1) Every Power Five conference has at least one team that has clinched a spot in the title game.
ACC: Florida State vs Louisville is set
SEC: Alabama vs Georgia is set
PAC-12: Washington will play Oregon or Arizona. The Ducks make it with a win over Oregon State OR an Arizona loss to Arizona State
Big Ten: The winner of Michigan/Ohio State faces Iowa
Big 12: Texas faces somebody. I have no idea who. Five teams look like they're mathematically alive and the league is making up the tiebreakers as it goes.
2) Tennessee is probably the SEC's most disappointing team. The Vols were non-competitive for a second week in a row. They'll finish third in the East if they beat Vanderbilt, but in games against Mizzou and Georgia in the last two weeks they've been outscored 74-17. The criticism of Josh Heupel's offenses was it could beat the bad teams, but couldn't produce against the good ones. Was last year an anomaly or is this who he is going to be? 8-4 isn't bad, but Tennessee fans think 8-4 is bad.
3) Unless Kentucky is the SEC's most disappointing team. The Wildcats lost 17-14 at South Carolina yesterday. It is the Cats' fifth loss in six weeks after a 5-0 start. The only win is over Mississippi State, which might only actually count as half a win. Kentucky has been outscored 188-96 in those five games and only two were decided by less than 17 points. Up next is No. 10 Louisville. If Kentucky doesn't pull the upset it will go from 5-0 to 6-6.
4) Auburn hasn't been a disappointing team this year, but it sure was yesterday. The Tigers were beaten 31-10 by New Mexico State in a game they paid the Aggies $1.85 million to play. Auburn ran a grand total of 45 plays and had 213 yards of total offense. Jerry Kill's a good coach and NMSU is now 9-3, but you can't lose that game if you're Auburn.
5) The biggest story in the country might be an injury. Florida State outscored North Alabama 58-0 with a guy named Tate Rodemaker at quarterback. Rodemaker replaced Jordan Travis after Travis suffered what I'm told (I won't watch it) was a gruesome leg injury. The Seminoles were No. 4 in the playoff rankings last week. If they beat Florida and Louisville they're a lock for the College Football Playoff. Or at least they were yesterday. Don't get me wrong, at 13-0 I'm sure they'd still get in, but it's hard to believe FSU has any national title hopes after losing their starting quarterback in what amounted to a glorified scrimmage.
6) The national coach of the year very well may come down to two guys out west. Jedd Fisch has Arizona 8-3 and on the brink of a PAC-12 championship appearance. The Wildcats have won five in a row, four of them over ranked teams, with a true freshman backup at quarterback. The Wildcats were 15-46 in the five seasons before this and are looking for their second season of at least nine wins since 1998. Fisch's main competition may be Barry Odom and UNLV. The Rebels fell behind Air Force 24-7 and came back to win 31-27 to go to 9-2 on the season and 6-1 in Mountain West Conference play. UNLV leads the league by a game over Air Force, Boise State and San Jose State. UNLV hosts San Jose State next week and will host the MWC title game with a win. The Rebels were 7-23 in the last three seasons and have now won nine games for just the third time in school history. Their only two conference titles came in the PCAA, but they're two wins away from a third. The third major contender for coach of the year is probably Jeff Brohm, who is 10-1 at Louisville. The Cardinals didn't receive a single first-place vote in the preseason conference poll.
7) Your "what the hell is this" moment for the week comes from Clemson, as it seems it quite often does. Tiger fans stormed the field after a 31-20 win over 20th-ranked North Carolina. I'm not sure if it's dumber they stormed the field after beating 8-3 North Carolina or that they did it with three seconds still to play. Clemson has now beaten North Carolina six straight times, 9 of 10 and 11 of 13. Maybe they thought it was basketball?
8) My Heisman ballot if it was due today:
Jayden Daniels, LSU
Michael Penix, Washington
Bo Nix, Oregon (for lack of anybody more deserving)
9) The playoff if it started today:
1 Georgia vs 4 Florida State
2 Ohio State vs 3 Michigan
Obviously that won't happen. The Michigan/Ohio State loser is going to fall out of the top four, replaced presumably by either Washington (if it beats Washington State and Oregon) or Oregon (if it beats Oregon State and Washington). If the Ducks lose to Oregon State, but still make the league title game and beat Washington, or if Washington loses to Washington State, then you're looking at Texas making the playoff. If it can beat Texas Tech and win the Big 12 title game. The Horns are in great shape if they win out because of a head to head win over Alabama. The chaos scenario is still Alabama beating Georgia in the SEC title game and the Bulldogs, Tide and Longhorns all finishing 12-1 while Washington, Florida State and the Big Ten champ finish undefeated. If that happens, you either put Alabama in over a Texas team that won in Tuscaloosa or you have the final four-team playoff without a representative from the SEC. Either way, heads would absolutely explode. This, obviously, is what I'm rooting for.
Nobody else has a chance. Those are the eight teams that can get in. I know this board is busy concocting wild scenarios where Missouri makes it, but I really don't think it's possible. A two-loss team that doesn't make its conference title game isn't getting in.
