It's getting down to the nitty gritty. We have 5 undefeated teams left that have legit shots if they win out to make the playoffs. I don't expect either Baylor or Minnesota to win out, so really it's LSU, Ohio State and Clemson. I don't see any way Clemson will lose, LSU and Ohio State both have big games left that could bite them. Thurs North Carolina at Pitt ...only reason this is important is that Pitt has a shot at the Coastal Division , UVA is 5-2 and Pitt is 3-2 not sure why Pitt has played 2 less conference games than UVA. UVA has the early win over Pitt so Pitt needs help and needs to win out. Friday Fresno State at San Diego State ...not a big game other than SDSU needs to keep winning so they can get to the Mtn West Championship game and play Boise State. Saturday AP Top 10. 1. LSU at Ole Miss ...Should be a walk in the park for LSU, Ole Miss not very good of course it's a rivalry type of game so who knows. But I expect Eddie O smells the CFP and won't let his team come unprepared. 2. Ohio State at Rutgers ...I fear for the safety of the Rutgers players. OSU put up 73 on Maryland and RU is probably the worst team in Division 1, and they have an interim coach. Backups gets lots of playing time. 3. Clemson vs Wake Forrest. WF was looking pretty good till they went on the road to Va.Tech and got beat. So i doubt they have much of a chance at Clemson. Tigers might be feeling a bit slighted, defending Nat'l Champs, undefeated and nobody is talking about them. 4. Alabama at Miss State ...Tide should roll here, I imagine Tua will be less rust and Miss State has no where near the offense that LSU has so the Tide defense will roll as well. Big win here likely. 5. Georgia at Auburn ..probably the game of the week. It's huge for Georgia, the Dawgs have 2 top 15 wins already in ND and Florida, a win here strengthens their resume to be the top 1 loss team if they win the SEC Championship. Lose to Auburn and they are done. For Auburn it's a win that almost makes their season, they are not going to the SEC Champ game no matter what, but Top 10 finish with the schedule they have played would be a big deal. 6. Oregon at Arizona ...Ducks need to not just win but win big. They really don't have a big resume' to point to when they rank 1 loss teams. They have no wins against currently ranked teams. 7. Minn at Iowa ...Minn of course needs to win out, and a win on the road over a ranked (#18) Iowa would be big for PJ Fleck and the row the boat crew. Iowa while still ranked has lost 3 out of their last 5. Defense is the Hawkeye calling card. 8. Utah at UCLA ..like the Ducks the Utes have no wins over a currently ranked team. So a big win here is a must. But the Bruins have shown some signs of life recently. So while beating them 45-7 would be nice, I doubt that happens. 9. Penn State vs Indiana ....In spite of the loss to Minn the Nit's are not out of it for the Big 10 East. They of course have to win out, and hope to beat Ohio State in Columbus and then even better hope that Jim Harbaugh beats the Buckeyes in Ann Arbor. But this is one of the better IU teams in recent years, so they'd better not look ahead. Not impossible for them to end up Big 10 Champions. But unlikely. 10. OU at Baylor. All the buzz has died down around OU and Jalen Hurts, the loss to KSU and the near loss to Iowa State last weekend has done that. They still can win the Big 12 and make a case for the playoffs, and at the same time end any thoughts Baylor has of doing the same thing. Baylor has made great strides under Matt Rhule but I don't think it's enough even at home to handle OU. But I don't expect OU to come in and dominate the Bears. Other Games. Florida at Missouri. Gators need to keep winning to get to the better bowl and hope that UGA stumbles this weekend at Auburn to keep hopes alive for the SECEast. Missouri has lost 3 in a row. Gators should roll. Wisconsin at Neb ...Wisc a team once thought to have a shot at the playoffs, is now just trying to keep winning and hope Minn stumbles at Iowa and they get them the last game of the season for all the marbles in the Big 10 West. Neb on a losing streak and it's killing Scott Frost. Don't see how he can do much about it, Wisconsin just the better team right now. Mich State at Michigan ... Has Harbaugh finally turned the corner here? They should roll over the struggling Spartans and really should roll to the final game at home vs Ohio State where they have a shot at ruining the Buckeyes season. Texas at Iowa State ...Longhorns still have a shot at the Big 12 Championship game. They will need some things to happen to get there, but they can't lose again. Iowa State is a solid ball club, and on the road in the bad weather is not a good thing for the Longhorns. That win over KSU last weekend was a good one even if it did come down to the last seconds, so the team probably is in a good spot. But Iowa State came close to upsetting OU last week so they'll be ready for Texas. Close game. So.Car at A&M ...only means something in the sense the Aggies need to get a win before having to face Georgia and LSU. So. Carolina is not good. The Aggies should get a nice solid win. Heisman: I think everybody feels this is Joe Burrows to lose at this point. I don't even thing he has to be undefeated. The other candidates just right now don't have any buzz what so ever about them.
Has anyone taken a look at some of the SEC losses this year? I mean... yeah. Sorry, that's what I get for watching TV and wondering where this 'gauntlet' is, exactly? Great breakdown Doc!
UVA has two games (one conf. and one non-con) and a bye (this weekend) remaining over the last three weeks. Pitt has three games remaining (all conference games) over the last three weeks.
