Controversial Favoritism Exposed in Josh Pate’s Playoff Prophecy, Big 12 Underdogs Warned of Snub

After getting put on the 13th spot in the college football playoff selection committee's first rankings, SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee's reaction is so generous. "I'm pleased where they put us. I felt like they gave us a lot of respect. I wouldn't have been shocked if they had us at no. 14, 15, or 16. It showed they respected Pitt ahead of time, which means they had them higher than before we beat them." Meanwhile, college football analyst Josh Pate is not finding peace with these rankings, and he sensed a kind of favoritism in these rankings.

On the November 8th episode of Josh Pate's college football show on YouTube, he breaks the bubble on the CFP rankings' first edition. "If SMU stays winning the rest of the way. What if SMU goes to Charlotte, they play Miami, and they lose, and they finish with two losses; one of them was in the conference title game. Are you guys looking at me and seriously saying if SMU were to enter the Conference Championship Saturday ranked 10th, but then they lost their second game, you wouldn't drop them out?"

That is the big question. Ultimately, the losses matter, and Pate isn't going with the current reasoning when it comes to deciding SMU's rank. "I'm openly calling BS on that with the committee. You will have to prove me wrong on that. I think you guys absolutely would drop them out. I'd be happy to be proven wrong. We'll see how many SEC and Big 10 teams are going to make this thing," he said.

Pate gave examples of SEC teams, such as Georgia and Alabama. Georgia is currently holding a 7-1 record and Alabama is at 6-2 but as per Pate, they are not going to get snubbed off from the playoffs. Whereas if a team like SMU holds 8-1 and if they lose another game after losing a nonconference game to BYU, there are major chances that we won't see their name on that list.

However, SMU can avoid another loss, and a lot of it would come down to QB Kevin Jennings' performances, who has been balling so far.

More deets of SMU's game against the Canes as predicted by Josh Pate Although Pate is sensing something fishy about the playoff rankings , in reality, SMU is just a newcomer and currently standing at the doorway to entering the top 12 teams list. Not only that, but it also has the highest playoff rankings the Mustangs have ever gotten. Moreover, SMU's dual-threat quarterback Kevin Jennings is raising eyebrows with his performance.

So far this season, Jennings has passed for 1900 of his 2217 yards offensively and completed 20 of 23 touchdowns with only five interceptions. On top of that, the Mustangs are holding the 7th spot considering their 40.1 points, and they are sitting on 23rd with 446.1 yards per contest.

However, a threat is on their heads with the final weeks' Miami clash. "We're not done. We've not accomplished anything yet, but we've put ourselves in a position where, in the middle of November, we're competing for a conference championship in our first year in the league. I think our players and our staff deserve a ton of credit for that," said head coach Lashlee. With that, it remains intriguing to watch SMU's table-turning game against the Hurricanes, which can make or break their playoff chances.