College Football Playoff rankings live reaction: How far will Alabama fall?

Summary

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The Bill and Doug Show: Ohio State Football Talk

Episode: College Football Playoff Rankings Live Reaction – How Far Will Alabama Fall?

Date: November 19, 2025
Hosts: Doug Lesmerises & Bill Landis (Blue Wire)

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Episode Overview

Doug Lesmerises and Bill Landis stream a real-time, candid reaction to the just-released College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings, focusing particularly on the fate of Alabama after their loss to Oklahoma. The discussion explores implications for Ohio State and major contenders, projects the playoff field, and riffs on the flaws, drama, and politics of the selection process—all with the duo’s trademark mix of irreverence, fan focus, and big-picture insight.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Debating the College Football Playoff Weekly Rankings

[03:05-08:39]

• Do weekly reveals make sense? Doug and Bill consider Nicole Auerbach’s suggestion to cut down on weekly CFP rankings, perhaps only revealing them at the start and at the end of the season. Doug favors an additional mid-November check-in.

• Bill proposes a hybrid: First and last rankings from the committee, with AP Poll filling the gap—revealed live in TV show format, AP voters instructed to “think like the committee.” This would “add relevance to an AP Poll that has no relevance once the committee rankings start.”
  Quote:
  “Do the first rankings for the committee. Do the last rankings for the committee. The rest of the time, don’t reveal the AP poll until Tuesday night... win-win for everybody.” — Bill Landis [05:09]

• Critique of committee chair explanations: Both hosts lament the nonsensical defense of committee decisions on-air: Quote:
  “They make stuff up. Right. Are they looking for a deep dive into the minds of the committee, or do they just want to talk about college football during halftime of a basketball game for 25 minutes?” — Bill Landis [04:39]

2. Live Reaction to the CFP Rankings Reveal

[09:14-17:56]

• Doug and Bill announce each batch of rankings as ESPN reveals them, riffing on the consequences and inconsistencies:

  • Bottom of the rankings reworked: Five new teams due to widespread losses.
  • “Dropping teams that don’t play is interesting... they did it last week too.” — Doug Lesmerises [12:31]
  • Debate over Miami jumping Vanderbilt due to NC State win, and questions about Notre Dame’s relatively stable spot at #9.

• Alabama’s Slide:

  • Oklahoma up 3 spots after beating Bama, Bama falls from 4 to 10.
  • “We’re just staring down five SEC teams in the College Football Playoff. It is…” — Bill Landis [15:16]

• Playoff Field Implications:

  • Early projections show a likely path to five SEC teams and three Big Ten teams in the 12-team playoff, with single bids for the Big 12, ACC, and a Group of 6 rep.
  • The bubble: “Number nine Notre Dame, number 13 Miami and number 14 Vanderbilt for one spot.” — Bill Landis [20:27]

3. Notre Dame vs. Alabama for the Final Playoff Spots

[21:51-24:51; 37:27-41:53; 50:00-52:46]

• Detailed discussion of the scenarios that would leave Notre Dame and Alabama battling for the final at-large spot.

• Head-to-head and Schedule Metrics:

  • Bill notes Alabama’s “significantly better” strength of schedule, but Doug points out Notre Dame is currently ranked just ahead.
  • “If Alabama loses to Texas A&M in the SEC title game... that is a pretty compelling data point in Notre Dame’s favor, is it not?” — Doug Lesmerises [40:40]

• Impending Drama:

  • “It will become the most important decision this playoff committee has ever made.” — Bill Landis [51:45]
  • The hosts imagine potential fallout, both from the SEC if Bama gets left out, and from the “Golden Dome” if Notre Dame is squeezed.

4. Projecting the Final Bracket – If Chalk Holds and If Chaos Reigns

[41:53–46:10]

• Doug and Bill unveil their latest end-of-season playoff projections.

  • Extensive debate about possible upsets in the Big 12 and ACC that could shake up the at-large selections, particularly Texas Tech’s fate and Utah/BYU’s Big 12 title path.

• Doug’s Top 12 Playoff Prediction:

  • Ohio State, Texas A&M, Indiana, Texas Tech, Georgia, Oregon, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Alabama, Virginia (ACC champ), and Navy (AAC rep).

• Bill’s Top 12 Difference:

  • He takes North Texas as the Group of 6 team and still puts Bama as the last at-large, but adds Georgia Tech as a potential bracket-buster (if they beat Georgia, they could leap up as ACC champ).

  Quote:
  “You and I both have Bama as that last team in right now from the at-large pool. So then that's what we believe. They would be potentially in danger…” — Bill Landis [44:43]

5. Debating Playoff Expansion & Structure Flaws

[29:26-34:21]

• Bill and Doug discuss whether it’s better to be the 1-seed or the 5-seed, considering bracket structure:
  • “You could, if you’re the one seed, very well end up playing a team that is under-seeded. But I don’t know how they would change it.” — Doug Lesmerises [29:45]
• Big Ten’s Tony Petitti wants a 24-team playoff, with 4 auto-bids for each Power 4—Bill and Doug find this model even more “offensive” than others, joking about the absurdity of guaranteeing that many spots.
  • “He wants the guaranteed four spots for the Big Ten at all costs. So he'll give out as many guaranteed spots as he needs to to every other conference in the world.” — Bill Landis [33:13]

6. Cultural Commentary & Meta-College Football Jokes

Throughout, esp. [26:44-27:32], [46:10-47:08], & [52:46-53:43]

• Clowning on viral “driveway videos” (e.g., Desmond Howard), shirtless hot takes, and the idea that Texas might miss the playoff while four other Texas teams get in.
• Bill pitches a hypothetical play featuring “Touchdown Jesus, Greg Sankey and Cody Campbell” to dramatize playoff politics.
• Doug looks ahead (“Once we just get to eight automatic qualifiers for each conference for a 64 team college football playoff... I’m gonna miss these discussions, Bill.” [53:43])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• Bill’s skepticism about committee explanations
  “They make stuff up. Right. Are they looking for a deep dive into the minds of the committee, or do they just want to talk about college football during halftime of a basketball game for 25 minutes?” [04:39]

• Doug on the ranking show spectacle:
  “If they didn’t trot some AD out there whose job is to summarize the thoughts of 13 people into 30-second sound bites, which is really hard to do...” [07:33]

• Bill proposes a new system:
  “Do the first rankings for the committee. Do the last rankings for the committee. The rest of the time, don’t reveal the AP poll until Tuesday night. … win-win.” [05:12]

• On Alabama’s precarious path:
  “Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is for Alabama to be the first team out of the playoff for the second consecutive year.” — Bill Landis [41:01]

• On the Big Ten’s power play for playoff spots:
  “He wants the guaranteed four spots for the Big Ten at all costs. So he'll give out as many guaranteed spots as he needs to to every other conference in the world.” — Bill Landis [33:13]

• Doug lays out the stakes of the ND/Bama debate:
  “If Alabama loses to Texas A&M in the SEC title game... that is a pretty compelling data point in Notre Dame’s favor, is it not?” [40:40]

