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Forde's Fab Four: What playoff field looks like after ranking wins of contenders
By Pat Forde 22 hours ago Yahoo Sports
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Trevone Boykin’s ankle has not recovered) in Norman on Saturday.
COTTON BOWL: No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 3 Notre Dame
The Crimson Tide (9-1, 7-1 in the Southeastern Conference) keep piling up quality wins. They thumped Mississippi State on the road one week after thumping LSU, hitting the Bulldogs with big plays on offense and special teams and smothering them with the usual ‘Bama defense. No contending team has played a schedule anywhere near as rigorous as Alabama – the Tide has six victories over top-25 Sagarin teams. They also are the only contending team with a home loss – but it came against a quality opponent in Mississippi. There is no team playing better thus far in November than Alabama. Next: the annual get-well game against FCS Charleston Southern, which serves as a buffer before the Iron Bowl at Auburn.
Notre Dame (9-1) had a perfunctory victory over Wake Forest, but did it without injured star running back C.J. Prosise (who should be back this week). The Irish résumé was hurt by the disappointing seasons of both Texas and Georgia Tech, but has been helped by the stronger-than-expected seasons from Navy, Temple and Pittsburgh. Notre Dame’s best victory to date is over USC, and a win at Stanford to end the season would finish off the résumé nicely. And of course there is no shame in a two-point loss at No. 1 Clemson – a game that could have gone into overtime with a better two-point conversion play from the Irish in the last seconds. But Notre Dame will not have a 13th game against a quality opponent like some playoff contenders. Next: at Fenway Park against Boston College, a team with an excellent defense and an atrocious offense.
Dropped out: Ohio State.
View gallery
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Ezekiel Elliott and Ohio State have ample opportunity to move up the rankings in the coming weeks. (AP)
Also considered: Iowa, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Florida, Michigan State, North Carolina.
RANKING THE WINS – ALL OF THEM – OF 10 TEAMS
This list discards the eye test and uses the Sagarin Ratings to establish a hierarchy of victories for the nation’s best teams:
1. Oklahoma over Baylor
2. Clemson over Notre Dame
3. Oklahoma State over TCU
4. Notre Dame over USC
5. Michigan State over Michigan
6. Florida over Mississippi
7. Clemson over Florida State
8. Alabama over LSU
9. Oklahoma over Tennessee
10. Alabama over Tennessee
Forde's Fab Four: What playoff field looks like after ranking wins of contenders
By Pat Forde 22 hours ago Yahoo Sports
Content preferences
Trevone Boykin’s ankle has not recovered) in Norman on Saturday.
COTTON BOWL: No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 3 Notre Dame
The Crimson Tide (9-1, 7-1 in the Southeastern Conference) keep piling up quality wins. They thumped Mississippi State on the road one week after thumping LSU, hitting the Bulldogs with big plays on offense and special teams and smothering them with the usual ‘Bama defense. No contending team has played a schedule anywhere near as rigorous as Alabama – the Tide has six victories over top-25 Sagarin teams. They also are the only contending team with a home loss – but it came against a quality opponent in Mississippi. There is no team playing better thus far in November than Alabama. Next: the annual get-well game against FCS Charleston Southern, which serves as a buffer before the Iron Bowl at Auburn.
Notre Dame (9-1) had a perfunctory victory over Wake Forest, but did it without injured star running back C.J. Prosise (who should be back this week). The Irish résumé was hurt by the disappointing seasons of both Texas and Georgia Tech, but has been helped by the stronger-than-expected seasons from Navy, Temple and Pittsburgh. Notre Dame’s best victory to date is over USC, and a win at Stanford to end the season would finish off the résumé nicely. And of course there is no shame in a two-point loss at No. 1 Clemson – a game that could have gone into overtime with a better two-point conversion play from the Irish in the last seconds. But Notre Dame will not have a 13th game against a quality opponent like some playoff contenders. Next: at Fenway Park against Boston College, a team with an excellent defense and an atrocious offense.
Dropped out: Ohio State.
View gallery
.
Ezekiel Elliott and Ohio State have ample opportunity to move up the rankings in the coming weeks. (AP)
Also considered: Iowa, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Florida, Michigan State, North Carolina.
RANKING THE WINS – ALL OF THEM – OF 10 TEAMS
This list discards the eye test and uses the Sagarin Ratings to establish a hierarchy of victories for the nation’s best teams:
1. Oklahoma over Baylor
2. Clemson over Notre Dame
3. Oklahoma State over TCU
4. Notre Dame over USC
5. Michigan State over Michigan
6. Florida over Mississippi
7. Clemson over Florida State
8. Alabama over LSU
9. Oklahoma over Tennessee
10. Alabama over Tennessee
