COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEKLY RANT
Well that was unexpected.
Last week in my “WHAT I’M LOOKING FOR IN WEEK SEVEN” I was
so unimpressed with the games that I was basically begging for an upset, but
just couldn’t find where it might come from.
Within about an hour of this being posted last Friday night
we had our 1st upset, with #2 Clemson losing on the road at Syracuse
27-24. 4 hours later, we had Upset #2,
when #8 Washington State was blown out by Cal 37-3. Both teams taking their 1st loss
of the season.
2 Top Ten teams losing to unranked teams on the road and it
wasn’t even Saturday yet. 2 more Top Ten
teams would fall Saturday, again on the road to unranked teams. LSU, just 2 weeks after losing at home to
Troy, beat #10 Auburn on Saturday after beating Florida the week before. Then in some #PAC12AfterDark football
Saturday Night #5 Washington feel to lowly Arizona State 13-7.
Those 4 teams losing leaves just 6 Power 5 teams undefeated
at the midpoint of the season. It also
leaves lots of question marks for the College Football Playoff Committee as
they are still 2 weeks away from their 1st rankings.
The PAC-12 with no remaining unbeatens certainly puts a lot
of pressure on their top teams the rest of the way out, if they hope to secure
a playoff bid. Both the SEC and B1G have
two unbeatens remaining and those teams are not scheduled to play in the
regular season. If both conferences have
unbeatens playing in their conference championship games, it could set those
games up as defacto Quarterfinal Games in the CFB Playoff.
The other team that these losses help… NOTRE DAME.
The Irish are sitting with just 1 loss, a 1-point loss to
the undefeated Georgia Bulldogs who are ranked 3rd in the
country. Notre Dame hasn’t beaten anyone
of consequence to this point of the season, but the remaining schedule gives
them that opportunity, beginning with week when they host #11 USC. Four of Notre Dame’s final six games are
against teams currently ranked. If Notre
Dame can navigate that schedule without another loss, they will certainly get a
long, hard look from the committee.
This week’s game between Notre Dame and USC in South Bend is
basically an elimination game. Both
teams will enter the game with 1-loss.
Both teams losses have come against ranked teams. Both teams lack that “WOW” win on their
resumes. Both teams have their toughest
games ahead of them. Neither team can
afford to lose this week.
WHAT ELSE I LEARNED
IN WEEK SEVEN
*Most Of The SEC Is
Garbage This Season, But Their Top 2 Teams Are REALLY Good. Alabama and
Georgia keep winning, but not just winning, they are destroying teams. Granted they are playing the other teams in
the SEC, which are mostly dreadful, but Alabama’s margin of victory in their 7
wins this season is 32.5 points. Georgia’s
is 25. Takeaway the 1-point win over
Notre Dame (by far the best team either team has played so far, this season)
and the Bulldogs closest game was a 21-point win in Week 1 vs Appalachian
State.
*Just Win Baby. To go along with the 4 Top Ten teams
losing last week, there were also some major scares for other teams that still
have playoff aspirations. These teams
did just enough to stay in contention for a playoff spot. Purdue had 2nd & Goal at the 7
going in for the game-tying score at Wisconsin before throwing an
interception. Wisconsin sealed the game
running the remaining 8:14 off the clock with a 16 play, 77-yard,
clock-grinding drive. Miami scored the
final 12 points in their game vs Georgia Tech, including the GM FG with :04
left to stay unbeaten. Oklahoma avoided
their 2nd loss of the season, after blowing a 20-0 lead to rival
Texas. OU scored the winning TD with 6:53 remaining and hung on for the 29-24
win. USC also avoid their 2nd
loss, by stopping Utah on a 2-point conversion with :42 left as the Utes went
for the win. Michigan needed OT to hold
off pesky Indiana. It would have been
the Wolverines 2nd loss on the year as well.
*Jim Mora, Jr. And
Butch Jones Will Be Unemployed Soon. With
both coaches hanging on to their jobs by a thread, they both go out and lose to
teams their fanbases would say they shouldn’t lose to. Tennessee and Jones falling to South Carolina
at home. The Vols didn’t score a
touchdown in the game. This week they go
to Tuscaloosa. Should be fun!!! Mora and the Bruins fall to Arizona, giving
up 47 points and over 600 yards in the process.
457 of those yards on the ground.
OUCH!
WHAT I’M LOOKING
FORWARD TO IN WEEK EIGHT
*B1G Teams To Finally
Score Some Points. Every team in the
Big Ten has played at least 3 conference games, some have played 4. Of the 14 teams, only 1 has scored 100+
points in conference play. That was Ohio
State, who has scored 223 thanks to playing Indiana, Rutgers, Maryland &
Nebraska. No other conference in FBS
that played a minimum of 3 games per team has only 1 team over 100 points
scored in conference play. And sorry,
I’m not buying that all the teams are so good defensively, well because they aren’t!
*Big Games. FINALLY!!! The Louisville
@ Florida State game was maybe the biggest game of Week 8 when the
schedules came out, now it isn’t much more than an afterthought. There are a couple of other MUST WATCH games
this Saturday. Michigan @ Penn State square off in a pretty game in the Big Ten
East. Michigan losing a few weeks ago to
Michigan State takes a little away from this game, but the Wolverines can still
win the division in things play out right for them. For Penn State, it will be their ranked
opponent that they play this season. The
Nittany Lions can’t afford to look ahead to next week’s showdown with Ohio
State, they will have revenge on their mind from last year when Michigan
curb-stomped them 49-10 in Ann Arbor.
