Evaluating the playoff contenders: 8-5

Surveying the rosters for Ole Miss, Texas, Oregon, and Tennessee

Today we continue our series in which I regard my own prognosticated selections for the expanded College Football Playoffs on a criteria designed to differentiate between the strongest tournament teams.

Again, getting to the tournament and winning the tournament are two different achievements. Getting there is about being capable of consistent execution against a prolonged slate of opponents during the grind of a season. Winning in the playoffs is about producing a few peak efforts against an elite and focused opponent.

To oversimplify just a little, running the ball and playing great run defense is exceptionally valuable in the regular season. In the postseason, you need to throw and stop the pass.

In part I the teams under the microscope included Liberty, Texas A&M, Iowa, and USC. Today we move on to the 8-5 seeds. Here’s our criteria…

…let’s begin.