Playoff Rankings - Week 4

The fourth edition of the playoff rankings have come out, just in time for the Iron Bowl, and it’s pretty much no different from what we saw last week.

We’ve still essentially got ourselves a couple of quarterfinal matchups set, much like we wrote last week.

• IRON BOWL: One of Auburn/Alabama will be eliminated (although Alabama still apparently will have a shot even if they lose the Iron Bowl) this weekend as the loser stays home next weekend and doesn’t have to play a top ten Georgia team on their side of the state line for the SEC Championship. Maybe Alabama’s made the smart decision to build up your resume, lose the one game on your schedule that matters, still impress the voters, not have to play another game against top competition, and get rewarded for it. Oh, no, I don’t think the Game of the Century in 2011 should’ve been an elimination game (eye-roll emoji here).
• ACC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: Miami actually jumped Clemson in the rankings this week. Miami has looked so beatable this year at times, but that win over Notre Dame will speak volumes about the Irish more than the Hurricanes. Notre Dame had trouble with athletic defensive lines against Georgia and Miami, and Miami struggled with some really average teams in ACC play. Hey, they’re undefeated. One of these two falls by the wayside next Saturday.
• BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: Wisconsin/Ohio State is the kind of game that will get Alabama into the playoff. Watch Ohio State trounce the Badgers, eliminating them from the discussion, but Ohio State’s two blowout losses to Oklahoma and Iowa keep them at #5 in the standings. Alabama stays at #4 and is the only team without a conference or division title that makes the final four. Then we get to play them again. Kill me.
• BIG TWELVE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: Oklahoma and whoever they play. Oklahoma’s the class of the Big 12 and will probably have another Heisman winner with Baker Mayfield, but who knows if we could handle them again. I think we can. If they win the conference, they’re in.

I think the SEC Champion is in, so that means our four playoff teams could be:

1. Miami/Clemson
2. Auburn/Alabama/Georgia
3. Wisconsin
4. Oklahoma

Or, if you want to get squirrelly, it could be this nightmare scenario:

1. Miami/Clemson
2. Auburn/Georgia
3. Oklahoma
4. Alabama

At least that one would eliminate the need for us to have the triple rematch on the way to a national championship, even though that would be sweet.

Still a lot of football left to be played, and for Auburn it really comes down to beating Alabama. After our last two wins over the Tide, we won SEC Championships averaging 57.5 points per game in the Georgia Dome. The Dome’s gone, but hopefully our offense in Atlanta would stay hot.

War Eagle, Beat Bama.