Clays Travis's Starting 11: Georgia Dominates And Oklahoma Puts Itself In The Playoff Edition

Chaos didn't quite arrive in Aggieland on Saturday, but it came pretty damn close to arriving.

When Texas A&M was down 30-3 at the half — and some of us were brilliant enough to take the Aggies to win the game in the live gambling lines at halftime — it looked like everything might be setting up for a crazy day in the SEC.

But then Marcel Reed and the Aggies delivered a master-class comeback and battered Aggie syndrome was nowhere to be found. (Although the goal line play call on third down was maybe the dumbest play call I've seen this year.)

Yes, I know, Oklahoma took advantage of Alabama's turnovers to win a huge game at Bryant-Denny Stadium, but by the time Georgia dominated Texas there weren't really any seismic earthquakes in the playoff race.

And the biggest battle that may well emerge in the playoff rankings is the SEC looks strongly positioned to notch five spots, up from three last year, and the rest of the power conference teams in college football also look like they will get five spots.

I'll break all that down for you below.

But, man, what a fun day of games it was, starting with the epic Aggie comeback.

It's time for a playoff edition of the Starting 11.

1. Let's talk the SEC playoff picture

There are six teams alive for the playoff in the SEC.

Texas A&M, Georgia, and Ole Miss are, I think, comfortably in barring catastrophic out-of-conference losses from Georgia to both Charlotte and Georgia Tech and from Texas A&M to both Samford and Texas. (I don't know what a double parlay of Samford and Charlotte to win would pay, but I think it would make you Biff from "Back to the Future 2" rich.)

So these three teams are basically in.

Yes, even if Ole Miss lost the Egg Bowl, I think the Rebels would be in.

Oklahoma is in if the Sooners win out and beat Missouri and LSU both in Norman.

Alabama is in if the Tide beat Eastern Illinois and then win at Auburn. (We'll talk more about an Iron Bowl for the ages below.)

TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA - NOVEMBER 15: Ty Simpson #15 of the Alabama Crimson Tide throws a pass while under pressure from Kobie McKinzie #11 of the Oklahoma Sooners during the second quarter of a football game at Bryant Denny Stadium on November 15, 2025 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Photo by Butch Dill/Getty Images)

Vanderbilt finishes with Kentucky and Tennessee, but if the Commodores win both these games and everyone else wins out, it's possible 10-2 Vandy would get left out of the playoff as the sixth SEC team. (We could actually end up with a 10-2 Vanderbilt vs. 10-2 Notre Dame debate at that point.)

Now I still think the odds of there being six 10-2 or better SEC teams is low — someone will lose one or more of their remaining games — but you can see a scenario where, if all the favorites win out that one 10-2 SEC team, unfortunately probably Vanderbilt, could be left out of the playoff.

But, again, I just don't think the odds of that happening are very high.

I still think if you get to 10-2 or better in the SEC you're going to be in the playoff.

It's far less significant now, by the way, but the SEC title game playoff picture is also a bit messier right now.

We could still end up with four one loss teams, in fact that's probably the odds on favorite outcome right now: Ole Miss, Alabama, and Georgia are favored to finish 7-1 in the SEC — in fact Georgia has already done it — and Texas A&M could too if the Aggies lost to Texas to end the regular season.

Without diving into the specifics of the SEC tiebreak rules, I'll just presume no matter what happens, Alabama wins all tiebreaks in the SEC rulebook and will be in the SEC title game if they beat Auburn.

But I'm not sure who their opponent would be.

2. The Big Ten still has five teams alive for the playoff

Ohio State, Indiana and Oregon are in right now and Ohio State and Indiana are playoff locks.

Oregon still has games against USC — which is a default playoff game for USC and maybe for Oregon too — and Washington.  

Michigan, by virtue of a final play field goal against Northwestern, and USC, by virtue of a 21-7 comeback in LA against Iowa, are both still alive for the playoff too.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - NOVEMBER 15: Jordan Marshall #23 of the Michigan Wolverines runs with the ball for yardage against Garner Wallace #18 and Carmine Bastone #1 during the second half of a college football game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Wrigley Field on November 15, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. The Michigan Wolverines won the game 24-22. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)

Both teams would have to win out and then would get tossed into the mix with other 10-2 playoff teams.

One debate that could arise, if USC beat Oregon next week, are we sure the Ducks are in the playoff? I know Oregon is highly ranked, but they don't have any current top 25 wins and wouldn't finish with any if they lost to USC. I think it's possible a 10-2 USC team would get in over 10-2 Oregon.

A 10-2 Oregon against 10-2 Notre Dame debate?  

As for USC and Michigan, both teams are still alive for the Big Ten title as well. In fact, if both teams win out, USC would win a tiebreak over Michigan and Ohio State, I think, and play Indiana for the Big Ten championship.  

