Rhett Lashlee - 'Case is closed' for No. 8 SMU to make playoff - ESPN

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — SMU coach Rhett Lashlee said Friday the Mustangs' No. 8 ranking in the latest College Football Playoff selection committee rankings is the reason they should make the 12-team field, no matter what happens in the ACC championship game.

The Mustangs face No. 17 Clemson (9-3) on Saturday night with an automatic playoff berth on the line. SMU (11-1), in its first year in the ACC, was the only team to complete league play 8-0.

«The reason I know we should be in is because the committee has ranked us in. They've said we're good enough,» Lashlee said during an ACC championship game news conference. «The regular season is complete. All 134 teams have played their regular season. It is over.

»The case is closed on that, and they said you're the eighth-best team in the country. They said you're better than two other teams that are currently in the field for an at-large. You're better than them. Those teams didn't earn the right to play in a conference championship game, and we did. So I don't get how you could punish anybody for that."

Selection committee chair Warde Manuel left wiggle room Tuesday when asked directly whether SMU could fall behind No. 11 Alabama (9-3) with a loss and he responded, «potentially yes.»

«They can move above teams, as well. Again, it just depends on the outcome of the game,» Manuel said.

Manuel also said the teams that are not playing Saturday are essentially locked in and cannot move up or down. He said the teams playing in their championship games will be moved.

«If the team ranked No. 9 can't jump the team ranked No. 7 because neither of them played, then there's no way the team ranked ninth or 11th can jump the team ranked eighth or fifth or whatever because they are playing this