Bellinger to Yankees? Ohtani to Dodgers? Best fits for the top 7 free agents
The day after the Texas Rangers won their first World Series title in franchise history, 130 players became free agents as baseball’s offseason season began.
While this year’s free-agent class doesn’t have as many big names as last year’s — when players such as Aaron Judge, Jacob deGrom, Justin Verlander, Carlos Correa, Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts and Dansby Swanson were on the market — one of the best, and most coveted, players in the game, Shohei Ohtani, headlines this year’s group.
Who are the other free agents to watch as the hot stove season begins? We asked ESPN MLB experts Bradford Doolittle, Buster Olney, Jeff Passan and David Schoenfield to give their best fits — or the pairings they would most want to see — for the biggest free agents this season.
Shohei Ohtani, SP/DH (29 years old)
Doolittle: Los Angeles Dodgers. All along I’ve thought he’s going to sign with the Dodgers, and I suspect that is the strongest possibility. The Dodgers went a little light on maximizing their roster last year in order to stay flexible enough for this pursuit. So I’m going to go with them, though I could see the San Francisco Giants or Seattle Mariners, or even the Rangers, leaping into this race. But I just think the Dodgers are the perfect fit for Ohtani, with their history of working with starting pitchers, the availability that they have at the designated hitter slot and the fact they always win — not to mention the continued visibility for Ohtani in the L.A. market. In terms of money, there isn’t an offer that the Dodgers can’t match.
Olney: Dodgers. A friend of Ohtani said he believes Ohtani already knows where he wants to sign. He’ll go through the process — standing back as his agent negotiates and works to goose the final numbers — but in the end, Ohtani will drive this thing. So maybe the bidding doesn’t matter that much, so long as the team he wants to play for steps up with a decent offer. And my guess is that’ll be the Dodgers. One person in the Dodgers’ organization said president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman is “obsessed” with Ohtani and that Friedman will put L.A. in position to land him. Ohtani would make the most sense, at this moment, for the Rangers — they have a blank checkbook and the time to let him heal as a pitcher — but I think Ohtani picks Southern California, again.
Passan: Dodgers. If there is a chalk pick to make, this is it, though I offer it with a low degree of confidence because there are plenty of viable suitors for Ohtani. The New York Mets have the owner most willing to spend money. The Giants have the greatest need for a franchise player. The Boston Red Sox are looking to overhaul their roster, and adding the best player in baseball certainly would do that. The Rangers would love to add to their championship squad. The Toronto Blue Jays and Chicago Cubs have the money and the need. Even though Ohtani won’t pitch in 2024 because of elbow surgery, the sheer number of options will make him the first $500 million player in North American professional sports history.
Schoenfield: Rangers. Look, we don’t know yet if Ray Davis is the type of owner to push the pedal to the metal and go even higher on his payroll, but I just wanted to type out this potential lineup:
2B Marcus Semien
SS Corey Seager
DH Shohei Ohtani
RF Adolis Garcia
CF Evan Carter
3B Josh Jung
1B Nathaniel Lowe
C Jonah Heim
LF Wyatt Langford
That could be the first 1,000-run lineup since Cleveland in 1999. The Rangers would soar past the luxury tax in 2024, but Martin Perez ($19.65 million), Brad Miller ($4 million), Mitch Garver ($3.9 million), Ian Kennedy ($2.25 million), Robbie Grossman ($2 million) and Jake Odorizzi ($2 million) are off the books. That’s almost $34 million. Max Scherzer (they’re responsible for $23 million of his salary), Nathan Eovaldi ($17 million) and Andrew Heaney ($13 million) are free agents after 2024 (Eovaldi has a vesting option), so the Rangers will be looking for rotation options anyway for 2025, when Ohtani would pitch again. But that lineup would be absolutely spectacular.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, SP (25)
Doolittle: Red Sox. Yamamoto is picking a perfect time to come over. Everyone got to see him in the World Baseball Classic, and that was impressive enough, but then he put up a 1.16 ERA over 171 innings in Japan this season while allowing just two home runs. He played in a league with a much lower homer rate than MLB, but that’s still sick. On top of all that, there are a lot of teams in need of a top-of-the-rotation starter. One of those teams is the Red Sox, whose new GM, Craig Breslow, is a former MLB hurler and whose rookie left fielder last season was Masataka Yoshida. As recently as 2022, Yoshida was the top hitter on the Orix Buffaloes. The top pitcher on that team? Yamamoto, of course.
Olney: New York Yankees. You might have heard that they had a down year in 2023, and if you look back at GM Brian Cashman’s history, whenever he gets into trouble, he has the same reflex — he grabs for pitching, perhaps believing it provides the best and quickest jolt. After a rough 2008, he coaxed Hal Steinbrenner into paying record-setting money for CC Sabathia, and then he did the same after the Red Sox won in 2018, landing Gerrit Cole. And my bet is that with the back end of the rotation thinned out, New York will make a move on Yamamoto.
