How much does the CFP selection committee punish conference championship game losers?
New York TimesThere’s a fear among this year’s College Football Playoff contenders that losing a conference championship game could net them a worse result than not playing in one at all. Overall, the 47 teams that lost power-conference title games in the CFP’s first decade dropped an average of two spots in the final CFP Top 25. With all eyes on how far SMU might fall should it lose to Clemson in the ACC Championship Game after Tuesday night’s rankings, in addition to seeding implications for the losers of the Big Ten and SEC title games, let’s take a closer look at how much the selection committee penalizes teams who suffered title game losses, in some cases 12 hours before the final rankings are announced. When conference title game losses led to top-four exits Title game Result Winner rank Loser rank 2015 Big Ten #5 Michigan State 16, #4 Iowa 13 #3 Michigan State #5 Iowa 2017 Big Ten #8 Ohio State 27, #4 Wisconsin 21 #5 Ohio State #6 Wisconsin 2017 SEC #6 Georgia 28, #2 Auburn 7 #3 Georgia #7 Auburn 2018 SEC #1 Alabama 35, #4 Georgia 28 #1 Alabama #5 Georgia 2019 SEC #2 LSU 37, #4 Georgia 10 #1 LSU #5 Georgia 2022 Pac-12 #11 Utah 47, #4 USC 24 #8 Utah #10 USC 2023 SEC #8 Alabama 27, #1 Georgia 24 #4 Alabama #6 Georgia Of the seven teams that fell out of the four-team CFP after championship losses, five began the weekend ranked No. When teams ranked 4+ spots higher lose Title game Result Loser final ranking 2017 Big Ten #8 Ohio State 27, #4 Wisconsin 21 #6 Wisconsin 2017 SEC #6 Georgia 28, #2 Auburn 7 #7 Auburn 2019 Pac-12 #13 Oregon 37, #5 Utah 15 #11 Utah 2020 Pac-12 Oregon 31, #13 USC 24 #17 USC 2020 Big 12 #10 Oklahoma 27, #6 Iowa State 21 #10 Iowa State 2021 Big 12 #9 Baylor 21, #5 Oklahoma State 16 #9 Oklahoma State 2021 Pac-12 #17 Utah 38, #10 Oregon 10 #14 Oregon 2022 Pac-12 #11 Utah 47, #4 USC 24 #10 USC 2023 SEC #8 Alabama 27, #1 Georgia 24 #6 Georgia If past Top 25s are to be trusted, a 21-point loss to Clemson could send the Mustangs tumbling out of the bracket.
History of this topic
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