Top 25: Fatal flaws for every College Football Playoff team? — SkimNews
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- College Football Playoff inaugural rankings contain 25 teams, each assigned a potentially fatal flaw; the analysis says at least 24 will either fall short of a CFP berth or fall short in the playoffs.
- Miami Hurricanes opened the rankings at No. 1 (8-0) with an SP+ offense ranked first, but their defense has allowed 31 points per game and 6.6 yards per play over the past three games; pass-defense QBR allowed ranks 120th.
- Georgia Bulldogs rank No. 2 and first in SP+, pairing a fourth-ranked offense with a second-ranked defense, yet have fumbled 14 times—tied for 126th nationally—with eight of those fumbles in their last three games.
- Utah Utes rank No. 3 with success rates ranked 10th on offense and 15th on defense, but opponents gain at least 20 yards on 6.5% of plays and on 19.1% of completions; the source says those big plays create easy points and make three or four playoff wins difficult.
- Indiana Hoosiers rank No. 4 behind a No. 1 SP+ defense, but quarterback Josh Hoover completed 36 of 77 passes for 46.8% and 5.9 yards per dropback over the past three games after opening with 68%, 17 touchdowns, no interceptions and 9.6 yards per dropback in his first six starts; he was benched in the Minnesota win, and the offense has not cleared 16 points in regulation across those games.
- Alabama Crimson Tide rank No. 5 after averaging 49.6 points in their first five games, but Keelon Russell’s interception rate rose from 1.9% in wins to 3.4% in losses, his sack rate from 7.4% to 13.2%, and his yards per dropback fell from 9.7 to 4.8; LSU creates more negative plays than anyone.
- Texas Longhorns rank No. 7 behind a defense allowing a nation-best 4.0 yards per play and 1.1 points per drive, but Arch Manning made devastating late mistakes in two losses and again against Ole Miss; his Total QBR is 64th as he throws too many picks and takes too many sacks.
Why it matters: Georgia’s No. 1 SP+ résumé is undercut by 14 fumbles, while Miami’s No. 1-ranked SP+ offense is paired with a defense allowing 31 points per game over three games. For CFP selectors, Indiana offers the starkest résumé-versus-playoff split: its No. 1-ranked defense now supports an offense that has not reached 16 regulation points in three straight games.
Ask SkimNews
