We've had plenty on Mizzou/Tennessee. Here are the rest of my thoughts:
1) I want to be a fired football coach. Jimbo Fisher is about to get paid $77 million to walk away from College Station. It's an all time A&M move to have it happen now. The Aggies beat Mississippi State 51-10 yesterday. The truth is, they aren't having a bad year. They aren't having a great one by any means, but they're 6-4 and the four losses are to three top 20 teams by a combined 16 points and Miami. Don't get me wrong, Fisher hasn't been great by any means, but they're a lot better team than they were last year. He's a victim of A&M simply thinking it is something it is not. I think the Aggies did it now to get in front of the race. I could see them making a run at Urban Meyer. Dan Lanning's name has also been floated. If you can hire him, I think you have to.
2) Everyone involved with Penn State's offense should be charged with a crime. The entire Big Ten is devoid of offense outside of maybe Michigan. But Penn State has too much talent to be this bad. Michigan didn't even try to throw the ball yesterday. They knew all they had to do was control the clock, put up a couple scores and the game was over. Drew Allar had a ton of potential, but he might be permanently ruined. The Nittany Lions are going to have another 10-2 season with a defense that's good enough to be 15-0 and an offense that shouldn't be allowed to share the same locker room. No team might benefit more from a 12 team playoff. They'll probably be in it most years (although with the PAC-12 teams joining the Big Ten I'm not sure) but they're absolutely no threat to actually do any damage once they're there.
3) This one shouldn't be this high on the list, but as long as we're on the Big Ten, let's revel in some more Nebraska misery. Two weeks ago, the Huskers were talking about winning the Big Ten West. Now they've lost back to back games to Michigan State and Maryland and find themselves having to beat Wisconsin or Iowa to make a bowl game. No Power Five team has gone longer without making one. Go Badgers and Hawkeyes!
4) The SEC title game is set. Georgia will face Alabama. The more parity changes the sport, the more things stay the same in the SEC. The Tide dismantled Kentucky with an historic Jaylen Milroe performance. The Bulldogs embarrassed Ole Miss 52-17 in a result that might have meant more for Mizzou than any game that wasn't played in Columbia yesterday. I'll explain why shortly. The Bulldogs are in the playoff, I think, as long as they beat Tennessee and Georgia Tech. The Tide kept its hopes alive.
5) UNLV has four eight-win seasons in school history. The Rebels were 9-1-2 in their second year as an Independent in 1979. In 1984, they went 11-2 in something called the Pacific Coast Athletic Association. John Robinson led them to an 8-5 season in 2000 when they won the Las Vegas Bowl. UNLV is now 8-2 after a 34-14 win over Wyoming yesterday under head coach Barry Odom. The Rebels play Air Force next week. The teams are tied atop the Mountain West standings at 5-1. The winner of that game locks up a spot in the league title game. The loser could still get there. I know a lot of people here have a lot of hard feelings about Odom and his time at Mizzou. But he's doing a hell of a job in Vegas and it's worked out pretty well for the Tigers with Eli Drinkwitz too. Maybe we can just be happy for both sides.
6) Florida State, Washington, Oregon and Texas survived. None of them was particularly impressive. All won by single digits. But all won, which is all that they have to do. They'll remain 4-7 in some order in this week's College Football Playoff Rankings, which come out on Tuesday night. The first three, I think, control their own destiny for the CFP. Texas probably still needs help.
7) The "what the hell happened" award for the week goes to Mike Gundy and the Oklahoma State Cowboys. The Pokes had won five straight. They were headed for the Big 12 title game and a giant double bird to OU and Texas for leaving.
Central Florida 45, Oklahoma State 3.
I did not see that score until I woke up this morning. I do not have any idea how it happened. I can pore over the box score and read everything about it and I will still not have any idea how it happened. College football is absolutely wild.
8) My Heisman ballot if I had to turn it in today:
Jayden Daniels, LSU--I don't see how he doesn't win it
Michael Penix, Washington
I don't know who I'd have third. It really doesn't matter. I can't see anything changing the first place vote.
9) The College Football Playoff rankings come out on Tuesday night. The top eight should be:
1 Georgia
2 Michigan
3 Ohio State
4 Florida State
5 Washington
6 Oregon
7 Texas
8 Alabama
The top five might be moved around, but that's how I'd rank them. These will be the top eight teams. After that, it gets interesting.
The top G5 team is going to take a spot in the NY6. Let's assume that's Tulane, which beat Tulsa 24-22 yesterday. You're going to have four playoff spots. Those will go to the SEC Champ (Georgia, for now), the Big Ten champ (the Michigan/Ohio State winner), the PAC 12 champ (Washington/Oregon) and the ACC Champ (Florida State) if things go according to form in the last two weeks of the regular season and conference title games (they might not because college football).
