Texas survived a scare at Vanderbilt, something Alabama couldn’t do. Ohio State too survived a scare. Michigan retains Paul Bunyan for the third straight year. Sadly another fight broke out at the end of the game. For all the talk about the little brother in the rivalry, Colston Loveland to me was the one who initiated the brawl by head-butting Anthony Jones. Say what you will about the rivalry, but I believe responsibility needs to be taken by both Loveland as well as Jones after Jones temporarily had Loveland in a head lock. Both head coaches came out and said so and continued accountability will need to be taken to make sure this doesn’t happen again. I’d understand a fight breaking out if a Spartan player dove at Warren as he knelt down, but in all, that along with any fighting that went on was unnecessary and put a damper on an otherwise fantastic back-and-forth game.
I was wrong earlier saying that there were only three undefeated teams left, as Miami, Army, BYU, and Iowa State are also unbeaten. How about Texas A&M too, as the last team not to lose an SEC game yet? An incredible job so far by Mike Elko in 8 games so far in College Station. Even though these are players partially recruited by Elko, it is a testament to his ability to galvanize a team whom he left to advance in his career. It reminds me a lot of what Gus Malzahn did in an incredibly quick turnaround at Auburn. Other impressive jobs so far include Manny Diaz at Duke, and Spencer Danielson is doing amazing at Boise State with a close loss against the no.1 team in the country during week 1.
I had a rough few weeks recently as I went just 34-25 in week 8, though I did a lot better by going 41-16 in week 9. These bring my overall record on the season to 425-140 (.752).
October 29 (3 games):
New Mexico State def. Florida International (F -8.5), 26-20 (X)
Texas State (F -3.5) def. Louisiana, 31-28 (X)
Sam Houston (F -10.5) def. Louisiana Tech, 31-24
October 30 (2 games):
Jacksonville State def. Liberty (F -2), 38-34
Western Kentucky (F -24) def. Kennesaw State, 41-10
October 31 (1 game):
Tulane (F -16.5) def. Charlotte, 37-27
November 1 (3 games):
UConn (F -7.5) def. Georgia State, 30-17
South Florida (F -2.5) def. Florida Atlantic, 27-24
15) Boise State (F -23.5) def. San Diego State, 38-24
November 2 (40 games):
4) Ohio State (F -3.5) def. 3) Penn State, 37-35
5) Miami (FL) (F -20) def. Duke, 48-27
19) Ole Miss (F -7) def. Arkansas, 34-20
21) Army (F -23.5) def. Air Force, 38-7
24) Illinois def. Minnesota (F -3.5), 28-24 (X)
Northwestern (F -1.5) def. Purdue, 27-24
NC State (F -9.5) def. Stanford, 38-20
Virginia Tech (F -4) def. Syracuse, 31-21 (X)
Buffalo def. Akron, 34-20
Toledo (F -8) def. Eastern Michigan, 30-23
Memphis (F -7.5) def. UTSA, 35-31
Vanderbilt def. Auburn (F -6.5), 30-16
Oklahoma def. Maine, 51-17
Appalachian State def. Old Dominion (F -2.5), 34-27
Tulsa def. UAB (F -3), 30-27 (X)
1) Oregon (F -14.5) def. Michigan, 38-17
2) Georgia (F -17) def. Florida, 42-14
11) Iowa State (F -14.5) def. Texas Tech, 37-21 (X)
13) Indiana (F -8) def. Michigan State, 35-17
17) Kansas State (F -17.5) def. Houston, 41-14 (X)
UCLA def. Nebraska (F -6.5), 24-21
Florida State def. North Carolina (F -2.5), 31-28 (X)
UCF (F -6.5) def. Arizona, 34-31
UTEP (F -3) def. Middle Tennessee State, 28-27 (X)
Marshall (F -10.5) def. UL Monroe, 30-21
New Mexico (F -8) def. Wyoming, 34-23 (X)
Coastal Carolina (F -4.5) def. Troy, 28-23 (X)
Navy (F -12) def. Rice, 29-17 (X)
Mississippi State (F -18.5) def. Massachusetts, 41-18
Oklahoma State def. Arizona State (F -3), 34-30
Fresno State (F -14.5) def. Hawaii, 41-20 (X)
South Carolina def. 10) Texas A&M (F -2.5), 38-35
11) Clemson (F -10.5) def. Louisville, 41-30 (X)
Iowa (F -3) def. Wisconsin, 34-24
Washington def. USC (F -2.5), 28-27
South Alabama (F -2.5) def. Georgia Southern, 33-26 (X)
7) Tennessee def. Kentucky, 34-14
20) SMU (F -7.5) def. 18) Pittsburgh, 31-28 (X)
Baylor (F -3) def. TCU, 35-33
Colorado State (F -1.5) def. Nevada, 28-25
Record: 33-16
As I went through the games, I was impressed to see that Florida State played 7 of their first 8 games in-conference and will end the season with 3 non-conference games. Obviously they have been the major disappointment of the season but I believe they will get a W this week against a reeling North Carolina team. Mike Norvell’s first signature win was against North Carolina in 2020 when the Tar Heels were ranked no.5 in the country, the highest they have been ranked under Mack Brown.
The first playoff rankings will be released on November 5, and based on the season so far along with the predictions here, I think the field (based on the rankings) would be the following:
- Oregon (Big Ten)
- Georgia (SEC)
- BYU (Big 12)
- Miami (ACC)
- Ohio State
- Penn State
- Texas
- Tennessee
- Indiana
- Iowa State
- Clemson
- Boise State
Keep in mind that the above is NOT what the actual rankings will be. The above is the projected playoff field based on shoe-ins due to conference affiliations and the non-power 4 guarantee spot. I think the top 12 ranked teams will be:
- Oregon
- Georgia
- Ohio State
- Penn State
- Miami (FL)
- Texas
- Tennessee
- BYU
- Iowa State
- Clemson
- Notre Dame
- Indiana
The reason I have this inconsistency in the ordering at the bottom particularly is due to how Notre Dame’s loss to Northern Illinois will be held against them, while BYU, Iowa State, and Indiana are all undefeated at this time as well as the top non-power 4 team getting a spot. Clemson’s only loss is to no.2 Georgia, and Georgia has a case to be the no.1 team even though they have one loss and Oregon is undefeated. I expect that all of the top 12 teams have 1 loss or less. I’d expect Boise State to be ranked 16 and Alabama to be in similar territory at the highest being 13 with two losses.
College Football Prediction Central with Paul Shen 