As my post proved, you didn’t have to be a genius to see this kind of analysis coming.
And now, as the Bulldogs head into their closing stretch of the season, they now have the best win in all of college football. And they can thank themselves and Notre Dame for that.
Problem for Georgia is that win is a two-edged sword. Yes, it’s a big deal for the Dawgs, but it’s also evidence for Notre Dame’s quality in light of the run Brian Kelly’s team has been on since that night. The media is starting to notice that in a big way and that way may have consequences none of us saw coming while we were celebrating the win in South Bend.
Selection committee, how’s it going?
I joked a little about this scenario last week, but as you can see, it’s inching its way slowly towards not being a laughing matter. It goes without saying that there’s still a lot of football left to be played, but what happens if both Notre Dame and Georgia run the rest of their regular season tables?
Notre Dame’s done both schools a favor with its decisive win over Southern Cal, as that’s likely crippled the Pac-12’s chances to make the CFP field for good. But that’s also opened the door for this kind of talk:
1. It’s time to take Notre Dame seriously as a CFP contender. Few, if any, were talking about the Irish this past summer as a Top 25 team — they weren’t even ranked in the Associated Press preseason poll. Now? After drubbing USC, Notre Dame is one of the hottest one-loss teams in the country with a legitimate chance to ultimately earn a top-four ranking from the selection committee. So far, Notre Dame’s only loss was by one point to SEC East favorite Georgia. While the Sept. 23 win at Michigan State continues to look good (the Spartans are still undefeated in league play), Notre Dame’s win over USC was its first true statement win of the season. Beating USC was the first step in what ESPN’s Football Power Index considers to be the 11th-toughest remaining schedule, as Notre Dame still has to face No. 14 NC State at home and go on the road to play No. 8 Miami and No. 20 Stanford. On Saturday, though, Notre Dame proved it’s a far different and better team than it was a year ago, and it has the potential to win out. If Notre Dame finishes 11-1 against what the FPI projects to be the No. 8 overall schedule in the country, it will have a great case for a top-four finish.
Note that there is no similar entry about Georgia’s chances. It’s not just FPI that’s swinging Notre Dame’s way. Sagarin ranks the Irish ahead of the Dawgs. And here’s Bill Connelly’s backhanded praise for Notre Dame:
Even their lone loss burnishes their bona fides. The Irish fell 20-19 to a Georgia that has otherwise beaten every other opponent by at least three touchdowns. They’re the only team to hold the Dawgs under 31 points, and they’re one of two to score more than 14.
At least Georgia’s got that going for it.
That being said, there are two complications facing the Dawgs. One, quite simply, is named Alabama. If the pupil does indeed face off against the teacher in Atlanta, it will be with the general expectation that he won’t be the one to carry the day. (The irony here that, if in fact Georgia does pull off the upset, a one-loss Alabama is still a lock to go to the semi-finals isn’t lost on me.)
If Georgia loses the SECCG, as most would expect, the second may be even more obvious. Mickey is already peeing in his pants in anticipation of the growing possibility that Notre Dame, the national program, makes the playoff field. If it’s a choice between the Irish and one-loss Georgia, that is going to be one tough narrative to overcome. For one thing, the “Notre Dame didn’t win a conference title game” argument goes straight in the trash under that scenario.
It’ll make for one helluva debate in any event, as Wolken acknowledges. It would likely wind up being the impetus for bringing the eight-team playoff into reality, Bill Hancock’s pious postulations notwithstanding. If the Dawgs aren’t invited, though, that’ll be small consolation for us. (Actually, for me, none at all.)
Bottom line here? Alabama looks like a lock. So does the eventual Big Ten champ. If you’re Georgia, either hope for a second ND loss — but not a bad one! — or a helluva lot of chaos descending on the ACC and the Big 12. Anything to make the selection committee’s job easier…
*********************************************************************
UPDATE: One thing to keep tucked in the back of your mind for now is that Georgia sits on top of the current CPI ratings (h/t). Again, the usual caveat about a lot of football left to be played applies.