Passan: Yankees. While it’s true the Yankees have a full rotation already, with Cole, Carlos Rodon, Nestor Cortes, Michael King and Clark Schmidt, the prospect of adding Yamamoto is too tempting to pass up. It’s not just that they’ve had great success with Japanese pitchers — such as Hiroki Kuroda and Masahiro Tanaka, the latter of whom is perhaps the most comparable to Yamamoto in age and success when he came to MLB — but the Yankees need to get younger, and they would be getting a prime-aged player without having to trade away any talent. Building around starting pitching is not the sort of strategy most modern teams embrace, but with a weak class of bats, it’s the best option for the Yankees.
Schoenfield: Mets. New president of baseball operations David Stearns played it down the middle in his introductory news conference, saying the goal is to make the team as competitive as possible in 2024 “while understanding that the long-term goal and the way to win a World Series is to have a truly sustainable competitiveness.” Yamamoto fits both criteria: He can help immediately — and the Mets need starters after trading Verlander and Max Scherzer — and he’s young enough to anchor the rotation for years to come. The Mets had great success with Kodai Senga in 2023, and Yamamoto is even better.
Doolittle: Yankees. They are the perfect fit, both for Bellinger’s swing and in terms of positional need. Bellinger is a lefty-swinging pull hitter, too aggressive to be called a pure take-and-rake guy, but the Yankees need some of that. He very much fits their mold, except that he also happens to be an exceptional athlete. You start an outfield with Bellinger and Judge, you’re most of the way there to an elite, two-way outfield (one eventually bolstered by the return of Jasson Dominguez, though perhaps not next season). Someday, when needed, Bellinger can shift back full time to first base and remain the right two-way player in the right ballpark. And on top of everything, Bellinger’s father, Clay, played for the Yankees during the Joe Torre era. Nothing but fit in this pairing.
Olney: Giants. He makes a ton of sense for the Yankees, for sure, as a left-handed hitter who has played and thrived in big markets, in L.A. and Chicago. They wouldn’t have to worry about whether he could handle the pressure of New York, and whether he’ll turn into another version of Joey Gallo. But he has had such a long history of peaks and valleys, and if the Yankees choose to dole out one big contract, my guess is it’ll go to a pitcher — their investment in a left-handed hitter will be more short term. The Giants want a star and are prepared to go above and beyond to make that happen, and they could sell Bellinger to their fans as a headliner, a former MVP taken away from their division rival. Bellinger goes for the biggest dollar here and in the end, that could be the team that has had trouble getting stars to take its money.
Passan: Giants. Farhan Zaidi, San Francisco’s president of baseball operations, has a history with Bellinger: He was the Dodgers’ general manager when Bellinger debuted and won Rookie of the Year. But this is less about shared experience than pure need. One look at the Giants’ offensive production last year and it’s clear they could use as much help as possible. After two brutal seasons, Bellinger spent this past season with the Cubs looking like his 2019 MVP self. Most telling: His strikeout rate dropped from 27.6% to a career-low 15.6%. In addition to his home runs, stolen bases and solid defense in center field and first base, Bellinger is the sort of all-around player around whom the Giants can build if they don’t win the Ohtani sweepstakes.
Schoenfield: Seattle Mariners. This is a long shot given their reluctance to sign free agents under president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto, but they have to be looking at the Rangers and thinking, “We have to spend some money if we want to compete with them” (and the Houston Astros). The Mariners need a left-handed, middle-of-the-order bat and, after ranking second in the majors in strikeouts, perhaps one that puts the ball in play. Bellinger did that in 2023, striking out just 15.7% of the time. He could replace Teoscar Hernandez in right, giving the Mariners a stellar defensive outfield, or play first base, allowing Ty France to slide into a DH role the Mariners have had trouble filling in recent years. Obviously, he comes with a large degree of risk given what he hit in 2021 and 2022, but some mechanical tweaks certainly helped, and that contact rate is a good sign for future productivity.
Doolittle: Philadelphia Phillies. Nola didn’t have the best platform season, though he did perform well enough in the playoffs. His track record remains top of the charts in terms of durability and volume, qualities that should attract plenty of attention in the market. His numbers were worse in 2021 than they were in 2023 but, in between, he enjoyed a 2022 season that was pretty close to Cy Young-caliber. So he has some variance in results even as the metrics on his pitches remain steady, meaning I think you pay him to be more a 2-3 pitcher than a 1-2, staff-saver type. And it’s hard to see a team where he fits better than the one with which he has been since being drafted seventh overall by the Phillies in 2014. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has said retaining Nola is a priority, and that’s a big reason I think he eventually stays put after a little spin around the free agent market.
Olney: Phillies. Owner John Middleton has demonstrated he’ll go above and beyond for the Phillies family, and Nola is family. Knowing that Zack Wheeler will be a free agent after next season will also nudge the Phillies’ offer to Nola, and I don’t think he’s worth more to any team than he is to the team that drafted him. I don’t think the offers in free agency will be as robust as maybe some expect, and in the end, the Phillies will pay him well to stay home.
