The College Football Playoff committee made a statement on Tuesday night that fans of the SEC should take note of.
The SEC is currently in the midst of a season that only includes a single one-loss team in Texas. Behind the Longhorns, there are a whole host of teams with two losses — and even three losses — inside the College Football Playoff Top-25 rankings hoping to hear their name called when the 12-team field is selected a little more than two weeks from now.
The SEC Champion has not yet been decided, but the way things seem to be lining up with the rankings, we've got a great idea of the pecking order for the conference moving forward. As a matter of fact, the committee just sent a big statement to the conference about who it wants to put in the 12-team playoff field, regardless of if the resume matches up.
Here's a look at the pecking order and expected berths for the SEC as we head into Week 13.
Ranked No. 3 in the country and sitting at a 9-1 record, Texas is in firm control of its own destiny. Even if the Longhorns were to lose one of their remaining two games — Kentucky or at Texas A&M — they likely would still have a spot in the playoff.
Texas is playing for a chance to lock up an SEC Championship bid, but the Longhorns have a lot of room for error to simply get to the dance.
Kalen DeBoer has Alabama set up nicely as we head into the last couple of weeks of the season. Alabama was rewarded for beating the powerhouse Mercer on Saturday, so there's that.
Now, ranked No. 7 in the country and ahead of the next group of SEC teams, all Alabama has to do is win out and they'll be in the College Football Playoff. Alabama finishes out the season with Oklahoma and Auburn, and honestly, they're probably hoping for a scenario that doesn't include them playing in Atlanta.
Ole Miss's win over Georgia is what has propelled the Rebels up the rankings. Ole Miss was left for dead a couple of weeks ago, but they're now ranked No. 9 in the nation and they are in firm control of their own destiny.
Lane Kiffin's squad will close out the year with Florida and Mississippi State, two games that should be automatic wins. If they win out, nothing is stopping them from making the College Football Playoff.
Georgia comes into the latest edition of the College Football Playoff rankings at No. 10 in the country. With wins over Tennessee, Clemson, and Texas, Georgia has one of the strongest resumes of any team in the country.
The Bulldogs have games against UMass and Georgia Tech left on their schedule and, as long as they win those two, they'll be in the playoff. The SEC is likely set up to have three at-large berths and, right now, the Bulldogs seem destined to have one of those.
On the outside-looking-in for the SEC
- #11 Tennessee (8-2)
- #15 Texas A&M (8-2)
- #18 South Carolina (7-3)
Sitting at No. 15 in the country, Texas A&M still controls its own destiny to the playoff because the Aggies close out the year with Texas in what essentially will be an elimination game for them. If they win, though, they'll lock up a spot.
Tennessee, on the other hand, might be needing some help down the stretch of the season to make it. Though the Vols have a win over Alabama, their losses to Georgia and Arkansas loom large, and they have a very little chance of making it to the SEC Championship game and earning a bid that way.
At 7-3, South Carolina seems firmly out of the race, but stranger things have happened. If the Gamecocks finished 9-3 and some crazy losses happened the next two weeks, could they somehow find themselves in the playoff field? It's not totally impossible.