Ad Disclosure
Greg McElroy lists pair of B1G teams as CFP locks entering Week 10
Published:
Greg McElroy is an SEC guy at heart, starring at quarterback at the dawn of the Nick Saban dynasty at Alabama. He bleeds Crimson Tide blood, and that’ll never change because that’s his personal history.
But McElroy is an ESPN college football analyst now, so even when breaking down the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff, it’s time to put personal bias aside and talk about what is reality. And for McElroy, what is reality is that the only Playoff locks from his perspective heading into the first Saturday in November hail from the Big Ten.
Yep, the Big Ten, with no SEC teams being Playoff locks quite yet for McElroy.
“I know nothing in college football is guaranteed. I acknowledge that,” said McElroy on his “Always College Football” podcast on Wednesday morning. “But there are a couple locks right now in college football. There are two (teams) that I think without question are going to the Playoff.”
McElroy began his very short list with Oregon, the No. 1 team in college football that carries a perfect 8-0 record into Saturday’s showdown at Michigan. McElroy talked about how the Ducks even have some margin for error because of their record and standing in the polls this late in the regular season.
“I think Oregon is a lock, so Ducks fans punch your tickets, clear your calendars,” said McElroy. “You got to feel good about that.”
His 2nd and final Playoff lock is Penn State, which is 7-0 and ranked 3rd in the AP Poll going into Saturday’s titanic matchup against No. 4 Ohio State in Happy Valley.
“James Franklin doesn’t lose to teams not named Ohio State and Michigan,” explained McElroy. “So, I think you’re looking at a team that is 10-2 at worst, and at that point they can punch their ticket.”
McElroy reasoned that the Nittany Lions will be sizable favorites against remaining opponents Washington, Purdue, Minnesota and Maryland following the Ohio State showdown, and that will be plenty good enough to get Penn State to the finish line and into the Playoff.