Passan: Atlanta Braves. Atlanta will prioritize starting pitching in free agency — as it should, with Kyle Wright out for 2024 following shoulder surgery and Charlie Morton’s team option declined. Adding Nola to a rotation with Spencer Strider and Max Fried would make for a 1-2-3 punch worthy of the Braves’ lineup. Nola certainly fits what the Braves prioritize in starting pitchers: low walks, high strikeouts, lots of innings. And while his 2023 left plenty to be desired, his expected numbers weren’t nearly as rough as his 4.46 ERA. Nola has never been a stuff guy, so in order for him to age gracefully, he’ll have to rely on control and command. And going from a catcher with some of the worst framing numbers in baseball in J.T. Realmuto to a team with two elite framers in Sean Murphy and Travis d’Arnaud will only behoove him.
Schoenfield: Cubs. We know that when players reach free agency, the vast majority of them end up signing with a new team. It’s hard to imagine the Phillies not finding a way to re-sign Nola, but maybe they believe they have enough rotation depth with the emergence of Cristopher Sanchez — and they might be looking to pour big money into re-signing Zack Wheeler after 2024. The Cubs, meanwhile, are ready to make a big push for a division title after just missing a wild-card spot. Their rotation was 14th in the majors in ERA, and Marcus Stroman exercised his opt-out clause, so they have to replace him. Nola’s track record of health, durability and results makes him a pretty safe bet, even if he didn’t have his best season in 2023. That was mostly due to a spike in home run rate, and his strikeout-to-walk rate remains exceptional.
Doolittle: Milwaukee Brewers. Chapman is a fit for a lot of teams — the Cubs, Mariners, Blue Jays, perhaps Yankees. Because of that and a relative scarcity of top position players in this year’s free-agent class, he should make out well. Milwaukee is an upset pick, but I love the fit. Chapman would give the Brewers someone capable of hitting in the middle of the order while actually improving an already-airtight defense. The Brewers are rich in young position players, but Chapman wouldn’t really be blocking anyone in the system. I could see him playing across from Christian Yelich at some point if Yeli is moved to first base to make space for the Brewers’ surfeit of outfielders. As for the money, obviously there is a price point to which the Brewers aren’t likely to go. But a few years ago, they were ready to make a dual splash when they acquired (and paid) Yelich and Lorenzo Cain at the same time. This is a team trying to get over the hump, and landing Chapman is a good way to move in that direction.
Olney: Cubs. There is a ton of concern in the industry about Chapman’s slide after a hot start and his struggles against fastballs, so it’ll be interesting to see if he gets any big, big offers. Rival executives predicted Kris Bryant would get under $100 million, and he wound up getting more than double that number from the Colorado Rockies, making you wonder if there’s some team that’ll bet really big that Chapman’s offense comes back. His defense provides a strong baseline of performance, and if you added him to an infield with Swanson and Nico Hoerner, that would make free agent pitchers dream of taking the mound for the Cubs. I’m guessing Chicago.
Passan: Mets. Third base has been a bugaboo for New York since David Wright’s retirement, and with Brett Baty perhaps not the solution and no third basemen in the Mets’ system near big league-ready, Chapman solves an immediate and clear problem. Further, Stearns long prioritized infield defense in his previous job with Milwaukee, and for all of the warranted concerns about Chapman’s bat, his glove remains tip-top. The Mets have plenty of holes to fill, yes, and they’re not likely to go on a spending spree like they did last offseason. Chapman would provide a solid addition to a team that’s far closer to being good than its record last season indicated.
Schoenfield: Arizona Diamondbacks. I’d be wary of Chapman given his second-half slide (.663 OPS), concerns about declining bat speed (he had only one extra-base hit to the pull side against pitches 95 mph or faster) and defensive metrics that, while still above average, aren’t as elite as a few years ago. The one contending team with an obvious hole at third base is the Diamondbacks. They ranked 27th in the majors in OPS at third base and got little from Evan Longoria or backup Emmanuel Rivera in their postseason run (.200/.237/.255). They could slide top prospect Jordan Lawlar over there, but I don’t know why you would move him off shortstop (a trade of Geraldo Perdomo seems more likely if Lawlar is ready). Chapman fills a need and has averaged 3.8 WAR the past three seasons.
Doolittle: St. Louis Cardinals. I’m fascinated by the comparison of free agents Snell and Jordan Montgomery, two lefties who are almost the same age (Monty is 23 days younger) and go about things very differently. The Cardinals have said that landing veteran starting pitching is an offseason priority. While going after Montgomery, with whom they are so familiar, makes sense, Snell might be the better pursuit because he’s a pure power pitcher with the kind of strikeout rate the St. Louis staff desperately needs. Snell, coming off a likely Cy Young Award win, will have a robust market, and perhaps the Cardinals are something of an upset pick here. But I’m going with it.
Olney: Yeah, I agree with Brad: Cardinals. St. Louis is desperate for help and seems to be more likely to overpay and overlook possible concerns, like Snell’s walk rate. Other teams will be scared away by some of the peripheral numbers, but the Cardinals aren’t really in position to turn their noses up at a left-hander who has won one Cy Young Award and will soon win another — not when there are so many empty slots in their rotation.