• On impending committee drama:
  “It will become the most important decision this playoff committee has ever made.” — Bill Landis [51:45]

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Important Timestamps & Segment Highlights

| Time | Segment | |---------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:05-08:39 | CFP rankings show format criticism, alternative proposals (weekly vs. occasional reveals) | | 09:14-17:56 | Live rankings reveal reactions—controversies, bubble talk, Alabama’s slide | | 21:51-24:51 | Notre Dame, Miami, Vanderbilt vying for final playoff spots | | 29:26-34:21 | Playoff expansion debate, 12- vs. 16- vs. 24-team playoff, guaranteed bids | | 37:27-41:53 | Final playoff projections; Who gets the last spots—Notre Dame or Bama? | | 50:00-52:46 | If committee must choose between Alabama and ND—committee politics, metrics, chaos | | 53:43-End | Closing ruminations/jokes about playoff future, expanding playoff to “March Madness” scale |

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Tone and Style

Doug and Bill’s signature is sharp college football analysis delivered with a blend of sarcasm, wit, and honest, sometimes self-effacing, Buckeye-centric fandom. They mix big-picture critiques with inside-baseball takes, always circling back to what their audience—diehard fans—cares about most.

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Summary Takeaways

• The playoff field is “borderline straightforward” if chalk holds, but one or two late upsets in the Big 12, ACC, or SEC could send shockwaves, particularly affecting bubble teams like Alabama, Notre Dame, Miami, and Vanderbilt.
• Alabama, after a loss to Oklahoma, is at risk of missing the playoff depending on what happens in the Big 12 and ACC championship pictures.
• The hosts deride both the committee’s weekly ranking spectacle and the politicking around playoff expansion, offering alternative models and lampooning power plays by league commissioners.
• The most compelling possible drama: Alabama and Notre Dame, with similar records and resume flaws, competing for the 12th spot—a scenario that would test the committee’s logic and political nerve.
• Doug and Bill’s hypothetical matchups, bracket predictions, and running jokes offer both analysis and comic relief for fans locking in for the playoff chaos ahead.

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For those who didn’t listen:
This episode is a must-hear for any Big Ten or SEC fan wanting a smart, funny, and thoroughly up-to-date look at November’s playoff race—especially if you root against Alabama or enjoy watching college football’s power brokers squirm.

Transcript

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[Bill Landis]

Welcome back to the Bill and Doug Show. Doug lemarisse and Bill Landis on a Tuesday Night Live. College football playoff rankings coming up soon. Bill, we'll run through them again. Two weekends left in the regular season and starting to really matter. And then we'll give our, as we always do on this show, our actual predictions for what we think the playoff will be at the end of the year. But we're going to let the rankings speak to us a little bit tonight because you were even saying like at this point we're trying to get it right. We don't know what the committee's going to do with some of these teams that are going to be moving around, especially with the Oklahoma winner of Alabama.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Yeah, I don't because there's, there's, there's certain teams that are like roadblocks or like how far a team can fall and stuff like that. And so I, I did make like my own before we got the rankings. But I would rather let them tell me sort of how they're going to stack Alabama, Oklahoma, Ole Miss. I'm assuming Georgia's gonna move up probably into the top four. But, but we'll see. So yeah, I'd rather see that happen than take a wild stab because we are, as you said, trying to get this right and that's really the only thing that matters in all this is whether or not we're right.

[Bill Landis]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I really care about that. My TV is no longer a black screen. I can also watch the actual rankings reveal. I kind of don't like it. I just sort of figured out that my life was okay with that. Espn, I. Can I voluntarily do this? Can they have another carriage dispute? Give me $20 a month and I won't watch ESPN. Is that a thing that I can call YouTube TV and tell them it's probably too late?

[Doug Lemarisse]

They probably would have appreciated that before if they paid whatever they had to pay the mouse to get ESPN back on their streaming service.

[Bill Landis]

Yeah. So we have a bunch of good folks in here hanging out. Lisa's here and Chris is here and Rob is here, and our good friend John is here and another John is here. And we're excited to have everybody here. I have a suggestion for the rankings. The great Nicole Auerbach, one of the leading voices in college football media, I guess it was last week or just was writing, talking about the idea of why do we do. Why do we need all these shows? Why do we need weekly rankings? And I don't know the specificity of her suggestion, but I still think that the first rankings are good because they allow us at some point, besides once the season's over, to see the committee's thinking. But, Bill, if they said we're gonna do the first one and then we're out and then we'll see you for the real ones, would you be okay with that?

[Doug Lemarisse]

I probably would want one more if we're gonna go. So we go. What was five weeks, I think, between the first ones we get and then the ones that. That matter, the final ones. I wouldn't mind, like a mid mid November check in, I guess. I don't. I don't know that we need to do it every week. But then that also raises the question of what number do we put beside a team's name? Like, sort of in the interim between. Between getting refreshed playoff rankings, we go back to the AP poll. Do we just keep using the AP poll? Like, what do you want to do?

[Bill Landis]

I got a plan for you, brother.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Okay, what's.

[Bill Landis]

What do they want on Tuesday nights? Do they really want us to get a deep dive into the minds of these. However many committee members there are who aren't getting suspended for stuff? I guess they're back to 12 now.

[Doug Lemarisse]

It's.

[Bill Landis]

Is that what they really want? We want you because they can't even explain themselves. When they come out and explain it, they make stuff up. Right. Are they looking for a deep dive into the minds of the committee, or do they just want to talk about college football during halftime of a basketball game for 25 minutes? Yeah, I think they mostly want the TV show, right?

[Doug Lemarisse]

Yes.

[Bill Landis]

What is. How relevant do you find the AP poll to be once the College Football Playoff rankings come out?

[Doug Lemarisse]

Totally irrelevant. Not irrelevant at all. Not relevant.

[Bill Landis]

All right, I got a plan for you. Do the first rankings for the committee. Do the last rankings for the committee. The rest of the time, don't reveal the AP poll until Tuesday night. And then let everybody talk about the AP poll for 25 minutes. And the AP poll instructions are to think like the committee, rank the 25 best teams, but make it a reveal. The the AP poll falls in line with the committee anyway. Once the committee rankings come out and you tell these AP voters how they're supposed to be thinking, we keep the TV show. We add relevance to an AP poll that has no relevance once the committee rankings start. But we don't have the committee boxing themselves in with rankings every week. I think it's a win win for everybody.

[Doug Lemarisse]

And you make like the Tampa Bay Times South Florida beat writer come on ESPN and explain why Oklahoma's 13th or you just leave that part out of the TV show.

[Bill Landis]

What it's a win for the Tampa Bay time South Florida beat writer as well. What exposure. They put me on ESPN on game day one time for the way that I voted. I had to wear a suit and stand in the rain with the umbrella was the highlight of my career. No, it wasn't. But I. In the moment, I thought it might have been right.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Like. But.

[Bill Landis]

But if we want a discussion and then we can talk about theoretically, well, do we think the committee would follow what the AP does, but it would give us rankings that matter without this game that we're playing where we're trying to, like, read between the lines with the College Football Playoff committee chairperson who is in there talking about interior offensive line play because he's trying to sound smart and nobody wants it.

