Greg McElroy discusses intriguing College Football Playoff hypothetical

Breaking down the potential field of the College Football Playoff is what analysts are going to do from now until the final four teams are selected for the last time next season. However, Greg McElroy recently analyzed a potential, however unlikely, scenario that we’ve never seen before in the sport.

On ‘Always College Football’, McElroy answered a mailbag question about what the committee would do if all five Power-Five champions came out of the year undefeated. For the example, the writer used Clemson, Georgia, Texas, Michigan, and USC. So, to start, McElroy explained how the non-conference aspect of that question would not necessarily lean in favor of the defending champions.

“I think, in this instance, Clemson will have had a win over Notre Dame. USC would have a win over Notre Dame. Michigan would have a win against Ohio State. Texas would have a win against the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa,” said McElroy. “So you look at all those non-conferences. And the only team that doesn’t have a really strong non-conference schedule would be Georgia. But, ultimately, Georgia is the defending champ. And I would imagine that, based on their resume, their eye test would look pretty dang impressive.”

In the end, though, McElroy ultimately picked Clemson as his team that would miss out. With that said, it’s not meant as a shot at the Tigers. To him, it’s just simple math once you consider that the committee would very likely already have let the SEC and Big Ten champions in. That leaves everyone guessing how we’d all value the Tigers, Longhorns, and Trojans as well as, in turn, their respective conferences.

“I think all things being equal? The team that would be left out would probably be Clemson at this point,” McElroy continued. “It’s not a foregone conclusion. It just depends on how they win and how they look.”

“How do you measure the ACC versus the Big 12 versus the Pac-12? I think that’s pretty much how it all sorts itself out. If every single one of those three teams, Texas, USC, and Clemson, are all getting by by the hair on their chinny chin chin and barely winning games? Then it would probably be a difficult thing to prognosticate,” said McElroy. “How’s the team closing? Are they playing their best football in the final month of the season? Have they improved? Where are they at as far as playoff experience in the past? I think all those things are a factor.”

Again, this is nothing more than a very improbable offseason hypothetical to break down. Still, if nothing else, this may say more about the current value of the ACC, at least in McElroy’s eyes, than anything regarding the teams or the playoff.