The SEC is a mess, and will Georgia even make the playoff? College Football Playoff brackets

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Bill and Doug Show – "The SEC Is a Mess, and Will Georgia Even Make the Playoff? College Football Playoff Brackets"

Podcast: The Bill and Doug Show: Ohio State Football Talk
Hosts: Doug Lesmerises & Bill Landis
Date: September 30, 2025
Theme: Can any SEC team emerge as a true playoff contender, and how does the SEC’s messiness compare to the Big Ten’s top-heavy dominance? Bill and Doug take a national big-picture view when revealing their latest College Football Playoff brackets, focusing on shifting power dynamics, playoff odds, and public perception.

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Episode Overview

This episode centers around the chaotic state of the 2025 SEC football landscape and examines whether Georgia or any SEC powerhouse can realistically make the playoff. Bill and Doug analyze statistical trends, conference strengths, and how public narratives around each league influence playoff scenarios. The hosts then reveal and debate their updated 12-team College Football Playoff brackets, highlighting the Big Ten’s supremacy and the SEC’s uncertainty.

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Main Discussion Points & Key Insights

1. The Current State of the SEC (00:00–07:22)

• SEC Parity or Weakness?
  Doug details how preseason SEC expectations haven’t matched on-field results. SP+ odds now spread playoff chances across numerous teams, with no dominant favorite.

  • “The favorite according to SP+ to win the SEC is Ole Miss with a 16.3% chance. Then it’s Missouri, Alabama, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, Texas... Georgia and LSU at 5.2%. It’s a mess, not a show of strength.” (01:17–02:15)

• Contrast to Perceptions of Conference Strength:
  While SEC fans spin parity as depth, Bill wonders if those fans would remain so positive if they were in Big Ten fans’ shoes—seeing their blue-bloods struggling.

  • “If Ohio State and Oregon and Michigan and Penn State fans were in the same position... I don’t think that’s what they would be saying.” – Bill (02:52)

• Recent Big Games and Flaws in SEC Contenders:
  Every preseason SEC frontrunner (Texas, Georgia, Alabama, LSU) has a significant, potentially fatal flaw, from QB issues to defensive drop-offs.

  • Notable: Georgia’s historic home winning streak snapped by Alabama; Texas’s quarterback chaos; LSU’s disappointing losses; Alabama opened with loss to FSU.

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2. The Big Ten’s Top-Heavy Dominance (03:29–11:01)

• Big Ten’s Elite Four:
  SP+ has four Big Ten teams (Ohio State, Oregon, Indiana, Penn State) as the nation’s best, with no SEC team in the top five.

  • “The top four teams in SP+ are four Big Ten teams... I just hope that matters in how people are viewing the sport right now.” – Doug (04:06)

• National Perception Gaps:
  Despite Ohio State’s national title and Oregon’s big wins, these teams don’t get the same “inevitable champion” status as previous SEC leaders.

  • “Ohio State as a defending national champ does not get talked about that way.” – Bill (07:33)

• Big Ten Losses Examined:
  Penn State’s double-overtime loss to Oregon is scrutinized harshly—even though Oregon’s talent (notably QB Dante Moore) outshines anything in the present SEC.

  • “I think Penn State would have beaten any team in the SEC on Saturday night because I don’t think anybody in the SEC is as good as Oregon.” – Doug (09:10)

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3. SEC Depth vs. Championship Quality (11:01–13:14)

• Debate on “Deep But Not Top-Heavy”:
  The SEC, once led by dominant teams, now appears “deep” but lacks real national contenders.

  • “Nobody in the SEC that looks like overly terrifying at the moment.” – Bill (06:33)
  • “I think it’s a bad top of a decent league.” – Doug (05:52)

• Playoff Locks?
  Both hosts state there’s no single SEC team that feels like a surefire playoff participant—unlike Ohio State and Oregon, who feel like playoff locks.

  • “I don’t think there’s anybody in the SEC that you could say for sure they're in. I would [bet my house] on Ohio State and Oregon.” – Doug (14:13)

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4. Bracketology & Playoff Odds (13:14–22:22)

• Alabama, Texas A&M, and the Gauntlet:
  Bill outlines how even Alabama could easily lose 2–3 of their last 8 games. The SEC schedule is unforgiving this year (Alabama’s five upcoming ranked opponents).

• Vegas Odds: Certainty for Big Ten, Uncertainty for SEC:

  • “To make the playoff: Alabama is minus 205, Ohio State is minus 2000, Oregon is minus 1800... It’s just a different stratosphere.” (14:41–15:08)

• Bracket Prediction Uncertainty:
  The Big Ten feels locked in at four teams, but beyond that, the whole field is “mush.”

