Can TCU hold spot after loss?
Kansas State wins Big 12 title as Horned Frogs get first loss
Alabama is going to get one last look from the College Football Playoff selection committee.
Whether the Crimson Tide deserves it is debatable, at best, but after both TCU (12-1) and Southern California (11-2) lost on championship weekend the committee has to at least talk about making Alabama (10-2) the first team with twolosses to make the playoff.
TCU coach Sonny Dykes said Saturday he was concerned about the Frogs’ playoff status, but that he also had faithin the committee.
“For sure I do,” Dykes said when asked if he thinks the HornedFogs deserve to be in.
No.4 USC’s loss to Friday to No. 12 Utah in the Pac-12 championship pretty much ended the Trojans’ playoff hopes.
That was huge news for No. 5 Ohio State. A week after the Buckeyes (11-1) were thumped at home by No. 2 Michigan, fans in Columbus were glued to the events in Las Vegas and got the result they needed — and maybe a rematch with the Wolverines in their future.
On Saturday, down went the third-ranked Horned Frogs to No. 13 Kansas State in the Big 12 title game. As has been the case all year, it wasa wild ride for the Hypnotoads. They erased an 11point deficit in the fourthquarterbehind a heroic effort by Max Duggan before losing in overtime on a 31-yard field goal by Ty Zentner. TCU’s Kendre Miller was stopped just short of the goal line on TCU’spossession.
Still, TCU heads to the clubhouse having beaten every team they have played, with plenty of close calls and comebacks, but no conference championship.
There is precedent for unbeaten teams losing their conference title games and remaining in the top four. Georgia was No. 1 when it happened last year against Alabamaand fell to No. 3.
In 2020, Notre Dame lost a rematch with Clemson in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game and went from No. 2 toNo. 4.
Thereis no previous case to support Alabama making the playoff under these circumstances, but this system has only been around for nine years.So don’t get too hung up on previous results predicting future performance by the committee.
The 13-person panel already made one questionable call that went Alabama’s way when it ranked the Tide sixth last week and Tennessee, which beat Alabama in October,seventh.