Greg McElroy lists College Football Playoff bubble teams who control their destiny

Being able to control your destiny heading into November is a luxury that many teams aren’t able to afford.

With the College Football Playoff now expanded to 12 teams, ESPN’s Greg McElroy sees five teams — Clemson, Indiana, Texas A&M, Alabama and Pitt — all have the opportunity to play themselves into the CFP heading into the final stages of the regular season.

Clemson and Indiana suffer from a similar issue — they have no wins over ranked opponents through nine weeks of the season. Both the Tigers and Hoosiers have won convincingly this season, but Clemson’s best win of the year is against a four-loss Virginia team while Indiana hasn’t been tested at all this season.

Luckily for both squads, they get their chance to impress the College Football Playoff committee before the end of the season. Indiana will head to Columbus for a date with Ohio State on Nov. 23. A win there would almost certainly send the Hoosiers to the CFP, not to mention the Big Ten Championship game.

For Clemson, they will meet Pitt — another team on McElroy’s list — on Nov. 16 in a game that will also have similar implications to the Indiana-Ohio State game, but in the ACC. Of course, the Tigers also have to worry about the season finale against South Carolina on Nov. 30, as the Gamecocks have proven to be a tricky opponent this season.

Pitt puts its undefeated streak on the line against No. 20 SMU before the Panthers can think about Clemson, however.

Meanwhile in the SEC, Alabama was able to put itself right back into the College Football Playoff conversation after defeating a ranked Missouri team 34-0 on the road in Week 9. Add in their win over Georgia earlier this season — and the Crimson Tide are one of the more attractive two-loss teams in the country. Add in a victory this weekend against LSU, and Alabama is a clear favorite to earn an at-large bid into the CFP.

The Crimson Tide and Texas A&M will not cross paths during the regular season, but the Aggies have been the surprise of the season under first-year head coach Mike Elko. At 7-1 overall, Texas A&M is expected to be favored in every game they play for the rest of the season until the matchup against Texas in the regular season finale.

A win in that game will more than likely send the Aggies to Atlanta to play in the SEC Championship game, and in turn a first-round bye into the College Football Playoff.