  • “There’s not a team outside of Ohio State and Oregon [I’m certain of]. Do you have a third team that you’re like, I’m sure they’re going to be in?” – Doug (16:01)

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5. Revealing and Debating Playoff Brackets (21:20–29:17)

Bill’s Playoff Bracket (21:20–22:24):

1. Ohio State
2. Oregon
3. Miami
4. Texas A&M
5. Texas Tech
6. Texas
7. Alabama
8. Penn State
9. Ole Miss
10. Missouri
11. Indiana
12. South Florida

• Bill takes a “spin the wheel” approach to the SEC champion, lands on Texas A&M, and controversially leaves Georgia out entirely.
  • “You are comfortable rewarding mediocrity? Five SEC teams and none of them are Georgia.” – Doug (22:24)

Doug’s Playoff Bracket (25:55–29:17):

1. Ohio State
2. Miami
3. Oregon
4. Texas A&M
5. Indiana
6. Texas
7. Texas Tech
8. Ole Miss
9. Penn State
10. Georgia Tech
11. Missouri
12. South Florida

• Doug moves Oregon up, ditches Georgia, adopts Texas Tech due to lack of Big 12 alternatives, and “straddles” his picks among Indiana, Penn State, and Oregon.

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6. Theoretical Playoff Scenarios & National Picture (29:17–33:50)

• Big Ten at the Top:
  Bill says it’s plausible for Ohio State and Oregon—regardless of who is the Big Ten champ/runner-up—to be the top two seeds, given their strength and the respect the top of the Big Ten commands.

  • “If they’re both undefeated and play a barn burner... they’re the top two seeds.” – Doug (30:26)

• Could the SEC Miss out on a Top 4 Seed?
  If Miami and the Big 12 champ are convincing, two Big Ten teams plus those two conference champs could send SEC champion to a lower seed—especially with the possibility of a 2-loss SEC champ.

  • “If there are five SEC teams, but they're five through twelve… What a weird bracket that would be.” – Doug (32:27)

• SEC Cannibalism, Big Ten Feasting:
  Scenario where SEC teams eliminate each other before facing rested Big Ten or ACC contenders.

  • “The quarterfinals are a gladiator pit of SEC cannibalism, with the Big Ten just sitting… with their crowns on, just trying to see who doesn’t die so that they can kill them next.” – Doug (33:25)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “It’s a mess, not a show of strength.” – Doug (01:17)
• “Nobody in the SEC… looks like overly terrifying at the moment.” – Bill (06:33)
• “Ohio State as a defending national champ does not get talked about that way.” – Bill (07:33)
• “I don’t think there’s anybody in the SEC that you could say for sure they're in. I would [bet my house] on Ohio State and Oregon.” – Doug (14:13)
• “Five SEC teams and none of them are Georgia. Who would have thunk it?” – Doug (22:32)
• “The quarterfinals are a gladiator pit of SEC cannibalism, with the Big Ten just sitting… with their crowns on, just trying to see who doesn’t die so that they can kill them next.” – Doug (33:25)

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Timestamps of Key Segments

• 00:00–02:50 — Setting up the SEC’s statistical “mess” and loss of preseason blue-blood dominance
• 03:29–07:22 — Explaining the chaos in the SEC and how perceptions differ from reality
• 07:22–11:01 — Examining how Big Ten dominance isn’t properly valued compared to SEC narratives
• 13:10–15:08 — Playoff odds: Big Ten locks vs. SEC uncertainty
• 21:20–22:24 — Bill reveals his playoff bracket (no Georgia, five SEC teams)
• 25:55–29:17 — Doug reveals his bracket (Oregon up, Georgia out)
• 29:17–31:58 — Big Ten’s path to two top seeds; SEC could be left out of top 4
• 32:27–33:50 — “Gladiator pit” playoff hypotheticals and conference elimination

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Tone and Style

The conversation is breezy, analytical, sometimes playful, and peppered with plenty of fan-directed sarcasm and open frustration at entrenched Southern college football narratives. Bill and Doug take delight in demystifying conference “strength” clichés and lampooning playoff committee logic.

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Summary Takeaway

This episode posits that the SEC’s current “depth” is less a sign of strength than a symptom of top-heavy collapse. The Big Ten, led by Ohio State and Oregon, reigns supreme both statistically and in perceived quality, with few obstacles to a solid playoff run. Neither host can summon much conviction for any SEC team as a national title threat—Georgia in particular is fading fast. The playoff field, outside the Big Ten’s top two, is “mushy” and in constant flux, setting the stage for a season defined by chaos and shifting conference power.

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Transcript

[A]

Foreign to the Bill and Doug Show. It's Tuesday night. It's time to reveal our latest College Football Playoff brackets and the SEC remains a mess. Bill Landis, mess not good. Mess not good. And I have some stats can Are we like mess not good, right? Massive mess. Not of strength.

[B]

No, I don't think, I don't think I would say, I wouldn't say massive strength. Like I think it's going to create pretty entertaining like race to see who actually like emerges from all those teams. Like I'm actually excited to watch that play. But no, I'm not looking up and down the league and saying or understanding that it's hard to figure out who exactly is the best team and then parlaying that until because the league is just too good. Like that's not really where my head's at.

