College Football Playoff: 3 biggest winners and losers from Week 10

The College Football Playoff race took a big turn in Week 10 and here are the biggest winners and losers.  

College football never disappoints and it didn’t in Week 10 of the season.

The only thing that was disappointing was the competitiveness of the game between Georgia and Tennessee because the Bulldogs dominated the No. 1 team and you wonder how anyone (the College Football Playoff selection committee) could have doubted them.

Tennessee was impressive but they had a few close wins along the way and the idea of the Vols making the College Football Playoff at 11-1 took a big hit.

I never really thought that was possible anyway. 12-1 would have been a different story but that’s impossible now and here are the three biggest winners and losers from College Football Week 10 in the chase for the top four.

Georgia (winner)

The Bulldogs made a statement. There is no doubt about who the No. 1 team is and they will now have two dominating wins over a pair of top-8 teams in Oregon and Tennessee.

If there is any team in college football that can make the playoff without winning their conference, it’s Georgia. That’s how good they are and they are the overwhelming favorite to repeat.

LSU (winner)

Believe it or not, but LSU has a legit chance of getting to the College Football Playoff. Beating Georgia is going to be the biggest obstacle but if the Tigers win out and finish 11-2 with wins over Alabama and Georgia, the Tigers will have a good shot of making it.

There are a lot of different scenarios but if TCU drops a game, LSU would make it over any Big 12 champ. Brian Kelly got a huge win and even more lies ahead for the Tigers in what has been an impressive first season for the new head coach.

If you give the committee a choice between a two-loss LSU and a one-loss champ from the Big 12, ACC, or Pac-12 and I think the choice would be LSU.

Pac-12 (winner)

With Alabama, Tennessee and Clemson losing, the Pac-12 is sitting in a much better position for a College Football Playoff berth. Oregon is the No. 1 team in most people’s minds but if USC, UCLA, or Oregon winds up at 12-1, there is a strong chance they get a playoff berth.

Tennessee could have an argument but I don’t see them getting a berth over a one-loss Oregon team. Things didn’t look pretty after that 49-3 loss for the Ducks but if they win out, they’ll probably get a rematch with Georgia.

Alabama (loser)

I’m not going to say Alabama is 100 percent dead yet. If the Tide somehow reaches the SEC title game and beats Georgia and finishes 11-2, there could still be a chance. But if LSU doesn’t drop the ball and makes it to Atlanta, the Tide will be left out.

No 10-2 is making the College Football Playoff. Not even Alabama. But a two-loss SEC champion would be tough to leave out, especially considering the weakness of Big 12 and ACC.

Tennessee (loser)

It wasn’t shocking to see Tennessee lose to Georgia. The problem is the way they lost. The Vols didn’t look up to the task and that’s going to be the lasting image the selection committee has of the Vols — a team that can’t compete with Georgia.

Tennessee isn’t going to win the SEC East, so unless there is a bunch of craziness, the Vols are going to have a tough time making the playoff. The two top-10 wins help and you never know what the committee will do, but they really need TCU to lose again and another loss from Clemson wouldn’t hurt either.

Clemson (loser)

Clemson didn’t deserve to be a top-four team. Wake Forest isn’t good and had the Tigers on the ropes. The same can be said about Syracuse. That’s why I don’t think Clemson should get a playoff berth even if it wins the ACC as a one-loss team. But if TCU drops a game and the Tigers get some help from Pac-12 teams, it could have an outside shot.

But the idea that winning the ACC is an automatic berth ended with a 35-14 thumping at the hands of Notre Dame.