Analyst: Playoff field is set after USC's loss

Utah Utes players celebrate their win over the USC Trojans at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

Fox Sports analyst believes CFP field is set after USC's loss

By Eric Smithling | Last updated 12/3/22

The biggest cheer heard after Utah's dominant win over USC didn't come from Salt Lake City or Columbus, home of the Ohio State Buckeyes. The loudest exclamation came from Fort Worth. That's because -- according to Fox Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt -- TCU secured its bid.

For the record: @AlabamaFTBL has no case to be included in the CFP...The committee has already told us, correctly, that @OhioStateFB is higher and there is no way Bama wins an argument over a 12 win @TCUFootball who also beat Texas in Austin.
— Joel Klatt (@joelklatt) December 3, 2022

USC's loss paves the way for Ohio State to reenter the top four. It also means TCU has more leeway in the Big 12 title game against Kansas State.

Even with a loss against the Wildcats, TCU shouldn't fall behind No. 6 Alabama, Klatt argues.

The committee, he says, already made the call that Ohio State has a better resume than Alabama. While head of the playoff committee Boo Corrigan said that the Buckeyes and Crimson Tide rankings aren't set in stone, it would take extraordinary circumstances for two teams not playing this weekend to swap places.

Ok so Boo backtracked what he said on TV to @ReceDavis and apologized for the confusion. He said that Ohio State and Alabama aren't necessarily locked into their spots.
— Heather Dinich (@CFBHeather) November 30, 2022

LSU would need to keep the SEC Championship Game against Georgia competitive while Purdue would need to beat Michigan. Ohio State's loss by 22 points to Michigan would look even worse and Alabama's one-point loss to LSU -- one of two losses by the Tide this season -- would be more forgivable.

If TCU falls on its face the way USC did Friday night, it will open the door for the first two-loss team to make the CFP. Klatt's argument that TCU was more impressive in its win at Texas than Alabama rings true, but after the committee put Alabama ahead of a Tennessee team it lost to earlier this season, the result between a common opponent might not hold much water.

USC winning its title game, paired with a TCU loss, would have led to a debate between the Horned Frogs and Buckeyes for the fourth seed. The Trojans' loss eliminates that hypothetical discussion.

TCU has one less competitor for a top-four finish but until the Horned Frogs finish the task at hand, the door remains open for Alabama to crash the party.

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