Passan: Phillies. If Nola leaves, the Phillies are unlikely to go into next season without addressing their rotation. And while they could do so via the trade market — Tyler Glasnow would be a pretty great fit, as would Shane Bieber — getting someone like Snell, whose strikeout and weak-contact rates align well with the Phillies’ below-average defense, fits quite well. Add in the fact that the Phillies boast a deep bullpen, and it allays fears that Snell not going deep into games is problematic. Philadelphia isn’t scared of high-walk pitchers — especially if they have the stuff and the ability to limit damage like Snell does, with the second-highest strikeout rate and fourth-lowest homer rate among starters in 2023.
Schoenfield: Dodgers. They have seen plenty of Snell in recent years, and he has a 2.59 ERA against them in 13 regular-season starts — and that doesn’t include his infamous World Series start in 2020. With the news that Clayton Kershaw will undergo shoulder surgery and be sidelined until next summer (he’s a free agent but said he wants to keep pitching), the Dodgers’ rotation is in even more disarray than it was in the postseason. They need starters. Snell’s year-to-year inconsistency and durability can be frustrating, but the upside — one Cy Young Award with a second on the way — is so high that the Dodgers should be willing to take the gamble. Sure, Ohtani would be the dream, but you can make the case that with Ohtani’s pitching future uncertain, maybe they should spread their money out to a couple of starting pitchers this offseason.
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Jordan Montgomery, SP (30)
Doolittle: Rangers. Montgomery fit so well with Texas, and developed such a quick and close relationship with catcher Jonah Heim, it’s really hard to envision him wanting to leave the world champions. But of course, free agents do leave good spots all the time because it usually comes down to the best offer. The Rangers are willing to spend but the thing is, by next October they could have a rotation that has Scherzer, deGrom and Nate Eovaldi. That could push someone even as good as Montgomery, who pitched so well in this year’s postseason, into the fourth role. Also, even with the Mets picking up a sizable chunk of Scherzer’s tab, Texas is already committed to a lot of money in its rotation. But keeping Monty is too good to pass up. Let’s say the Rangers get back to October. They could have Scherzer, deGrom and Eovaldi lined up, with Monty and Jon Gray in hybrid roles behind them and — just maybe — Josh Hader waiting at the back of the bullpen. Get used to those parades, Arlington.
Olney: Rangers. For many years, the owner who was most willing to spend from his personal fortune — rather than within the revenue constraints of the team — was the Detroit Tigers’ Mike Ilitch, and then in recent years, that has been the San Diego Padres’ Peter Seidler and the Mets’ Steve Cohen. Quietly, the Rangers’ Ray Davis has joined that group. At 81 years old, he has decided he wants to win baseball championships, and he’s doing everything he can to make that happen. Like signing Marcus Semien and Corey Seager for a half-billion dollars. Like outbidding the rest of the industry for deGrom by about 80%. Like giving up a top prospect to deal for a future Hall of Famer in Scherzer at the deadline. Montgomery thrived with Texas after joining them from the Cardinals, and he seemed to really enjoy working with pitching coach Mike Maddux and manager Bruce Bochy, winning a championship. It seems inevitable that the Rangers will give the lefty whatever he needs to re-sign.
Passan: Red Sox. They want to win now, and while they have spent some in free agency in recent years — Masataka Yoshida and Trevor Story were nine-figure signings — they have no money committed to starting pitching beyond this season. Not only is Montgomery a veteran of the AL East, having come up with the Yankees, he more than proved himself a playoff-capable pitcher, helping lead the Rangers to a World Series title this year. Boston’s new chief baseball officer, Breslow, made his mark with the Cubs as their director of pitching, and he knows if the Red Sox are to improve, complementing their strong bullpen with an equally robust rotation is a good place to begin.
Schoenfield: Cincinnati Reds. I’d put the Rangers as the favorite here, too, but file this one under the category of, “They could really use him and it would be fun to see.” Yes, the Reds never spend in free agency (except for that one offseason when they signed Nick Castellanos and Mike Moustakas), but they have an exciting young core and a super inexpensive roster — one in need of a veteran guy like Montgomery who can chew up innings. Hunter Greene, Brandon Williamson, Andrew Abbott, Graham Ashcraft and Nick Lodolo all have intriguing upside, but none of those players have proven they can make it through a full season and remain effective at the same time. The Reds ranked 25th in rotation ERA and could use a stabilizing presence on the mound. Do I expect the Castellini family to spend? Of course not. But Reds fans can hope for a surprise.
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David Hale
The first College Football Playoff rankings came out five weeks ago. They looked a lot like tonight’s rankings.
We’ve had precious little movement at the top, with a few teams jockeying up or down a slot, but effectively no seismic shifts in the landscape. BYU and Texas are the only two teams that were projected in the field in the committee’s first ranking that aren’t now — and they’re just barely on the outside with reasonable arguments for inclusion.
