College Football Playoff: How Every Conference Could Get Left Out

Oregon isn’t a contender this year, but they can still impact the playoff. Mandatory Credit: Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports

Pac-12

The Pac-12 is having quite a year. Week to week, it’s hard to decide if the league is so deep that nobody can win consistently or if everyone is just bad. I think I understand what everyone else used to say about the SEC West now.

Utah or Stanford winning out would put the Pac-12 in good position. Both would have a strong out-of-conference win (Utah over Michigan, Stanford over Notre Dame) and losses early enough in the year that the committee has had a chance to forget about them. That’s not to say that a one loss Pac-12 team wouldn’t still have issues. If the ACC, Big 10, and Big 12 each have undefeated champions, the Pac-12 Champion and a potential one-loss SEC Champion would be fighting over the same spot. It’s tough to say who would make the bracket in that case.

In the north, Oregon can still win the division but needs help. If Oregon wins out and Stanford loses to Cal, Oregon wins the Pac-12 North. Three loss Pac-12 champion Oregon handing a Pac-12 South winner their second or third loss of the year leaves the Pac-12 out of the playoff.

If Stanford beats Oregon and Cal but loses to Notre Dame the last week of the regular season, two-loss Stanford could very easily win the Pac 12 and find themselves outside the top 4. With three conferences still boasting undefeated teams, the SEC likely producing a one-loss champion, and a Notre Dame team that would probably only have its October loss to Clemson, Stanford would go 9-0 in the Pac-12, win the conference championship game, and find themselves outside the playoff.

Three teams in the South are still fighting. UCLA and USC can both win the South and neither would be invited to a semifinal as the Pac-12 champion.

Next: How The ACC Could Get Left Out Of The Playoff