Who deserves the honor of being the team no. 4 in College Football Playoff, Notre Dame or Texas A&M?
Contact @PeteFiutak
We know who will be the first three in the final ranking of college football.
Alabama will be number 1, Clemson and Ohio will almost certainly be number 2 and 3 – in that order – and number 4 will be …
And that’s the drama.
Notre Dame and Texas A&M are the two most likely options for place no. 4 and both were saved by Florida, unable to get by Alabama in the SEC Championship – which would have made things at least interesting. He also helped the general cause of USC’s loss of the Pac-12 Championship, and Cincinnati was a meh in the American Athletic Conference Championship.
So, given all this, let’s argue with the two suitors. It’s the year 2020, so, of course, it’s a Zoom call …
Our lady: There is no debate. We’re defeating Clemson. I won ten games. We had a hard day against the Tigers, when they were running at maximum efficiency and we should be in line with our better schedule. We have good victories. You do not.
Texas A&M: Dude, you were trucked 34-10 and it wasn’t even that close. Do you think America has the slightest interest in seeing you play Alabama?
Our lady: You think America has the slightest interest in seeing you to Play Alabama Again? You’ve already done that. It was awful.
Texas A&M: Yes, back in week 2 for us on October 3rd. We needed a little to warm up and we managed to move the passing game for 335 meters and …
Our lady: You lost 52-24. Wait, the whole thing needs to warm up. Should we apologize for beating Vanderbilt 17-12 in the opener?
Texas A&M: Notre Dame 27, Duke 13. This was your opening program. Yes, and the 12-7 victory over Louisville was a classic. Can we move on now? We are a different team, stronger, better now. We are in a fright on a six-game winning streak, we have won our last five double-digit games after defeating Florida and …
Our lady: And what? What did you beat? That 20-7 victory over LSU made the world a smaller place and you defeated Auburn. Whooop-dee-doo. Again, we defeated Clemson …
Texas A&M: Yes, without Trevor Lawrence.
Our lady: But DJ Uiagalela will be just as good and …
Texas A&M: Were you blown up by a true 400-meter defender and do you think you will do anything against the Alabama passing game?
Our lady: If you let me finish – when Clemson is in 2nd place in the final standings, we will officially have the best win of the 2020 college football season. You don’t have one of these, do you?
Texas A&M: No, we are only the second best team in the best conference in university football, and our only loss was in front of team no. 1 on the road. Should we be considered 2nd in the standings and fight for 4th?
(Appears) Cincinnati: Hey guys, what’s going on?
Our lady: How did you receive this call?
Cincinnati: I heard you were talking about who should be number 4 and I went 9-0 with an American Athletic Conference Championship and …
Texas A&M: I’m sorry, you cut. What, championship?
Cincinnati: American Athle …
Texas A&M: And who played in this championship … Alabama? Oklahoma? The state of Ohio …
Cincinnati: Tulsa!
Our lady: Oh Tulsa … super, super … so you, of course, with everything on the line and style points, meaning the world for a team that didn’t play a Power Five team, you won with what, 50, 60 ?
Cincinnati: 27-24 in an interesting goal, with no time left, and …
(Cincinnati feed is interrupted and dies)
Texas A&M: (silent)
Our lady: (silent)
Texas A&M: Where were we?
Our lady: Look, you’re very good and I was against Clemson in the ACC title game, but we have lines that can stand, we have experience and we can slow things down just like you. There were a few easy victories along the way, but we won four games on the road in a span of five games, ending with a victory over North Carolina. Auburn’s defeat is nice, but that victory over Tar Heels will give us a head start.
Texas A&M: Yes, you have the style we like – the game recognizes the game when it comes to possession, tempo and excellent line play – but we held the ball over 44 minutes against Tennessee, our scores are generally not partially explosive because in what as far as our design is concerned and again the SEC factor has to play a kind of role NOW here.
Our lady: Yes, but 8-1 is not 10-1 and, again, we have the great victory you don’t make …
Texas A&M: Wasn’t Clemson really hurt defensively and, again, not Lawrence?
Our lady: Yes but …
Texas A&M: And I know this shouldn’t matter, but it’s not like you’ve distinguished yourself exactly from the biggest of the big boys over the years in the bowl season. I’ve seen what you can do and it’s beautiful, but there’s a heavy ceiling that you obviously can’t break. We go here under a head coach of the national championship. Watch what we are going to do while we are on the verge of something special.
Our lady: We are better than you think. We may have the style and potential to give Alabama a problem. Again, we had a bad day at Charlotte, but our lines are just as good, our running defense is much better than it looked this time against the Tigers and we feel like we can break the Sea in our mouths a little better than we can. you. We also …
Cincinnati (wearing a fake mustache and sunglasses, speaking in a low voice): Oh, how am I HERE? You must have pressed the wrong button. Hey, what did I hear about this great Group of Five program that …
Texas A&M: Hey, Irish, good luck in the Orange Bowl … you’ll need against one of the best SEC teams.
Our lady: Good luck against Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl … they’ve discovered it now.
So what will really happen?
The committee will almost certainly put Notre Dame in 4th place.
Cincinnati simply does not have the program or the big victories. If they had crushed Tulsa until they were 30, there would have been a strong argument to finally give the Group of Five a blow, as Texas A&M and Notre Dame have already lost huge to two of the playoff teams. But no – that doesn’t happen.
There will also be at least one discussion about the state of Ohio. 6-0 is nice, and the Buckeyes were short of players, but they only faced two teams this year and struggled to survive against both. Let’s not waste time on this, though.
The college football playoff committee has had one thing for the Buckeyes from the start, and it certainly won’t crack now – no chance of the undefeated Big Ten champion not being in it.
It’s not fair for Texas A&M, given that if it had been a normal year with a normal schedule, most of the teams on its list would have been at least .500 or better due to a few wins outside of the conference, but that is the business.
Notre Dame has several victories. Clemson’s best win is better than A&M’s biggest win over Florida, and the second-best win over North Carolina is stronger – at least in the CFP rankings – than the second-highest. A&M’s good win over Auburn.
The two ugly losses will cancel each other out.
There is no right or wrong answer here – none of them are required to participate in the tournament, but each can claim a case in connection with the state of Ohio. Only one team should be left out.
Be the fuel for a growing A&M program in Texas that is about to be a power that should be fighting for the regular season football playoff.
Expect to be Notre Dame Vs. Alabama in Sugar, and Clemson Vs. Ohio State will damn call it AT&T Stadium.