Greg McElroy reveals College Football Playoff bubble teams which don’t control their destiny, needed outcomes

On ‘Always College Football’ this week, Greg McElroy went through 27 teams that are still in contention for the College Football Playoff. That included a trio that are just on the outside who need some help to be within the twelve berths.

McElroy listed the three teams in LSU, SMU, and Washington State that he thinks just have to win the remainder of their games and hope that other teams put them in a better position.

“Here are the teams that I think are not in control of their own destiny, at least at the moment,” McElroy began. “They need help. So, even if they win out, they need help. So this group is categorized as win out and hope.”

McElroy began with the LSU Tigers at 6-2. Much of this comes down to winning their next game to begin with when they host Alabama next weekend. Still, even if they roll the Tide, they’ll also need helpful results from teams that they either beat or lost to earlier in the season.

“They’re a slight dog at home against Alabama, they’re a slight favorite on the road at Florida at about six, six and a half, and they’re a double-digit favorite at home against Vandy and Oklahoma. Win out would mean they’re 10-2 with head-to-head over Alabama and Ole Miss. So, they need to win out,” said McElroy. “Alabama? That would give them their third loss. But they need Ole Miss to beat Georgia so that Ole Miss win looks a little bit better and LSU is being measured against Ole Miss. They also probably need to hope that A&M wins out. They also need to hope that USC beats Notre Dame in the season finale.”

“So LSU needs quite a bit of help. I’m not saying that it’s completely out of the realm of possibility. But I do think, at this point, it’s probably out of their control as to whether or not they can get in,” McElroy said. “They just need help. They need other teams to lose.”

The SMU Mustangs were next at 7-1 during their first season in the ACC. To McElroy, BYU is the team that they should be focusing on as the only team that has beaten them. He says they’ll either need help from the Cougars or Southern Methodist has to help themselves by winning the ACC Championship.

“They need BYU to either win the Big 12 or lose a couple games down the stretch,” McElroy explained. “SMU, can they still make the ACC title game and win their league? Of course. So, if they somehow make it to the ACC Championship, win the ACC? Of course, they’re in. No problem whatsoever. But I’m taking these that are at-large scenarios…SMU? The team that they’re paying close attention to or should be is BYU.”

Finally, the Washington State Cougars is there at 7-1 with the path there for 10 or 11 wins. However, due to their circumstances following realignment, McElroy knows their record of double-digit wins won’t get the same regard as other ones across the country. That means Wazzu will be needing chaos over the course of November.

“Their resume will not hold up. They need complete carnage across the board because Washington State will not have a conference championship banner. They might for the Pac-2 but that’s not going to be recognized,” said McElroy. “The only way that Washington State is getting in is if they are selected as an at-large team. Their schedule is just not great so they might have a great record sitting there at 11-1 but it won’t hold up against even teams in the Big Ten, the SEC, or even the ACC at say 10-2 or better. So, Washington State? They need carnage across the board.”

College football still has as many as two dozen-plus teams still in position to make the playoff. Still, with there only being a dozen spots available, some teams will have to have more than others over the next month to get in, including LSU, SMU, and Washington State according to McElroy.