outside looking in. Here is how the top 10 would look:

  • (1) Wisconsin (12-0): #3 in the polls (.915), #1 in the computers (.995), .942 total score
  • (2) Clemson (11-1): #1 in the polls (.949), #2 in the computers (.915), .937
  • (3) Oklahoma (11-1): #2 in the polls (.936), #6 in the computers (.745), .872
  • (4) Auburn (10-2): #4 in the polls (.889), #8 in the computers (.740), .839
  • (5) Georgia (11-1): #6 in the polls (.805), #4 in the computers (.890), .833
  • (6) Alabama (11-1): #5 in the polls (.809), #5 in the computers (.845), .821
  • (7) Miami (10-1): #7 in the polls (.718), #6 in the computers (.745), .727
  • (8) UCF (11-0): #12 in the polls (.596), #3 in the computers (.910), .701
  • (9) Ohio State (10-2): #8 in the polls (.716), #10 in the computers (.660), .697
  • (10) Penn State (10-2): #9 in the polls (.618), #9 in the computers (.665), .634