[A]

So let me give you a list, a few numbers. I looked at the first place votes that teams received in the preseason SEC media poll. Texas received 47.1% of the first place votes. Georgia got 21.6%, Alabama 14.2% and LSU 9.8%. Those were the top four teams in the preseason SEC media poll. They accounted for 92.7% of the first place votes in the conference. Looking now at the SP plus ratings from Bill [e-mail] which offers a percent likelihood of teams to win the SEC, here are the overall likelihoods. This is 10 teams deep, which again, I don't think is good. The favorite according to SP plus to win the SEC is Ole Miss with a 16.3% chance to win the SEC. Then it's Missouri at 12.9, Alabama and Oklahoma both at 11.1, Vanderbilt at 9.7, Texas at 8.5, Tennessee at 7.2, Texas A&M at 6.2 and Georgia and LSU at 5.2. Those top four teams in the preseason, the four blue bloods of the SEC, Texas, Georgia, Alabama, LSU that in the preseason accounted for 92.7 of the first place votes. They now account for 30% of the SP plus chances to win the SEC. That means there is a 70 chance according to that rating that it's somebody other than Texas, Alabama, Georgia, lsu, which is a mess. It would be like if there was a 70 chance that somebody was going to win the Big Ten other than Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State and Indiana. And if that was the case, people would be going crazy.

[B]

Yeah, they would be. I, I actually, I wonder the thing of the thing that's hard to tell is like how people actually feel about it. Because of course, like everyone in the SEC is just going to spin that as like this league is so deep. Can you believe it? I wouldn't mind injecting some truth serum to see how they would feel about that because I just don't know, like that's not. If Ohio State and Oregon and Michigan and Penn State fans were in the same position that Alabama, Georgia, Texas and LSU fans, for instance, like currently find themselves. I don't think that's what they would be saying.

[A]

They wouldn't be saying, oh man, that's just Minnesota for you. Yeah, I don't think Washington for you.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. It was like, what is happening to our league? Yeah.

[A]

Because you think about it. So Alabama lost to Florida State, Georgia lost to Alabama at home, breaking their 33 game home winning streak in a game where Alabama certainly looked like the better team for, for the whole game. And Georgia continues like the defense isn't quite as good as it should be. Gunner Stockton, even though he made the plays against Tennessee, isn't quite as good as the quarterback should be. Texas lost to Ohio State to open the year and then its quarterback situation has been like the talk of college football. And LSU lost to Ole Miss again in this is like LSU's moment. This is the year. Garrett Nussmeier, number one pick, Brian College. This is the year and it's not their year. And they lost to a backup quarterback for Ole Miss. So all four of those teams, like they, I think they have like real problems and I am fascinated to see how it shakes out. And again, their top is just not as good and that has to account for something. Again, it's not like anybody's single ratings are the end all be all. But SP plus right now overall the top four teams in SP plus are four Big Ten teams. Ohio State, Oregon, Indiana, Penn State. Five is Texas Tech. The highest ranked team in the SEC is Tennessee at 6. So like this is what some numbers are telling you and there's recruiting ratings involved in SP plus. So what some of the numbers are telling you about who truly the best teams in college football are and none of the top five are the sec. And I just hope that matters in how people are viewing the sport right now.

[B]

Yeah, the SEC it does. Like SP plus has 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 and then also 13 and 20. But which is like, it's interesting. But I think when you're trying to discern like national title contenders, like I don't know that you're looking down at number 13. Right. You're not like there's the top five in the sport being all or four in the sport, being from the same conference, and even the fifth not being in the sec. Like, that's how. That's when you start to discern, like, true national title contenders, like, who. Who has the quality of a title contender. And a lot of the stuff is adjusted, too. So I think, like, even elevate teams a little more than some of these SEC teams are at the moment. So it's not. I. I guess I don't. I don't think it's a bad league. Right.

[A]

I think it's a bad top of a decent league.

[B]

Yeah, I think it is. It is at least, like, it's nearly impossible to identify the top, I think.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Which is probably an issue if the SEC wants to, like, stop the Big Ten from winning national championships, but doesn't mean it's an awful league top to bottom. And we had a lot of discussions, like, about, like, the middle of the SEC versus the middle of the Big Ten coming into the season. I think probably because this is so jumbled, like, I would probably. I would say, like, the middle of the SEC probably is pretty strong. But if we're having a conversation about championship quality teams, there's nobody in the SEC that looks like overly terrifying at the moment.

[A]

And then the hard thing about this is, for instance. And again, I'm just saying the same thing on this one, when the SEC was top heavy, people accepted the top heaviness of that conference and viewed allowed that top heaviness primarily led by Alabama, and allowed that viewed the entire conference through the lens of Alabama's dominance. And they didn't. The main concession discussion around the SEC wasn't like, oh, they're so top heavy. Like, Bama's great, but is the rest great? It's like, no, the sec, sec, now they're not top heavy. They're deep, but they're not top heavy. And it's just like now. So now we're going to do that. But for instance, if Oregon or Ohio State were in the sec, I think people might be talking about how either of those teams in the SEC had it locked up. Yes, they would be the odds on favorite.

[B]

Yes, I think Ohio State is the odds on favorite to win the national title. But.

[A]

Favorite. They're the favorite.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

No, but it's not two to one. They're five.