[Doug Lemarisse]

What if they just gave us the rankings without that? Like, what if they just didn't bring the committee chair on ESPN to try to explain something that is nearly impossible to explain.

[Bill Landis]

If we're getting real committee rankings, do we want an explanation? And I guess the question is, if we don't want them, why don't we want them? If we don't want five weeks of committee rankings, is it because we find their Explanations ridiculous. Or do we not want them because they serve no purpose and all they do is maybe box them into decisions that they wouldn't make otherwise if they weren't doing these meaningless rankings. Like, if we don't want them, why don't we want them?

[Doug Lemarisse]

I think that from what I've gathered, and again, I don't because I, I don't mind having them every week. I think what people who say we don't need them every week usually are just saying so out of frustration towards the, the way that people talk about them once they're revealed. Right, right. Yeah. That's like the thing I like, like, whatever, that the AP poll has problems. Clearly we've talked about it a lot, but at least we're not subjected to a 30 minute conversation everywhere where nobody makes any sense about why they are the way they are. So I think that's more of what it is because like, you know, it's not like we don't have enough information to reset the rankings every week. We do. So. So I'm, I'm fine with then refreshing them every week. And I think everybody would probably be made of me, made to feel a lot better if, if they didn't trot some ad out there who, whose job is to summarize the thoughts of 13 people into 30 second sound bites, which is really hard to do.

[Bill Landis]

Yeah, a lot of people don't like the AP poll. The biggest problem with the AP poll is that people are required to vote by noon on Sunday when they're dead tired. They've covered their team, they cover the night before, and they have no time to think or process. Also, waiting until Tuesday night when you reveal the AP poll would make the AP poll better and smarter.

[Doug Lemarisse]

That's true.

[Bill Landis]

And I don't think it's, it's much less a problem of the people in the AP poll and much more a problem of the time constraints that the AP poll puts on their voters for no reason. And the AP poll, if, because if I'm trying to get the AP poll and I'm trying to get the AP poll, why just put out at noon on Monday. But they don't want to do it because this is how they did it. 1964.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Right.

[Bill Landis]

It's silly, but if you told them you get a reveal on, on espn, I think they maybe would do it. All right, Rankings are coming out. I'm still gonna let you say them because you know why you're good at saying you're a good announcer for the rankings. All right.

[Doug Lemarisse]

They're releasing on batches this time. 25 Arizona State. 24, Tulane. 23 Houston. 22 Missouri. Back in, baby. And 21 is Illinois. Those are all new teams because everybody from 20 to 25 lost last week. Oh. Tennessee is number 20, Virginia is number 19.

[Bill Landis]

Okay.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Michigan Wolverines are number 18. Texas plummets to 17 and Georgia Tech is 16. Okay.

[Bill Landis]

Michigan behind Texas. Michigan lost Oklahoma. Texas beat Oklahoma. But also like they are ignoring some other head to heads. We are going to talk about the Notre Dame, Miami head to head thing. I think people realize this and the rankings are going to show us this in a minute. Of course, there probably is going to be an upset or two from. From what the betting lines would tell you or what we would expect. It's fairly straightforward if there aren't any upsets. And if there aren't any upsets, the Miami, Notre Dame discussion is going to come into full effect.

[Doug Lemarisse]

I think so too. Yeah. Because we talked about how much that gap closed already last week.

[Bill Landis]

Yeah.

[Doug Lemarisse]

15 USC. Now they're revealing them. Slower, by the way, last. So last week's rankings.

[Bill Landis]

Yeah.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Number. Number 20, Louisville lost. Number 21, Iowa lost. Number 22, Pit lost. Number 24, USF loss. And number 25, Cincinnati loss. Like the bottom of the bracket rankings got totally reworked in a way that like might impact the top.

[Bill Landis]

Interesting. It does matter a little bit. Mizzou. Oklahoma has Mizzou this week. Right. So that's like another potentially like ranked win for Oklahoma. Yeah.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Vanderbilt is 14. So they dropped Texas behind Vanderbilt. I thought they weren't going to do that. I thought that Vanderbilt was going to be like another as far as Texas go. So then Miami has one more loss.

[Bill Landis]

Texas has one more loss than Vanderbilt does. Even though they do. Texas beat Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt head to head. Okay, so Miami is up. Miami is at 13 and that's up two spots.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Yeah. So what was Miami?

[Bill Landis]

What was.

[Doug Lemarisse]

What was it? 17, 15 and now 13.

[Bill Landis]

Okay, okay. Like, oh, they have a little arrow on the screen and they have a little arrow up two spots. Yeah. This could. So really if what it's going to come down to, if things go as expected, is probably a Notre Dame, Miami, Vanderbilt discussion for the last spot potentially. And I guess maybe you could throw Utah in there and Utah is ahead of all of them, so. Well, not ahead of Notre Dame, but like that's one of those. So okay.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Yeah. Utah. Yeah. Utah's 12. Yeah. Notre Dame is yet to come. BYU 11 with the head to head.

[Bill Landis]

Miami 13. Utah 12, BYU 11. BYU. A gigantic game at Cincinnati this week. Go ahead.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Sorry. They moved Miami ahead of Vanderbilt because Miami beat NC State and Vanderbilt was off.

[Bill Landis]

Okay.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Which I think is like.

[Bill Landis]

That'S weird.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Dropping teams that don't play is interesting because they did it last week, too.

[Bill Landis]

Well, I guess again, if you reevaluate everybody every week and that NC State win adds to Miami's resume, I think you have to be willing to do that. But it's like, how much does an NC State win really add to Miami's resume? But actually, it's probably their third best win because Miami's best wins are probably Notre Dame, South Florida, who is no longer in the rankings because South Florida lost last week and that shook up the American race. And then NC State.

[Doug Lemarisse]

I'm surprised. I mean, I know they got the doors blown off by Notre Dame, but I'm surprised that Navy wasn't the team they put in there. Navy beat South Florida this week.

[Bill Landis]

Right. Instead of Tulane being the American team that slides in.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Notre Dame's still at nine. Didn't move.

[Bill Landis]

Notre Dame at nine. Didn't move. So the gap is four spots between Notre Dame and Miami, which is the gap that matters. Miami, like every Notre Dame is not.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Now sort of feel like everyone above Notre Dame is like, in. Right.

[Bill Landis]

I mean, without a collapse. Unless you, like, lose twice, I guess. Right.

[Doug Lemarisse]

So, yeah.

[Bill Landis]

So Oklahoma up three spots was with the win over Bama up from 11 to eight. Bama from four to 10 with the loss to Oklahoma. So Alabama 10, Notre Dame nine, Oklahoma eight. But yes, as you. As you look at stuff, again, like what you're projecting if the betting favorites win right now, as it stands, power conference teams, undefeated teams 3, 1 loss, team 6, 2 loss, teams 10. So 19 teams with two losses or fewer in the power conferences.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Oregon number seven, which I think is interesting because I. One of the things I was waiting to see was whether or not they were going to put Oklahoma ahead of Oregon.

[Bill Landis]

Okay.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Oh, that's good.