Teams ranked in the top 18 by the committee this year are a combined 55-9, with six of those losses coming to other teams ranked in the top 18. All three outliers are courtesy of — you guessed it — the ACC (Louisville to Cal, Virginia to Wake and Georgia Tech to Pitt).
That’s a massive anomaly. Last year, top-18 teams at this point had lost 19 games, including 14 to teams outside their own grouping. Top-10 teams are 33-4 this year. In the first 11 years of the playoff, top-10 teams had lost an average of nine games by this point in the season.
The two words that best describe this year’s playoff push are “status quo.”
That, of course, has been bad news for all the teams on the outside looking in — from those with valid cases such as Miami, BYU and Vanderbilt, to underdogs such as USC, Utah or Arizona that might’ve had a shot in a more chaotic year.
But the real loser in this copy and paste rankings season is all the fans who just want to see things get weird. It’s a sad state of affairs when we’re left to rely on MACtion and the ACC to do all the heavy lifting when it comes to college football drama. The power players need to step up — or, perhaps, ratchet down — their game to add a bit more drama.
The good news is, the committee’s ad hoc reasoning, mushmouthed explanations and mind-boggling about-faces still leave plenty to argue about, even if the big picture hasn’t changed all that much.
Here’s this week’s biggest slights, snubs and shenanigans.
It’s not entirely clear how this committee values wins. For the past month, the priority has certainly appeared to be about which team has the better losses (unless, of course, you’re Alabama).
That seems a foolish way to prioritize playoff teams, since the goal of the playoff isn’t to lose to good teams but to win games.
Does Texas have a bad loss? Yes. A 29-21 defeat to woeful Florida — even if the Gators also played Georgia and Ole Miss close and just walloped a team that beat Alabama head-to-head — is problematic.
But look who Texas has beaten: No. 7 Texas A&M by 10, No. 8 Oklahoma by 17 and No. 14 Vandy by three (in a game they led by 24 in the fourth quarter). That’s the résumé of a team capable of winning a national championship — even if the Horns were also capable of losing to a second-rate SEC team.
Are we trying to find teams with the most upside or give participation trophies to the ones which have not lost an ugly one? (Except, again, Alabama.)
And it’s not as if the committee believes an extra loss is disqualifying. Oklahoma, Alabama, Notre Dame and Miami all have two losses and are ranked ahead of one-loss BYU (more on that in a moment), so what’s the harm of moving a three-loss Texas ahead of a two-loss team that has accomplished less?
This all comes back to the most frequent and justified criticism of the committee: The same rules aren’t applied evenly. In some cases, record matters. In some cases, best wins matter. In some cases, better losses matter. The standard varies based on the team being considered. But if the committee is going to err in favor of any team, it should probably do so for one that’s proved — not once, not twice, but three times — that it can beat an elite opponent.
Oh, and moving Texas up ahead of, say, Notre Dame would also have the added bonus of allowing the committee to sidestep another tricky situation. Which leads us to…
We’re putting these two teams together because we’ve already lamented the committee’s utterly disingenuous evaluation of them repeatedly, so it feels redundant to keep going down the same rabbit hole. But, for the sake of two programs being astonishingly misevaluated, let’s do one more round.
For Miami, the logic is obvious: The Canes beat Notre Dame head-to-head.
But let’s keep going. Miami’s two losses — SMU and Louisville — would rank as the fourth- and fifth-toughest games on Notre Dame’s schedule, had the Irish played them. Instead, Notre Dame has cruised through an essentially listless slate. Six of Notre Dame’s 10 wins came against teams that beat zero or one other Power 4 opponent. Stanford — seriously, Stanford! — is Notre Dame’s fourth-best win (by record). Yes, Notre Dame played well enough in losses to two very good teams, but one of those teams has the same record and is somehow ranked lower! Even if this is strictly about the “eye test,” there’s little argument for ignoring the head-to-head outcome. Notre Dame’s strength of record is 13th. Miami’s is 14th. Notre Dame’s game control is fifth. Miami’s is sixth. If all else is the same, how is head-to-head not the deciding factor?
Yet, here’s a little more salt in the wound for the Canes: Had Florida State finished 6-2 instead of 2-6 in ACC play, Miami would’ve won the (fifth) tiebreaker for a spot in the ACC title game and could’ve locked up its place in the playoff by simply beating Virginia. Instead, the Canes will sit at home and watch and hope and, at this point, probably get left out. Chess, not checkers, by rival FSU.
As for BYU, the committee’s desire to overlook the Cougars makes no sense. Let’s take a look at a blind résumé, shall we? (Note: Best wins and composite top 40 based on an average of SP+, FPI and Sagarin ratings.)
Team A: No. 6 strength of record, No. 14 game control, best win vs. No. 11, next vs. No. 28, loss to No. 5, four wins vs. composite top 40, five wins vs. teams that finished 7-5 or better
Team B: No. 7 strength of record, No. 10 game control, best win vs. No. 13, next vs. No. 27, loss to No. 7, three wins vs. composite top-40, two wins vs. teams that finished 7-5 or better
Now, just based on that information, Team A would seem the obvious choice. Now what if I told you Team B just lost its head coach, too?
