How did the chaos play out this week?
Now to the rankings…
We’ll give each conference a relative strength value 1-10.
1) SEC – 9
The SEC is still the class of college football, but there were a couple of ugly results. Mississippi St. struggled with an Arkansas team that hasn’t won an SEC game in over two years. If you are the number 1 team in the country that should not happen. Georgia suffered an embarrassing loss to a bad Florida team, and now Missouri, a team that couldn’t beat Indiana at home, is your SEC East leader.
Auburn won at Ole Miss which virtually eliminates the Rebels from playoff contention. You had to feel for the Ole Miss receiver Laquon Treadwell who got injured and fumbled going into the endzone for the apparent game-winning score. Next week Alabama heads to LSU, and could put itself in prime position for playoff spot with a win. The SEC is down to 3 serious playoff contenders. It’s lowest number of the season, but still more than any other conference.
Playoff Contenders
Mississippi St., Auburn, Alabama
Darkhorses
LSU, Ole Miss, Georgia
2) Big 12 – 8
TCU went on the road and won a huge game at West Virginia to stay right in the thick of the playoff chase. Baylor, Kansas St. and Oklahoma all had blowout wins. This sets the the Big 12 up for next week’s playoff eliminator games. Kansas St. and TCU play each other and Oklahoma hooks up with Baylor.
I will repeat this nearly every week. The Big 12 has zero noteworthy OOC wins. How will the committee treat Kansas St. should they win the Big 12 if they are in the running for playoff spot with a 2 loss Auburn team? While I’m a big conference champion proponent, nothing should outweigh head to head results.
Playoff Contenders
TCU
Darkhorses
Kansas State, Oklahoma, Baylor
3) Pac 12 – 7
Oregon is positioning itself nicely for the playoffs, but they have a huge game Saturday with solid Utah team. They’ve basically already won the Pac 12 North, but beat Utah is a must. Oregon will make the playoffs if they win out. Arizona St. at 7-1 is approaching the top 10, and is certainly not out of the playoff picture. They have a monster game with Notre Dame, that should they win will certainly boost their resume. I’d also move the Pac 12 ahead of the Big 12 with that win.
Playoff Contenders
Oregon, Arizona St.
Darkhorses
Arizona, Utah, UCLA
4) ACC – 6
Florida State has proven they are one of the elite teams in college football by beating a tough Louisville team on the road. Duke moves to 7-1 and gets a further bump in the rankings.
This upcoming week Florida State plays Virginia, but the Cavaliers don’t have the offensive punch to scare Florida State. Duke has Syracuse, and Clemson plays Wake Forest. Duke and Clemson should be able to keep inching up the rankings. Louisville or Georgia Tech could re-enter the polls at some point.
Playoff Contenders
Florida State
Darkhorses
Clemson, Duke
5) Big 10 – 5
The Big 10 can’t make up any ground on the rest of country. Ohio State no matter what they do is weighed by the anchor of the loss to Virginia Tech early in the year. Frankly I can’t see Ohio State getting any serious consideration for the playoff even if they win the Big 10. That loss in all honesty is that bad now. Nebraska cruised over Purdue.
Next week Ohio State can effectively finish off the Big 10’s playoff chances if they can go to Michigan St. and beat the Spartans.
Playoff Contenders
Michigan St.
Darkhorses
Nebraska, Ohio State
The Rest
Notre Dame struggled with Navy this weekend, and needs to start picking up some marquee wins. They get a chance when they face Arizona St. this weekend. Marshall is undefeated, but not really under consideration.
Playoff Contenders
Notre Dame
Darkhorses
Marshall
Current Playoff Teams
In – 1) FSU 2) Mississippi St. 3) Auburn 4) Oregon
Just Missed – 5) TCU 6) Alabama 7) Michigan St. 8) Kansas St.
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