The U is not back yet. But Indiana is here to stay? Let’s see in two weeks when Indiana visits Ohio State. I’m sure College Gameday and Big Noon Kickoff will be there for that game.
BYU survived, and Georgia looked lost all day in Oxford. Alabama rose above Death Valley. The Big Ten has four of the top 5 in the AP poll. Maybe the big ten WILL get four CFP teams like I expected. Perhaps the SEC still can as well.
If I revisit my preseason picks for the playoff, I had Georgia, Oregon, Utah, Clemson, Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, Texas, Notre Dame, Alabama, Memphis, Ole Miss as the 12 teams. Of these 12, at most 9 are still alive, maybe just 8. Clemson, Utah, and Michigan are out of contention. Memphis has to prove to be better than Boise State so that could be another incorrect pick. But Alabama and Ole Miss have revived their hopes, and Georgia’s have taken a big hit though they might be able to withstand that even without winning the SEC. The SEC definitely will play itself into shape as everyone in the SEC has lost at least 1 conference game, and Texas playing Texas A&M is likely an elimination game for the CFP as well as the SEC title.
Based on the current AP poll / CFP rankings, it looks like Oregon is the one of those four teams still slated for a bye, but BYU and Tennessee look to be taking Utah and Georgia’s spots, and SMU looks poised to take Clemson’s spot based on who I picked preseason. Miami still has a lot to play for despite losing to Georgia Tech, so they aren’t out of it by any means.
The rollercoaster is going to continue.
Oregon takes a 10-0 record into Mad-town to face the Wisconsin Badgers, who played then no.3 Penn State tough before falling apart. I anticipate them remaining number 1 this week, and Ohio State will remain at 2. Texas will jump into the third spot in the rankings, followed by Penn State. These are meaningless for OSU and PSU as they wouldn’t get byes as long as they remain behind Oregon/don’t win the conference. Ole Miss will certainly get a bump into the top 10 this week, and Notre Dame will as well. I incorrectly thought Tennessee would be in the top 5 as Indiana claimed the 5-spot this week.
Prior to the release of the rankings this week, I had thought that Notre Dame could be the first team left out when it’s all said and done. But if this were to actually happen, Notre Dame AD Pete Bevacqua will definitely be getting on the phone with any of Tony Pettitti or Jim Phillips or another conference commissioner to join a conference.
Below are my game predictions for this week.
November 12 (3 games):
Buffalo (F -4.5) def. Ball State, 29-24
Bowling Green (F -8.5) def. Western Michigan, 34-24
Toledo (F -14.5) def. Central Michigan, 38-21
November 13 (3 games):
Miami (OH) (F -30) def. Kent State, 41-10
Northern Illinois (F -15.5) def. Akron, 34-17
Ohio (F -10) def. Eastern Michigan, 35-21
November 14 (1 game):
East Carolina (F -14) def. Tulsa, 41-24
November 15 (4 games):
Colorado State (F -10) def. Wyoming, 30-23
North Texas (F -1.5) def. UTSA, 38-34 (X)
Washington (F -3.5) def. UCLA, 28-24
Houston def. Arizona (F -1.5), 27-20 (X)
Prior to including Saturday’s predictions, I actually had it very wrong since Miami did not get penalized nearly as much as I expected and as Rece Davis said on the release, that because of Miami’s ranking remaining ahead of SMU, Miami is still projected in. The now-deleted scenario and projection is invalid.
November 16 (44 games):
2) Ohio State (F -28.5) def. Northwestern, 35-7
3) Texas (F -12.5) def. Arkansas, 38-17
17) Colorado (F -11) def. Utah, 34-14
20) Clemson (F -12) def. Pittsburgh, 34-27
25) Tulane (F -7) def. Navy, 33-27
Liberty (F -14) def. UMass, 35-14
Western Kentucky (F -12.5) def. Louisiana Tech, 41-20 (X)
UL Monroe def. Auburn (F -24), 27-24 (X)
Marshall (F -9) def. Coastal Carolina, 34-28
Kentucky def. Murray State, 45-10
10) Alabama def. Mercer, 52-3
Jacksonville State (F -13) def. Florida International, 41-17
Temple (F -2) def. Florida Atlantic, 27-24
Illinois (F -2.5) def. Michigan State, 28-21
Syracuse def. California (F -9.5), 30-23
Sam Houston State (F -18) def. Kennesaw State, 38-14
Hawaii (F -2.5) def. Utah State, 34-27 (X)
4) Penn State (F -28.5) def. Purdue, 41-10
8) Notre Dame (F -21.5) def. Virginia, 34-17
14) SMU (F -18.5) def. Boston College, 42-14
19) Louisville (F -20.5) def. Stanford, 41-14 (X)
Florida def. 22) LSU (F -3.5), 30-27
Oregon State (F -3) def. Air Force, 24-21 (X)
Charlotte def. South Florida (F -2.5), 31-24 (X)
USC (F -7.5) def. Nebraska, 34-31
West Virginia def. Baylor (F -1), 30-29 (X)
Georgia Southern (F -7.5) def. Troy, 32-23 (X)
James Madison (F -3) def. Old Dominion, 35-21
21) South Carolina (F -14) def. 23) Missouri, 27-14
Arkansas State def. Georgia State (F -3), 33-27
Maryland (F -5.5) def. Rutgers, 31-28 (X)
13) Boise State (F -14) def. San José State, 41-20
16) Kansas State (F -7.5) def. Arizona State, 38-14 (X)
Louisiana (F -7.5) def. South Alabama, 34-20 (X)
Texas State (F -28) def. Southern Miss, 42-14
1) Oregon (F -13.5) def. Wisconsin, 45-17
12) Georgia (F -9.5) def. 7) Tennessee, 31-17
15) Texas A&M (F -39) def. New Mexico State, 45-7
North Carolina (F -11) def. Wake Forest, 42-21
Iowa State (F -15.5) def. Cincinnati, 31-21
Memphis (F -16.5) def. UAB, 45-17
18) Washington State (F -10.5) def. New Mexico, 52-20 (X)
6) BYU (F -2.5) def. Kansas, 38-17 (X)
UNLV (F -20.5) def. San Diego State, 41-13
Record: 37-14
I’m trying to pick relatively near the Over/Under number for each game, particularly because my opinion is that offenses have struggled more this season than in years past. Only a handful elite and consistent offenses have existed so far, with Oregon being the headliner in my opinion. Perhaps Alabama is climbing back to that too.
College Football Prediction Central with Paul Shen 