By: Charlie Moon

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Misinformation, lies, rumors, conspiracy; goodness knows we’ve heard those words all too often the last decade or so, especially the last few weeks.

People try to figure out if what they’re seeing or reading is really true or not. In the end, let’s be honest, most people end up gravitating to the words, opinions and stories that only tell them what they want to hear anyway. They stake their public stances that come from the person, leader or coach that they already claim.

It doesn’t matter if their coveted leader says, “Cats are now the ones really in control of interest rates” or ”I heard that people in California are now going to have to all raise their own cows, because all dairy and beef products have suddenly become nuclear-reactive to the interior steel of grocery store trucks.”

Ahhhhh, and you thought I was talking about politics? The truth of the matter is, the same can be said for sports journalists and prognosticators. Anyone who props up their team is a genius and those that dare negate them are just morons.

Well, some of you will think I’m an idiot after reading this today. Here’s my stake on what the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff will look like.

Coming into this season I thought, like many, this would be the most intriguing college football season ever.

We got expanded conferences. Now, we have The Red River Rivalry showcasing the SEC? We got old school Rose Bowl matchups all season like the Penn St – USC game.

Look, I get it. NIL and the transfer portal have forever changed the game. And like I thought, it looks like the portal is doing more damage than anything.

Here’s a reminder of what the field of 12 will consist of.

The obvious is this, a combination of five conference champs and seven at-larges get in.

Here’s where the misnomer comes in. Most folks think the highest ranked non-Power 4 conference champ is in. That’s not quite true, although it may work out that way.

Actually, the champs of the 5 highest ranked conferences are in. The next 7 highest-ranked teams get at-large bids.

Let’s go.

The easiest thing is, the Power 4 conferences will assuredly be the SEC, Big Ten, ACC and Big 12, in no particular order.

Let’s start there, the current top 5 conferences.

SEC Champ will be UGA. Okay, okay. Some like to call me a homer, but sorry. When I’m at the tailgate, I speak my heart for sure. But when I’m on the job, it’s about business.

Texas will lose to UGA next week and on the road at either Texas A&M or Arkansas.

UGA runs the rest of their slate, while Bama loses at LSU.

That leaves the sneaky Bayou Bengals running my slate clean. UGA beats LSU in the conference championship.

Big Ten Champ will be Ohio St. Yes, they lost to Oregon but will take down the Ducks in a Big Ten conference title rematch game.

The ACC will be Miami once they beat Clemson in the ACC title game. In this season’s College Football Preview, I predicted the Canes to be a dark-horse playoff team, so I’m sticking with them.

The Big 12 will perch the Iowa State Cyclones under the sneakiest, best Head Coach in college football, Matt Campbell.

Next up is a tough one. I think Boise St is definitely the best team outside these top 4 conferences but remember the guideline – “top 5 conferences.”

There is no “top ranked team outside the Power 4” like most think. That said, part of the conference rankings are quantified by the human playoff committee.

I think Conference USA easily tops the Mountain West with Army, Navy and Tulane besting the Mountain West’s top 3 of Boise, San Jose and UNLV.

In the end, I think the committee will hoist Boise, as they rank the Mountain West over the AAC.

Last, we got the next highest-ranked teams. Simple, here’s who I see as the at-larges: Texas, Alabama, Oregon, Indiana, Tennessee, Penn St, LSU.

Happy hunting everyone.