That’s right, Team A is BYU and Team B is Ole Miss. Every bit of data here suggests the Cougars are, at worst, on even footing with the Rebels or ahead, and yet the committee has Ole Miss ranked five spots higher.
This is, arguably, the second year in a row in which BYU was clearly the most overlooked team in the country.
A week ago, Notre Dame was ranked one spot ahead of Alabama.
Then on Saturday, the Irish beat 4-8 Stanford by 29 (in a game they at one point led 42-3), while Alabama beat 5-7 Auburn by seven (in a game the Tigers had a chance to tie before fumbling in Tide territory late).
The committee looked at those two results and said, “You know what, we like what we saw from the Tide! Move ’em up!”
What could possibly be the logic for shifting opinions on these two teams? The only other team that jumped another winning team was Texas, and the Longhorns beat the No. 3 team in the country emphatically, not a second-tier team that fired its head coach a month ago.
Oh, and hasn’t the committee made it pretty clear losses are supposed to matter? Well, Notre Dame has two losses to teams ranked in the top 12. Alabama got beat by a Florida State team that finished 5-7.
Even by the eye test, this makes little sense. Notre Dame has proved to be one of the most complete, dominant teams in the country, with a secondary that’s near impossible to throw on, a rookie quarterback who has been nearly flawless and a running back who might well be the best player in the country. Alabama, on the other hand, has a one-note offense that can’t run the football.
We’re not believers in using advanced metrics as a ranking of accomplishment, but if this is simply a “who’s better” debate…
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SP+ ranks Notre Dame fifth and Alabama 12th.
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FPI ranks Notre Dame third and Alabama sixth.
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Sagarin ranks Notre Dame second and Alabama seventh.
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FEI ranks Notre Dame fourth and Alabama ninth.
So, again, we ask: Why would the committee possibly make this change?
We’d wager you know the answer. That sticky Canes vs. Irish head-to-head debate is a real headache for the committee. But if Notre Dame’s currently the last team in and something unexpected happens this weekend (hello, BYU over Texas Tech), then the committee can do as it did in 2014 and wash its hands of a tough choice and keep both Notre Dame and Miami out.
(It’s also interesting that a seven-point win over a team with a losing record is enough to jump Notre Dame, but a 31-point win over a ranked Pitt did nothing for Miami’s relative placement with the Irish despite — and we’re not sure anyone has mentioned this yet — a head-to-head win!)
But, speaking of Alabama…
4. Championship game participants
Step into the time machine with us for a moment, all the way back to championship week 2024. Here’s the state of play: Alabama, at 9-3, is ranked No. 11, the first team out of the playoff and also out of the SEC title game. Still, the Tide and the SEC hope there’s a pathway to salvation because SMU — 11-1 and ranked eighth — still has a game to play against Clemson in the ACC championship. If the Mustangs were to lose, couldn’t the committee then justify slotting SMU behind Alabama based on another data point, even though the Tide were simply sitting at home watching the action?
This was the case being made throughout the run up to the ACC championship last season. SMU, which should’ve been celebrating a miraculously successful first season in the Power 4, spent hours upon hours defending itself against criticism that it didn’t belong in the same conversation with big, bad Bama. Rhett Lashlee hinted he thought the committee’s vote was rigged, SMU players lamented their status on the chopping block despite a ranking that should’ve put them safely in the playoff field, and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey made the rounds arguing that Alabama’s (and Ole Miss’ and South Carolina’s) strength of schedule ought to put them ahead of SMU (and others).
OK, back to the present day. Here we are with Alabama sitting perilously on the dividing line between in the field and out — a week ago, it would have been the last team in, but of course the committee had other ideas this time around — with a game to play against Georgia in the SEC championship. An ACC team (Miami) sits just a tick behind the Tide in the rankings, but it will be off this week.
So, what happens if Alabama loses?
The comparison to last year’s SMU isn’t even a particularly fair one. The Mustangs were at No. 8 before the ACC title game. Alabama is at No. 9 (and probably should be a spot or two lower). SMU’s game against Clemson was new territory. A loss to Georgia will actually undermine Alabama’s best argument for inclusion — the three-point win in Athens in September. And while SMU did make the playoff field last year, a last-second loss on a 56-yard field goal still dropped the Mustangs from No. 8 to No. 10 in the rankings.
Play this scenario out now: Alabama, ranked at No. 9, plays a team that currently counts as the Tide’s best win. Imagine if Georgia wins the rematch and does so convincingly. The committee docked SMU two spots for a last-second loss, so surely it will do at least that much to Alabama for a more convincing defeat, right? And here’s the other thing: Even with the ACC title game loss last year, SMU was 11-2 — one less loss than Alabama had. A Tide loss in the SEC title game will be defeat No. 3 — one more than Notre Dame or Miami or (presumably) BYU.
It’s hard not to see a conspiracy here given the committee’s inexplicable flip-flop between Alabama and Notre Dame. It’s hard not to see brand bias in how the Tide’s championship week narrative diverges from SMU’s a year ago. It’s not at all hard to envision a scenario where Alabama loses to Georgia, gets in as the last team anyway, and it’s all explained away as a completely reasonable decision.