Get The Picture 
The fact that seven games into the season we are having this conversation blows my mind. I don’t have that swagger yet. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop and will worry about playoff consideration later. Right now I’ve got that undefeated UGA awkwardness. It’s like being a baby deer on new legs.
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It’s been 12 years, that team lost to Florida but Shockley was out or we wouldn’t have. Ended up losing to Auburn anyway on the original Fourth and Willie. In all fairness though, that team could have gone 13-0 and it wouldn’t have mattered. That was the year Texas and USC both went undefeated and played the classic Vince Young NC game. We’d have been locked out regardless
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“undefeated UGA awkwardness. It’s like being a baby deer on new legs.”
Bravo.
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If UGA and ND both win out, and the selection committee chooses ND, woo boy…they’ll burn Athens to the ground.
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There isn’t a sliver of doubt in my mind that they’ll take 11-1 ND over 12-1 UGA (if our only loss is to Bama in the SEC Championship).
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I’ve thought for several weeks that the only way UGA is getting in is by winning the conference. Being left out in favor a team we beat with the same number of losses would sure sting, though.
But is there any past precedent for that in the post-season? The only examples I can think of are 3-way ties, where someone has to be the loser.
(It seems like we Dawg fans like to torture ourselves by advance-planning new ways to be screwed out of titles. Culture change, FTW!)
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I think Auburn runs the table in the regular season. Bama misses the SECCG. UGA wins the rematch against Auburn in Atlanta to give them their 3rd loss. Bama and ND end up in the playoff while UGA stays home.
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If both win out, Both are a LOCK…
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Disagree if UGA gets a narrow win over Bama, Bama could get the spot in the playoff over ND.
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In another beneficial step, the polls jumped Notre Dame 6 and 4 spots this week, with only one loss ahead of them. How helpful.
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ND at 10-2 is a much better weapon for UGA than ND at 11-1. 10-2 still puts ND in the top 15 for sure (maybe better) but the second loss renders them outside of the playoff conversation.
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Just win out. Problem solved.
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If it were so easy to beat Alabama, you’d think somebody would have already tried that. 😉
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ND is a problem at 11-1 but the bigger problem is for Georgia to win the national championship they will have to beat Alabama twice.
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This has honestly become the bigger concern for me. If we go to SECC, lose to Bama, and don’t get into the playoff, it would suck but that’s fair. We would have had our shot and missed.
But if we somehow beat Bama then have to beat them again to win it all??? You don’t beat them twice like that, you just don’t. Bama getting two bites at the apple seems far more unfair to me than shutting out a conference championship game loser.
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I am not sure how that is “fair”. It has already been proven you don’t have to win nor play in your conference championship game to be invited. If we beat a team AT their home with a freshman quarterback and they get in and we do not… with both of us having 1 loss. I don’t see how that is fair. We looked like the better team that night.
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Agreed, UGA would have had their shot.
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We’re certainly going to try to beat Alabama. In fact, it’s probably correct to say we will give them our best shot. (Where have I heard that before?)
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There is no try. Do, or do not.
As I sat there watching the game in South Bend, I recall saying to my buddy Sergio “If we quit getting all the stupid personal fouls and holds, we would be winning by 3 scores.” What if I told you that we got ND’s best shot, but they didn’t get ours? Fromm’s first start in his second college game, our defense swarmed and punished their O all night, and we kept shooting ourselves in the foot. Yet, we won.
The whole “ND lost by one point and had the ball at the end” is kind of bullshit. They were NEVER going to go the length of the field on us in the 4th on that D. They cant pass, they couldn’t run on us, and all I saw in the Chicago papers was their stunned O people talking about how they’d never seen a D as big and fast as ours. ND is a good team, but we are playing better now than we were then, too. Fromm gets better every week. I’d play ND again tomorrow, and if we weren’t stepping on our own appendages all night, I would expect us to beat them by at least 2 scores.
