It was Tulane, not Tulsa, that nearly upset Oklahoma. The name confusion shows how important it is to win and not just to be close. If Tulane had upset Oklahoma, Tulane would have received a tremendous amount of publicity; instead, Tulane is confused with Tulsa after turning in a great effort against the #2 ranked football team.
You are correct. It was Tulane. My bad. They will would be getting confused with Tulsa even had they won. Just how it works.
Alabama smacked Miami. If Miami ends up winning the ACC, and Alabama gets beat by Georgia, it seems that there’s a case for more than one SEC playoff team. FSU, Clemson, Miami and UNC all lost last week. Not a good start for the ACC. And Duke!
Early season losses or close road losses suggest a need for more than four playoff teams.
I said I am fine with 2 teams from the same conference in the playoff. So your scenario with 2 SEC teams in. But the “what-ifs” are discussed every year. Typically not until mid-October though. “We could have 6 undefeated teams and a one loss SEC runnerup all of whom should make the playoff and there will be chaos.” By the end of the season that typically resolves itself. Even more the case when its the second week of the season. We shall see.
In terms of competitiveness, in the NFL the worst teams get the highest draft picks. In college, the best teams get the best recruits. And over the last 10 years or so, recruiting has become much more national. Coaches of the top teams can and do recruit from everywhere in the country. Hidden gems are much less likely to remain hidden.
Transfer portal will likely impact the ability of top teams to stockpile talent. Will be tougher to have 4 5-stars at a given position on the roster (at least more than one year). But at the same time, I expect the transfer portal will enable top teams to fill in unexpected gaps/weaknesses. If someone gets hurt or doesn’t pan out as you hoped, you historically had to move down your depth chart. Now you can do that but also can turn to the transfer portal.
And something with the playoff which I think is a danger is ignorning the results on the field. Game results should matter. But some times people will just say we know Team X or Y is one of the best teams (even though they lost on the field) so they need to make the playoff. Eye test comes with bias and you need to make sure results on the field still have consequences.
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I said lopsided games aren’t very exciting, but I still enjoy watching them win and sometimes you get to see some amazing plays. I am not one of those people that will watch any football game that is on. I will watch Alabama, sometimes I like to watch some of the other SEC games to see how the other teams are performing. I have watched Samford (my alma mater) play when they happen to be on a station we can get (usually when they play a bigger school and get slaughtered). My ex-husband is a Notre Dame fan and my boys like them so I have watched games with them. I will pull for ND since it makes them happy, unless they play Alabama, which means someone in my house will be unhappy.
Towson, Tufts, Tulsa, Tulane, details, details, details.
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A few examples.
This week: Michigan plays Washington, Oklahoma plays Nebraska, Oregon plays Ohio State.
Past week: Bama beat Miami. ND beat FSU. Georgia beat Clemson. UCLA beat LSU. Cal Poly SLO beat USD.
Future weeks: Penn State plays Auburn, USC plays ND, Wisconsin plays ND, Iowa plays Iowa State, etc.
Is it an exhaustive interleague “play list”? No, but IMO, I think you can gather enough info over an entire season to allow more than 2 teams from any one league into a 12-team playoff.
You may be able to gather enough info but I think its more likely you won’t. Particularly if the wins/losses in the interconference games are not consistent. Then you look at injuries and discount early games compared to late season games. And you just get back to the eye test which I think is problematic.
Though at the end of the day, if the Big 12 doesn’t survive and only 4 Power conferences remain, you will have more than 2 teams from a conference making a 12 team playoff.
Tufts is Div 3.
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https://www.si.com/college/2021/09/07/pros-and-cons-for-big-12-contenders-ucf-byu-houston-cincinnati
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As a Houston Cougar alum, this is a very exciting day. It will help UH recruiting, attendance and facilities support plus ability to retain and support women’s sports. It may also help overall admissions applications.
Will the MWC or reconstituted AAC be stronger? Memphis, SMU, Temple and Tulane versus Boise, SDSU, Air Force and Nevada.
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Thank you to everyone who contributed thus far to this thread.
I am looking forward to today’s inter-conference games–especially the University of Washington versus the University of Michigan (ABC TV at 8 EST).
University of Texas at the University of Arkansas should be interesting.
I will not be able to offer any updates on this thread for a few weeks as I will be travelling. Hopefully others will keep the news, thoughts, & opinions coming.
P.S. Any predictions about Notre Dame’s upcoming game ?
Go Rockets, Boilermakers, Badgers, Bearcats, Hokies, Trojans, Tarheels, Midshipmen, Cavaliers, Ramblin’ Wreck and Cardinal, in that order!! 
Safe travels.
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The interesting thing about the ND game is that it’s on Peacock.
Peacock is owned by NBC. ND has been an NBC regular for many years.
Yep, it was a smart move by NBC, like Amazon Prime with some NFL games. I wonder if it being a close game helps or hurts viewership. Maybe this was a wakeup call.
This isn’t going to help the Pac12 with their next TV deal:
The Pac-12 should just stop playing football (except Oregon)
Notre Dame’s loss to Cincinnati has to hurt.
Interesting that conference expansion discussion has quieted down to a whisper.
I did read that Oklahoma and Texas will have a rough 3 years being lame duck teams. Big 12 isn’t going to throw them a goodbye party. Missouri said it was rough on them and they only to do it for one year when they left the Big 12.
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As does Oregon’s loss to Stanford and Clemson’s loss to BC. At the moment, I don’t think Clemson is thinking about joining the SEC. 
The Big 12 is looking pretty good right now, with the future additions of #5 Cincinnati and #10 BYU. Also, Kansas State gave Oklahoma a very close game and Oklahoma State is ranked #12.
And the B1G will have a strong case to make for that next TV contract with 5 teams in the top 11, at the moment.
Last night, I attended the Cal-Stanford men’s soccer game. Wow, that was some poorly played soccer. Pac-12 sports stink.
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