On ESPN’s College Football Live show on Thursday, analysts Emmanuel Acho and Jonathan Vilma discussed a hypothetical College Football Playoff race scenario.
They were asked who would be the four teams that would make the playoff, in the event that Clemson, Notre Dame and Michigan were to all win out, and Georgia were to beat Alabama in the SEC Championship Game.
Acho responded saying the fourth spot would be a “toss up” between an undefeated Clemson and a one-loss Michigan in that scenario.
Said Acho: “If Georgia beats Bama, Georgia’s in. It’s a no-brainer. Anybody that beats Bama deserves to be in. Then Bama, they’re obviously in if their one loss is to Georgia. Give me Notre Dame as well. The toss up is going to be between Michigan and Clemson. Michigan would have one loss, but they have more significant wins. I think at the end, the edge has to go to Clemson if they end up undefeated. Those would be my four.”
Vilma disagreed wholeheartedly with Acho, saying an undefeated Clemson would not be in jeopardy of missing the playoff in that scenario.
“Wow. I don’t understand how an undefeated Clemson is all of a sudden in a race to be in the playoff against a one-loss Michigan. That makes no sense at all,” Vilma said. “It would be between Michigan and Alabama, those two teams. And the reason why is you have undefeated’s. Winning matters, Acho. If you’re undefeated, you’re in.”