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Outstanding, 81 !
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As much as I loved the game, if you have watched any ND games since then we did not get their best shot…. they are playing a lot better now. In fact if they played us the way they played USC, ND beats us by 7-10 pts. If we play better than we did that night then I think its a toss up.
But regardless of that, a few things not in our favor if we both win out (but we lose in SECCG) – 1) ND’s loss early in the year – ours late (how many times have you seen that bite someone), 2) ND’s tougher overall schedule than ours, 3) they are ND so will get the benefit of the doubt (just like Alabama would).
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I said this was going to happen 3-4 weeks ago. If 1-loss ND makes the playoff over a 1-loss (SECCG) UGA to send us to Atlanta to play some Group of 5 team, my head will probably explode.
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I haven’t done the work, but ND likely finishes with a stronger SoS with more wins against ranked teams. I can live with that. Body of work > tie breaker + identical records. Plus, their loss was early, ours would be late. We know how that is viewed.
(This is therapy for me, ee. I’m setting up to “live” these realities)
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We wouldn’t have identical records … we would be 12-1 (12-0 in the regular season). Head-to-head on the road should win the day if the committee did its job without Mickey’s interference … who am I kidding? Bob Iger will be on the phone from SoCal with the committee insisting on ND.
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I’m curious, Sniff, why do you think body of work > head-to-head? It seems like the principle the 4-team playoff was built on is head-to-head, rather than body of work.
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Strength of schedule seems to win the argument. Penn St last year is the most recent example. Won the head to head, won the conference and was past over for the stronger resume of OSU. Now, how any B10 school can claim a strong schedule is lost on me, but I’m not asked about such things…
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Head to head should be greater than body of work. Body of work are for those teams that don’t go head to head.
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SoS, body of work, head to head..none of it makes a crap. They will justify taking ND and ignore the arguments made otherwise.
ND = ENTITLEMENT
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There is one universal truth when it comes to UGA and bowls, if they can screw Georgia they will screw Georgia. We better win.
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That is true. Saw one bowl prediction yesterday that had us in Peach Bowl playing South Florida. That’s my nightmare at this point.
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The 3 times we made the BCS, 02, 05, and 07, each time they saddled us with a team that we stood to gain virtually nothing by winning and which would be crippling embarrassing to lose to, 8-5 FSU, West Virginia, and Hawaii. In 2012 we were easily the second best team in the country and didn’t even make the damn thing. Then they ranked ND ahead of us in the final poll even though we lost to Bama on the last play and ND lost to them by like 6 touchdowns. They’ve screwed us repeatedly over the years post-Herschel.
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Thishere/
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Lots of football to play…butt…you could hear this all over XM ESPN radio at the beginning of last week. Narry a mention of, well Georgia beat them. Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Notre Dame. With ESPNs ratings the way they are, they need/want a team like this to be part.
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McElroy said it at 7:14 am – Notre Dame is legit and is the middle of the playoff conversation.
As I commented on the blog last week, if we lose the SEC Championship, we are out even with a close loss. The basic assumption is that a team that loses its last game and doesn’t win it’s conference championship should not be rewarded with a playoff spot despite the record etc.
However, to a man from McElroy to Herbstreit to McFarland et. al., all assume that Bama is unbeatable and is going to win SECCG. When posed with the question of a Bama loss in Mercedes-Benz, then all say that Bama is in the CFP no matter the circumstance.
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Agree. Look no further than tOSU last year – didn’t even play in their conference championship. ONLY way Dawgs get in the playoff is as SEC champ. But the good thing is, even if we lose 1 on the way to the secc, we still get in if we beat bama in the new dome.
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1) win out rest of regular season
2) beat alabama in SEC championship
3) Assume number 1 ranking
4) Play #4 Alabama again next week
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I guess in several weeks…but you get what I’m saying
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5) be underdog in rematch.
