Three-Point Stance: CFB Playoff field, out-of-state grabs, coaches

National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell’s Three-Point Stance is here with an early look at the College Football Playoff Field, some stunning 2021 out-of-state recruiting pulls and some coaches surprising with their team's performance so far.

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FACT OR FICTION: Georgia's offensive recruiting could decline

CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State

CLASS OF 2022 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State

COVERAGE: Rivals Transfer Tracker | Rivals Camp Series

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The College Football Playoff field is set. Yes, even though the Pac-12 just started and the regular season is still weeks away from its conclusion, I believe that we have seen enough. Here's why. Now that Notre Dame has beaten Clemson and we see that Alabama and Ohio State appear to be headed to undefeated seasons, why wait? Just declare these four as the playoff teams and let’s move on.

OK, I don’t really mean move on, because we should have college football every week of the year, but you get my point. And you may be asking some of these questions...

What about Texas A&M? The Aggies look good but they got walloped by Alabama, so they aren’t as legit as their ranking leads you to believe.

What about Florida? The Gators had a big win over Georgia but they lost to the Aggies and if the Aggies aren’t legit, then Florida isn’t. They should make it to the SEC title game, but Alabama will handle them easily.

What about Miami? The ‘Canes got clubbed by Clemson. Do don’t give me any business about not including them. They’re a solid second tier team.

How does Clemson get in with that loss to the Irish? Because it didn’t have Trevor Lawrence against Notre Dame and it will likely win the rematch. And if it doesn’t, I could see a two-loss Clemson team getting in over a two-loss SEC team.

What about Indiana? I love what Tom Allen is doing at IU, but the Hoosiers aren’t going to beat Ohio State and the Big Ten is such a mess that wins over Penn State and Michigan won’t be enough.

No Pac-12? Nope, they don’t play enough games. Even a 7-0 Oregon team shouldn’t go in a playoff with teams playing 10 games.

No Big 12? Nope, a one-loss Oklahoma State team doesn’t have the clout of a Texas or Oklahoma if it gets that far and a two-loss Big 12 team has no chance.

No BYU or Cincinnati? Did you really think this would happen? No way.

So there you have it. The playoff is set barring a Gators upset over Alabama. We will see the Crimson Tide, Buckeyes, Tigers and Fighting Irish battling it out.

Yet another key prospect decided to go far from home during a global pandemic when DB Derrick Davis decided against Penn State and Ohio State when he picked LSU this past weekend. This has become very intriguing with the extended dead period locked in until Dec. 31 with no hope of it ending in the near future. Why is this happening? Here’s my explanation for a few of the bigger ones this season.

DB Derrick Davis to LSU over Penn State — Davis was able to visit LSU on his own and the play of Penn State turned him off a bit even with former Gateway head coach Terry Smith on staff. Ohio State was always an option, but the SEC lure was too much.

WR Mario Williams to Oklahoma over the entire Southeast — The lure of the Big 12 and that Oklahoma offense was too much for the Florida native to pass up, especially with QB Caleb Williams headed that way. No other local team, SEC or otherwise, could offer the chance to be targeted like Hollywood Brown.

RB Evan Pryor to Ohio State over North Carolina — The lack of running back depth at Ohio State was something Pryor liked and the chance to play early led him to leave his home state despite the lack of visits.

WR Quay Davis to USC over Texas — The Longhorns kind of pushed him out of their class which was a mistake and he hasn’t looked back.

OL Donovan Jackson to Ohio State over the state of Texas — Episcopal kids head out-of-state like Marvin Wilson to Florida State and Walker Little to Stanford and they have great success. Jackson could see this.

DT Damon Payne to Alabama over Michigan — Michigan wanted him badly but the lure of playing for Alabama and Nick Saban for a national title was too tempting.

WR Beaux Collins to Clemson over the West Coast — Only Oregon seems to keep elite kids on the west coast these days and Collins wanted to play with former teammate D.J. Uiagalelei.

This season has been a mess of upsets it seems and teams playing down to their competition. But what about those coaches doing an amazing job? There are many...

Brian Kelly, Notre Dame — Can you believe Notre Dame fans complain about their coach? Kelly has done an amazing job at Notre Dame from the start and has them once again in the playoff discussion.

Tom Allen, Indiana — Indiana is a football school? It sure is under Allen and wins over Penn State and Michigan were not expected. This guy has a bigger job waiting for him.

Mike Locksley, Maryland — After the embarrassing loss to Northwestern did anyone see this coming? Recruiting will jump if he keeps it up.

Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M — Alabama killed the Aggies, but Jimbo Fisher has a good team with a leader in quarterback Kellen Mond and a really good defense you probably don’t know about.

Hugh Freeze, Liberty — Freeze is back to being a topic among Power Five coaches with the impressive job he’s done at Liberty. He’s out-coaching some solid coaches.

Sam Pittman, Arkansas — Pittman has Arkansas ahead of programs like Tennessee and Auburn in my book and he’s only in year one.

Manny Diaz, Miami — Miami gets forgotten because of the Clemson loss, but this is a much better team than last year.

Matt Campbell, Iowa State — Here he is again showing why he is coveted by so many programs with coaching changes on deck.

Jeff Brohm, Purdue — A third team from the state of Indiana? Yep, the state has become a mini-powerhouse this season.

Kalane Sitake, BYU — You have to respect the job he’s done with the Cougars as they roll over everyone.