[B]

No. Right. And I listened to the solo show that you did on. On Tuesday morning, and I agree with you, like, that They. I think. I think people, most people, you would like, who was the top two? Who are the top two teams in college football? I think you would get a lot of Ohio State and Oregon, but I don't think people are kind of like going out of their way to express that opinion the same way they would if those teams were in the SEC the same way they did about Georgia. And like the inevitability of Georgia just being at the top of the sport. Right? Like, not Ohio State is a defending national champ, does not get talked about that way. And Oregon as a team that probably has the, at least maybe the, either the best or second best one in the country right now, depending on how you want to look at it, does not get talked about quite to the same extremes as the best SEC teams of the past have been talked about.

[A]

So, so let me, let me make the other point here to me, because again, everything within it, because we don't have a lot of data points cross conference, you end up leaning on the data points within your own conference and then therefore the perception of a conference really matters.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Penn State is getting a lot of flack right now for losing in double overtime at home to Oregon. Dante Moore is a playmaking student. Now there's a conversation around Dante Moore, the Oregon quarterback, like, should he be the Heisman favorite? Man, that is a guy who went into Happy Valley and did not look scared. And the second touchdown in double overtime, it's like there's a sack, there's a free rusher that comes and he steps inside and like rips a 3/4 arm ball. Like, how many guys in the country are making that throw? It's not that Penn State doesn't deserve questions and criticism for losing that game at home. I think Penn State would have beaten any team in the SEC on Saturday night because I don't think anybody in the SEC is as good as Oregon.

[B]

I agree with that.

[A]

So, so as we have the conversation about the failings of Penn State, I think that's important to keep in mind. It's like, okay, well if they're playing Texas, I think they probably would want. They're playing Alabama, I think they would have won. They're playing Ole Miss, who's the the highest ranked SEC team right now. I think they would have won because as good as Trinidad Chambers is, he's not Dante Moore. I think Penn State would have won. Ohio State goes to Seattle and completely shuts down what I still think is a very good Washington offense holds Washington to six points. I'm certainly getting pushback from some fans on like, oh, Doug, Overrated Washington, you know, he was talking about they were an all star team and Ohio State shut them down. I don't think there's anybody in the SEC that would have shut down Washington to that degree. Georgia's defense is not what it typically is.

[B]

I think Texas would have. I think Texas.

[A]

Okay, but I think, but, but I think we need, as we evaluate Washington, we need to make sure that we're evaluating Washington in terms of what's the best defense in the country that they just faced in Ohio State. And it's, it's, it's a great credit to Ohio State, but I just think I would like to make sure that it's thrown into the conversation like, okay, well it's not like every team's going to go out there and do that to washing now. It's going to be really important going forward. What does Washington go do you know, at Maryland this week? What is Penn State's at UCLA this week? Like, what do they do? How do they look? Right. But sure, like when. So the Big Ten is top heavy. But, but I don't even know if the Big Ten's top heavy. It's just. The top is excellent.

[B]

The top is very good. Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

The two best teams in the Big Ten are excellent. Which can possibly give you an incorrect perception about it being top heavy because, because what Washington and Penn State had to face this weekend, I would argue, is not what other teams in the SEC are facing. Because the SEC doesn't have an Oregon or an Ohio State.

[B]

No, there's not. The SEC has like teams that are like, I was looking at the Bud Davis on Twitter, like every week after the games are done, puts out the chart, opponent adjusted EPA per play, offense and defense. You want to be up in that top right quadrant. And the SEC does have some, does have a handful of teams in there, but you look at like, sort of like the elite units either side of the ball. There's not a lot of balance, I think in the sec. Right. Like Texas's defense is great. Vanderbilt's offense is actually very good. But there's not a team that's like kind of got both in a way that like paints the picture of a, of a, of a juggernaut that everyone else in the, in the sport is, is going after. I do think at least if you look at those numbers like they're, the teams are kind of jumbled up. There's not really anybody who's running away with it entirely. But you have in the past, like seen SEC teams like way up in that right corner and there's nobody up there at the moment. They're all kind of closer to the middle, middle of the pack right now. Which again I think will make for a very interesting and exciting SEC race. But I don't know if it's if that race is spitting out a team that is going to be considered or should be considered like the national championship favorite when it's all said and done.

[A]

And as we talk about section which is our version of Maxion, just because it's exciting doesn't mean it's good. I think both Ohio State and Oregon, it would be absolutely flabbergasting if both those teams aren't in the 12 team playoff at the end of the season because I was going to say barring multiple alien abductions, but I think those teams are both deep enough that they even could have that and survive it. It is, I think there is probably unanimity around college football. They're gonna be there. Yes. Those two.

[B]

They will be there. Yeah. I haven't looked at the playoff odds. I'm sure that the playoff odds reflect that.

