The College Football Playoff committee released its second rankings of the season on Tuesday night, and we saw some movement in the Top 12.
Oregon and Ohio State remain at No. 1 and 2, respectively, but Miami dropped from No. 3 last week to No. 9 after a loss to Georgia Tech, allowing Indiana and BYU to each move up three spots in the rankings. Georgia, meanwhile, fell all the way from No. 3 to No. 12 after a 28-10 loss to Ole Miss, which saw itself rise to No. 11 from No. 16 last week.
Ohio State is currently the favorite to win the national title on DraftKings Sportsbook with +320 odds, followed by Oregon (+340), Texas (+450), Georgia (+800) and Alabama (+1000). As for odds to make the CFP, those are also available on DraftKings Sportsbook and can be seen below:
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach joined Mike Golic Jr. and Mike Golic Sr. on Wednesday’s edition of GoJo and Golic to break down the latest CFP rankings and all the happenings in college football.
When it comes to takeaways, Mark noted that a couple of teams got dinged pretty hard — Miami for its first loss of the season against Georgia Tech and Georgia for its second loss, falling to Ole Miss. He was surprised by BYU jumping over Miami for the third spot among potential conference champions, but we have to wait for everything to shake out as there is still a lot of football to be played. All that said, and with an eye on teams that could potentially pose a threat from outside the top 12 like SMU, Mark is interested to see how the committee handles distributing the at-large bids so the bracket doesn’t feel like a Big Ten/SEC Invitational. He thinks that is in the back of the minds’ of the committee, especially in year one of this format, and they’ll want to appease some other interested parties.
GoJo had an important question to ask: Is Mark in favor of the conference champions getting an automatic bid into the CFP? Before it had been just one data point and now it’s automatic qualifier for the dance. Is it a good idea?
“No, I think it’s horrible.”
Tell us how you really feel, Mark!
He explains that it is clear that the SEC and Big Ten are head and shoulders above everyone else — the Big Ten has four teams in the top five of the rankings, the SEC has nine teams in the top 25. And those teams in the SEC are cannibalizing each other right now. not to mention their strengths of schedule are much higher than teams in other leagues. Mark thinks it is going to be a shame that a team like let’s say Oregon loses to Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship after being No. 1 all season and then has to go out and play a first-round CFP game with one loss while a two-loss team such as say Miami or Colorado gets to sit at home with bye.
So what is the value of a conference championship in this new world then? In short, money. And maybe bragging rights. Mark says these conference title games are still money machines and coaches like Kirby Smart will say that winning the SEC still matters to them. But in this new age of the expanded playoff, Mark thinks conference titles mean less and less.
What does @Mark_Schlabach see as the value of a conference championship in the 12-team CFP era? 🤔
"If you ask a guy like Kirby Smart, they'll tell you that winning the SEC still matters and matters a lot to him. But I just think in this new age of this expanded playoff, they… pic.twitter.com/MyuXfrZufw
— DraftKings Network (@DKNetwork) November 13, 2024
GoJo points out that we’ve seen this theory kicked around of the so-called “doomsday scenario,” which would see eight two-loss teams in the SEC, LSU finding themselves in the conference championship with three losses and a potential road to the playoff. Texas is currently the highest-ranked SEC team at No. 3 in the ranks, but people have questions and are wondering if they are really the best team. So, who does Mark consider to be the best team in the SEC? He says it seems to bounce from week to week. Alabama, Georgia and Texas have all been considered for this spot, but Mark says all of these teams have flaws and some have been exposed. He thinks Texas has issues with Quinn Ewers, who looked gun shy after the Georgia game; Alabama goes as Jalen Milroe goes; and Carson Beck seems to be a mystery right now for Georgia. But he points out that if they beat Tennessee at home they’ve won seven out of eight and Kirby Smart hasn’t lost back-to-back games since 2016. So, Mark thinks the Bulldogs could be right back in the mix.
“Texas is the highest-ranked SEC team now at #3. They are 56th in strength of schedule. Their best win is against Vanderbilt … Who is the best team in the SEC right now?” @mikegolicjr
“This week, maybe Ole Miss. It seems to bounce from week to week… I think they’ve all got… pic.twitter.com/PQPjTeto3n
— GoJo and Golic (@GoJoandGolic) November 13, 2024
Watch or listen to the full show below and make sure to tune into GoJo and Golic weekday mornings from 8-10 a.m. ET on DraftKings Network! See more about how to watch DraftKings Network here. Also, subscribe to the new GoJo and Golic YouTube page and hit the notification bell to never miss a video!
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Watch GoJo and Golic LIVE every weekday from 8 to 10 a.m. ET. The show is also available via audio on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also follow Mike Golic Sr. on X at @golic and Mike Golic Jr. on X at @mikegolicjr and the show on X at @GoJoandGolic and Instagram at @GojoandGolic.
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All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook, lines and odds subject to change.
All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.