3. The Big 12 will likely be a one playoff bid league, but Texas Tech, BYU and Utah are all going to have solid resumes

Texas Tech is in the Big 12 title game and has two weeks to prepare for a game at West Virginia.

BYU plays at Cincinnati this coming weekend and if the Cougars win, then they are likely set for a title game rematch between BYU and Texas Tech in the Big 12 title game.

The winner of this game, clearly, would be in the playoff.

But the 11-2 loser would get tossed into the playoff at-large mix.

Again, I'll discuss below, this could be the year where there are a ton of two loss teams in the playoff mix and the committee actually has to make some tough calls.

4. The ACC will almost certainly be a one playoff bid league

Georgia Tech survived an upset bid from Boston College, but the wheels on the Ramblin' Wreck are looking wobbly as we come down the stretch run of the season.

Right now there are four one-loss teams in the ACC — Georgia Tech, Virginia, Pittsburgh, and SMU. (Virginia actually lost to North Carolina State earlier in the year, but it wasn't counted as a league game. Yeah, crazy).  

CHESTNUT HILL, MA - NOVEMBER 15: Malachi Hosley #0 of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets celebrates his touchdown with Malik Rutherford #8 during the first half against the Boston College Eagles at Alumni Stadium on November 15, 2025 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo By Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

Georgia Tech and Pitt play on Saturday in a playoff elimination game. If Georgia Tech wins, then the Yellow Jackets are in the ACC title game, if Pitt wins then the Panthers get Miami on the final weekend of the season for a chance to advance to the ACC title game.  

Meanwhile, Miami is still FIFTH in the league and loses the tiebreak to SMU in the event both teams finish with two losses.

If Virginia wins in two weeks against Virginia Tech, then the Cavaliers are in the ACC title game.  

Is all of this confusing?

It gets crazier. There's a scenario where the ACC doesn't even get a single playoff bid at all — and a second small conference team does instead — but we'll wait until we see what happens this coming week to even break that scenario down.

5. 10-2 Notre Dame to the playoff deserves more debate than it's going to get

Especially if Miami also finishes 10-2.

How would Notre Dame deserve to get in over Miami when the two teams finished with the exact same record and Miami beat Notre Dame head-to-head?

Now it's very possible this issue resolves itself and Miami loses road games at Virginia Tech or Pitt to finish the season, but if both Miami and Notre Dame end 10-2?

I posted the question for you guys, here were the results:

Now you can argue there's going to be several 10-2 teams to consider, but at some point most of the debate comes down to a couple of teams.

The easiest way to resolve this would be for Miami to simply win the ACC and get the automatic bid, but if you look at the standings, I think the Hurricanes are likely to miss the ACC title game.

Which means we could have a big pool of two-loss teams in search of at-large playoff bids: Notre Dame, Miami, Alabama, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, the Big 12 title game loser, Oregon, USC, Michigan. Just trust me, this could get really tough for the committee.  

6. The SEC's schedules ended up WAY imbalanced this year

Going to nine games is important because it will help to balance this out in the years ahead, but Texas A&M is the best example of a schedule breaking very favorably for a team.

The best example of this, as many of you argued obsessively in my mentions on Saturday, is that Texas A&M still hasn't played a top half team in the SEC this year. Their seven wins are Auburn, Mississippi State, Florida, Arkansas, LSU, Missouri and South Carolina.

Auburn, Mississippi State, Florida, Arkansas, and South Carolina have a combined five wins in the SEC this year.

I know Texas is still on the schedule, but the Aggies have avoided Georgia, Ole Miss, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Vanderbilt. That is, every SEC school with two or fewer conference losses.

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 15: Cashius Howell #9 of the Texas A&M Aggies reacts during the fourth quarter against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Kyle Field on November 15, 2025 in College Station, Texas. (Photo by Maria Lysaker/Getty Images)

All of these other top schools have played each other at least once.

And Alabama, for instance, played Georgia, Oklahoma, and Vanderbilt. Georgia played Ole Miss, Alabama, Texas and Tennessee.  

Now, to be fair, Aggie fans are screaming that they played, and won, at Notre Dame, which is certainly a top opponent too, but I do think the schedule imbalance this year has ended up being fairly significant in the perception of A&M.

And it's yet another reason why the nine-game conference schedules will largely end this issue, since everyone will play everyone every two years.

But my big take on this? If you're 7-0 in the SEC, you've played, and beaten, a ton of talented teams.

And A&M, for instance, still has a tougher schedule, I think, than Ohio State has played this year.  

You want to talk about uneven schedules, the Big Ten's top teams barely played.

7. Kalen DeBoer's heading to Auburn for the biggest game of his Alabama coaching tenure

After week one's Florida State loss, Alabama fans were willing to kick DeBoer to the curb.

But DeBoer, to his credit, strung together a series of big game wins — including a win at Georgia, which is probably the best road win any team has posted so far this year in college football.