Realistically, it is definitely not likely. Although, if Auburn wins out AND LSU loses out, AU gets the tie-break over Bama to get into the SECCG. LSU would end up with three losses to close the season, to Ole Miss, Ark, and A&M. Yeah, not gonna happen, but there is "a chance".
That would keep the glimmer alive with UF in the clubhouse at 6-2, then rooting for A&M to be their hero. Interesting bedfellows that would make!
True but Clemson and Alabama have been the dominant programs recently, both winning Nat'l titles while Pac 12 teams haven't seen a Nat'l Title opportunity since the Oregon/Auburn game. Talk since the beginning of the season has been Pac12 just doesn't play CFP level football. Most thought that the only way the Pac12 was going to get respect and in the conversation was for Oregon to beat Auburn.
North Carolina at Pittsburgh (-4.5, 50.5) Fresno State at San Diego State (-1.5, 42.5) Indiana at Penn State (-14.5, 55) Kansas at Oklahoma State (-18, 65.5) TCU at Texas Tech (+3, 56.5) Michigan State at Michigan (-13.5, 44) Alabama at Mississippi State (+21, 63) Wisconsin at Nebraska (+14.5, 51) Navy at Notre Dame (-9.5, 54) West Virginia at Kansas State (-15, 47.5) Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech (+5.5, 51.5) Ohio State at Rutgers (+51.5, 60.5) Wake Forest at Clemson (-33, 59) Georgia at Auburn (+3, 41.5) Texas at Iowa State (-7, 66) Memphis at Houston (+10, 69) Kentucky at Vanderbilt (+8.5, 43.5) Syracuse at Duke (-11, 54.5) Minnesota at Iowa (-3, 44.5) Stanford at Washington State (-10.5, 63.5) LSU at Ole Miss (+21, 65.5) Louisville at NC State (+3.5, 58.5) Arizona State at Oregon State (+2.5, 58) South Carolina at Texas A&M (-10.5, 50.5) Oklahoma at Baylor (+10, 67.5) UCLA at Utah (-21, 51.5) Arizona at Oregon (-27, 68.5) USC at California (+6.5, 48.5)
Iowa State was hosed last weekend by B12 refs. Maybe the best 5-4 team in college football. Longhorns have a tall task ahead to take them on in Ames. "
I guess I should have said Clemson has not played a currently ranked team. I have already stated that I do not believe Alabama to be a championship caliber team. I know that being a homer is expected but I try to be objective. There is not a ranked team in the ACC.
Sometimes what looks like a strong schedule at the beginning of the year goes wrong as the season unfolds. I sure didn't figure the FSU would be such a bad team, nor Miami, nor Va. Tech. but it is what it is. Clemson won the NC last year and no one has beaten them since, so I guess it doesn't matter that they won't play a ranked team until the playoffs begin.
Yep, that was a bad call. B12 trying to get into the CFP discussion of bad refs, but they still got nothin' on P12 refs.
I've seen a lot of college football this season, all conferences. But it's not my opinion that counts. The talk from the on the air guru's has been for awhile now that the Pac12 is the weakest of the Power 5 conferences. I've heard a number of guys put it off on their lines both DL and OL, that they are weak on both lines. That's just the perception, and why at the beginning of the season many said that the Oregon/Auburn game was so important to the Pac 12. They needed to get that win over a SEC team to give them some juice. I do think though that the way the season is playing out, that the Big 12 is going to be the conference out this year. OU is not playing good and most think Baylor is a paper tiger, weak schedule and likely to lose 1 or 2 games. I said in another post that both Oregon and Utah are positioned to take that 4th slot, but they of course can't lose and they need to play well, not like Baylor who barely beat TCU and had to go to three OT's to get that win. They both need decisive wins and then a great Pac12 Champ game and I won't be surprised if one of them ends up in that 4th slot.
I read an article that said the loss to LSU is the beginning of the end of the Alabama dynasty. I had to laugh, it was a great game and LSU had the healthy QB and Alabama didn't. Alabama also was playing a number of freshmen on defense due to injuries. The Tide is still in the top 5 every year in recruiting, so while they might not win a Natl Title this year or who knows when the next one will come, they are hard to win. You not only have to have talent, but you have to avoid critical injuries, and somewhere along the line you usually have to get lucky and win a game you really shouldn't have won. Little early to put a stamp of their done on the Tide.
NCAA ruled on Chase Young, he misses Saturdays game v Rutgers and then can return to play the rest of the season. He won't be needed vs Rutgers.
We'll have to see. If recruiting starts to fall off, I feel that will be the first indicator of the run coming to an end. We lost two inside linebackers (one was our defensive play caller) and one of our two best pass rushers early to season ending injuries. The other pass rusher was injured for most of the season. That's the bad news. The freshmen that replaced them had a steep learning curve and should be back for 2 more years. That's the good news.
Anybody talking about the demise of Alabama is whistling past the graveyard, or just pandering to a crowd they know wants to hear it. Nick's machine wasn't built in a day, and it won't fade that fast either. Catastrophic injury count, and a hobbled Heisman candidate QB will cause you to drop a notch, but that's still better than most teams.