College Pigskin note

The new committee rankings are out, and the most significant takeaway is that Miami no longer has a path into the playoff because the committee ranks them below Alabama. That means that the 12th playoff spot will go to Alabama if SMU wins the ACC championship game. If SMU loses that game, it will be up to the committee to choose between SMU and Alabama for the final at-large bid.

The other 11 spots are already locked in:

Four teams from the Big-10 (Ohio State, Indiana, Penn State, Oregon)
Three teams from the SEC (Texas, Georgia and Tennessee)
Notre Dame
The winner of the ACC title (SMU or Clemson)
The winner of the Big-12 title (Arizona State or Iowa State)
The winner of the Mountain West title (Boise State or UNLV)

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There is one exception, the longest of long shots:

Army still has a minuscule chance to make the playoff, but it would take a miracle. First, UNLV would have to beat Boise State in the Mountain West, but seem unimpressive in doing so. Second, Army would have to beat Tulane so convincingly that the committee would vault them over UNLV as the fifth-highest conference champion. (Right now UNLV is #20, Army #24). The odds must be about 30-1 against all of that happening, but longer shots have paid off.

Neither of those teams deserves to be in the playoff. The computers place UNLV at #44, Army at #63. If Army snuck in to the playoff as the twelfth seed, they would probably get a rematch with Notre Dame in the first round, as a 20+ point underdog. That did not go well for them the first time (Notre Dame by 35).

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Also significant are the rankings of Ohio State (6), Tennessee (7) and Indiana (9). That exact alignment means that Ohio State will get to play round one at home, while the other two will have to play on the road.