NCAAF · 3 months ago

5 Most Overrated Teams in the College Football Playoff

TJ Inman

Host · Writer

James Madison Dukes - #12 Seed
The James Madison Dukes squeaked into the College Football Playoff as the 12th seed thanks to the implosion of the ACC, which allowed the Sun Belt Champion to rank as the fifth-highest conference champion. Under the current rules, they deserve to be in the College Football Playoff, but let’s not pretend the Dukes have a great resume or a team capable of competing for a national title. JMU has a bottom third passing offense and they have only played one power conference team all season, a 28-14 loss to Louisville in a game that was not particularly competitive. Oregon might be resting its starters early in the second half of this first-round contest.

December 20 - James Madison at Oregon (-21.5)

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Ohio State Buckeyes - #2 Seed
The Ohio State Buckeyes might be the best team in the country, but I believe the Georgia Bulldogs have a better resume and should be the second seed, not the Scarlet and Gray. As a result, they lead this list as the highest-ranked "overrated" team. Georgia is 12-1 and the SEC Champion with wins over ranked teams Tennessee, Ole Miss, Texas, Georgia Tech, and Alabama, and they avenged their only loss of the campaign with a dominant performance in Atlanta over the Crimson Tide. Ohio State has been dominant, but they've done it against an easier slate than what Georgia has faced, and they don't have the distinction of being a conference champion. Again, the Buckeyes have as good a chance as anyone to win the National Championship, but they should be the third seed and not the two seed.

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Ole Miss Rebels - #6 Seed
The Ole Miss Rebels are 11-1 and narrowly missed out on a trip to the SEC Championship. The Rebels have wins over ranked teams Tulane and Oklahoma, with the road victory in Norman being the highlight on the resume. The offense has been the team's strength, but things are in flux after head coach Lane Kiffin bolted for LSU and took some of the offensive staff with him. Ole Miss has not been particularly stout on defense, and now the offense has a giant question mark as it tries to deal with a new head coach and the loss of its play-caller. The Rebels got a sweetheart first-round draw as they get a rematch with Tulane, a team they already crushed in Oxford once this season.

December 20 - Tulane at Ole Miss (-17.5)
Tulane Green Wave - #11 Seed
The Tulane Green Wave know that head coach Jon Sumrall is on his way to Gainesville to lead the Florida Gators as soon as they complete their season. They won the American Athletic Conference Championship and secured the Group of Five spot in the College Football Playoff. Still, the resume is not that of a team that is remotely capable of competing. The Green Wave has blowout losses to Ole Miss and UTSA (48-26) and gave up 32 points to Memphis and 24 points to Florida Atlantic. The passing offense is not going to scare Ole Miss, and they don’t have the athletes to slow down the Rebels on defense. Several times this season, Sumrall has publicly called out his team's deficiencies (young, inexperienced, mistake-prone, sloppy), but they deserve credit for emerging as the AAC champ.
James Madison Dukes - #12 Seed
The James Madison Dukes squeaked into the College Football Playoff as the 12th seed thanks to the implosion of the ACC, which allowed the Sun Belt Champion to rank as the fifth-highest conference champion. Under the current rules, they deserve to be in the College Football Playoff, but let’s not pretend the Dukes have a great resume or a team capable of competing for a national title. JMU has a bottom third passing offense and they have only played one power conference team all season, a 28-14 loss to Louisville in a game that was not particularly competitive. Oregon might be resting its starters early in the second half of this first-round contest.

December 20 - James Madison at Oregon (-21.5)

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Ohio State Buckeyes - #2 Seed
The Ohio State Buckeyes might be the best team in the country, but I believe the Georgia Bulldogs have a better resume and should be the second seed, not the Scarlet and Gray. As a result, they lead this list as the highest-ranked "overrated" team. Georgia is 12-1 and the SEC Champion with wins over ranked teams Tennessee, Ole Miss, Texas, Georgia Tech, and Alabama, and they avenged their only loss of the campaign with a dominant performance in Atlanta over the Crimson Tide. Ohio State has been dominant, but they've done it against an easier slate than what Georgia has faced, and they don't have the distinction of being a conference champion. Again, the Buckeyes have as good a chance as anyone to win the National Championship, but they should be the third seed and not the two seed.

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5 Most Overrated Teams in the College Football Playoff

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