In the land of the spread, the ground and pound offense is king.

Interesting compliment from the folks at Roll ‘Bama Roll:

The Tide’s lighter defensive front that is now built to stop the spread had a hard time holding up against Georgia’s power running…

Alabama won’t run into any more ground and pound offenses like Georgia’s in the playoffs unless the Dawgs become the first two-loss team to be invited to the party. This should bode well for their chances moving forward.

That mirrors a stance I took years ago about the value of running a pro-style offensive scheme as defenses increasingly geared up to stop the spread.  That was smack dab in the middle of the Richt era, but, if anything, it’s a stronger point now, simply because Smart is doing a much better job of recruiting to the paradigm, particularly as it relates to the offensive line, than Richt did.

As long as Kirby (and Pittman) can keep bringing in the studs, Georgia is going to remain a nightmare matchup for most defensive coordinators.

Making it up as they go along

Shot.

CFP committee chairman Rob Mullens says the committee determined that among the three teams neither Georgia, Oklahoma or Ohio State was "unequivocally" better, so the vote came down on the one-loss conference champion. Hence Oklahoma over Georgia. (But Georgia over Ohio State.)

— Seth Emerson (@SethWEmerson) December 2, 2018

Chaser.

From the Westgate Superbook @SuperBookUSA
Alabama -14 Oklahoma
Clemson -11.5 Notre Dame.

— Phil Steele (@philsteele042) December 2, 2018

Anybody think Georgia would be a 14-point ‘dog in a rematch?  (Hell, it wasn’t that big a spread in the SECCG.)

Again, not making the point that the Dawgs deserve to be in the CFP, just showing up the lack of consistent reasoning that goes into a subjective process.  That’s not gonna change with an eight-team field, either.

Love and kisses, the Selection Committee

Logically, this makes no sense.  Georgia should either be ahead of both one-loss conference champs, or behind both.

The @cfbplayoff four-team bracket is set:
1. Bama
2. Clemson
3. Notre Dame
4. Oklahoma
——————-
5. Georgia
6. Ohio State

— George Schroeder (@GeorgeSchroeder) December 2, 2018

But as an “FU” to Corch?  Totally.

Well played, people.

************************************************************************

UPDATE:  The man is shameless.

Urban Meyer makes the case that because the team has been shrouded in scandal this year, they overcame a lot and deserve a playoff bid.
This is great news for teams looking to boost their strength of schedule, all you have to do is make a scandal to overcome!

— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) December 2, 2018

I guess every coaching staff should have a sexual abuser on it.

Rematch, my ass

For anyone who thinks that the selection committee would be biased against Georgia in the final four teams picked today because nobody wants to see them play again, I offer this in response:

CBS' Coverage of SEC Championship Game is Highest-Rated Regular Season CFB Game on ANY Network in Seven Years pic.twitter.com/3OCQBItkOm

— CBS Sports PR (@CBSSportsGang) December 2, 2018

Like I said, I don’t think Georgia crashes the party, but it won’t be due to a concern over public fatigue.

Hold on, I’m coming.

Offensive line holding is dead to SEC refs.  Dead, I tells ‘ya.

Jalen Hurts with the comeback story of the year 🙏 pic.twitter.com/s3CGP79DQz

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 2, 2018

I’m not offering that as some sort of proof of a pro-Alabama conspiracy.  I saw Georgia’s o-line do similar things with Quinnen Williams (not that I blame them).  I just want y’all to understand why I’ve officially given up complaining about it.

At this point, it’s coaching malpractice if you’re not teaching your kids to get away with it.

And now, a word about Jake Fromm

I have a love-hate relationship with Gary Danielson.  He’s as good as it gets as an in-game analyst, but, damn, he can drive me crazy when he goes off on a non-game tangent.

Yesterday, he was harping on the perception of Jake Fromm as a game manager instead of an elite quarterback.  While on its face, that’s a strange dichotomy — why can’t a quarterback be good at managing the game while being an elite talent? — I do think there’s an underlying truth to the point he was clumsily making.

In a year of brilliance from Kyler Murray (205.72 passer rating) and Tua Tagovailoa (202.30 passer rating), it is easy to overlook Jake Fromm, who, by the way, is third-ranked nationally in passer rating behind those two.  That is for a couple of reasons.  One, Fromm isn’t the runner those two are.  Two, he’s generally not called on to carry the team with his arm.  (He’s 84th nationally in pass attempts.)

But that doesn’t mean he’s not an elite talent.  Consider this:

In #UGA's loss to #Alabama, Jake Fromm became the first QB to throw for 300 yards or more against the Crimson Tide since Deshaun Watson in the 2016 National Championship game. Watson threw for 420. Watson averaged 7.4 per attempt. Fromm 7.7.

— Jake Rowe (@JakeMRowe) December 2, 2018

If that’s not elite, then I guess Watson was just a game manager, too.

By the way, Jake finished yesterday’s game with a passer rating of 154.31.  Tua’s was 92.30.

CBS has a dirty mind.

It was a banner day for the F-word.

No big deal — it’s not like we weren’t uttering the same kind of language watching at home, was it?

“Do you want the best four teams in or not?”

Kirbs is in lobbying mode.

"I promise you, they don't want to play us."

Georgia coach Kirby Smart had a strong message for why the Dawgs should remain in the #CFBPlayoff. pic.twitter.com/K7Oi8BEV1S

— ESPN (@espn) December 2, 2018

And Nick is there as his wing man.

“Based on the teams that we’ve played this year, I think this team deserves to be in the playoff as well,” Saban said. “I sure as hell don’t want to play them again, but that’s the best compliment I can give you or give them.”

Sagarin rates Georgia third in his rankings (with the number six SOS!).  Bill Connelly is right there with Sagarin.

Your end-of-regular-season S&P+ rankings are up!

1. Bama
2. Clemson
3. UGA
4. OU
5. Mich
6. ND
7. Ohio State
8. UCFhttps://t.co/y6a26Lxe2S

— Bill Connelly (@ESPN_BillC) December 2, 2018

And, in the end, none of it matters.  You can say it’s for any or all of the reasons Bill elucidates here, but I think the reality is simply that the selection committee isn’t ready to open up the can of worms that would inevitably and vehemently follow if it allowed a two-loss, non-conference champ team in ahead of (take your pick) one-loss conference champs Ohio State and Oklahoma or undefeated Notre Dame.

It’s not about the best.  It’s never been about the best.  The selection committee isn’t even wired for it to be about the best.

https://twitter.com/BudElliott3/status/1069242304471490560

You’ll see a thousand different takes on which teams should be in the semis and a thousand impassioned reasons why.  None of them matter.  (Neither does the hot take that this season proves the format needs to grow to eight teams.)  The selection committee’s gonna selection committee.

I’m at peace either way it goes, personally speaking.  I am convinced after watching the SECCG that Georgia merits consideration as one of the four best, but you lose control of the debate when you drop two games in a year when there are alternatives.  C’est la guerre.

It’s the end of the Herbstreit Doctrine as we know it.

Man, Kirk, I don’t even know you anymore.

Herbstreit moves #Georgia up to 3: “I don’t get caught up in champions, I get caught up in best.” https://t.co/FAv2o40TnF

— MikeGriffith32 (@MikeGriffith32) December 2, 2018

Next thing you know, Herbie’s gonna unblock me on Twitter.

Nasty

I tell you what, Georgia gave as good as it got yesterday.

He said… “👋🏾whaaap!” pic.twitter.com/PV4LKmGvXi

— WeAreBigGuys (@WeAreBigGuys) December 2, 2018