It might not even be worth labeling it SEC Bias, but the first set of College Football Playoff rankings clearly showed that the committee is willing to prop up a second conference team behind No. 1 Alabama.
If Saturday taught us anything, it’s that maybe the committee should chill out on that idea. Texas A&M, ranked No. 4 in that first set, lost 35-28 to Mississippi State. Alabama knocked off No. 13 LSU. It’s safe to rule both of those schools out of the playoff discussion.
But we know what’s coming next. You can bet that two-loss Auburn, ranked No. 9 last week, and two-loss Florida, ranked No. 11, are going to get propped up next. It’s the refusal to believe that, right now — at least as far as the College Football Playoff is concerned — it feels a lot like “Alabama and everybody else” in the SEC.
MORE: Week 10 top performers
The committee’s gravitation toward SEC West schools is obvious. It’s still the deepest division in the FBS, but that doesn’t mean it has the most legit playoff contenders. The committee doesn’t need to treat it that way, either.
The Aggies shouldn’t have been ranked No. 4 in the first place, but this shows how different November is. Mississippi State was in season-maker mode at home, and it played like it. We would say that was a warning shot to the rest of the non-SEC contenders, but Michigan, Ohio State, Clemson, Louisville and Washington — the rest of the top seven — all won in huge blowouts.
This whole giving-the-SEC-early-love isn’t a new trend.
We learned that in 2014 when the first rankings had Mississippi State, Florida State, Auburn and Ole Miss in the initial top four. The Seminoles finished the regular season unbeaten before losing in the College Football Playoff. Including postseason, the Bulldogs, Tigers and Rebels combined for 10 losses after the initial rankings.
MORE: Top 25 updates, info, scores
Alabama represented the SEC in the College Football Playoff.
We learned that again in 2015 with LSU, which entered the first set of playoff rankings with a 7-0 record and a No. 2 ranking, yet finished 9-3 and nearly fired Les Miles.
Alabama represented the SEC in the College Football Playoff.
Texas A&M, meanwhile, did not live up to the No. 4 ranking this year. The Aggies got knocked out early by Mississippi State, which jumped out to a 14-0 lead. Trevor Knight was 0 for 5 with an interception on the first two drives, and he played through a shoulder injury after a first-quarter touchdown run.
MORE: Best images from college football Week 10
It’s an upset. To what degree you should feel shock is debatable, but the score certainly stands out. What did the committee learn from it?
There’s no need to manufacture drama when that drama can easily blow up in your collective face. The Aggies lost by 19 points to Alabama. Nobody saw this coming, but everybody knew Texas A&M wasn’t really the fourth-best team in the country.
What about the rest of the SEC? LSU lost a third game, joining Arkansas and Tennessee in that department. There’s a chance Tennessee could represent the SEC East in Atlanta.
Which leads us to Florida — which lost by 21 points to the Razorbacks on Saturday. The Gators close the season at LSU and Florida State, and they could go to Atlanta, too. To be clear, the SEC East does not have a playoff team.
MORE: SEC East? More like SEC Least
Which leaves Auburn. Get ready to pump up the Tigers, who have won six straight since early-season losses to Clemson and Texas A&M. They travel to Georgia next week but could easily be 9-2 when they travel to Tuscaloosa.
Would an Auburn win in the Iron Bowl mean the start of the two-SEC-teams-in-the-playoff conversation? Or would it just be the Tigers as a two-loss team? Will Auburn get lumped into the conversation now with one-loss teams such as Louisville and Ohio State, or ahead of a fellow two-loss team like Wisconsin?
The answers to those questions are yes, maybe and yes.
There’s no use in labeling it SEC Bias, though. It’s just what happens all the time.