[Bill Landis]

Well, they don't have like the. The se. It's not. The top eight is. Or the top seven is not two Big Ten teams, then five SEC teams. So that's good.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Right. So this should be Ole Miss 6. Yeah. And then Texas Tech 5, Ole Miss.

[Bill Landis]

6, up one spot.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Yeah. My guess would be Texas Tech 5, Georgia 4, and then the top three.

[Bill Landis]

Top three, as we've had it. Yeah. No, that sounds right. And so, I mean, we're just. And you are right on Texas Tech at 5. We're just staring down. I am ahead of you. They sped Me up. Since they didn't have it. They shut me off for two and a half weeks. Now they're giving me a four second edge on you. We're just staring down five SEC teams in the College Football Playoff. It is. Yeah.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Yeah.

[Bill Landis]

Unless we get, I think two upsets. Unless we get both USC over Oregon and Michigan over Ohio State. That suddenly would put the idea of five Big Ten teams in the playoff. I think we have five SEC locked in.

[Doug Lemarisse]

What about, like an Oklahoma loss? Does that just. They just get replaced in Missouri? Yeah.

[Bill Landis]

Yeah. So Georgia is four up a spot.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Which is actually interesting because again, just playing around with, like a generator. What could happen? Alabama, like, probably still gonna go to the SEC title game.

[Bill Landis]

Probably still. Okay.

[Doug Lemarisse]

But they're six spots behind the second SEC team in the standings.

[Bill Landis]

Okay.

[Doug Lemarisse]

They're not going to jump. Batman's not going to jump up in the rankings by beating whatever cupcake they played this week. And then Auburn.

[Bill Landis]

Yeah, it's going to be interesting because, like, you have playoff committee rankings that you have somebody hired about a tiebreaker. Put somebody else in a conference championship game and then you automatically reflect, well, you made the conference championship game and lost, let's say, right to the favored team. Then how does that. Do we rank you higher than the team that we had you behind just because the tiebreaker went your way? The one thing that's good about this is they have the brackets up there. We got Oregon by moving up to seven. We got Oregon away from Notre Dame. So if we had been talking about the idea. Do you like the idea of an Oregon, Notre Dame, 8, 9, the winner plays Ohio State. Ohio State beat both those teams last year in the playoff. It would be a great Northern showdown in that Rose Bowl. Notre Dame or Oregon against Ohio State. Or do we want as many Big Ten SEC matchups as possible? And so now we're creating a situation. You're looking at Georgia, Texas tech as a 4 5, Ohio State, Oklahoma as a 1 8. I take Notre Dame in that game. But still, Texas A and M, what a matchup. Winner.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Notre Dame, Oklahoma, like, Like blue blood.

[Bill Landis]

Texas A M versus the Ole Miss Miami winner. And then Indiana versus the Bama Oregon winner. Right. So I'm part of that. It's like, well, Indiana and Oregon already played. I don't think that's as fun. But we're getting Oregon Bama in a first round. Like, there's a part of me that would kind of like Oregon Bama substantially more than I'd like Oregon, Notre Dame, and I like Notre Dame, Oklahoma substantially more than I like Notre Dame Oregon. So we'll see that.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Yeah, you like to the opportunity to get Oklahoma and Alabama out of the paint right after the first round. Yeah.

[Bill Landis]

And send them home without their sucker.

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[Bill Landis]

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[Bill Landis]

So here's the thing that I think we are really looking at as as we examine this right I I think you're looking at Texas A M, Georgia, Alabama, Ole Miss and Oklahoma all in the top eight as five SEC teams that are in if they win out and you would expect them to win out. I still think Georgia has a very good chance to lose a Georgia Tech, but that Georgia would still be in the playoff because they only have one loss even if they lose to Georgia Tech. So those five SEC teams are in very good shape. They're winning. They're in Ohio State, Indiana and Oregon obviously are in that situation. Number one Ohio State, number two Indiana and number seven Oregon are winning therein. The Big 12 you're looking probably at one team. Texas Tech is the highest ranked team that the favorite to win the Big 12. And then the ACC you're looking at one team Georgia Tech, the favorite most likely team to win that. So if you have five from the SEC, three from the Big Ten, that's eight. One from the Big 12, one from the ACC that's 10. The group of 16, that's 11. And then you're down to the last spot probably Bill. Even though notice like part of this because Notre Dame plays two bad teams down the stretch. I think they could fall because Stanford and Syracuse, Syracuse and Stanford actually in that Order are not going to do them any favors from a schedule standpoint.

[Doug Lemarisse]

So even though they've met their ceiling, that's for sure.

[Bill Landis]

Even though Alabama is like behind Notre Dame, I think Alabama might be more secure in its playoff spot right now actually. And then I think so. But I think you're probably looking at number nine Notre Dame, number 13 Miami and number 14 Vanderbilt for one spot. And then how would you work in BYU or Utah into that conversation? Like the Big 12 title game loser. Would they enter that conversation? I like over Notre Dame. Like, like probably. Probably not. Regardless of what. Like are they going to jump? Right. So they're not going to jump Notre Dame. So Notre Dame. But it's just. That's probably the conversation and maybe you would feel like, well, Notre Dame's in. Doug, what are you talking about? If you're saying Bama is assuredly and Notre Dame's probably assuredly in. But I just would wonder a little bit, especially Vandy, like Tennessee stinks but Tennessee still is like number 20 in the rankings. Vanderbilt plays Tennessee in the last game of the regular season. Would that somehow propel Vandy a little bit as a two loss team? Miami plays pit, has a shot at pit. They're out of the rankings right now, but they're a decent team. Would that propel them over Notre Dame? But I think we probably have 11, you know, 10 spots that are in pretty good shape without huge upsets and then maybe a three way battle for the last spot that Notre Dame's in the lead. But I think the more we go, it's like I don't know if it's guaranteed.

[Doug Lemarisse]

I don't. Yeah, as. As we've continued to go through this, it has felt like a slightly less guaranteed. I would still pick it at the moment that Notre Dame does get in. I guess it could come down to sort of like margin of victory perhaps and how Miami looks against weird. Like they have the head to head. But it's almost like, like what I. They have to be seen as even for the head to head to matter. And like clearly they're not quite there yet. There's the picking. Get. Get Miami there very well could be the case because the other thing that's weird about this current projection is that Miami is in like as the ACC representative. Even though Miami does not control its own destiny to get to the ACC title game.

[Bill Landis]

Miami is almost 100 not going to make the ACC title game. Right.

[Doug Lemarisse]

But I also saw, I saw a projection today that had them like as the ACC champ, which I think that was just wrong.

[Bill Landis]

I think that was probably a poorly done projection.

[Doug Lemarisse]

It's possible. But yeah, it would need like, I think like Georgia Tech would have to lose its next two games, which I guess it could. It plays Pitt in Georgia, although Georgia doesn't matter. Yeah, yeah. So I, I don't, I don't know. Be. They need a lot to fall their way to actually get to the acc. Acc.