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UGA’s path is simple, win the SEC championship. If they do that with one or less losses they are in. What would be interesting is if UGA won the SEC and they have to compare a 1 loss BAMA to a 1 loss ND. This is where perception of team’s vs achievements would really come into play. ND would have the more impressive schedule, but I don’t think anyone would make the argument that ND should get in because the 2013 championship game still looms in people’s minds. BAMA has “earned” that privilege of getting the benefit of the doubt, I just don’t know why ND has earned the same in compared to Georgia.
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The very fact that we’re having this discussion screams (to me anyway) that ND should be forced to join a conference. Otherwise, they should be left out as punishment for taking the easy route and skating by as an independent yearly. Remember – not only does ND not have to play an all-important, conference championship game for game #13, they also have the luxury of making their own schedule yearly. Not a bad setup if you can get it.
I find it quite ironic that the typical media heads out there have argued against us and others for not making the BCS/Playoffs because we didn’t win our own conference. Yet they’ll scream that ND should get in even though they essentially didn’t win their own conference either, since they don’t even play in one.
Regardless, I think ND loses one more before the end of the year. That game at Stanford in particular is the one I have pegged as a loss.
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You forget. It’s only important to win a conference championship if Herbie says it is. Because sometimes it’s not. It depends.
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Correct. Kinda like last week when Herbie said the best 4 teams should be in the playoffs regardless…but he doesn’t think that a given conference (cough…SEC) should have more than 1 team in.
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Easy route? I get your point but I don’t agree. They annually play a very tough schedule. I don’t want to be a ND apologist, but easy route isn’t in their DNA. Here’s my point. At 11-1, with a loss to a top three UGA, that’s not backing in to the CFP.
Your point about their schedule is absurd. They have contracts to play SC, Stanford, MichSt, etc. for years past and future. No one, except you, complains about their schedule being easy.
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Don’t forget 3rd, that ND still has Miami. Coach Richt and da U will be a tough out. CMR could do us a solid, shut some haters up over here?
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Everyone needs to read the Jerry Palm linked article in the thread below this one. It depends on the rest of the season whether any conference can get two teams in the playoff. Given media bias toward the Big 10 that is the most likely conference to do it if it happens at all. The scenario that infuriates me the most would be if ND were to get in and UGA not get in if they both had the same record. That would be the most Georgia thing of all.
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All of this “just beat ‘Bama and everything will be allright” talk is bullshit. Here’s why. Wrong is wrong and you shouldn’t have to go a thousand extra miles to get what is rightfully yours. If we go 12-1, having beaten ND, the only right thing to do is put us in the playoffs.
We shouldn’t be held to the standard of perfection if ND isn’t…esp if their lack of perfection is a loss to UGA.
In other words, the whole conversation is twisted and unfair and wrong and evil.
As Hogbody said a few posts above..ND jumped 6 places this week with only one loss ahead of them. That’s horseshit covered with maggots.
Are the playoffs going to be fair or are the playoffs going to be manipulated by the media that doesn’t like the SEC while it licks ND’s scrotum?
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But the UGA/ND game was really a “road” game for the Irish. They only lost by one point in front of a hostile crowd. They should get more credit for the loss then UGA does for the win. 😉
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The atrocious refereeing in ND game making it much closer takes on more significance
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That refereeing you speak of was courtesy of our friends in Birmingham. If the replay official had been Al Ford, we lose that game.
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It makes no difference whatsoever if it’s horseshit covered with maggots. No other team in college football draws the eyeballs on televisions that Notre Dame does. Not even Ala-damn-bama. An 11-1 Notre Dame will get in ahead of an 11-1 Georgia. Period. It’s a fact of life. There are only two scenarios where we get in. We either beat Alabama or Notre Dame loses a second game. The playoffs have never been fair and they never will be. Life ain’t fair. Get used to it.