[A]

Yeah, I don't think there's anybody in the SEC that you could say for sure they're in. I know they're going to be there. Now, to the SEC's credit, there are enough good teams that you just go through somebody's schedule and we could go through Alabama schedule for instance if you want to. I can just like you get in a bad stretch but I think it's a combination, right? Yes, there's a bunch of solid teams in there. But also I think the best teams are flawed enough that when you look at Alabama which opened with a loss to Florida State and then Florida State went and lost at Virginia again. I don't think Florida State's the end all be all but they have their next three games are against Vanderbilt, Missouri and Tennessee who are all ranked right now. And then they also have LSU and Oklahoma last. So they're three and one. Five of their remaining eight games are against teams that are currently ranked. I can absolutely see Alabama losing two of those final eight games and maybe three of those final eight games and I don't think they are a lock at 9 and 3 and I think you can do that with almost everybody in the sec. I wouldn't bet my house on anybody in the SEC individually making the playoff. I would on Ohio State and Oregon.

[B]

The I'm looking at the fanduel playoff odds. So Alabama has like the the strongest. This team's making the playoff they're like. To make the playoff minus 205. Do you want to guess what Ohio State is right now?

[A]

Minus 750.

[B]

Minus 2000.

[A]

Minus 2000. Okay.

[B]

And Oregon is 1800.

[A]

Okay. And they are by far and away.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Who's third? Who's third in the overall odds to make it?

[B]

They don't have them listed that way. I. I would imagine that it's. It's probably Texas Tech, if I had to guess. Okay. I'll. I'll click around for.

[A]

But it's just a different stratosphere. It's just a different stratosphere. And again, like, there have been times when that's been the conversation around Alabama or Alabama and Georgia or Alabama and LSU or whatever. And so I just like.

[B]

And you can actually still get plus odds on Texas Tech to make the playoff if you're a betting man.

[A]

Oh, really? Yeah.

[B]

I think it is Alabama. Alabama's nice.

[A]

Like, I. I wouldn't bet that. The point of this is that as we try to do playoff brackets right now, I just don't. I like this exercise because I think evolution of thinking is interesting.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

But I don't feel. I don't have strong feelings on almost anybody, and especially there's nobody in the SEC that I'm like, oh, man. I really like them because I feel like as soon as I say I really like that team, they're going to lose three of the next five feelings.

[B]

On the SEC or in the whole sport?

[A]

No, no. Well, I just like, in the whole. There's nobody. There's not a team outside of Ohio State and Oregon. Do you have a third team that you're like, I'm sure they're going to be in.

[B]

Miami. Be the closest.

[A]

Yeah. Actually, that's a very good one out. Fourth.

[B]

No.

[A]

Okay. But so. So this exercise, while interesting, is very difficult because. And we are evolving our thinking. Every result, every weekend changes our thinking. You also. You have losses. You think about how the committee is going to think about those losses. Who else could they lose to? You also see the teams play. Oh, they're weak here. They're weak there. They have an injury there. But that's like a very. A weird spot to be in. And so if you do see us, the result is like, I'm actually not changing my opinion a ton because I'm sort of like, well, that's what I thought in week two. And I don't know. So I'm not, like, I'm not changing a ton in week six because, like, I. There's still like, so much mush in there. I feel like. You feel like you got a lot of mush in your bracket. A lot of mush.

[B]

Yeah, there's a lot of mush in there.

[A]

It's.

[B]

It's primarily SEC related because I actually think the thing that was hard for me to discern is like, I feel. I feel pretty good at the moment that four Big Ten teams are gonna make the playoff, but, like, only four. And I don't know if the SEC is going to end up, like, getting five or if they're gonna get four. And then who out of the Big 12, the ACC gets another one? Like, that's. That's the part that's a little harder for me to figure out.

[A]

The. Our main topic, obviously, this week is like, what's up with the SEC SMS that second tier of the Big Ten? Like, who's the fifth contender in the Big Ten? Could the Big Ten get five? I think we need to do that maybe next week, the week after, like, just to think about because, like, the tier has established itself and Oregon, Indiana, Oregon, Indiana are both off this week. Oregon, Indiana in two weeks is going to tell us a lot about that race. But if, if you're kind of getting to the point where it's like, man, I, I'm kind of thinking about Indiana in this, in the way that I'm thinking about Penn State, Oregon and Ohio State. It's like, well, then who else really is in the mix? Who do you like best after that? I do think that's an interesting conversation.

[B]

Yeah. There's some important games coming. Like, yeah, USC plays, plays Michigan next week. Illinois, like, bounce back to what bounced back well and gets Ohio State in two weeks. Right. So that'll be not.

[A]

And it doesn't.

[B]

That conversation is not like Illinois has to beat Ohio State.

[A]

Right.

[B]

But, like, if Illinois keeps it close and then maybe you can convince yourself that Illinois is going to go 10 and 2. Yeah. That kind of thing. Right. So it's. It. Nebraska is always going to be interesting in that conversation. They play Michigan State this week, but October 11th, I think will be a good day to kind of figure out what that fifth spot in the Big Ten looks like. Yeah.

[A]

I'm very interested if Michigan rounds into shape in any, in any kind of way that. To have us think like, oh, man, like, I, I think 10 and 2 is absolutely. I already have the loss to Oklahoma, But I think 10 and 2 is absolutely on the board for Michigan. Like, I'm. I just, I haven't spent a ton of time since the Oklahoma loss, thinking about Michigan as a playoff team. But I'm. I'm ready to start doing that soon.