Also Saturday night, a game we already mentioned, USC @ Notre Dame. It is the
1st time that these teams will meet and both be ranked since
2009. A loss for either team will most
assuredly eliminate them from playoff talks.
*Off The Radar
Games. Yes, those games are the biggest
games this week, but there are a bunch of others that should be sneaky good and
important for conference races, New Year’s 6 Bowls and even CFB Playoff
positioning. In an old Big East game, Syracuse @ Miami is suddenly an
interesting game after Syracuse upset Clemson last week. Cuse is 2-1 in the ACC. Miami is undefeated on the year, the only
remaining ACC team to hold that claim. UCF @ Navy is a possible preview of the
AAC Championship Game and maybe an elimination game for a 1-loss Navy team trying
to claim a New Year’s 6 spot. UCF is
still very much in position to grab that bid.
Lane Kiffin has his FAU Owls unbeaten in C-USA play this season, making North Texas @ Florida Atlantic a battle
of 2 of the 3 unbeatens remaining in C-USA.
Another game of interest for a different reason this week is Tennessee @ Alabama, which could be
Butch Jones’ final game on the Vols sideline.
A GAMBLING EYE
*Louisville (+6) @ Florida
State – Florida State is one of just four teams in the FBS that have not
scored 28 points in a game yet this season.
Louisville has allowed at least that many points against every Power 5
opponent they have played this year. Flip
to the other side of the football, Louisville and reigning Heisman Trophy Lamar
Jackson, has the offense playing better this year than last year when they
dropped 63 on the Noles. The FSU defense
has not allowed more than 27 points in any game this season. This game has way too many question marks all
over the field for anyone to be getting more than 3 points.
*Temple (+7) @ Army –
Army is #2 in the nation in Rush Offense averaging almost 380 yards and
scoring 28 touchdowns on the ground this season. Temple ranks 72nd in rush defense.
Temple also is coming off a loss to
lowly UCONN as well. The Owls have just
2 wins against FBS level teams this season, one coming against winless UMASS
and the other against 1-win East Carolina.
The Black Knights should run all over the Owls in this game.
*Pitt (+8) @ Duke – I
can’t say that I think Pitt will win this game, but 8 points seems like a lot
of points in a game between 2 teams that are clearly better with their defenses
on the field. The UNDER 49.5 is also something I think deserves a long look as well.
*Tennessee (+37.5) @
Alabama – Tennessee is 0-3 in the SEC, losing those games by an average of
over 17 points. Georgia beat the Vols by
41. That seems like a target number for
Nick Saban and the Tide, who have won their 4 SEC games by an average of 40.5.
*Central Florida (-8)
@ Navy – Although I like UCF laying the points, the number that jumps out
to me is the O/U 65. UCF leads the nation at 50+ points a
game. Navy ranks 24th in the
nation at over 35 a game. Both teams
score in bunches and do it fast. This number
is down from 67, where it opened.
*Michigan (+9.5) @
Penn State – With the O/U 43 in
this game scoring should be at a premium, which has been the case any time
Michigan has played this season.
However, if Vegas in on that number 9.5 is a lot of points for the
spread. I think Penn State has the talent
to destroy an overrated Michigan team in a hostile environment. But if you are a numbers guy, you have to
like those 9.5 points.
*Arizona (-3.5) @ Cal
– This game opened with Arizona getting 1, which if you had the chance to
jump on, you should have. Sure, Cal is coming off a huge win, but Zona has
found their offense recently and Cal, although improved, still has a long way
to go.
*West Virginia (-9.5)
@ Baylor – West Virginia is 4th in the country in yards per game
and 8th in points per game.
Baylor hasn’t won a regular season football game in over a full calendar
year, including a 43-point loss their last time out. What am I missing here? Why is this line single digits?
PLAYOFF PICKS
I’m so confused and I’m not exactly sure I have 4 teams that
are deserving at this point, but…
1. Alabama –
Still undefeated and just punishing teams.
Auburn losing takes a little away from thei year’s Iron Bowl. Alabama should cruise until their showdown
with Georgia in the SEC Championship Game.
2. Georgia – Speaking
of the Bulldogs… Just re-read what was written of Alabama.
3. Penn State – The
Nittany Lions certainly have their flaws, but at this point, who doesn’t
(outside Alabama & Georgia). Three
straight games against ranked teams will be the first real tests for Penn
State. It will also be a make or break
stretch for their playoff chances.
Michigan at home this week, followed by back to back road games vs Ohio
State and Michigan State.
4. TCU – The
Horned Frogs have not been dominant, but they have been consistent. 6-0 this season and 4-0 vs Power 5
opponents. They also have the best win
in the country to this point in the season, beating Oklahoma State in
Stillwater by 2 scores. They have only
had 1 game decided by single digits this season. Back to back games to start November with
Texas and Oklahoma will be the next test for TCU.
NEXT UP:
Miami
Wisconsin
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma
Ohio State
Clemson
Notre Dame
USC
That is all this week.
Make sure the refrigerator is stocked, the spare remote-control
batteries are nearby and enjoy the games!
