I hope so. I agree with everything in JV’s post. They’re definitely still in the mix. They have to win out, and it works out better for Vandy if the three one-loss teams do also. Their losses don’t bump Vandy up, but their wins help knock some teams out - Texas and Oklahoma, particularly. You should be rooting hard for each of them to pick up a third loss. That’s doable. There’s either going to be four or five SEC teams in the playoff. Right now, it looks like seven teams battling for five slots. We don’t want that to become four. A two-loss team will get in, but if it gets to be too much of a schmozz, the CFP Committee has a bias in favor of blue bloods, strong finishes and whatever fan base will criticize them least (because someone’s always going to be pissed). My opinion - Vandy is better off if the SEC top-four finish strong and if they become the best, two-loss team, alone in the fifth slot. Texas A&M, 8-0 Alabama, 7-1 Georgia, 7-1 Ole Miss, 8-1 Texas, 7-2 Oklahoma, 7-2 Vandy, 7-2 Oklahoma’s toughest game is at Alabama next week. Texas is at UGA in two weeks and at home against TAM to close out the season. They have the talent to win either one, but will be underdogs in both. Also wouldn’t hurt if Vandy’s strength of schedule could bump up a notch or two. So, if VA Tech could finish strong against Miami and Virginia, or if South Carolina can pull off an unexpected win at TAM, Vandy’s SoS technically improves. Although, since you also want TAM to beat Texas, that one might be a wash.
It’s also going to be a battle with the Big Ten teams to see which 3 loss squads get in. We’re basically looking at the below getting in factoring in the remaining schedules. A&M Alabama Georgia Ole Miss Indiana Ohio State Big 12 bid ACC bid G5 bid Notre Dame That leaves two spots for the below Texas Tech or BYU (whoever doesn’t get the top billed Big 12 spot) Georgia Tech or Virginia (whoever doesn’t get the top billed ACC spot) Iowa Michigan Oregon USC Vanderbilt Oklahoma Texas Miami? Louisville? I think the committee is going to want Texas Tech whether they win the Big 12 or not. That might be settled next week when they play BYU. Oregon/Iowa probably settles the debate between those two next week as well. USC/Iowa still play. Virginia is a waste of a spot regardless of what they do from here on out. They’ll get boat raced by anyone of these other teams and have played no one. I assume Miami loses another game they shouldn’t and aren’t deserving anyways but they do have that Notre Dame win. It’s a mess and some good teams are going to get left out. The super conferences have made this terrible too.
Yeah I just totally disagree with this framing. The best QBs of all time have been, with rare exception, this exact "process and distribute" archetype. Even the best mobile QBs are generally guys who are just mobile enough to evade some pressure like Mahomes and Rodgers, not the all out runner types. The problem is that it's very hard to determine if a guy is Kirk Cousins or Peyton Manning, whereas it's very easy to determine who is the better athlete between any two QBs. That doesn't change the fact that the ideal QB is the process and distribute type though. Athleticism in a QB, more often than not, is used as a crutch for not being able to pass. It's a bad thing disguised as a good thing.