[B]

All right.

[A]

Ready to do our brackets.

[B]

Do you want to tell the people about Roback before we do that?

[A]

I do. I do. I even had it written down. You know what I think is good about Roback? So they have sports apparel. And I. And I think about this sometimes. I think sometimes if you're not careful, your wardrobe can get very samey. Right. That you have a lot of shirts that all have, like, a similar vibe or a similar color palette or a similar quality or they're from the same. The same store. And. And what I think can be really good is to sort of have like, oh, that's my best thing. And sometimes my inclination is to spend, like, get 912 shirts. And it's like, do you really need 912 shirts? When maybe you could get like a shirt or two that are super high quality, are super cool, and become your favorite thing to wear? And I think Roback is a place to go find some of that, because I think you can go like, you're a sports fan, you love your team, you have a lot of gear. But now you can go to roback.com r h o b a c k dot com and look there and maybe find what will become your best article of clothing to support your team. Your favorite article of clothing, Your lucky article of clothing. Like, oh, it's game day. I'm putting on that hoodie. I'm putting on that quarter zip. I'm putting on that polo shirt. So I think if you think that way, sometimes you have to think about, I'm going to treat myself. Sometimes you think about, this would be a great gift to have someone get me or for me to get someone else. But I think if you go to roback.com you have a chance to find your new favorite piece of gear to support your team. Hoodies, quarter zips, polo shirts. And you're going to get 20 off your first order. Bad 20 is the code. Bad 20. Put that in 20 off your first order. Again, I think it's just like, if you're like, God, all these guys do is talk about this thing. It's like, I would just, like, go check it, check it out. You know what I mean? To see? Like, is it really something that I might be interested in? Because it's just, it's. It represents something you love. But I bet it's a little different than a lot of stuff you have. So why don't you check out roback.com let's do your bracket first.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

So I can yell at you about it.

[B]

All right, here we go. Number one remains unchanged. For me. It's still Ohio State. Okay. Number two is Oregon. Okay.

[A]

We're gonna have that conversation.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

You were bold enough to go where I held back from going.

[B]

Okay. Number three, Miami.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

I spun the wheel for my SEC champ this week. Number four, Texas A M. Okay.

[A]

Welcome. Welcome to The Aggies bandwagon.

[B]

5. Big 12 champ, Texas Tech. Okay. 6. Texas.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

7. Alabama. Okay. 8. Penn State. Okay. 9. Ole Miss.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

10. Missouri.

[A]

Hold on. 1, 2, 3, 4. Okay. 11.

[B]

Indiana.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

12. South Florida.

[A]

So you are comfortable rewarding mediocrity, Is that correct? Is that what we're doing here? 5.

[B]

Rewarding anything. I am guessing what the playoff committee is going to do.

[A]

Oh, my God. Get preemptively mad at them through the lens. So, like this again, this is to. This is a, a super interesting and not incorrect place to possibly be, which is five SEC teams and none of them are Georgia. Who would have thunk at Landis?

[B]

Yeah, Georgia stinks.

[A]

So. So you had Georgia and Oklahoma last week and you.

[B]

I only dropped. I dropped Oklahoma because of the John Matier injury. I just. Yeah, it's hard. It's hard to say because I don't, I don't know how long he's out for.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Like, they play Kent State this, this week without him, they'll win. If he miraculously comes back for Red river and they beat Texas, I will be back to having Oklahoma in here. But I don't know if they're gonna have to go two games without him or five games without him.

[A]

We're trying to project the future and like trying to be as right as we can be. And we'll look back and say, man, we had it nailed in week five. We had it nailed in week eight. Right. So we're trying to be right. So like, I think to take that into account is very smart. So your changes are Georgia out, Oklahoma out, and Florida State out. So now you're down to one ACC team. You have Bama, Ole Miss and Missouri in when you didn't have that last week. So.

[B]

Yeah, I, I just don't know. We've had the conversation in the past, right, about like the 9 and 3 sec team against the 10 and 2 big 10 team thing. I don't know that it's going to come down to that. And if it comes down to the 9 and 3 SEC teams against the second place teams in the ACC and the Big 12. I, I wouldn't love that. I guess with the exception of, like, if it's Florida State versus Alabama, then Florida State probably won that argument.

[A]

But.

[B]

But other than, but other than that, I don't, I don't know that I would love the second place ACC or Big 12 chances of winning that argument.

[A]

I'll be very curious if anybody, and they would never say it in the discussion, but if anybody in the room would allow the thinking to sneak in of like, okay, these teams are basically equal, but it's like we're going to do five from the SEC and one from the acc. Like, I'm going to give the second one to the ACC so it's a little more balanced. Right. They always say they don't think about it that way. They don't think about conferences, they just think about strength of resume, strength of record, who have you played. And of course, a lot of your games are against your conference, but they just view it at the lens. So it's one of those things. It's not like, oh, that's, that's what they say. But I'm not even sure that that's a wrong tiebreaker. If I was in that room, I'm pretty sure I would allow that to seep in that. If it's really down to equal and I don't know what to do and it's the fifth team from one conference or the second from another, I think I would lean the second from another unapologetically. Even if perhaps secretly.