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No thanks. Even if the feared scenario comes to fruition, we’re still better off whining, pissing, moaning and lodging formal complaints than just Mark Richt’n it and turning the other cheek.
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Money will always win the argument regardless of how much pissing and moaning is going on. It’s not about fair, right or just. It’s not even about the four best teams. It’s about which four teams will make us the most money. How do you think ND got in the last time? Everyone knew they didn’t belong.
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Richt was on ESPN immediately lobbying for us to just move up naturally to No. 2 in 2007 when West Virginia lost, Herbie made up the Herbstreit Doctrine right after the phone call, though he had lobbied for an OSU-Michigan re-match literally 1 year prior.
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Isn’t the stated purpose of the playoff “to settle it on the field?” Didn’t we do that last month?
I know, I know. But still, that’s my closing argument.
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PSU beat OSU last year and won their conference. And was shut out of the playoffs.
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Different scenario. They were blown out by a top-10 conference foe, lost to their unranked OOC in-state rival, and had an extra loss compared to Ohio State.
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True but using 2007 Herbstreit logic … don’t win your division? Shouldn’t play for a championship.
Oh yeah, Herbstreit logic (isn’t that an oxymoron?) doesn’t apply to Ohio State.
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Herbie was wrong in 2006, but he was right in 2007:
We got blown out by a top-15 conference foe, lost to another unranked divisional rival, and didn’t get the chance to prove it on the field against LSU as a result.
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Actually, no, it’s not about settling it on the field. It’s about settling it at the bank.
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UGA still has its three biggest rivals left to play away from Sanford. Beat Florida, Auburn, and Tech and then we can worry about the CFP and Notre Dame. Crazy talk.
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If we are going to be champions, we have to beat Alabama. Period. In the SECCG or the CFP. One way or another we have to beat them, so it may as well be in Atlanta. If we lose to them in Atlanta, what difference does it make if we get into the CFP? Would a 2nd game against them go differently? Is it better to lose once against Alabama and be left out or to lose twice to Alabama in the post-season?
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This^^
The biggest reason we’re fucked here is that if we lose in Atlanta we’re a 4 seed and the rematch is automatic. If it’s set up for a conference runner up to be a 3 seed then maybe both uga and nd get in but that’s unlikely.
So we’ll go ahead of ND if there’s room and we’ll fall behind them if there isn’t. No way the CFP playoffs have one game that was just played. Won’t happen. They’ll either make us 3 or leave us home.
Seems to me that we need to eliminate alabama in Atlanta. That’s the best scenario for us.
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Amen. If we beat them in Atlanta, I hope Bama gets the same treatment we would … they would be out. If we lose to them, I’m ok with not being in the CFP but don’t believe ND should be in either. I also would prefer not to get the Peach slot with a Group of 5 opponent. Palm seems to be joining the crowd that now has us going to Miami for a date with the Canes.
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Missed this thread before I posted my comments below.. would have saved me some time. +1 to Chili, Derek, and EE.
(Human Sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria!)
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Everyone just assumes that Alabama would still get in if they lost to us in Atlanta but I’m not convinced of that. IF we beat Alabama in Atlanta, what is Alabama’s best win? Presumably a win against an Auburn team that would finish 8-4 at best. If the committee is looking at undefeated Georgia, TCU and 1-loss Notre Dame, along with an undefeated PSU or 1-loss Ohio State, who are they leaving out to put in an Alabama team without the quality wins that those teams would have? Paul Finebaum isn’t on the selection committee.
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Alabama has accumulated an incredible amount of street cred the last 9 years.
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Just win baby.
I’ve always felt – and still feel – that if you can’t win your own conference championship then you don’t deserve to compete for a national championship. Period.
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That’s true except for bama, just ask LSU
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Or Ohio State … just ask Penn State
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Thank goodness Clemson beat the tar out of those losers
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Or ND who doesn’t play in one and lost to UGA at home.
