College Football Playoff controversy: Warde Manuel definitively addresses if Alabama, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Miami final ranking can adjust
The penultimate College Football Playoff rankings are in and may foreshadow Selection Sunday. Alabama is currently the final projected team into the 12-team field, much to the dismay of Miami, Ole Miss, and South Carolina. And while there is one more weekend of games to be played, CFP committee chair Warde Manuel says there will be no movement between the bunch.
“Those who are not playing, we will not adjust those teams,” Manuel said on ESPN following the rankings reveal. “Because they don’t have another data point, obviously.”
ESPN’s Rece Davis asked Manuel to clarify and expand on the statement right after. He explained that since none of those four specific teams will be playing on Saturday, there is no additional information for the committee to work with and potentially switch things up.
“Any team that is playing right now, we don’t have a data point to rearrange where we had those teams ranked,” Manuel said. “So that is set in terms of how we see them going into the final week of championship week. There’s nothing that’s going to change, Rece, for us to evaluate them any differently than we have them now. Those teams that are not playing cannot be adjusted in terms of where they are compared to other teams that are not playing.”
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This scenario for Manuel was under the assumption that there are no bid-stealers. Clemson is looking to play spoiler by winning the ACC Championship game over SMU. Even in the Mountain West, Boise State is ranked ahead of Alabama. UNLV could sneak into the 12-team field with a win.
One thing is for certain, though — the much-discussed four-team group of Alabama, Miami, Ole Miss, and South Carolina will see no movement in Sunday’s final rankings. Manuel confirmed as such when speaking to Davis.
Now, folks in Tuscaloosa will have close eyes on mainly the ACC Championship but potentially the Mountain West title game too. If SMU and Boise State can get wins, Kalen DeBoer‘s team will be in the College Football Playoff in the head coach’s first season in charge.