Pressure To Make The Playoff Starts Now

Garrett Wilson, Reporter

College Football Playoffs

The lights under the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, is a sight to see for the few teams going on to the College Football National Championship. There are hundreds of teams that must fight for a spot in the four team playoff bracket to play in the semifinals. These teams will then have a shot at playing in the 2018 National Championship.

There can be a lot of confusion as to who should make the playoffs, so let’s clarify the possible scenarios.

  • Alabama: Alabama cannot win their conference since they lost to Auburn last week, so they need to hope that Georgia wins the SEC so they get into the playoffs.
  • Clemson: The biggest week for the Tigers comes this Saturday against Miami in the ACC Championship. A win here would lock up back to back playoff appearances to the semifinals.
  • Oklahoma: One can’t mention Oklahoma without mentioning the Heisman “winner” Baker Mayfield. He has just put up video game numbers as the Sooners are expected to demolish TCU in the Big 12 Championship.
  • Auburn: Auburn controls their own destiny by winning out. If they lose the SEC Championship, there will be continuous controversy to get into the playoff. Even though Auburn owns the matchup against Alabama, we all know that the committee has to put Alabama into the semifinals.

The one team who needs multiple miracles to make the playoff is none other than the USC Trojans out of the Pac-12. If the top four teams lose out, (almost impossible), the Trojans can silently get into the playoff. If all of that happens and they survive a scare against Stanford, they are a lock for the semi-finals in December.

My top ten at the end of the season:

  1. Auburn
  2. Oklahoma
  3. Clemson
  4. Wisconsin
  5. Alabama
  6. Ohio State
  7. Miami
  8. Georgia
  9. USC
  10. TCU

The official top ten as of now:

  1. Clemson
  2. Oklahoma
  3. Auburn
  4. Wisconsin
  5. Alabama
  6. Georgia
  7. Miami
  8. Ohio State
  9. Penn State
  10. USC