The Washington/Oregon loser is probably in the NY6. Alabama is probably in. Texas is probably in. That leaves two spots. One of them goes to the ACC runner up if Florida State makes the playoff. You guys want Florida State to not make the playoff. You want Louisville to lose to Kentucky and Florida State to somehow lose to Florida. That seems unlikely. But if the Noles miss the playoff, Missouri is probably in the NY6 at 10-2.
Assuming that doesn't happen, the final spot comes down to Mizzou, Ole Miss or Penn State. Personally, I can't see how Penn State gets there. They've beaten no one and gotten dominated in the only two games against someone. So it's probably Mizzou vs Ole Miss for the final spot (assuming both win their final two games). I'm not including Oregon State here because the Beavers already have two losses and finish the regular season with Oregon and Washington. They might win one, but I don't think they win both.
The argument for Mizzou is that it has only two losses, both to top 15-20 teams, both of which it was in position to win with five minutes to play. It has wins over Tennessee and Kansas State. Its two losses are by a combined 19 points.
The argument for Ole Miss is that it has only two losses, both to top eight teams. It has a win over LSU, which beat Mizzou. It also has a win over Tulane.
It comes down to this: Missouri is playing better right now and played Georgia better than anyone in the country. Ole Miss is the only two-loss team that can say it has better losses than Mizzou and it beat a team that beat Mizzou.
Honestly, it could go either way. Both teams can say they deserve to be in. An argument can be made for either one. Neither can say it got screwed if it loses the spot (at least not by the other team; both can say they got screwed for Louisville or Tulane).
What Mizzou fans want: Two wins, a Florida State loss, Oregon State to beat either Washington or Oregon, but lose the other one and then have whichever one of those teams beat Oregon State win the PAC-12 title game.
Of course, chaos could still ensue and all of this prognostication is a waste of time.
10) Five games I'll watch other than Mizzou/Florida next week:
Louisville at Miami, 11 am: I think the Canes win this. But again, it really only matters if Florida State doesn't make the playoff.
Georgia at Tennessee, 230 CBS: Georgia might win by 90
Washington at Oregon State, 630 ABC: Huge national implications
Texas at Iowa State, 7 pm FOX: The Big 12 is wild. I have no idea how tiebreakers work. Texas could make the CFP or not even make the conference title game
Utah at Arizona, TBD: No major national implications, but a good game. Jedd Fisch is major competition for the national coach of the year.
1) I want to be a fired football coach. Jimbo Fisher is about to get paid $77 million to walk away from College Station. It's an all time A&M move to have it happen now. The Aggies beat Mississippi State 51-10 yesterday. The truth is, they aren't having a bad year. They aren't having a great one by any means, but they're 6-4 and the four losses are to three top 20 teams by a combined 16 points and Miami. Don't get me wrong, Fisher hasn't been great by any means, but they're a lot better team than they were last year. He's a victim of A&M simply thinking it is something it is not. I think the Aggies did it now to get in front of the race. I could see them making a run at Urban Meyer. Dan Lanning's name has also been floated. If you can hire him, I think you have to.
2) Everyone involved with Penn State's offense should be charged with a crime. The entire Big Ten is devoid of offense outside of maybe Michigan. But Penn State has too much talent to be this bad. Michigan didn't even try to throw the ball yesterday. They knew all they had to do was control the clock, put up a couple scores and the game was over. Drew Allar had a ton of potential, but he might be permanently ruined. The Nittany Lions are going to have another 10-2 season with a defense that's good enough to be 15-0 and an offense that shouldn't be allowed to share the same locker room. No team might benefit more from a 12 team playoff. They'll probably be in it most years (although with the PAC-12 teams joining the Big Ten I'm not sure) but they're absolutely no threat to actually do any damage once they're there.
3) This one shouldn't be this high on the list, but as long as we're on the Big Ten, let's revel in some more Nebraska misery. Two weeks ago, the Huskers were talking about winning the Big Ten West. Now they've lost back to back games to Michigan State and Maryland and find themselves having to beat Wisconsin or Iowa to make a bowl game. No Power Five team has gone longer without making one. Go Badgers and Hawkeyes!
4) The SEC title game is set. Georgia will face Alabama. The more parity changes the sport, the more things stay the same in the SEC. The Tide dismantled Kentucky with an historic Jaylen Milroe performance. The Bulldogs embarrassed Ole Miss 52-17 in a result that might have meant more for Mizzou than any game that wasn't played in Columbia yesterday. I'll explain why shortly. The Bulldogs are in the playoff, I think, as long as they beat Tennessee and Georgia Tech. The Tide kept its hopes alive.
