Bowl projections: Texas surge continues, Florida debuts as SEC puts five teams in CFP bracket

The College Football Playoff Selection Committee added another data point this week to its process — a metric evaluating conference strength . This essentially gives leagues like the SEC and Big Ten, which entered the weekend with 17 combined teams inside the AP poll , greater influence in the at-large conversation later this season. It couldn’t have come at a better time for the SEC coming out of Saturday’s record-setting slate , which included four matchups featuring ranked teams and three new teams falling from the ranks of the unbeaten. The new metric clears the path for the SEC to…