[Bill Landis]

So for the acc, we'll just run through it real quick. The acc, there are four one loss teams right now. Georgia Tech, Virginia, SMU and Pitt. Georgia Tech and PIT play each other so the loser of that is knocked out. Georgia Tech and Virginia control their own destinies basically. So if Georgia Tech beats Pitt, as expected, Virginia only has one more game. And if SMU wins out as well as a three way tie, Georgia Tech and Virginia would be the two games in the two teams in the ACC championship. If it was that three way tie and the three way tie is what you would expect. The reason this BYU game is so big, BYU beat Utah head to head. But if BYU loses to Cincinnati and then Cincinnati wins its final game and like everybody wins out, it would create a three or four way tie for second place in the Big 12 with Texas Tech as a one loss team on top. And Utah I think would win either the three way or four way tiebreakers in that scenario. So if it's a head to head, byu, Utah tiebreaker, just those two teams, BYU wins it. If it's a group tiebreaker, Utah wins it. If, if BYU loses to Cincinnati on Saturday, it's at Cincinnati and big Noon's going to be there. Utah, Utah's in very good shape to make the Big 12 title game. And then Utah lost to Texas Tech. The score was big, but that was a one score game in the fourth quarter. And then it like Utah had trouble running the ball. They played a really weird game and right when they got it going, their defense collapsed. I actually think Utah could beat Texas Tech in a rematch. I don't think it's impossible. And then you start creating things. Well then if Texas Tech isn't the Big 12 champ and it's only their second loss, would they get in and now you're knocking out another team. But anyway, like yeah, I, I do think like these, this ACC stuff, this Big 12 stuff, it's probably Georgia Tech, Virginia and the ACC title game. It's probably Texas Tech versus either BYU or Utah in the Big 12 title game. And probably it's only going to be one from those conferences Yeah.

[Doug Lemarisse]

I want to tell people about this generator that you and I were talking about, so. Okay. It's a weird. It's a weird URL, but it is. It is b ball.com not nothing.net and you can go through every power conference and just pick your results the next two weeks, and then it'll spit out, using the tiebreaker formulas, like, what the actual standings would be. So I did that for the ACC in the Big 12 just because, like, I don't know, and I didn't want to guess and. But I wasn't trying to be funky with it. But what I was left with was a Texas Tech vs. Arizona State Big 12 title game and a Virginia vs. SMU ACC title game.

[Bill Landis]

Virginia versus smu?

[Doug Lemarisse]

Yeah.

[Bill Landis]

Based on.

[Doug Lemarisse]

I have Georgia Tech losing the pit.

[Bill Landis]

Oh, you're believing. You're believing the pit this week? Oh, yeah.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Georgia Tech's defense is not stopping anybody. I don't know if you've noticed, but they almost lost the Boston College, which is, like, the worst power four team last week.

[Bill Landis]

Yeah, that was like, first place versus last place. And. And last place led for, like, 58 minutes. Yeah. Okay. No. So that could get. So that could get real. I mean, I did. So North Texas is. Is like, the most likely American Conference team at this point, if you look at things. I was. So you're bringing SMU into the conversation. Congratulations to Texas for making the last two College Football Playoff semifinals. That's a quite an accomplishment. There's a chance. There are four Texas teams in the 12 team playoff, and none of them are Texas.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Could you imagine?

[Bill Landis]

I wonder what Texas Tech, North Texas, smu.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Steve Sarkeesian this week got asked about not living up to expectations, and his response was, whose expectations? It was pointed out to him that they were the number one team in the country coming into the season. And he basically said, like, well, that wasn't our fault. We'll have fun saying that. And then have fun if four teams from your state make the playoff and you don't.

[Bill Landis]

Did you see Desmond Howard was, like, walking down his driveway doing a little phone chat and said he thinks there could be a parting of ways. And then the Texas ad, like, retweeted it. Is that a thing? Should we be doing more? Like, Bill Simmons did a video the other day wearing a T shirt and a sauna? Do I need to be doing little video things for, like, our YouTube channel of me in odd places giving sort of, like, weird takes about college football? Is that what the kids want?

[Doug Lemarisse]

Weird, Uninformed. Definitely not true. Takes, sure.

[Bill Landis]

Yeah. Because honestly, I mean, like, we had the whole thing with Ari a couple weeks ago where Ari doesn't wear a shirt in his house. But if I'm gonna start doing takes, I'm definitely not wearing a shirt for takes. I would. I would wear a shirt every other moment of the day and then take my shirt off for my driveway take. Because what are we doing?

[Doug Lemarisse]

Right. Yeah.

[Bill Landis]

Give the people what they want.

[Doug Lemarisse]

That's right.

[Bill Landis]

I think it's pretty straightforward. Like, it's borderline straightforward. We understand how it's going to work. But also, would you anticip. I would anticipate one or two upsets in the last two weekends of the season. That would take us away from chalk.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Yes, I think we'll. I think we'll get some of that. It. It does feel. Well, I don't know. I mean, Texas, Texas A and M still looms. Right. That's. That's kind of the only SEC game. Like, I know Oklahoma, but it doesn't matter.

[Bill Landis]

Like, do you think Texas has a chance to get in if they beat. If they beat Texas Tech?

[Doug Lemarisse]

Yeah.

[Bill Landis]

As a three loss team. They're currently. Yeah. 16th. You think?

[Doug Lemarisse]

I think they would. They would rock it back up. Yeah.

[Bill Landis]

You think they would. You think they could rocket past Notre Dame?

[Doug Lemarisse]

No.

[Bill Landis]

Name didn't.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Right. My. I would still guess that they would not make it at 9 and 3 with that win, but I think that would be all we were talking about if they win that game. Whether or not they're going to get in. Yeah.

[Bill Landis]

Okay. Where are you on like this four or five spot and people like talking about this, that it's, you know, we're in this situation again where you look at when Ohio State projected number one seed, assuming they went out when the Big Ten championship, which of course nothing is guaranteed, but if they do that, you know, they were looking at Notre Dame or Oregon. Now they'd be looking at Oklahoma or Notre Dame in that spot. Whereas like the, you know, the five seed, you have to play a first round game, but it's at home. You get to play. Didn't work out last year, but most likely this year you get to play the group of six team and then you only have to play the four seed next. Like, is there. I think it was good that they got away from. We're going to give the four buys to the four conference champs. That's not the way I think it should be. But is there still something off about the bracket?

[Doug Lemarisse]

Yeah, but I don't know how you fix it. Like, I think, I think we've kind of taken the only step we can. Unless you. I don't. Yeah. I don't even know what you would do because we were, we were talking about this on another show. Right. Like if you look at SP plus, for example, Notre Dame and Oregon are top five teams, but they're going to be like the eight seed and the 11 seed or something like that.

[Bill Landis]

Right.

[Doug Lemarisse]

But I don't know how you take that into account if you're also trying to honor strength of schedule, strength of record, things that have actually happened on the field. Right. So. So yeah, it's a little out of sorts. You could, if you're the one seed, very well end up playing a team that is under seated. But I don't know how they would change it.

[Bill Landis]

Yeah.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Unless you recede it, which you're not going to do.