5) UNLV has four eight-win seasons in school history. The Rebels were 9-1-2 in their second year as an Independent in 1979. In 1984, they went 11-2 in something called the Pacific Coast Athletic Association. John Robinson led them to an 8-5 season in 2000 when they won the Las Vegas Bowl. UNLV is now 8-2 after a 34-14 win over Wyoming yesterday under head coach Barry Odom. The Rebels play Air Force next week. The teams are tied atop the Mountain West standings at 5-1. The winner of that game locks up a spot in the league title game. The loser could still get there. I know a lot of people here have a lot of hard feelings about Odom and his time at Mizzou. But he's doing a hell of a job in Vegas and it's worked out pretty well for the Tigers with Eli Drinkwitz too. Maybe we can just be happy for both sides.
6) Florida State, Washington, Oregon and Texas survived. None of them was particularly impressive. All won by single digits. But all won, which is all that they have to do. They'll remain 4-7 in some order in this week's College Football Playoff Rankings, which come out on Tuesday night. The first three, I think, control their own destiny for the CFP. Texas probably still needs help.
7) The "what the hell happened" award for the week goes to Mike Gundy and the Oklahoma State Cowboys. The Pokes had won five straight. They were headed for the Big 12 title game and a giant double bird to OU and Texas for leaving.
Central Florida 45, Oklahoma State 3.
I did not see that score until I woke up this morning. I do not have any idea how it happened. I can pore over the box score and read everything about it and I will still not have any idea how it happened. College football is absolutely wild.
8) My Heisman ballot if I had to turn it in today:
Jayden Daniels, LSU--I don't see how he doesn't win it
Michael Penix, Washington
I don't know who I'd have third. It really doesn't matter. I can't see anything changing the first place vote.
9) The College Football Playoff rankings come out on Tuesday night. The top eight should be:
1 Georgia
2 Michigan
3 Ohio State
4 Florida State
5 Washington
6 Oregon
7 Texas
8 Alabama
The top five might be moved around, but that's how I'd rank them. These will be the top eight teams. After that, it gets interesting.
The top G5 team is going to take a spot in the NY6. Let's assume that's Tulane, which beat Tulsa 24-22 yesterday. You're going to have four playoff spots. Those will go to the SEC Champ (Georgia, for now), the Big Ten champ (the Michigan/Ohio State winner), the PAC 12 champ (Washington/Oregon) and the ACC Champ (Florida State) if things go according to form in the last two weeks of the regular season and conference title games (they might not because college football).
The Washington/Oregon loser is probably in the NY6. Alabama is probably in. Texas is probably in. That leaves two spots. One of them goes to the ACC runner up if Florida State makes the playoff. You guys want Florida State to not make the playoff. You want Louisville to lose to Kentucky and Florida State to somehow lose to Florida. That seems unlikely. But if the Noles miss the playoff, Missouri is probably in the NY6 at 10-2.
Assuming that doesn't happen, the final spot comes down to Mizzou, Ole Miss or Penn State. Personally, I can't see how Penn State gets there. They've beaten no one and gotten dominated in the only two games against someone. So it's probably Mizzou vs Ole Miss for the final spot (assuming both win their final two games). I'm not including Oregon State here because the Beavers already have two losses and finish the regular season with Oregon and Washington. They might win one, but I don't think they win both.
The argument for Mizzou is that it has only two losses, both to top 15-20 teams, both of which it was in position to win with five minutes to play. It has wins over Tennessee and Kansas State. Its two losses are by a combined 19 points.
The argument for Ole Miss is that it has only two losses, both to top eight teams. It has a win over LSU, which beat Mizzou. It also has a win over Tulane.
It comes down to this: Missouri is playing better right now and played Georgia better than anyone in the country. Ole Miss is the only two-loss team that can say it has better losses than Mizzou and it beat a team that beat Mizzou.
Honestly, it could go either way. Both teams can say they deserve to be in. An argument can be made for either one. Neither can say it got screwed if it loses the spot (at least not by the other team; both can say they got screwed for Louisville or Tulane).
What Mizzou fans want: Two wins, a Florida State loss, Oregon State to beat either Washington or Oregon, but lose the other one and then have whichever one of those teams beat Oregon State win the PAC-12 title game.
Of course, chaos could still ensue and all of this prognostication is a waste of time.
10) Five games I'll watch other than Mizzou/Florida next week:
Louisville at Miami, 11 am: I think the Canes win this. But again, it really only matters if Florida State doesn't make the playoff.
Georgia at Tennessee, 230 CBS: Georgia might win by 90
Washington at Oregon State, 630 ABC: Huge national implications
Texas at Iowa State, 7 pm FOX: The Big 12 is wild. I have no idea how tiebreakers work. Texas could make the CFP or not even make the conference title game
Utah at Arizona, TBD: No major national implications, but a good game. Jedd Fisch is major competition for the national coach of the year.
