ESPN College GameDay crew discusses wild College Football Playoff scenarios for SEC teams

Although the College Football Playoff is expanding to 12 teams down the road, only four teams will make it this year. But the top of the CFP rankings are jam-packed, and it could create some interesting scenarios.

The ESPN College GameDay crew discussed that very topic, including one wild scenario. If LSU and Tennessee run the table and TCU loses, could the SEC feasibly get three teams into the CFP?

It’s certainly possible.

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Yes, the potential is there for three SEC teams to crack the field. In this week’s rankings, Georgia was the lone SEC team in the top four, but Tennessee came in at No. 5 and LSU checked in at No. 6. It’s also worth noting Ohio State and Michigan were No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, meaning their game next week will likely knock one of them out. Based on this week’s rankings, that would slide Tennessee into the top four.

Then, there’s undefeated TCU. If the Horned Frogs lose either of their two remaining games, that would open the door for LSU to potentially slide up along with Tennessee. But it’s worth noting Tennessee defeated LSU earlier this year.

“That’s Armageddon,” ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit said. “If LSU were to run the table — which, obviously, would include a win against Alabama and Georgia and be the SEC champ — Georgia’s still going to go into the playoff, we know that. It would be a discussion between LSU and Tennessee.

“Tennessee beat LSU, and then you have LSU sitting there as an SEC champ. You’d put all three in at that point because you’d make a strong case about LSU, that’s for sure.”

This isn’t the first time the CFP committee has run into such a situation. In 2016, Penn State defeated Ohio State in the regular season and won the Big Ten championship. However, the one-loss Buckeyes got into the CFP over the two-loss Nittany Lions.

Chris “Bear” Fallica pointed that out, and in this case, LSU would be in Penn State’s position if the Tigers knock off Georgia in the SEC Championship.

“We’ve seen this before. We saw this in 2016. It’s actually the opposite now,” Fallica said. “In 2016, Penn State beat Ohio State and they had the two losses. Now, you’ve got the team with the one loss. It was Tennessee who went to Baton Rouge, won by four touchdowns, played a power five team in the non-conference, their only loss is to Georgia, you beat Alabama.

“I think Tennessee is in. They win two games, they’re in.”

The next three weeks are going to get real interesting before the selection show, which takes place Dec. 4 at noon ET on ESPN.