But Alabama hasn't been dominant against their SEC opponents.

The Tide can't run the football this year and lots of teams have hung around against them this year, change a few plays here and there and Alabama could have lost to Georgia, Vanderbilt, Missouri, Tennessee, South Carolina or LSU.

TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA - NOVEMBER 15:  Head coach Kalen Deboer of the Alabama Crimson Tide reacts against the Oklahoma Sooners during the third quarter at Bryant-Denny Stadium on November 15, 2025 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

That is, these weren't Nick Saban-level dominations of conference foes, the kinds of victories where the other team had no real shot to win. Yes, they were wins, but they were close games, all of them, which could have turned out like Oklahoma did, as losses instead.

I think that's because the conference, talent wise, has largely caught up with Alabama.

The SEC has become more like the NFL, where the difference between the top and bottom of the league just isn't that substantial.

Heck, look at what South Carolina did to both Alabama and Texas A&M.

You can argue that the Gamecocks should have won both of these games, yet South Carolina is just 1-6 in conference this year.

All of that is prelude to this, Auburn's season has stunk. It's been one of the most disappointing seasons on the Plains in history. The Tigers have fired their coach, they've only won a single SEC game. The only thing that could give them any redemption at all? Ruining Alabama's entire season by winning the Iron Bowl.

And now that's all in play.

Lose to Auburn and Alabama misses the playoff for a second straight season, misses the SEC title game, and DeBoer goes 9-3 in each of his first two regular seasons.

I'm not saying Alabama would fire him, but it would be a TOUGH offseason for DeBoer, and he would enter season three with a mandate of playoffs, or you're fired.

And if he stumbled at all, he might not finish the season.

But beat Auburn and the Tide will head to Atlanta, potentially notch an SEC title and a playoff bye into the second round. Alabama might be able to even win a national title in a year where there really doesn't appear to be any truly dominant team.

These are HUGE stakes.

Which is why the Iron Bowl in two weeks will be the biggest game of Kalen DeBoer's Alabama coaching career so far.

8. The Heisman looks like Fernando Mendoza's to lose

We're down to three major contenders based on the oddsmakers:

Fernando Mendoza +100
Julian Sayin 2-1
Marcel Reed 5-1
Diego Pavia 20-1
Gunner Stockton 25-1
Haynes King 27-1

So if you took the bet, what will happen first, the University of Tennessee has a player win the Heisman trophy or a guy named Fernando wins the Heisman trophy, you are about to cash a big winning ticket.

Congrats.

Also, I mentioned last week that the Heisman got a pinprick of the attention that it used to and I cited the playoff as a big reason why.

I actually think another big reason is the gambling markets. You can see the odds there and often the gambling markets have the winner as a huge favorite. So the drama of who is going to win is lost that way too.

The end result is the Heisman gets a fraction of the media attention it used to command.  

9. What does Vegas think of the top playoff contenders?

Ohio State +185
Indiana 5-1
Texas A&M 8-1
Notre Dame 9.5 to 1
Georgia 10-1
Oregon 13-1
Texas Tech 14-1
Alabama 16-1
Ole Miss 17-1
Oklahoma 30-1
Miami 60-1
Utah 70-1
Vanderbilt 75-1
USC 80-1
Michigan 125-1
BYU 125-1
Georgia Tech 200-1

The most interesting thing about these odds, at least to me, is the drop-off outside the top ten.

10. My Outkick Top Ten

Okay, Buckeye fans, after A&M's performance against South Carolina I'm dropping the Aggies to fourth and elevating your beloved team to first place.

You can frame this ranking, I know it has meant a lot to you.  

As always, I only rank teams based on what we've seen on the field, not what we expected to see.

I've bumped Georgia up because the Bulldog team we have seen the past two weeks has been absolutely dominant.

1. Ohio State
2. Georgia
3. Indiana
4. Texas A&M
5. Ole Miss
6. Texas Tech
7. Oregon
8. Oklahoma
9. Alabama
10. Miami

11. SEC power rankings 1-16

Vanderbilt's in an interesting spot here. They need to beat Kentucky, yes, but they also probably need Tennessee to beat Florida, so they have a top 20 match-up to close out the season.

By the way, how much different does the SEC playoff picture look right now if Tennessee's kicker doesn't choke at the end of the Georgia game? Good luck trying to figure out who gets in and who gets left out among 10-2 Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, and Oklahoma with all four of these teams having beaten each other, except for Georgia, who would be 0-2 against this bunch but have a win over Ole Miss.  

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey might need to send Tennessee kicker Max Gilbert a Christmas card this year.

1. Georgia
2. Texas A&M
3. Ole Miss
4. Oklahoma
5. Alabama
6. Texas
7. Vanderbilt
8. Missouri
9. Tennessee
10. LSU
11. Kentucky
12. Florida
13. Mississippi State
14. Auburn
15. South Carolina
16. Arkansas