[Bill Landis]

I mean, the one thing that. And, and there were reports out this week that Tony Petiti in the Big Ten won a 2014 playoff. And I, and I just, I don't know. Somebody in the Big Ten office I think needs to yell at Tony Petiti about a bunch of stuff right now. But supposedly in that reporting that the SEC is. It does not want 24 but would be interested in 16, it feels like the Big Ten proposal that was reported on, which apparently is 4444, so four automatic qualifiers for all four power conference teams, which is just, it's like people were offended at the idea of four for the Big Ten in the SEC and only two for the ACC and the Big 12. Four, four, four, four is more offensive. Like I'm sorry we talked about. I don't even. Like we're. You're given an automatic spot to Duke or whatever. Like it's ridiculous.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Yeah.

[Bill Landis]

So that's more offensive. Here's the one thing I like 12. The one thing about a 16 team playoff is that group of five team, assuming it's not a great group of five team, that's who the one seed gets in the first round. And you solve some of this stuff because the way it works out now is that, that 4C like, that 5C likes kind of getting it. You know, you're getting it. No offense. A group of five teams going to beat a five seed at one point. But you get a game that it's easy. It's. It's not the 12th best team, it's probably not going to be right. It's going to be like the 23rd best team. So you're getting an easier game than you should. And then you're like creating a scenario where that path is easier where the 1 seeds getting that 8, 9 that just, it feels like that that 8, 9 team again, it was Ohio State last year, is just the kind of team that is probably like a really good team that took a loss they shouldn't take. Right. I, I do think to get to 16 and get rid of these buys altogether. I'm not saying I'm for it. I think the, one of the positives about it is you'd smooth out the bracket a little bit in a way that I think would, would, would stop the discussion of like, oh, is it actually better to be the four or five seed than it is to be.

[Doug Lemarisse]

The one seed with the 16 team proposal. Not. Wouldn't have buys.

[Bill Landis]

No, I built into it. I assume the 16 team proposal is just you just take the buys out. I hope it's not like let's play extra play in games or whatever. So I don't know.

[Doug Lemarisse]

I think that's what FCS does. I don't. But I don't think FCS has the buy.

[Bill Landis]

I think.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Well, no, no, I'm saying I think, I think it is a 16 team playoff without buys. But you could also bracket it to where you have buys and then, but you're kind of just then reintroducing a similar issue to what we have now. I guess you can move the buy match up to. Away from the whatever G5 team versus the best power team that didn't get a buy. But yeah, I, I don't know. It's. I'm not. I guess I'm in favor of finding a way to smooth out the bracket, but I'm also not super in favor of expansion. I think 12 is pretty good even if it's flawed. So I could probably be swayed to 1624. I agree with you, but the 24, the 4, 4, 424 thing is to get Tony Petiti's playing games, right? Everybody gets, everybody gets extra playing games and extra TV inventory for conference championship weekend, right?

[Bill Landis]

Well, it's he and he. Well, he. But he also, it's like he wants the guaranteed four spots for the Big Ten at all costs. So he'll give out as many guaranteed spots as he needs to to every other conference in the world. He's like, does the Sun Belt want four guaranteed spots? I'm fine with that as long as the Big Ten get. Definitely gets four. And then I mean, like again, I think the four. Four, two, two is fine. As much as we talked about we kind of like the this, we like the getting mad about the north south big 10 sec thing but like what's playing out right now is exactly why he wants four for the Big Ten because it's like okay, well the Big Ten has the two best teams right now and then like another really good team. But the SEC doesn't have as any good any teams as good as the two best Big Ten teams but somehow they're going to get two more teams in the Big Ten is like, is that really a reflection of of the actual strength of the conferences? It's like while you're rewarding depth and, and you get nothing for, for strength at the top. So I understand why he's doing it, but I think he's flailing because first time the perf proposal he put out nobody liked.

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[Doug Lemarisse]

Do you think if we're staring down another a playoff where the Big 12 and ACC only get one, do you think they will join the Petiti coalition?

[Bill Landis]

I would hope. I mean it's like but they, they fancy themselves something that they're not and they live in la la land and so you know. And then those proposals still have a couple wild card sports spots so you could get three. But wouldn't the ACC love to be guaranteed two right now? Brett, your mark. And the Big 12 love to be guaranteed too right now? I just don't know why you're. Well, you Know as soon as you accept it, you're accepting second class status, bro. I don't know. Like, it's already there. I don't tell you. We're not saying that Texas Tech's not good. We think Utah is really good. BYU is good. We're not saying. We're saying your conference isn't as good. So sorry. But two, you should probably take it. So you're already getting disrespected. So, like, again, all the people who say, well, as soon as you put it in writing, you sign your death sentence, it's like you're already. You're in a coma. So it's like, what's the difference between being in a coma and signing your death sentence? It's like, okay, well, like this. You're gonna wake up. I don't know. I don't know. That's a bad analogy.

[Doug Lemarisse]

But, well, they could have. They. I think it will help, correct, because last year the ACC ended up getting two. I know the Big 12 didn't. But it would be a little silly, I guess, for, for them to like, accept it based off of one season worth of data points. But if we have two now, I think they can go out there, the Big 12 in the ACC and just like the system's against us, we have to take our two because they're not going to give us our fair shake with the playoff. That just put one. One each from our respective leagues. And I think that would help them save face a little bit. If they don't want to come out publicly now and say, like, please give us two spots.

[Bill Landis]

Yeah. Okay. You want to do our projections for the end of the year? Yeah, I just was finishing. Finishing mine up based on what actually happened here. Because again, this is, this is what we think is going to happen. So this includes the upsets that we are pondering here and now. I'm not going to go all the way. I really think Utah is live, man. Like, they just need BYU to help them out this weekend. Lose. Right? So Utah fans, I don't think, have to be encouraged to root against byu. I think Cincinnati is a pretty good team. They just lost to Arizona. They're not perfect. They got the doors blown off when they did play Utah. They have some good wins this year. You know, they. They lost in Nebraska early in the game. That could have gone either way. Certainly at home in Nippert. I think Cincinnati has the ability to beat byu. And once you do that, you create a scenario for Utah to make a Big 12 championship game and create some Chaos with the opportunity to play its best game of the year, beat Texas Tech and then throw Texas Tech into the pool as an at large non champ. And that really has a chance to change things. And my lips to God's ears, like one of the reasons that I would really sort of be enthused about that is when you start playing this game as much as I just said, I think Bama's in maybe even more than Notre Dame. Bama's behind him right now and I don't know if Auburn is going to be like enough to move Bama up if we're creating a scenario. Are we? We're not quite there, are we? Could we knock Bama out? Can we knock Bama out? Prop? No, I guess not.

[Doug Lemarisse]

We're not going to go to the SEC title game.

