Worst-case scenarios for College Football Playoff committee
— -- The College Football Playoff selection meeting room is all business in Grapevine, Texas. No cell phones, no work emails, no outside distractions.
Now we're about to turn the lights out on them too.
This final edition of Doomsday will leave the 12 members of the selection committee completely in the dark about who should be the top four teams in the country. It's the ultimate head-spinning, scenario-scrambling, conference-crushing playoff possibility. For the past three weeks, Doomsday has presented the ultimate nightmare playoff scenario for how each of the Power 5 conferences could get left out of the top four.
This time? It's the committee that's doomed.
Imagine this snowball scenario:
- North Carolina beats No. 1 Clemson to win the ACC title AND
- Florida loses to Florida State AND beats Alabama to win the SEC title AND
- Iowa loses to Nebraska and beats Michigan State to win the Big Ten title AND
- Notre Dame loses to Stanford, which loses the Pac-12 championship AND
- The Pac-12 produces a four-loss conference champion in USC.
If the worst thing that happens in the Big 12 is a one-loss Baylor or Oklahoma State winning the conference, then that one true champion would be on top of the world in this particular playoff meltdown.
Let's help the committee sort it out.
It's not that improbable to think Stanford beats Notre Dame and goes on to lose to USC in the Pac-12 title game. The Cardinal beat the Trojans during the regular season, so there would certainly be a revenge factor. It would be easy for the committee to scratch a four-loss Pac-12 champ from the top four.
If Notre Dame loses to Stanford, it's out with two losses and no conference title.
Florida would be a two-loss SEC champ.
Iowa would be a one-loss Big Ten champ.
UNC would be a one-loss ACC champ (with two FCS wins and a dreadful loss to South Carolina).
The Big 12 is guaranteed a one-loss champ.
So who's in?
Iowa, the Big 12 champ, North Carolina and Florida?
We're all doomed.
