Part of the picture will have become clear 36 hours earlier, when the Pac-12 Championship will have been decided between No. 5 Utah, the team immediately ahead of the Sooners in the CFP rankings, and No. 13 Oregon.
The Utes (11-1) are in the catbird’s seat right now, with the best path to the No. 4 spot of anyone other than Georgia. All it would take, in the minds of many, both experts and non-experts alike, who are weighing in on what the final makeup of college football’s version of the basketball Final Four will be this season is a Utah victory over underdog Georgia and for LSU to prevail over Georgia in the SEC showdown.