Well, the football committee has released the college football playoff rankings after week 14 and it is giving some idea of how the 12-team field could look like. The SEC seems to be in a strong position with possibly four teams getting in and the Big Ten could be on a similar trajectory. As for the rest, a lot will depend on how the championship games will unfold, and while there will be many factors at play, one more crucial component could have a say.

This season the CFP post-season games will be held on campus and hence weather could be a big factor according to analyst David Pollack. The first round, scheduled for December 20-21, 2024, will be hosted by the higher-seeded teams at their campus sites or another venue designated by the hosting team.

Highlighting the implications of this shift, particularly for SEC teams, Pollack warned that home-field advantage will be affected by weather conditions. “It really does now with home-field advantage because, remember, northern teams have to come south, and southern teams have to come north, and that is a big deal. Everybody who knows that, like throwing the football, is not as easy in the north. It’s not much fun; the ball gets hard. It gets harder to throw it. It gets harder. That is a big deal,” Pollack said on his YouTube channel on Tuesday.

Pollack has a point to make. The geographical differences between the northern and southern teams will play a critical role once the playoff picture is clear. The cold air reduces ball flight, affecting field goals and punts. Windy conditions also make special teams plays all the more challenging. If it is raining or snowing, it can favor teams with a strong running game. This could prove to be detrimental to Southern teams, which are often built around speed and high-tempo offenses.

At the moment, the three SEC teams that have a high chance of getting into the playoffs are the Texas Longhorns, the Georgia Bulldogs, and the Tennessee Volunteers. The Longhorns took a leap in week 14 with a dominating 17-7 victory over their rivals, Texas A&M. At the same time, the Bulldogs maintained their momentum and defeated their rivals, Georgia Tech, 44-42 in an overtime game. But will they suffer because of weather conditions?

Historically we have seen how Southern teams traveling to Notre Dame in November have struggled due to the cold weather.  To elaborate on the difficulty, let’s take you back to when Bama played LSU this season. Although it wasn’t snowing like how it did when the Cleveland Browns hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL a few weeks ago, it was still chilly, and both offenses needed to adapt.

Well, in such cases, what is most crucial for an offense is to have the right weapons for any in-game changes or to tackle extreme weather. What did Bama do? They didn’t throw a lot and just let Jalen Milroe run it. And what a terrific job he did.

Who is expected to get an advantage due to the weather? Well, among the no. 5 to no. 12 teams, it’s going to be Ohio State if they don’t drop out further down. Moreover, one of Penn State and Oregon will also be in the mix to host a game in the first week of the playoffs. On the other hand, a team like Tennessee may have to do the traveling up north.

It would be far worse for southern teams in extremely cold weather conditions in the north. They may have to rely heavily on the run game. Pollack is not the only one who thinks weather can play a huge role. Legend Nick Saban thinks the same moving forward; let’s see what his major rule for playing in cold weather is.

Nick Saban’s rule for playing in cold weather

College football is reaching its peak, and extra factors are going to play a significant role. While Big Ten teams may benefit from the weather, SEC teams need to work harder on their plans to tackle weather conditions. Saban needs no introduction, but despite achieving great success as a head coach, Saban is not strange to the cold weather.

He appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show” and shed light on a rule he had for his players, specifically when they play in cold weather. “The weather impacts the game when it’s cold. The ball is harder to throw, catch & hold onto.” Talking about how he handled such situations during his tenure as a coach he said, “I had a rule that if you were a ball handler or ball carrier, you couldn’t wear sleeves. I always thought that the sleeves made it slicker & you’d be more susceptible to turnovers.” 

His rule might have put players in discomfort, but ball security is important. Coming back to the CFP 2024, it will be interesting to see how Kirby Smart, Steve Sarkisian, and other Southern coaches tackle the cold weather conditions up north.

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