Well, the committee finally weighed in on more than one team outside the Power 4 — mostly because it was just impossible to find enough Power 4 teams worth ranking — and the news isn’t good for JMU. With the committee deciding already that North Texas is the higher ranked team, the Dukes’ only hope for the playoff would seem to be a Duke win in the ACC title game.
But what exactly has the committee seen to warrant that decision? Check out the numbers.
Best win (by average FPI, SP+ and Sagarin ranking)
JMU: No. 54 Old Dominion
UNT: No. 62 Washington State
Next best
JMU: No. 62 Washington State
UNT: No. 68 Navy
Loss
JMU: No. 29 Louisville
UNT: No. 24 USF
Wins vs. bowl-eligible
JMU: six
UNT: five
Strength of record
JMU: 18th
UNT: 22nd
FPI
JMU: 28th
UNT: 37th
There are certainly some check marks in North Texas’ favor, including a more impressive win over common opponent Washington State and a slightly better SP+ ranking, but on the whole, James Madison has had the tougher path here. That can change should UNT beat Tulane, but the committee should’ve waited for that to happen. Instead, it has made it clear JMU isn’t sniffing the playoff unless it comes at the expense of the ACC.
Also angry this week: Vanderbilt Commodores (10-2, No. 14); The ACC leadership who voted on its tiebreaker policies; Manny Diaz, who has to try to make a coherent argument for his five-loss Duke Blue Devils getting in ahead of a one-loss JMU; Every 8-4 team with a markedly better résumé than 9-3 Houston, which isn’t ranked this week; and Lane Kiffin’s yoga instructor and Juice Kiffin’s dog walker.
Welcome to the party, James Madison.
With the inclusion of JMU at No. 25 in the selection committee’s penultimate ranking — its first appearance all season — the possibility of the ACC being excluded from the playoff entirely just got real. Five-loss Duke is nowhere to be found in the ranking.
If Duke beats Virginia in the ACC championship game, it’s not guaranteed a spot in the 12-team field. It could open the door for two Group of 5 conference champions to compete for a national title, and if the playoff were today, it would be Tulane out of the American and JMU from the Sun Belt. The ACC’s best team, Miami, is still on the outside.
At No. 12, the Hurricanes still need some help, but Alabama increased its chances of earning a spot as the SEC runner-up with a small promotion to No. 9. The conference championship games can still alter the picture, but hope on the bubble is dwindling.
Bubble Watch accounts for what we have learned from the committee so far — and historical knowledge of what it means for teams clinging to hope. Teams with Would be in status below are looking good after the committee’s fifth ranking. For each Power 4 conference, we’ve also listed Still in the mix. Teams that are Out will have to wait until next year.
The conferences below are listed in order of the number of bids they would receive, ranked from the most to least, based on the selection committee’s latest ranking.
Jump to a conference:
ACC | Big 12 | Big Ten
SEC | Independent | Group of 5
Bracket
SEC
Would be in: Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Texas A&M. Right now, the Crimson Tide are the last SEC at-large team in the field. Alabama will face Georgia in the SEC championship game, but the committee could have a difficult decision if Alabama loses and finishes as a three-loss runner-up. The Tide would have defeated Georgia during the regular season but lost to the Bulldogs in the championship game. Even in moving up a spot to No. 9 this week — ahead of Notre Dame — it still seems as if they have a little more margin for error, but how the SEC title game unfolds could matter. And how far Alabama drops could determine if the SEC gets four or five teams in the field. Alabama could finish as the committee’s highest-ranked three-loss team and still be excluded from the playoff to make room for a conference champion — as they were last year.
A Georgia win should lock up a first-round bye and a top-four finish for the Bulldogs, while a loss should still put them in position to host a first-round game. Georgia beat Ole Miss, so it would be surprising to see the Bulldogs drop below the Rebels with a loss, even though the Bulldogs would have one more defeat. With a 35-10 drubbing of Texas also on its résumé, Georgia would still have a strong enough case to finish as the committee’s top two-loss team.
At No. 6, the selection committee moved the Rebels up one spot, so clearly the departure of coach Lane Kiffin to LSU didn’t hurt Ole Miss or its chances of hosting a first-round home game. The bigger reasoning was a promotion after winning the Egg Bowl combined with Texas A&M losing to Texas.
Still in the mix: Texas. The Longhorns moved up to No. 13, but the win against Texas A&M wasn’t enough to put them into the field after the fifth ranking. Texas is stuck behind Miami in part because of its loss to Florida, which Miami beat. Even if BYU and Alabama were knocked out with title game losses, that still probably won’t be enough for Texas to get into the field because the bracket has to make room for conference champions.
Out: Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
Big Ten
Would be in: Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon. Both Indiana and Ohio State are CFP locks — even if they lose in the conference title game — and the runner-up will still have a strong case for a top-four finish and a first-round bye. The loser’s only loss will be to a top-two team, but it could fall behind Georgia in the top four if the Bulldogs win the SEC, and/or Texas Tech if it wins the Big 12.