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Cringe every time I read about Notre Dame and the “only” 1 point loss. Wish we would have hung on to 2 passes (TD), would have been by 15 points. Notre Dame and Tennessee, both bottom of the barrel for me
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I’m not worked up about it. Still so much left to play out. Auburn still has a lot to say about who goes undefeated, or not… But:
1) Had I been told at the beginning of the season that UGA would go undefeated in the regular season and lose only to Bama in the SEC Championship, I’d have taken it, regardless of the bowl or playoff consequences. I am enjoying the ride this season.
2) Even if a 12-1 UGA made the playoff, we would like meet Bama again. I don’t know how appealing that would be, to me personally much less college football nation. The SEC Championship is the de facto third round of the playoffs, and I won’t be bitter if we lose and don’t make the official CFP.
3) It would be more fun to beat Bama in the SEC Championships and watch all the overnight narrative twisting and logic torturing.
3) I will be pissed if our lone loss is against Bama int he SECCG and we end up playing TCU (again), UCF, or USF in a group of 6 bowl as a “reward.” It better be someone good like PSU, OU, or for the McGarity squirm factor alone, UM.
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With you on all.
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UGA, Bama, ND, and Miami. No B1G, no Big 12, no Pac 12. They’d have a fit! But wouldn’t the storylines be interesting!
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That Sagarin rating above is so bogus, they still have FSU ranked at 22. I guarantee there are more than 21 teams in the country that would whip their asses.
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It’s interesting to kick this around and speculate on this mid/late October but this is unlikely be on the table when the committee sits down.
Screwy things always happen in November to turn the narrative on who is playing for the National Championship (and now the CFP).
Odds are Notre Dame has another loss. Dawgs could stub toe too at before Bama.
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“That being said, there are two complications facing the Dawgs.” Lemme see here…Florida, South Carolina, Awbun, Kentucky and Tech…is that two?
Trump math strikes again.
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Do you even bother to read my posts in their entirety?
I don’t know about Trump math, but Trump reading comprehension? Yeah.
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You got your fantasy life, I got mine.
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Now girls, no scratching.
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The assumption that the Big XII champ is a lock is a bad one. I don’t think TCU wins out and goes 13-0, and a 1-loss champ is not all that satisfying.
The Big XII championship game may keep their champ out of the playoff, which would be the irony of ironies.
I don’t think the Big Ten will have an undefeated champion either. If Ohio State beats Penn State and wins that division, Oklahoma (who could have two or three losses by year’s end) has a 2-TD road-win trump card over OSU. I could see the reverse of 2016 playing out in the Big Ten where 1-loss Penn State is the more favorable team than the eventual 1-loss champion based on quality of loss.
I think Notre Dame will win out and be in the playoff and keep the ACC out. The SEC Champ is a lock for the #1 seed. The other two spots will be filled from a group to include the SEC runner-up, the Big XII champ, and a 1-loss Big Ten team. I think a 1-loss UGA team would matchup favorably in those circumstances should it find itself lucky enough to be in the discussion.
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Is it still the bye week? Damn. All psychic energy needs to be focused on the damn swamp lizards. Beat Florida – full stop.
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Johnson, Navin R. Sounds like a typical bastard.
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Thank you.
“All I need . . . “
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It would be the most georgia thing eva- if we were to get left out and all things go as expected – i.e. ND doesn’t lose again/we lose to Bama in sec champ game.
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A 1 loss ND likely keeps a 1 loss Bama out…..
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Getting shut out of the playoff? At the beginning of the season we were just hoping to win the East and not get embarrassed in Atlanta. Crazy.
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Rat poison anyone?
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https://twitter.com/Rschooley/status/921586643487752192
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Beat FU…period. Beat them down and make them quit.
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Everyone is getting all worked up over nothing. Georgia is going to beat Auburn in the SECCG to finish 12-1 and earn a spot in the playoff.
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” For one thing, the “Notre Dame didn’t win a conference title game” argument goes straight in the trash under that scenario.”
