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SALT LAKE CITY — All that people will be paying attention to today is who the final four teams will be when the College Football Playoff selection committee makes its announcement at 10 a.m. MT.
And though I don't have the same power as the committee, my top four teams would be as follows: Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Notre Dame, with Texas A&M as a very close fifth. But really, it's Alabama's race to lose. The Crimson Tide are on another level this year and are easily my favorite to remain unbeaten — Nick Saban rules again.
Sure, there's a chance the Crimson Tide fall, it's college football, but Alabama appears to be on a clear national championship course.
For the Texas A&M fans mad that Notre Dame squeaked in ahead of them, my best argument is you lost to Alabama by 30. Yes, I know it was to Alabama and the Aggies have improved as the season has progressed; yes, Texas A&M also beat Florida. But Notre Dame edges out Texas A&M with wins over Clemson and North Carolina and its relatively consistent play all season.
A few other notes as the regular season draws to a close:
- Florida deserves some credit after an inexplicable loss last week to LSU, but the Gators hung around with Alabama and made it a game. With narrow losses to Texas A&M and Alabama, it's clear the Gators were close, but just not close enough. They move up to No. 9 in my ballot this week.
- For no reason other than Washington couldn't field a team, Oregon managed a spot into the Pac-12 title game against USC. And in back-to-back seasons, the Ducks come away as the victor — USC lays an egg on Friday night. As a result, I put Oregon back in my ballot, but its losses to Cal and Oregon State still give me pause and I have them below USC.
- I'm here for the San Jose State hype. It's not every day we get to talk about the Spartans, but they've put together a solid season and beat the Mountain West Conference perennial favorite to remain undefeated. I probably have them too low in my ballot at No. 22, but the bottom half of the Top 25 is often a crapshoot anyway and the most unpredictable.
Dropping Out: Buffalo, Liberty
Checking In: Army, Oregon
In Consideration: Army (9-2), Buffalo (5-0), Colorado (4-1), Liberty (9-1), NC State (8-3), Stanford (4-2), Utah (3-2)
If you have a question about any of the teams I ranked (or missed), hit me up on Twitter @JFurKSL and I'll do my best to explain my reasoning. If you can't see the ballot below, click here.
