3 teams that could crash the 2015 College Football Playoff
The inaugural College Football Playoff was not without controversy, even though it was put in place to do away with a system rife with it.
Defending national champion Ohio State enters the upcoming season as the heavy favorite to repeat, but that still leaves three playoff spots to project.
Many familiar programs will be in the running for those spots, including Alabama, Auburn, Baylor, TCU, and USC. But which under-the-radar teams have a chance to move up and into the playoff?
Here are three teams that could crash the second edition of the College Football Playoff.
Notre Dame
The Irish have been the talk of the offseason, with just about everyone in and around the game clamoring for the committee not to consider Notre Dame for a playoff spot if it doesn't join a conference.
But Bill Hancock, the executive director of the College Football Playoff, sees a road by which an independent can qualify.
"They have the ability to craft their schedules to fit their needs. If their need and goal is to be in the playoff, then they're in the same boat as everybody else," he said. "You better play a good schedule if you want to be in the playoff."
The Irish went undefeated in the 2012 regular season en route to playing in the national title game. Had the touchdown in Tallahassee counted last season, they would have started 7-0. Now they'll field what may be the most talented squad of the Brian Kelly era.
Boise State
Boise State put together about as quiet a 12-2 season as possible in 2014.
The Broncos have lost running back Jay Ajayi and quarterback Grant Hedrick, but the other nine offensive starters return, as do most of the team's top playmakers on defense.
Head coach Bryan Harsin isn't buying the long odds attached to his team's chances of qualifying for the playoff.
"I don't think that's a pipe dream," Harsin said. "I know what other people think. Here's the thing, I still think college football is the greatest sport and most exciting for that reason, that you give a team like Boise a chance."
Tennessee
Winning a Power Five conference goes a long way toward impressing the College Football Playoff selection committee.
Someone has to represent the SEC East in the conference title game, and it would be interesting to see how the committee would handle a team from the East beating a juggernaut from the West.
One of the teams that can rise up and emerge from the East is Tennessee, which has the tools to employ a dynamic offense, led by junior quarterback Joshua Dobbs.
After taking over the starting quarterback job in the second half of 2014, Dobbs ran for 468 yards and eight touchdowns in six games, including a 166-yard, three-touchdown effort against South Carolina.