That one went in the trash long ago. Ohio State last year after losing to Penn State and Nebraska years ago even though they lost to an unranked Texas in the conference title game (1996 I think). I’m sure there are others but those come to mind. BRAND means almost as much as the record it seems.
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Nebraska was 2001. They got stomped 62-30 or something at Colorado during the regular season and didn’t even win the division. Colorado went on to beat Texas in the Big XII Title game and the BCS chose the Huskers to go play Miami in the National Title game.
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Eric Crouch. Miami and Larry Coker peppered them in the championship also as I recall.
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If this all plays out it comes down to two determining factors, which is valued higher, good wins or good losses? If Georgia keeps it close against Bama we will have a close loss to the #1 team, and ND will have a close loss to US!! Seems like a no brainer that the head to head puts us over the top because you could reasonably assume that Georgia would have dominated ND’s schedule in the same fashion that they have thus far.
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From an unbiased perspective, sorry, it pains me to say as well, but the SEC outside of UGA and Bama is not very good. When all is said and done ND would have a much better “overall” resume with more quality wins than us. Plus you can’t reasonably assume that we win every game on their schedule just because we beat them. Miss St. beat LSU by 30+. Auburn beat Miss St. by more than that. LSU beat Auburn. Makes alot of sense huh? It’s sickening but better to go ahead and accept it. 11-1 ND ABSOLUTELY WILL be in the playoff.
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I don’t disagree that they will make it, but if we both have one loss and ours is to the better team it wouldn’t make much sense especially since we beat them at their place.
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Little bit embarrassing that 99% of this thread assumes a loss in the SECCG…..will y’all ever learn? Kirby is on it.
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Got that right. I’m sitting here wondering if Bama gets into the top 4 if we don’t beat them TOO bad. 😉
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It means nothing if we don’t win this week-end.
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Amen. Beat them gators.
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So many of the projections above rely on the certainty that an 11-1 ND would jump a 12-1 UGA but not a 12-1 Bama (that just lost to UGA).
It may not be the most likely of all the scenarios, but it may be the most likely of the scenarios that end with us winning the playoff.
Only having to beat Bama once and all.
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correction: 1) Only having to beat them once 2) not having to beat them at a second meeting 3)Only having to PLAY them once, period.
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OK>. Here’s another can of worms and a likely one.
Georgia goes into ATL undefeated and loses a close game to ‘Bama.
Emotions run high as Georgia realizes it is going to get screwed out of the
playoffs with the exact scenario we have been discussing.
Notre Dame plays ‘Bama in the playoffs and gets the stuffing beaten out of them..say a three touchdown loss.
Georgia goes to a bowl and beats their opponent handily.
———–meaning————-
Georgia finishes with one loss..a close one to Alabama
ND finishes with two losses..one to UGA and a stomping by ‘Bama.
Which team finishes higher in the final poll?
You know.
This is why the selection process must be controlled by computers and/or fixed formulas that don’t change at the whim of asshats like Herbie.
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The biggest question I have…which kind of calls out how everyone wants to hand Bama the title before the season starts. Even PAWWLL argues that Florida State was #3 when Bama played them and that was a real quality win. However, all the media also says as Notre Dame moves up, it makes UGA look better. Even now considered the best win this season….you know….since the Irish are NOW in the top 10. But wait…if Bama is getting a boost because FSU WAS #3 when they beat them, and is such a quality win, regardless of what has happened to them since (a-hem….2-4)…then shouldn’t our win against Notre Dame just mean we had a win against a #24 team??? I mean hey…we beat a top 25 team…yay…but what they have done since doesn’t matter… ala Bama? right??
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Excellent point, BD..but I’m afraid the people who actually get to decide aren’t smart enough to comprehend it..or are so biased to get the wonderful and over rated Irish in it that they refuse to consider it.
Here’s hoping that if the Irish get in they are embarrassed even worse than the last time..
And when has Herbstreit ever been right about anything? Not very often.
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