[B]

Yeah. And I think you could also allow, like, if it's equal and you don't have like head to heads obviously to go off of, but you can say to yourself, well, like, there was a marquee acc, sec, SEC matchup in like Florida State, one, the ACC one like maybe Georgia Tech Beach, Georgia at the end of the year. Right. And that's another. And even if it says, if it doesn't come down to either of those two ACC teams, like say it's Virginia or something, that would be, I think, a, a check in the ACC's favor to go head to head with the SEC and win.

[A]

Because I think if you're going to think about it that way, you have to like, reassure yourself, well, the ACC doesn't stink. It's like, all right, I mean, I'm gonna, like, it's almost like it's not even throwing a bone, but it's like I'm just right. Numbers matter, representation matters. So I'm gonna. But you don't want to do that and then be like, oh God, like they got blown off the map or they, they stick and like they did. I mean it's a little bit what the conversation was last year. Now it wasn't five from, from any conference, but it's like SMU got in over Alabama, so that guy was second to the acc. I'll do mine. And then I want to have the, the Oregon conversation with two Big Ten teams at the top two seeds. I also stuck with Ohio State at number one. I stuck stuck with Miami at number two. I moved Oregon up to number three. I also have Texas A M as the SEC champ right now at number four. I have Indiana at number five. And, and I, I, I'm not exactly sure what I am a thousand percent believing in how that all shakes out that Indiana winds up there.

[B]

But if you're putting them there, you're picking them to beat Penn State.

[A]

Well, I'm picking them to be somebody or picking them to win one of those two games and be like a, a, a heck of an 111 team with an awesome win. So I'm not definitively saying which I think that is right because then it's like, well if they beat, if they beat Penn State, then it's Penn State also going to lose to Ohio State. Now Penn State's 9 and 3 and are they, are they in? Right, because I do have Penn State in. So I'm a little, I'm straddling a little bit here.

[B]

Well, you kind of are. You have Oregon. Oregon's not three if they lose to Indiana.

[A]

So, so I'm probably want my cake and eat it too here. So I'm not sure it makes sense but I'll, I'll let it sort out a little bit. Indiana 5 Texas sick 6 Texas Tech 7 Ole Miss 8 Penn State 9 Georgia Tech 10 Missouri 11, South Florida 12. So 4 sec. My changes are Texas Tech in instead of TCU. I thought TCU should have beaten Arizona State last Friday night and it in but so now I change. I've been a slow adopter of Texas Tech. I'm tempted by Iowa State, but they already were missing Jeremiah Cooper for the year in their secondary and now they just found out that they're also going to be without John Taz Williams in their secondary for the rest of the year. So like that's two gigantic defensive injuries for them. So there's a lot to like about Iowa State. I'm not all the way there on BYU yet. So even though like I'm not a true believer in Texas Tech at all. I just don't know where to go in the Big 12. So I wound up with Texas Tech and then like, Ole Miss is number four right now. I think their schedule is probably going to let them get through. So I added them. I added them to the mix mostly. Mostly from a schedule standpoint. And I also now have Georgia out. So I was sort of hanging on to Georgia for a while, but I don't know that there's a lot to believe in with Georgia.

[B]

I don't believe in a lot of it. And I even saw they're like, changing up their media policies. They don't want to. They want to talk about losing any more anymore. Like, they had interview scheduled for Tuesday and they didn't do them. Yeah, not great. Their offense, like, disappeared. I don't think their defense is. Is. I mean, their defense is. Is not like, bad, but it's probably bad for Georgia standards. Yeah, they're just not. They're not scary. So I don't think they. I could see Georgia, like, being pretty disruptive, like in the SEC race, but I'm not expecting Georgia to get to Atlanta for the SEC title game by next week.

[A]

I'll have. I'll have my thoughts narrow. I will have comprehensive thoughts about what I actually think is going to happen between Oregon, Penn State and Indiana so that my bracket makes a little more sense. I apologize for the. That bracket's not going to happen.

[B]

It's.

[A]

There's some. There's some ties in there. Georgia, by the way, three and one coming off the. Lost to Bama, frankly, should have lost to Tennessee and found a way to win. They have Ole Miss. Their three toughest games that are left are all at home. So that does matter. Ole Miss, Texas, Georgia Tech, all at home. And it could absolutely lose all three of those. Like, not. That's not even. That's not hard to imagine at all. In my mind, the idea. So I couldn't get there on. I thought I was bold to have Oregon third, Ohio State one, Oregon three. So, like, oh, the Big Ten loser. Big loser. The Big Ten championship game is a three seed. You had the loser of the Big Ten championship game as the two seed. Do you think so we started off our conversation with Ohio State and Oregon. The odds show it. We believe it. We think probably other people in college football should believe it if that's what they are. And if they're both undefeated, if they are 12 0. 120 in the Big Ten championship game. Is that what you're imagining? And they play a Barn burner. And everybody's like, those are the two best teams in the country. They're the top two seeds.

