CFP rankings are out again. Lots of important games left to play. 1. Oregon - bye Last regular season game next week vs Washington 2. Ohio State vs Indiana Biggest game of the weekend. A lot on the line for both teams. IU has had a magical season, but their schedule has included all of the bottom half of the Big 10. Will the moment be too big? They have done one thing, they have beaten their opponents solidly every week. Buckeyes have a big talent advantage though and the line is 2 TD's. 3. Texas vs Kentucky The Wildcats are a Jekyl/Hyde team. They have played well at times and then go off the rails. Longhorns had a tough out with Arkansas last weekend, but now back home they should handle them. 4.Penn State @ Minnesota Don't know anything about the Golden Gophers but ESPNU guys say that this could be a very close game. 5. IU @ Ohio State 6. Notre Dame vs Army Game is in Yankee Stadium and is our Shamrock Series game this year, which means special uniforms and stuff like that. Irish have never lost a game in this series. Army is having a magical season for sure and will be a difficult opponent as their offense is so unorthodox and it's not just Navy 2.0. Still I expect the Irish should win. 7. Alabama @ Oklahoma One of the worst OU teams in quite awhile, but still it's a dangerous team and the Tide should not underestimate the Sooners. Tide should roll though. 8.Miami vs Wake Forrest The Demon Deacons are not a good team, Sam Hartman is long gone to ND and the NFL practice squads. Miami probably will start slow and finish fast with Cam Ward. 9. Ole Miss @ Florida This is a dangerous game for the Rebs, they go to the swamp and face an improving Gator team with a lot to play for still. 10. Georgia vs UMASS ..well hide the babies and all that stuff. Dawgs can name the score. 11. Tenn vs UTEP ..another buy game. Vols get well this weekend 12. Boise State @ Wyoming A bad Wyoming team. That AA RB at Boise will run all over the Cowboys.
There are other big games that are important as the season comes to a close. SMU @ UVA The Mustangs must win out, UVA is a team that is better than their record. They played hard to the last play in South Bend. Did they leave it all there, or are they on the rise? BYU @ Arizona State The Sun Devils are in the hunt for the B12 title game as is BYU. Must wn for both teams. ASU is a slight favorite. Colorado @ Kansas The Buffs got a big win last weekend and like so many teams need to win out. KU upset BYU last weekend and are one of those teams who is better than their record. Washington State @ Oregon State PAC12 Championship game!! Texas A&M @ Auburn Auburn is having a terrible year and finishing with A&M and Alabama is a very tough way to end the season . Aggies of course have to win this game Iowa State @ Utah ISU has to win out, Utah's season has been sliding away. Vanderbilt @ LSU Oh my the Tigers have now pretty much lost the season. Can they get it back together and beat a Vanderbilt team who has had a great season. Diego Pavia? Can he provide one more miracle? If they lose to Vanderbilt Brian Kelly might be done at LSU 60 million dollar buy out or not. Last but not least USC @ UCLA USC changed QB's and got the win vs Nebraska last weekend. USC needs the win to become bowl eligible, UCLA needs to beat USC and to beat Fresno State to get to 6 wins.
The talk on ESPNU show is all about the playoffs and what will be the seeding. Will there be a bid stealer in the ACC or the B12? If IU loses badly to the Buckeyes do they still make the playoffs? Does Notre Dame deserve to be in even if they finish 11-1, they haven't played as tough a schedule at Georgia. As always there will be unhappy teams no matter what. Speculation is that the playoff will change after 2025 and that the inclusion of a Group of 5 team automatically will not continue.
That won't be the final ...but it's interesting that 3 SEC teams have to make the trip North in the 1st round
I was worried about Jeremiah Smith being hobbled by the dirty NW DB. This is far worse. McLaughlin was probably the team MVP thus far. We're already banged up with no quality depth really. This classifies as a disaster. Ohio State Center Seth McLaughlin Reportedly Tears Achilles | Eleven Warriors
All kinds of discussion on the CFP today on ESPNU. A lot of them think we need to just go to the best 12 and give #1-4 the first round bye. Feel like it's not fair that Boise State will possibly get a 1st round bye, and the obligatory discussion on how ND need to join a conference. Talk about the way it will be in 2026, and most feel like there needs to be further NFLization, by going to all Power4, no Group of 5 and if ND isn't in a conference then they aren't in the playoffs either. They want the SEC to play 9 conference games. Me: I think this season has been very exciting, more teams with shots at the Ring and more games are meaningful in November. SMU vs UVA wouldn't even be a blip, but it's critical game for the CFP, Arizona State vs BYU another nothing game but it's critical for the CFP. Games mean things.
I get it and agree somewhat. BUT, what about other considerations like the quality of the competition. If strength of schedule is not going to be a consideration then we can probably just feed each school’s record into a program and create an algorithm to decide tiebreakers for teams with the same record. If the SEC goes to 9 conference games, it will only get worse.
Just read on 11 Warriors.com: With Seth McLaughlin out for the year, Ohio State plans to play Carson Hinzman at center and Austin Siereveld at left guard moving forward.
Gators going to do their best to knock Ole Miss out. I am not predicting a Gator win but do think we have a reasonable chance.
I do think this is a trap game for the Rebs, Gators are a motivated team on a mission. It could happen
Not ideal at this point in the season, but prob as good as we can cobble together. McLaughlin has distinguished himself both on and off the field and continues to be a leader even when sidelined. We knew he was a great player and by all accounts, he's an extraordinary young man, hate it for this kid, he's a good one. Best one's show what they're made of when fighting back from adversity. Seth McLaughlin Shows Continued Leadership at Ohio State Practice One Day After Season-Ending Achilles Injury | Eleven Warriors
As the season comes to an end there are lots of kids who will be entering the Portal, I wonder if many (or any) kids on the 12 teams in the CFP will go into the portal and opt out of playing. It seems like most kids enter right away so they can be recruited and take trips in December and make a choice. If your team is in the playoff that puts a crimp in that for you. The sooner backups and kids who just want more NIL or whatever, enter the portal the sooner they can get recruited and take visits and make up their minds. Texas had it's backup QB (Malik Murphy) enter the portal before the playoffs last year and ended up at Duke. He's the only one that I know of and with Arch around it wasn't a big deal. But more teams are in now and I'll be curious if some kids bail. The 2024 college football transfer portal dates are: Fall: December 9–24, 2024 Spring: April 16–25, 2025 The portal opens on the day after the College Football Playoff field and bowl games are announced. The fall transfer window was reduced from 30 to 20 days, and the post-spring window was reduced from 15 to 10 days. The transfer portal is open for 30 days when a head coach leaves their program. Athletes on teams that compete in the College Football Playoff and later bowl game can enter an additional five-day transfer portal window in January.
Big news for the Wolverines. Rumour mill is that a big deep pockets booster has ponied up 10.5 Million for the kid.