The SEC and Big Ten will surely place multiple teams in the expanded College Football Playoff — but is there a shot the ACC or Big 12 could also get more than one team in the field?
On3’s Andy Staples examined that question as part of Thursday’s On3 YouTube live stream. Starting with the ACC, he looked at the league’s track record to come to the conclusion that the ACC really hasn’t provided a depth of contenders in recent years.
How many ACC teams can make the CFP?
“The ACC has not produced more than one good team most years,” said Staples, noting that “2020 was the outlier, because Notre Dame was playing as an ACC team.” But when it comes to your typical longstanding ACC programs, most just haven’t been in the national discussion very often.
“From 2017 to now, the ACC would have only gotten one team in per year. That’s just not going to get it done. This year, I do think they’re deeper at the top than they’ve been in a while.”
Staples continued, explaining which programs he sees as possible contenders to make the playoff, even if it’s just an outside shot.
“I think Florida State is going to be really good again. Clemson, obviously, is very talented. Miami is extremely talented. Do we trust Miami yet? No, we don’t trust Miami yet. But we do know they have a roster that could potentially be at the top of the ACC. NC State, yet another one, like, Dave Doeren has built a consistently winning program, and you add Grayson McCall to that mix, there’s a good chance that they could be very good this year.”
So, Andy Staples does like the top of the ACC better than other years of this decade, but it will still be tough to beat out the guys from the Big Ten/SEC.
“I do feel like the ACC has a better chance of getting multiple teams into the 12-game playoff than it would have last year. The question is: what do the SEC teams do? What do the Big Ten teams do? What do the Big 12 teams do? So the ACC, I’d say two from the ACC. Three would be tough, I think, because it would involve one of the two knocking one of the others out.”
How many Big 12 teams can make the CFP?
When it comes to the Big 12, Staples isn’t sure that they’ll be able to get any more teams in the CFP than the ACC, but he sees the conference as a more wide-open race.
“The Big 12 is a different story. All these teams have a chance to win the conference title,” said Staples. “The question is: Will there be a second or a third team that you feel like is good enough? I’m not sure there are two or three teams than can separate themselves from the pack that well.”
However, if a few teams finish off the year with terrific records, there’s a world where multiple Big 12 teams can produce strong enough resumes.
“To get two in, you probably need 11-1 vs. 11-1 in the conference championship game, or 10-2 beats 11-1 in the conference championship game and they both get in. How would you have a third? Well, you probably need another 10-2 that lost a tiebreaker but has a nice out of conference win.”
Tha path to multiple bids is certainly viable for the ACC and Big 12, but it’s just tough to imagine both leagues putting 2-3 teams in the College Football Playoff.
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