[Bill Landis]

Right? But we're not knocking them out because they lose in the SEC title game. We're knocking them out because they're the number 10 team right now. And all of a sudden Utah has vaulted up and we still want to put Texas Tech in. I guess it still wouldn't. You would just be knocking it. No, no, you would. That's the scenario because it would come down to maybe because if you. If Utah's beats Texas Tech or BYU beats Texas Tech, if Texas Tech loses the Big 12 title game, but they're the number five team in the country and everyone's like, I think Texas Tech should still be in. Right? Yeah, you're. You have now moved that down the discussion and you are now putting in one of Notre Dame, Bama, Miami and Vandy. So it's probably Vandy and Miami out, but now we're talking about Bama versus Notre Dame for the last spot. You're saying, well, they would have been in the SEC title game but they're behind Notre Dame right now. They're one spot behind Notre Dame right now. Bama is not. I can still cash my Bama to not make the playoff bet that I made for $3 at the beginning of the year. I'm creating a scenario to cash that bet.

[Doug Lemarisse]

I don't think it's that far fetched if you consider that it's just a matter of how much you want. Do you want to punish a team for taking an extra loss in the conference title game? But it would just so happen that the loss would be a common opponent with Notre Dame and Notre Dame lost to that team by a point at home and shouldn't have. But.

[Bill Landis]

But I guess. But it's. But if they're already behind Notre Dame.

[Doug Lemarisse]

This is in your favor, man. Let me finish.

[Bill Landis]

Okay.

[Doug Lemarisse]

If Alabama loses to Texas A M in the SEC title game by whatever, more than a score, then, like, that is a pretty compelling data point in Notre Dame's favor, is it not?

[Bill Landis]

Oh, yeah, because Notre Dame got screwed in that game. Oh, I don't know. Did you ask for anything for Christmas yet?

[Doug Lemarisse]

No.

[Bill Landis]

Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is for Alabama to be the first team out of the playoff for the second consecutive year. And then I want Kaylin DeBoer to leave for the Penn State job the day after the rankings are announced because I'll be the biggest Kaylin DeBoer fan in the world if he's in State College, because that's where he belongs. He doesn't belong in Tuscaloosa. Oh, we're breathing this into existence. You put the headline on the show. How far will Alabama fall? The answer is maybe all the way out of the playoffs. Thank you, Oklahoma.

[Doug Lemarisse]

I'm glad we got there. Yeah.

[Bill Landis]

Oh, John Matier and Brett Venables, Northern heroes all. Okay. BYU and Utah make this happen. We need some help from Texas Tech to lose that Big 12 title game. Okay. I'm feeling good about this. Oh, do your rankings. Here you go.

[Doug Lemarisse]

I have Ohio State 1, a. M. 2, Indiana 3. Yep. I have. I have Texas Tech 4, because I. I think that the conference title would bump them ahead of Georgia because Georgia's gonna play in the SEC title game. So then I have Georgia 5. I have Oregon 6. As I still think Oregon can and will jump Ole Miss if it wins out.

[Bill Landis]

I agree with that.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Yeah. I have ole miss 7.

[Bill Landis]

Yep.

[Doug Lemarisse]

I have Oklahoma 8, Notre Dame 9.

[Bill Landis]

Yep.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Bama 10. Yep. I have Virginia 11 as the ACC champ because again, I have Georgia Tech losing the pit and not getting there.

[Bill Landis]

Okay.

[Doug Lemarisse]

And then, I don't know, spin the wheel for the American Athletic Conference. I have Navy this week. Week.

[Bill Landis]

Okay. You have Navy this week. Okay. We both were riding South Florida for much of the season. I was. I've been riding them straight since week two, and that's just not going to happen. So. So you have Navy. I actually have North Texas as my 12. So the. The one wrinkle for me, we're very much in agreement here. The one wrinkle for me, even though you're making very good points about Georgia Tech's defense, is I am still envisioning the Georgia Tech's going to be Georgia in the last game of the regular season, which will obviously does not affect Georgia and the SEC standings. But would propel Georgia Tech up. So I have Ohio State 1, Texas A M2, Indiana 3, Texas Tech 4, which is the same as you. I have Georgia Tech 5. Because I have Georgia Tech as the ACC champ who beat Georgia in the last game of the regular season and then won the ACC title with one loss. And I actually think that would make them the five. Like that's actually a pretty good resume.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Eleven spots in two weeks.

[Bill Landis]

If they. I think George is propulsive. I think the idea of beating the team that is number four right now is like they almost, I think could beat him and take their spot. It'd be such a good win. Right. So I, I understand what you're saying but also if you're reevaluating everybody every week like you shouldn't be beholden to what your rankings were before and you've got to have them ahead of Georgia. And I have Georgia six. So I only have Georgia like not they're four. They lose to a playoff team, they only drop a little bit. Right. So I have Georgia 6. I have Oregon 7, as you said ahead of old Miss. Because I think if they beat USC that will get them a whole ahead of Ole Miss. Then I have Ole Miss, Oklahoma, just like you Notre Dame and then I have Bama in the last spot, 11 before North Texas at 12. So you and I both have Bama as like that, that last team in right now from the at large pool. So then that's what we believe. They would be potentially in danger of a Texas Tech non Big 12 title. Texas Tech. If you feel like you still, if you're putting them in, let's all root for that.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Gotta put in a call to Cody Campbell, the money man at Texas Tech. Take, take the fall in the Big 12 championship.

[Bill Landis]

Is it pot? I mean the only call, like the only call that's more powerful than the Greg Sankey calls that he's been doing all year. Making the calls on like this, make sure we have the right team win these games. In the SEC is Cody Campbell who basically I think, I'm not exactly sure. Our good friend John asked about if we were going to discuss the private equity thing with the Big Ten. That is not our plan to talk about that tonight. I'm not 100 sure how business works, but I, I think maybe Cody Campbell bought college football.

[Doug Lemarisse]

He might be the second most powerful man in college football. Yeah.

[Bill Landis]

So I mean if, if, if he, I don't even know if he has to make a call. I think the calls come to him and say Mr. Cody, who's supposed to win this game, and he says, like, for the. For the good of the sport the Raiders have. The Red Raiders have to go down this one time, but it'll be okay. It's for the good of the Big 12 and the good of the sport and to stick it to Nick Saban in Alabama and Greg Sankey. Down goes Texas Tech. Oh, I'm glad that. Thank you for. I apologize for getting a little hepped up and not realizing the scenario that you were playing out, which only enhances the no Bam. And the playoff possibilities. So you just know how I get. I don't have a Bama hat, but if I did, I would put it on ironically right now.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Refresh my memory. Alabama did not make the playoff last year.

[Bill Landis]

I'm. I don't. I'm gonna have to. I'm gonna have to call Nick Saban and ask him and ask for a refresher on that.

[Doug Lemarisse]

So that thing to expand the playoff field and then not have the preeminent program of this century not make it.

[Bill Landis]

Both. But also. I mean, it's one of those things, like, if you think that the SEC was ready to. To leave the country and just. Could the SEC just move all of its schools to Saudi Arabia, would that be an option that, like, they just leave America and. And the SEC stands for the Saudi Arabian Eastern Conference and they just live there now and they play in the desert and everybody just rakes in money and they don't. They aren't part of American college football anymore. Because if you think Alabama and the SEC was mad when 9 and 3 Alabama didn't make it, wait until you see 10 and 2 Alabama not make the playoff. Oh, there's a part of me that's almost scared.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Can I. I. It's a fun.

