Every morning, FPI imagines 20,000 college football worlds that could unfurl themselves over the weeks between now and the College Football Playoff selection via its simulations. Here’s a fun one.
Pac-12 Double Up!
Simulation No.: 2803 CFP
Teams: Utah, USC, Alabama, Michigan
There are precisely 23 simulations where Utah and USC both earn a berth to the playoff, an absolute coup for the conference. Incredibly, this happens despite Utah losing to Oregon before going on to beat an otherwise undefeated USC in the Pac-12 title game.
So how do a two-loss conference champion Utah and one-loss non-champion USC both reach the playoff? Mayhem elsewhere. Texas is a three-loss Big 12 champion, Georgia is a two-loss non-champion and Clemson is a two-loss ACC champion.
Would a two-loss champion Clemson get in over a two-loss champion Utah? It might! But in simulation 2803 the committee was swayed by the Utes.
espn.com article