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College Football Playoff Picture

There was a lot of talk on ESPN after Alabama and Miami lost this weekend. But no one will talk about the elephant in the room. How good is a system when there are certain teams from certain conferences that have no chance of making the playoff? I am talking about UCF. That team is 11-0 and if they beat Memphis will be 12-0 (their game against Ga Tech was cancelled). Yet they have no hope of making the playoffs. This is a rigged system. The system wants the "best 4 teams". So everyone knows this year the "best 4 teams" are Alabama, Clemson, OSU and Auburn. Doesn't really matter what the other conference teams do.

By the way, the playoff teams spots open are just 2. The winner of the ACC and SEC championships are in (the losers are out). If Oklahoma and Wisconsin win they are in. If either of those two teams lose then Alabama is in. If both teams lose then Alabama and OSU are both in (yes Oklahoma will have the same record as OSU and beat them during the regular season), but we need to get the "best 4 teams", which are Alabama, Clemson, OSU and Auburn.

My humble opinion is that given the fact that only 4 teams make the playoffs all 4 teams should be conference champions. If you want to take non-conference champion teams, the playoff should be expanded to include all conference champions and 2 other teams. Based on rankings the top 4 champion teams get a bye. The next 4 teams host a play in game at their home stadiums against the last 4 teams on December 9, 2017. Losers can go to other bowl games. Winners play in the major bowl games on NYD.

I also like diet Dr. Pepper!!!

The latest on Kalon Gervin's visit

Detroit Cass Tech four-star Kalon Gervin did not make it out to Blacksburg two weekends ago and now may not make that official visit before he announces on Dec. 2. He is open to visiting after he announces, but I would count it unlikely he would announce for Virginia Tech without officially visiting first. More on Gervin's plans in the Around the Midwest feature below:

https://virginiatech.rivals.com/news/midwest-spotlight-latest-news-on-region-s-biggest-names

Thinking out loud on potential bowl destinations

Miami's loss means the ACC Championship game loser is out of the CFP (and therefore in the Orange Bowl). Notre Dame's loss means they likely won't make a New Year's Six bowl, putting them in the ACC's bowl selection process. Even though they're going to lose - as they do in big bowls - the Irish are probably selected first available because of the fanbase's ability to fill a stadium and garner TV ratings. VT would probably be the next team picked, with a full game better record than the next-closest (NC State) and a bigger national brand for the ticket/TV ad sales.

If Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Penn State make the CFP, Rose Bowl (they're locked into those two) and also the Orange bowl (a possibility, though I'm not sure how likely - Ohio State winning the conference championship game likely knocks the conference out of the CFP and therefore Penn State out of a second New Year's Six bowl, whereas Wisconsin winning the conference championship game might be a big enough hit to knock Ohio State out of the New Year's Six while Penn State goes to the Rose Bowl), the ACC will have a team in the Citrus Bowl because that's the ropes of taking on a Big Ten team in the Orange. Otherwise (what I think is most likely) it will send its top non-Clemson/Miami team to the Camping World Bowl in Orlando.

The next three teams go to some combination of Belk Bowl (Charlotte), Sun Bowl (El Paso), Pinstripe Bowl (NYC), and Music City (Nashville) OR Taxslayer (Jacksonville). They're technically all on even footing, so they can pick any ACC team they want as long as that school's willing to strike a deal to head to that game. I would be pretty surprised if VT went to the Sun Bowl, but the rest of them are all pretty reasonable.

You have recruiting implications in each (least of those in New York or Nashville, but still a bit), pretty decent "vacation" reward for the players in pretty much just Jacksonville this time of year, get in front of decent stadium crowds in most, and the biggest TV crowds in TaxSlayer and Music City. All that leads me to believe that VT goes to Jacksonville if they have the opportunity, but it remains to be seen if they'll get that first choice. (Of course, if the Camping World has an ACC slot available and doesn't take Notre Dame, VT would jump all over that).
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