ATHENS — The AJC SEC Power Poll has a bone to pick with the College Football Playoff committee when it comes to the order of league teams.
Texas (No. 3 in the CFP rankings) is indeed the league’s top-ranked team, according to the nine experts on the panel, with Georgia (No. 7 CFP) and Tennessee (No. 8 CFP) falling into line.
But after that, it’s Ole Miss (No. 14 CFP) and South Carolina (No. 15 CFP) splitting fourth-place honors in the SEC — not Alabama, as the Tide (No. 13 CFP) has settled into the six-hole after its shocking 24-3 loss at Oklahoma.
Texas A&M (No. 20 CFP) is seventh — consistent with the order of teams in the CFP rankings.
But then it’s Florida (NR), fresh off its 24-17 upset win over Ole Miss, filling out the top half of the league — not Missouri (No. 21 CFP), as the CFP committee had ranked them.
The CFP committee has indeed ruffled feathers, to the extent the pollsters tackled the question of whether or not the SEC Championship Game loser should face any prospect of not making the 12-team playoff.
Anwar Richardson, Texas Orange Bloods
“The CFP playoff made it clear wins and losses matter, but they love to add one subjective category—the eye test. Georgia “should” defeat Georgia Tech in the season finale, which would give the Bulldogs a 10-2 regular season record. Georgia should automatically qualify as a playoff team, regardless of the SEC Championship Game result.
Let’s get real. If the conference runner-up is eliminated from the playoffs, the playoff committee would tell the college football world that advancing to the conference championship means nothing. Do you know who else they would send that message to? Every corporate sponsor of a conference championship game, every TV advertiser, every city that earns revenue from those games ... just follow the money. Leave the SEC runner-up out of the playoffs, risk messing with the money, and see what happens.”
Aaron Torres, Fox Sports Radio
“There is no way if Georgia loses in the SEC Championship Game they are out of the playoff. Now, if they lose to Georgia Tech this weekend that’s another question.... make sure you have your guys ready to play Kirby!”
Josh Ward, Knoxville WNML radio
“If Georgia and Texas play for the title, the loser of that game should not drop below their ranking entering the game.
“If the committee is trying to incentivize conference championships by rewarding the winner a first-round bye, it would send the wrong message to punish the runner-up by dropping them in the rankings — especially if that means dropping the runner-up below a team that couldn’t qualify for the title game in the first place.”
Edgar Thompson, Orlando Sentinel
“CFB Playoff czar Warde Manuel’s rejection that conference title games are potentially more hindrance than reward could be put to the test. A third loss for Georgia could put Lane Kiffin’s theory to the test, especially given the Rebels’ 18-point beatdown of the Bulldogs.”
Kaylee Mansell, DawgNation
“There should not be a punishment for either team that makes it to the SEC Championship. If the SEC runner up misses the playoff then that officially sets the precedent that teams should not want to play in the SECCG.
The SEC champion should get a first-round bye and the runner up should automatically be guaranteed a spot in the playoffs that way more teams will be motivated to get to Atlanta and play in the most prestigious conference championship game.”
Healthy risers: Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina jumped up two spots with their wins last Saturday.
The Bulldogs were the biggest winners in terms of stature, clinching a spot in the SEC Championship Game with their 6-2 league mark and head-to-head win over fellow two-league-loss team Tennessee.
The Vols can clinch a spot in the CFP with a win over Vanderbilt on Saturday.
Big loser: Alabama’s 24-3 loss at Oklahoma cost the Tide a CFP spot and dropped them four spots in the AJC SEC Power Poll. Alabama looks to salvage some pride and keep flickering hopes for the CFP with a home win over Auburn on Saturday.
Here’s this week’s AJC SEC Power Poll
1. (1) Texas 143 points, Highest vote 1, Lowest vote 2
2. (4) Georgia 136 points, Highest vote 1, Lowest vote 2
3. (5) Tennessee 112 points, Highest vote 3, Lowest vote 3
T-4. (3) Ole Miss 106 points, Highest vote 4, Lowest vote 8
T-4 (6) South Carolina 106 points, Highest vote 4, Lowest vote 7
6. (2) Alabama 101 points, Highest vote 4, Lowest vote 8
7. (7) Texas A&M 96 points, Highest vote 5, Lowest vote 7
8. (8) Florida 82 points, Highest vote 6, Lowest vote 9
9. (9) Missouri 69 points, Highest vote 6, Lowest vote 10
10. (10) LSU 68 points, Highest vote 9, Lowest vote 10
11. (11) Vanderbilt 51 points, Highest vote 9, Lowest vote 12
12. (13) Oklahoma 42 points, Highest vote 11, Lowest vote 14
13. (12) Arkansas 36 points, Highest vote 11, Lowest vote 14
14. (14) Auburn 35 points, Highest vote 12, Lowest vote 14
15. (15) Kentucky 18 points, Highest vote 15, Lowest vote 15
16. (16) Mississippi State 9 points, Highest vote 16, Lowest vote 16
SEC Power poll voting panel
Chris Doering, SEC Network
Kaylee Mansell, DawgNation
Shehan Jeyarajah, CBS Sports
Edgar Thompson, Orlando Sentinel
Josh Ward, Knoxville WNML
Ryan Fowler, Tuscaloosa Tide-100.9
Anwar Richardson, Orange Bloods
Aaron Torres, Fox Sports Radio
Mike Griffith, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This week’s SEC games
(Circa Opening Odds)
Miss. State at Ole Miss -24, 3:30 p.m., ABC (Friday)
Georgia Tech at Georgia -18, 7:30 p.m. ABC (Friday)
Tennessee -11 at Vanderbilt, Noon, ABC (Saturday)
South Carolina at Clemson -5 Noon, ESPN (Saturday)
Louisville -4 at Kentucky, Noon, SEC Network (Saturday)
Auburn at Alabama -11, 3:30 p.m. ABC (Saturday)
Arkansas at Missouri -4, 3:30 p.m. (Saturday)
Florida -13 at Florida State 7 p.m. (Saturday)
Oklahoma at LSU -6, 7 p.m., ESPN (Saturday)
Texas -5 at Texas A&M, 7:30 p.m., ABC (Saturday)
