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CUTrevor
2022-11-16 19:30:09
Oregon's upset loss at home last week really opened the door for the Tigers to get back into the playoff picture. The ESPN pundits might still not be giving the Tigers a good chance of making the playoff, but in my opinion, they have a pretty decent shot. Obviously, the Tigers have to win out and beat a very good UNC team with a prolific offense and Drake Maye, who I believe should be the Heisman front-runner. If TCU loses and USC loses, I think the Tigers will get in over the loser of Ohio State and Michigan because both of their resumes are terrible, and the Tigers would be a conference champion. The Tigers may even get in over Tennessee, another non-champion. The committee places a lot of weight on conference champions. It's one of their biggest criteria for making the playoff. So even if TCU or USC were to make the playoff, the Tigers could get in over Tennessee and the loser of Ohio State/Michigan. USC has not beaten a ranked team all season and has 3 very tough games remaining. They are at UCLA in a big rivalry game on Saturday night and then have to play red-hot Notre Dame. If they survive those games, USC would still have to beat a very good team--either Oregon or Utah--in the Pac 12 Championship. As Committee Chairman Boo Corrigan told me a few weeks ago, the committee will give the Tigers credit for beating NC State with Devin Leary, which was a legitimate top-10 team at the time, and the Tigers will also have wins at FSU, which is now ranked No.19, and at Wake, which I believe will be ranked at the end of the season, and possibly a top-10 UNC team in the Championship. So there is a very good chance the Tigers will make the playoff if they can win out! It all starts this week against Miami, and the Tigers can help their cause by gaining some style points in these last two games at home. They need to run the score up on Miami and South Carolina to start gaining some traction with the committee. |