The Ducks punctuated their résumé with a respectable win at Washington and should be secure in their playoff position, probably hosting a first-round game. Oregon received a small boost to No. 5 after Texas A&M lost to Texas.
Still in the mix: None.
Out: Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, UCLA, USC, Washington, Wisconsin
Big 12
Would be in: Texas Tech. The Red Raiders will play BYU in the Big 12 title game and have a great case to be in the playoff regardless of the outcome. It’s highly unlikely the selection committee would drop the Red Raiders out of the field as a two-loss Big 12 runner-up — especially considering they would have a regular-season win against the eventual conference champion. It’s also possible Texas Tech earns a first-round bye as a top-four seed if the Red Raiders win the Big 12. The committee moved them into the top four Tuesday night following Texas A&M’s loss during Rivalry Week.
Still in the mix: BYU. If BYU doesn’t win the Big 12, it’s unlikely to earn an at-large bid as the conference runner-up because the Cougars are already on the bubble and would be eliminated during the seeding process if the playoff were today. It’s not impossible, though. If Alabama finishes as a three-loss SEC runner-up, it could at least open the door for debate. BYU would have lost to Texas Tech twice, and Alabama would have defeated Georgia, the eventual SEC champ once — and it was on the road. If BYU wins the Big 12, it’s the ideal scenario for the conference because it would have two teams in the playoff.
Out: Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Cincinnati, Colorado, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, UCF, Utah, West Virginia
ACC
Would be in: TBD. The ACC championship game will feature Virginia and Duke, and if five-loss Duke wins, it’s possible the ACC is excluded from the playoff since Duke is not part of the CFP rankings. If Virginia wins, it will represent the league in the playoff, as the two-loss Cavaliers are ranked in the top 20. And no, Miami did not play Duke or Virginia during the regular season. Duke lost to Tulane, which is the top Group of 5 playoff contender and will reach the playoff if it wins the American. Duke also lost to UConn. And it has already lost to Virginia 34-17 on Nov. 15.
Still in the mix: Miami. The Canes are still the committee’s highest-ranked ACC team, but they would be excluded if the playoff were today to make room for a conference champion. That means the ACC winner could knock the league’s best team out of the playoff. The committee isn’t ignoring Miami’s head-to-head win against Notre Dame, but it also isn’t comparing the Canes only to the Irish. Miami also needs to earn an edge against BYU — which the committee has deemed better than Miami to this point. Miami inched closer to Notre Dame because Bama moved up Tuesday, but with neither team playing in a conference championship game, would the committee flip them on Selection Day with a BYU loss?
Out: Boston College, Cal, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, North Carolina, NC State, Pitt, SMU, Stanford, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
Independent
Would be in: Notre Dame. The Irish have done everything right since their 0-2 start, running the table and doing it with consistent dominance regardless of opponent. At No.10, Notre Dame is in a precarious position. If BYU wins the Big 12 and enters the field, that could bump out the Irish. If BYU wins the Big 12, both BYU and Texas Tech are highly likely to make the playoff, which means someone currently in the top 10 would have to be excluded.
Group of 5
Would be in: Tulane. If the Green Wave win the American, they will represent the Group of 5 in the playoff. Tulane is currently the highest ranked Group of 5 team, but if North Texas beats Tulane on Friday, the Mean Green would be the most likely team to reach the CFP, given the overall strength of the American Conference this season.
Still in the mix: James Madison, North Texas. JMU (11-1) has clinched the East Division and a spot in the Sun Belt Conference championship game, where it will face Troy (8-4) on Friday. North Texas will face Tulane in the American, and if it wins, it’s more likely to represent the Group of 5 in the playoff than JMU because of its schedule strength. JMU could still be considered, though, if Duke wins the ACC, giving the Group of 5 two playoff teams in the 12-team field. With JMU earning a spot in the top 25 this week, the situation became more probable.
Bracket
Based on the committee’s fifth ranking, the seeding would be:
First-round byes
No. 1 Ohio State (Big Ten champ)
No. 2 Indiana
No. 3 Georgia (SEC champ)
No. 4 Texas Tech (Big 12 champ)
First-round games
On campus, Dec. 19 and 20
No. 12 Tulane (American champ) at No. 5 Oregon
No. 11 Virginia (ACC champ) at No. 6 Ole Miss
No. 10 Notre Dame at No. 7 Texas A&M
No. 9 Alabama at No. 8 Oklahoma
Quarterfinal games
At the Goodyear Cotton Bowl, Capital One Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl Presented by Prudential and Allstate Sugar Bowl on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.
No. 12 Tulane/No. 5 Oregon winner vs. No. 4 Texas Tech
No. 11 Virginia/No. 6 Ole Miss winner vs. No. 3 Georgia
No. 10 Notre Dame/No. 7 Texas A&M winner vs. No. 2 Indiana
No. 9 Alabama/No. 8 Oklahoma winner vs. No. 1 Ohio State
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