[B]

Yeah, kind of. Yes. But I also think even if you wanted to live in the world where you don't think anyone is going to go undefeated in the regular season, then those two teams at 11 and one in the Big Ten championship, like and a, and playing like a competitive Big Ten championship game, I think could still be the top two seeds. I don't know. I don't know. They each have to be undefeated for this to happen. I just think, I think the top of the Big Ten is going to be respected and it should be so. And short of another unbeaten conference champ, which Miami could be and yes, Texas Tech maybe could be. I don't know who, I don't know who would take like one of those top two seeds away from, from Ohio State and Oregon, provided neither one of them loses more than one game before the Big Ten championship.

[A]

And I do think that, you know, and I toyed with this and I couldn't get there all the way, is like the SEC not getting a top four seed, the SEC not getting a buy. And the situation for that is, okay, you just outlined how the Big Ten gets two of the top four. If you believe Miami stays on track and does not get knocked off by anybody that like they are a convincing ACC champ, they're in the top four. And then if the Big 12 champ is convincing, if the Big 12 champ, as you just said, is Texas Tech or Iowa State or BYU or, you know, somebody like that. I was gonna say Arizona State if they get it together, but their loss is to like the 11th best team in the SEC. So then I bet, oh, if it's Arizona State is the Big 12 champ, well, that the SEC champ will get in the head of them. I toyed with that because especially, I mean you could wind up with a two loss SEC champ. I don't, I don't think that's impossible at all.

[B]

I think probably will have that.

[A]

Yeah, like, wouldn't that be so interesting? Again, as everybody knows, the rules change this year. It's not that the top four seeds have to be four conference champs. So that, that would be a heck of a thing. First, if you wind up with Ohio State, Oregon, 1, 2. So you get them on opposite sides of the bracket and you set up the possibility again, you know, this could definitely be the national championship game, a rematch of the Big Ten championship game. In our scenarios, that's definitely possible. But then also you got, you know, there's no guarantees with the sec, and they're all grinding it out. Like, that would be if there are five SEC teams, but they're five through 12. They have none of the top four, but five of the remaining eight. What a weird bracket that would be.

[B]

Yeah, that would be fun to watch the SEC eat itself alive.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Eliminate itself from championship contention. I'd sign up for that and then.

[A]

Just allow the Big Ten to feast on the. The leftovers. It's like, okay. Missouri beat Ole miss in the 89 game. Great. Here's Ohio State for the winner. Good luck. Right. Oh, that 7:10 barn burner between Alabama and Tennessee. Hope you enjoyed it. Here comes Oregon right like that.

[B]

Are we.

[A]

Are we here for that at that? If that's what this turns out. That's the only way I could possibly find 5 sec acceptable.

[B]

Oh, yeah. Okay. Well, we'll make that happen for you. That's fair.

[A]

The quarterfinals are a gladiator pit of SEC cannibalism, with the Big Ten just sitting in the sedans like Joaquin Phoenix with their feet up and their crowns on, just trying to see who doesn't die so that they can kill them next here for it.

[B]

Yeah. Okay. Penn State can play Texas Tech and Indiana can play, I don't know, the G5 or Texas Tech can play the G5 team. Maybe. I don't know, though. Yeah, you could end up with, like, Penn State versus Indiana again.

[A]

Oh, no, I don't want that.

[B]

I don't want that either.

[A]

I feel better. Okay. You got to find a light. You got to find a rainbow in every storm. You know what I'm saying, Landis?

[B]

That's right.

[A]

The storm of SEC mediocrity that leads us to five SEC bids. At least it guarantees that they will eat themselves. All right. We do it every Tuesday here. We give you our playoff brackets. We just try to reflect what we think is happening and will happen in college football. Doesn't mean we're always right, but we want to have an interesting conversation. We'll see you guys next Tuesday. We go check out roback.com in the meantime. Also check out our Wednesday morning show. We'll have a premium show for our Substack subscribers, Bill and Doug osu.substack.com that'll drop on Wednesday. We'll have our Ohio State, Minnesota picks show on YouTube on Thursday, and then our national picks where we're picking. There's some interesting SEC games this week. You. You might want to tune in to see what I think about Bama Vanderbilt I want to catch that pick.

[B]

You're right.

[A]

With Diego, I want to catch. I don't wanna. I mean, it's one.

[B]

If you're riding with Diego, then you're gonna have to put Vanderbilt in the playoff next week.

[A]

No, I know, I know, but it's like Vander. But then Vanderbilt will lose to Kentucky or whatever, right? I mean, that's the thing that I believe in. The enemy of Miami enemy is my friend. And so like, my. My. It's just like root for the. The least distasteful SEC team in any given situation and then just hope that it works itself out. So I'll take Vanderbilt versus Bama, and then I'll take Kentucky versus Vanderbilt and everything will be okay. That's how it'll work. All right, make our picks Friday. We'll see you guys back. In the meantime, thanks for being here, as always. He's Bill Landis. I'm Doug Lamoris, and that was the Bill and Doug Show.