Who deserves the honor of being the No. 4 team in the College Football Playoff, Notre Dame or Texas A&M?
Contact @PeteFiutak
We know who will be the top three in the final College Football Playoff rankings.
Alabama will be No. 1, Clemson and Ohio State will almost certainly be 2 and 3 – in that order – and will be No. 4 …
And that’s the drama.
Notre Dame and Texas A&M are the two most likely options for the No. 4 spot, and both were saved due to Florida not being able to get through Alabama in the SEC championship – that would have made things interesting at the very least. It also helped the overall cause that USC lost the Pac-12 Championship and Cincinnati was meh in the American Athletic Conference Championship.
So with all that in mind, let the two contenders discuss it. It’s 2020, so of course it’s done on a Zoom call …
Our lady: There is no debate. We beat Clemson. We have won ten games. We had a tough day against the Tigers working at maximum efficiency, and we should plan better. We have the good wins. You not.
Texas A&M: Dude, you transported 34-10 in a truck, and it wasn’t even that close. Do you think America has the slightest interest in seeing you play Alabama?
Our lady: You think America has the slightest interest in it you Play Alabama again? You already did. It was horrible.
Texas A&M: Yeah, all the way back in week 2 for us on October 3rd. We needed a little bit to warm up, and we got the passing game moving 335 yards, and …
Our lady: You lost 52-24. Wait, that whole thing to get warmed up. Should we apologize for beating Vanderbilt 17-12 in the opener?
Texas A&M: Notre Dame 27, Duke 13. That was your opener. Oh yeah, and that 12-7 win over Louisville was a classic. Can we move on now? We are now a different, stronger and better team. We’re in a groove on a six-game winning streak, we’ve won our last five games with double digits after beating Florida, and …
Our lady: And what? You beat some? That 20-7 win over LSU downplayed the world, and you beat Auburn. Whooop-dee-doo. Again, we beat Clemson …
Texas A&M: Yes, without Trevor Lawrence.
Our lady: But DJ Uiagalelei will be just as good, and …
Texas A&M: You’ve been blown up by a real freshman quarterback for over 400 yards, and you think you’re going to do something about Alabama’s passing game?
Our lady: If you’d let me finish – if Clemson is number 2 in the final rankings, we officially have the best win of the 2020 college football season. You don’t have one, do you, Tex?
Texas A&M: No, we are only the second best team at the best conference in college football, and our only loss was to the very best number 1 team on the road. We should be considered No. 2 in the rankings and we’re arguing about 4?
(shows up) Cincinnati: Hey guys, what’s going on?
Our lady: How did you get this conversation?
Cincinnati: We heard you were talking about who should be No. 4, and we went 9-0 with an American Athletic Conference Championship, and …
Texas A&M: I’m sorry, you cut out. A what, championship?
Cincinnati: American Athle …
Texas A&M: And you played who in this championship… Alabama? Oklahoma? Ohio State …
Cincinnati: Tulsa!
Our lady: Oh Tulsa … super, super … so you, of course, with everything at stake and style points, meaning the world for a team that didn’t play a Power Five team, you won with what, 50, 60?
Cincinnati: 27-24 on a thrilling field goal with no time left, and …
(Cincinnati feed gets cut and dies)
Texas A&M: (quiet)
Our lady: (quiet)
Texas A&M: Where were we?
Our lady: Look, you’re really good, and we played against Clemson in the ACC title game, but we have the rules that hold, we have the experience, and we can slow things down, just like you. There were some lightweight victories along the way, but we won four road races in a five-race stretch, ending with a win over North Carolina. Beating Auburn is fun, but that road victory on the Tar Heels will give us the nod.
Texas A&M: Yes, you have the style we like – game recognizes play when it comes to possession time, pace and great line play – but we held the ball against Tennessee for over 44 minutes, our scores are generally no bursts, in part because of our design, and again, the SEC factor has SOME role to play here.
Our lady: Yeah, but 8-1 isn’t 10-1, and again, we’ve got the great win that you don’t …
Texas A&M: Wasn’t Clemson really hurt defensively, and again, not Lawrence?
Our lady: Yes but …
Texas A&M: And I know this doesn’t matter, but it’s not like you exactly set yourself apart from the biggest of the big boys over the years in bowl season. We’ve seen what you can do, and it’s fun, but there’s a hard ceiling that you clearly can’t crack. Here we roll under a national championship coach. Watch what we’re about to do because we’re on the cusp of something special.
Our lady: We are better than you think. We may have the style and the potential to make Alabama a problem. Again, we had a bad day in Charlotte, but our lines really are that good, our run defense is much better than looked against the Tigers this time around, and we feel like we could potentially punch the Tide in the mouth. a little better than even you. We also …
Cincinnati (wearing a fake mustache and sunglasses, in a muffled voice): Oh, how am I HERE? I must have pressed the wrong button. Hey, what do I hear about this great Group of Five program that …
Texas A&M: Hey, Irish, good luck in the Orange Bowl … you’ll have to compete against one of the better SEC teams.
Our lady: Good luck against Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl… they’ve figured it out now.
So what’s really going to happen?
The committee is almost certainly going to place Notre Dame on the 4th.
Cincinnati just doesn’t have the schedule or the big wins. Had it crushed Tulsa by 30, there would have been a strong argument for finally giving the Group of Five a chance, as Texas A&M and Notre Dame have already lost huge to two of the playoff teams. But no – that will not happen.
There will also at least be a discussion about the state of Ohio. 6-0 is nice and the Buckeyes missed players, but they only faced two fine teams this year and struggled to survive against both. However, let’s not waste time on this.
The College Football Playoff committee had a thing for the Buckeyes from the start, and it certainly won’t crack now – no chance the undefeated Big Ten champ isn’t in this thing.
It’s not fair to Texas A&M, given that if this was a normal year with a normal schedule, most of the teams on its list would have been at least .500 or better thanks to several non-conference calls, but that’s the deal.
Notre Dame has more wins. The highest win over Clemson is better than A & M’s highest win over Florida, and the second-best win over North Carolina is stronger – at least by the CFP rankings – than A & M’s second-best win over Auburn.
The two ugly losses will cancel each other out.
There’s no really right or wrong answer here – neither of you really needs to be in the tournament, but they can all make a case about the state of Ohio. One team should be omitted.
Let it fuel an emerging Texas A&M program on the verge of becoming a powerhouse who should regularly compete for the College Football Playoff.
Expect Notre Dame vs. Alabama in the Sugar is, and Clemson vs. Ohio State, whatever they’re going to call that thing at AT&T Stadium.