[Bill Landis]

It's.

[Doug Lemarisse]

It's really fun to ponder, and I don't think it's totally off base, but I did see one of the comments did make the point about strength of schedule. Alabama's is, like, significantly better than Notre Dame's. Alabama's four, Notre Dame's 29th and not getting any better.

[Bill Landis]

Strength of record. What's the strength of record? Strength of record. Notre Dame's higher than that. They're 12th, so, I mean, like, it's like. I don't know, but. But again, it's so. So this is one of those where we're saying, like, I. I think all that's true. I think all of that's true, but. So who. So Bama plays Auburn and they play. They play a middle school team this week, right?

[Doug Lemarisse]

Yeah.

[Bill Landis]

They play Pickerington Middle School. I think they play. Pickerington Middle School would actually give Bama all they could handle because there's like four future Ohio State players on that team right now. I also understand Pickerington probably has more than one middle school, but I think they would allow the middle schools to consolidate for the Alabama game. It could be an all star team.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Pickering Middle School.

[Bill Landis]

Yeah. Pickering Middle School all star team which would include like Jack Sawyer. Right? Sonny Styles. Right. Jake Butt. Right. Think about that all star team. You don't think 8th grade Sonny Styles, Jack Sawyer and Jake Butt could beat Alabama? You are sorely mistaken, my friend.

[Modelo Announcer]

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[Walmart Announcer]

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[Bill Landis]

Eastern Illinois and Auburn. Notre Dame plays Syracuse and Stanford. So what is it about any of those teams that I like? The commenter is exactly right. There are metrics that you could look at to say well Alabama should be ranked ahead of Notre Dame. But is there anything in the last two weeks of the regular season that would cause a change? And right now Notre Dame's one spot ahead. Like if the if that is what they are going by, why isn't Alabama ahead of Notre Dame right now?

[Doug Lemarisse]

Correct. Yeah, it's just. Well we know but. But we also know that they whatever to create their desired playoff field and then reverse engineer the rankings after the fact because it's clean slate every week.

[Bill Landis]

I know but also like if they do that if, if that's what happens? This magical scenario, Santa, this magical scenario that we are outlining, if it results in Notre Dame being ahead of Alabama and suddenly beating Auburn and beating Eastern Illinois, moves them ahead of a team that beat Syracuse and Stanford. Touchdown. Jesus is coming right off that wall, and he's walking to Tuscaloosa. Like, what are we talking about? Like, you. Do you want to get. You think we don't. We think. You don't want to see Tuscaloosa and Greg Sankey mad. You want to see the Golden Dome mad about this? Like, what would your rationale be? Because here's the actual rationale. Like, for real, if the reason they did it, it would be because right now, they didn't think it mattered. Notre Dame, Alabama, didn't actually spend that much time on it. And then if it becomes the preeminent discussion of the playoff era to this point, Notre Dame versus Alabama, each with two losses for the last spot in the playoff, it will become the most important decision this playoff committee has ever made. And I. We understand all the tcu, Baylor, Ohio State. Like, we understand Florida State, Alabama, all this. I think this would be potentially even bigger. And the only reason that they would move it is because, oh, now it matters. So now we actually thought about it, right?

[Doug Lemarisse]

What if they're given an out by, like, say, like, usc, like, gets its butt kicked by Oregon, and then suddenly Notre Dame's best win? Does that look as good?

[Bill Landis]

Fair. Fair. What if. What's Alabama's best win? What if Georgia gets its doors blown off by Georgia Tech? Right? And that's Alabama's best win? And then it's like, okay, I don't know. Like, Gunnar Stockton is even. Is he even good? So, I mean, like, we're. So maybe there would be an out, and all those things matter. Context matters. But if the context is pretty equal, it's like, why'd you switch Greg Sankey on one line, Touchdown Jesus on the other? Yeah, those are two big dogs, man. I don't know to tell you.

[Doug Lemarisse]

So Cody Campbell's bigger than both of them.

[Bill Landis]

Yeah. And then Cody Campbell walks in the room. I kind of want to write a play now about this, right? One of those black box plays. And the only three characters are Greg Sankey, Touchdown Jesus, and Cody Campbell. And I call it the death of college football. And there's a character in the play that is, like. It's one of those where you don't realize he's a character in the play because he sits in the front row, but it is an actor in the show and it's Tony Petiti and he just like constantly is like standing up and tripping over his feet, like trying to get on the stage. And they push him off the stage, right? And he's shouting out suggestions from the audience that nobody listens to. But really it's about Touchdown Jesus, Greg Sanke and Cody Campbell. All right, we're too long. I'm gonna miss it once. Once. We just get to eight automatic qualifiers for each conference for a 64 team college football playoff. I'm gonna miss these discussions, Bill.

[Doug Lemarisse]

Yeah, me too. But won't it be fun talking about who gets to play in Dayton for the first four?

[Bill Landis]

Oh, man, yeah. That will be good. Mississippi State vs. Minnesota in a 61 vs. 65 matchup for the play in of the play in at a Dayton high school football stadium. Oh, my God. Thanks, Tony. All right, that's it. We'll see. We have a bunch of other stuff coming this week. We're working on some offensive line stuff. We might do an offensive line Ohio State podcast. We're going to have our Ohio State Rutgers picks on Thursday. We'll have national picks on Friday where we'll dive into usc, Oregon, right. A little bit more because that is like obviously a huge game in the Big Ten this week. And then we'll just keep doing what we do here. Bill and if you guys want to come find us writing and and potting for subscribers about Ohio State, Bill and Doug osu.substack.com and if you're looking for some fine apparel, roback.com r h O-B-A c k.com if you watch the show, you know the deal. 20 off your first order. Bad 20. We're getting on the holiday season. Might be time to start looking. I mean, like I, I'm starting in a little bit of panic mode. Bill. Not quite panic mode, but I keep thinking I'm going to get ahead on my shopping and I don't.

[Doug Lemarisse]

So go to roback.com great spot to do your holiday shopping. Yeah.

[Bill Landis]

Yeah. All right. Anything else? You good?

[Doug Lemarisse]

No. Just can't wait to go watch more.

[Bill Landis]

College basketball because why wouldn't we put a thing that is very a determining factor in the number two sport in America at halftime of a preseason game. That has no actual effect on what's going to happen in college basketball this year because they only have six more months of college basketball. Why wouldn't we treat college football that way? Dear YouTube, please shut off my ESPN. My life was better the old way. Thanks you guys for being here. Thanks for hanging. Let's say we hang with you. You don't hang with us because you're the college football fans who make all this possible. And so for us to get to hang out with you and talk, you guys and talk a little ball is a great privilege and we, we never forget that. So appreciate you being here. Those are the playoff rankings. OSU 1, Indiana 2 Texas A&M 3 Georgia 4 Texas Tech 5 Ole Miss 6 Oregon 7 Oklahoma 8 Notre Dam Bama 10 in the death spot for now, he's Bill Landis. I'm Doug Lee Maurice, and that was the Bill and Doug show.

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[Bill Landis]

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