In the currently ranked Top 10 Playoff teams, some teams are on a glide path through the end of the regular season. Based on a key stat comparison, the Alabama Crimson Tide is not one of them.
Using Brian Fremeau's opponent-adjusted Offensive Efficiency Rankings (oOFEI), eight of the Playoff Selection Committee's top 10 teams have offenses ranked in the top 14 among all FBS teams. Georgia, Oregon, Indiana, and Ohio State are No. 1 through No. 4. Ole Miss is No.8, Alabama is No. 9, Texas A&M is No. 11, and Notre Dame is No. 14. BYU and Texas Tech are offensive laggards. The Cougars' offense is ranked No. 23, and the Red Raiders are No. 45.
Adding Fremau's rankings on Defensive Efficiency (DFEI), let's review how much challenge the top offenses face in remaining regular-season games. The details are provided below. Any conclusions made can only be subjective. One reasonable claim is that the Big Ten teams, especially Ohio State and Indiana, play enough weak defenses that the Buckeyes and Hoosiers are near-locks for the Playoffs. Texas A&M, Alabama, and Georgia have tougher regular-season paths.
- Ohio State, with its No. 4 Offensive Efficiency Ranking, plays Purdue, No. 67 in Defensive Efficiency (DFEI); UCLA (No. 87 DFEI); Rutgers (No. 128 DFEI), and Michigan (No. 22 DFEI).
- Indiana (No. 3 OFEI) plays Penn State (No. 39 DFEI), Wisconsin (No. 49 DFEI, and Purdue (No. 67 DFEI)
- Texas A&M (No. 11 OFEI) plays Missouri (No. 24 DFEI), South Carolina (No. 13 DFEI), and Texas (No. 10 DFEI), along with FCS Samford.
- Alabama (No. 9 OFEI) plays LSU (No. 17 DFEI), Oklahoma (No. 5 DFEI), and Auburn (No. 8 DFEI), along with FCS Eastern Illinois.
- Georgia (No. 1 OFEI) plays Mississippi State (No. 36 DFEI), Texas (No. 10 DFEI), Charlotte (No. 118 DFEI), and Georgia Tech (No. 73 DFEI).
- Ole Miss (No. 8 OFEI) plays Florida (No. 16 DFEI), Mississippi State (No. 36 DFEI), and FCS The Citadel.
- Oregon (No. 2 OFEI) plays Iowa (No. 20 DFEI), Minnesota (No. 47 DFEI), USC (No. 51 DFEI), and Washington (No. 60 DFEI).
- Notre Dame (No. 14 OFEI) plays Navy (No. 103 DFEI), Pitt No. 21 DFEI), Syracuse No. 57 DFEI, and Stanford (No. 62 DFEI).
- BYU (No. 23 OFEI) plays Texas Tech (No. 1 DFEI), TCU (No. 35 DFEI), Cincinnati (No. 70 DFEI), and UCF (No. 32 DFEI).
- Texas Tech (No. 45 OFEI) plays BYU (No. 20 DFEI), UCF (No. 32 DFEI), and West Virginia (No. 56 DFEI).
Alabama Crimson Tide and other Playoff Contenders