The Twelve Days Before The College Football Playoff. Day 2: SEC vs. Pac-12 Conference

Game number one of the 2016-17 College Football Playoff will be the #1 Alabama Crimson Tide (13-0), a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), vs. the #4 Washington Huskies (12-1), a member of the Pac-12 Conference, at 3 p.m. Eastern Time on December 31st in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. The game will be played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, and can be seen televised on ESPN.

This story will explore the likelihood of which team can win between the two teams in the above stated bowl game matchup. And to do that we need to look at what has already happened between the two conferences this season.

The SEC already has a two-to-nothing lead over the Pac-12 in the season series between the two conferences (at least in college football).

In those games, in the first game of the season for both teams, #1 Alabama defeated #20 USC 52-6 on Saturday, September 3rd, at a neutral location (Arlington, Texas). Alabama had 465 total yards while USC had a measly 194 total yards. Alabama turned the ball over twice while USC had just one turnover.

The other SEC vs. Pac-12 game that took place was also on Saturday, September 3rd, in which unranked Texas A&M defeated #16 UCLA 31 to 24 in overtime. UCLA had more total yards than Texas A&M 468 to 442. UCLA turned the ball over three times while Texas A&M only did it twice.

But is two games really enough to determine who might win between Alabama and Washington? Well, it might be.

However, I was thinking of something different. The indirect-direct connection between Alabama and Washington is linked in one game between two Pac-12 teams that might be the final nail in the proverbial coffin for Washington. Note that I already mentioned Alabama played USC in the first game of the season.

On Saturday, November 12th, #20 USC went to #4 Washington and won 26-13. USC had 400 total yards while Washington had 276 total yards. USC and Washington both had two turnovers.

I’m not sure that briefly analyzing three games is enough to determine a winner for one important game with weeks to prepare. So, here are the other clues that I found:

On Saturday, November 19th, #13 USC went to unranked UCLA and won 36-14. USC had 527 total yards while UCLA had 266 total yards. USC had two turnovers while UCLA had zero turnovers.

On Saturday, October 22nd, #6 Texas A&M lost 33-14 at #1 Alabama. Texas A&M had 278 total yards while Alabama had 451 total yards. Texas A&M and Alabama both had two turnovers.

The Average Scoring Statistics in the five games that are mentioned above are as follows:

Average Points For: Alabama 42.5, Texas A&M 22.5, UCLA 19, USC 38, Washington 13

Average Points Against: Alabama 10, Texas A&M 28.5, UCLA 33.5, USC 26.33, Washington 26

Average Scoring Differential: Alabama +32.5, Texas A&M -6, UCLA -14.5, USC +11.67, Washington -13

The Average Total Yards Differential in the five games that are highlighted above between the SEC and Pac-12 are as follows: Alabama +222, USC +38, Texas A&M -99.5, UCLA -117.5, and Washington -124.

To be fair to Washington, all of the numbers I have mentioned so far in this story have been based only on the one game they happened to lose. So let’s briefly look at Alabama and Washington’s total offense and defense for the entire season.

Alabama’s average offense is 471.3 total yards per game. The average defense is 247.8 total yards per game. The average differential is +223.5 total yards per game.

Washington’s average offense is 477.2 total yards per game. The average defense is 316.2 total yards per game. The average differential is +161 yards per game.

I also would like to point out the nonfactor-factor in this season’s College Football Playoff. It might have some credibility as a FACTOR because it is a Power Five Conference: The Big 12 Conference.

The SEC was 1-1 vs. the Big 12 while the Pac-12 was 3-0 vs. the Big 12 during the regular season:

SEC vs. Big 12

Saturday, September 3rd: Missouri 11, West Virginia 26

Saturday, September 10th: Arkansas 41, #15 TCU 38 (2 Overtimes)

Pac-12 vs. Big 12

Friday, September 2nd: Kansas State 13, #8 Stanford 26

Saturday, September 10th: Texas Tech 55, Arizona State 68

Saturday, September 17th: #11 Texas 43, California 50

The Big 12 Conference was on the road for all three of those games they lost to Pac-12 teams.

The Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl will be the only head-to-head bowl game meeting between the SEC and the Pac-12 Conference. Alabama will have a huge unofficial home-field advantage with the bowl game being played a long ways from the state of Washington.

In tomorrow’s (Wednesday's) story, I will highlight the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) vs. the Big Ten Conference.