Anonymous coach ahead of CFP: "Only thing in Alabama's way is Alabama" |
Alabama is a unanimous top team across polls, rankings and metrics, but is there a wide gap to the rest of the Playoff pack? Coaches across the college football as polled by Sports Illustrated
would say so -- Clemson having the best shot in the group, however.
“No. Come on now," an SEC assistant said to SI of any team beating Alabama. “If they stay healthy, the only chance people have to beat them is catching them on the perfect storm day where things just don’t go well,” one FBS head coach told SI. “Only thing in Alabama’s way is Alabama.” On the other side of things, a Group of Five coach told SI that “Trevor Lawrence gives anyone a shot.” ESPN rates the Crimson Tide with the No. 1 in strength of record and game control rating and also offensively, with the No. 11 defense and No. 27 special teams unit. By the same ratings, ESPN has Clemson with the No. 6 strength of record, No. 3 game control, No. 7 offense, No. 1 defense and No. 97 special teams group. Their SP+ metric ranks Clemson the highest among metrics at No. 2 overall. Elsewhere from the league Alabama dominated, Texas A&M says were aggrieved by not making the Playoff after an 8-1 run, which featured a 41-38 home win over Florida and a 52-24 loss at Alabama. Texas A&M quarterback Kellen Mond said that the "mediocre" teams in the SEC -- presumably a step lower than the Aggies that finished No. 16 in the FEI ratings -- "would run the table in some of these leagues." “Texas A&M has no quality wins.” Notre Dame's one-year deal with ACC football gave the league two representatives in the Playoff for the first time with their No. 4 final ranking. Ohio State's 6-0 run put them in at No. 3.
All of these SEC teams that are “MEDIOCRE” in the media’s eyes would run the table in some of these other leagues. Only a few teams out of the SEC can really play in the SEC.
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