10) Seven games I'll watch next week besides Mizzou/Arkansas:
Ole Miss at Mississippi State, 6:30 Thursday, ESPN: It's the Egg Bowl on Thanksgiving night. Of course I'm going to watch.
Oregon State at Oregon, 7:30 Friday, FOX: Ruining Oregon's PAC-12 title hopes in the last Civil War as conference mates might be the biggest moment in school history
Ohio State at Michigan, 11:00 Saturday, FOX: No explanation needed
Kentucky at Louisville, 11:00 Saturday, ABC: I wouldn't think Louisville loses this one, but it will be worth monitoring
Alabama at Auburn, 2:30 Saturday, CBS: It probably won't be a good game but weird things happen in the Iron Bowl
Washington State at Washington, 3:00, FOX: Again, if Wazzu takes down the Huskies and wrecks their title hopes, it's the sweetest Apple Cup ever
Florida State at Florida, 6:00 Saturday, ESPN: Backup quarterback battle. You never know.
ACC: Florida State vs Louisville is set
SEC: Alabama vs Georgia is set
PAC-12: Washington will play Oregon or Arizona. The Ducks make it with a win over Oregon State OR an Arizona loss to Arizona State
Big Ten: The winner of Michigan/Ohio State faces Iowa
Big 12: Texas faces somebody. I have no idea who. Five teams look like they're mathematically alive and the league is making up the tiebreakers as it goes.
2) Tennessee is probably the SEC's most disappointing team. The Vols were non-competitive for a second week in a row. They'll finish third in the East if they beat Vanderbilt, but in games against Mizzou and Georgia in the last two weeks they've been outscored 74-17. The criticism of Josh Heupel's offenses was it could beat the bad teams, but couldn't produce against the good ones. Was last year an anomaly or is this who he is going to be? 8-4 isn't bad, but Tennessee fans think 8-4 is bad.
3) Unless Kentucky is the SEC's most disappointing team. The Wildcats lost 17-14 at South Carolina yesterday. It is the Cats' fifth loss in six weeks after a 5-0 start. The only win is over Mississippi State, which might only actually count as half a win. Kentucky has been outscored 188-96 in those five games and only two were decided by less than 17 points. Up next is No. 10 Louisville. If Kentucky doesn't pull the upset it will go from 5-0 to 6-6.
4) Auburn hasn't been a disappointing team this year, but it sure was yesterday. The Tigers were beaten 31-10 by New Mexico State in a game they paid the Aggies $1.85 million to play. Auburn ran a grand total of 45 plays and had 213 yards of total offense. Jerry Kill's a good coach and NMSU is now 9-3, but you can't lose that game if you're Auburn.
5) The biggest story in the country might be an injury. Florida State outscored North Alabama 58-0 with a guy named Tate Rodemaker at quarterback. Rodemaker replaced Jordan Travis after Travis suffered what I'm told (I won't watch it) was a gruesome leg injury. The Seminoles were No. 4 in the playoff rankings last week. If they beat Florida and Louisville they're a lock for the College Football Playoff. Or at least they were yesterday. Don't get me wrong, at 13-0 I'm sure they'd still get in, but it's hard to believe FSU has any national title hopes after losing their starting quarterback in what amounted to a glorified scrimmage.
6) The national coach of the year very well may come down to two guys out west. Jedd Fisch has Arizona 8-3 and on the brink of a PAC-12 championship appearance. The Wildcats have won five in a row, four of them over ranked teams, with a true freshman backup at quarterback. The Wildcats were 15-46 in the five seasons before this and are looking for their second season of at least nine wins since 1998. Fisch's main competition may be Barry Odom and UNLV. The Rebels fell behind Air Force 24-7 and came back to win 31-27 to go to 9-2 on the season and 6-1 in Mountain West Conference play. UNLV leads the league by a game over Air Force, Boise State and San Jose State. UNLV hosts San Jose State next week and will host the MWC title game with a win. The Rebels were 7-23 in the last three seasons and have now won nine games for just the third time in school history. Their only two conference titles came in the PCAA, but they're two wins away from a third. The third major contender for coach of the year is probably Jeff Brohm, who is 10-1 at Louisville. The Cardinals didn't receive a single first-place vote in the preseason conference poll.
7) Your "what the hell is this" moment for the week comes from Clemson, as it seems it quite often does. Tiger fans stormed the field after a 31-20 win over 20th-ranked North Carolina. I'm not sure if it's dumber they stormed the field after beating 8-3 North Carolina or that they did it with three seconds still to play. Clemson has now beaten North Carolina six straight times, 9 of 10 and 11 of 13. Maybe they thought it was basketball?
8) My Heisman ballot if it was due today:
Jayden Daniels, LSU
Michael Penix, Washington
Bo Nix, Oregon (for lack of anybody more deserving)
9) The playoff if it started today:
1 Georgia vs 4 Florida State
2 Ohio State vs 3 Michigan
Obviously that won't happen. The Michigan/Ohio State loser is going to fall out of the top four, replaced presumably by either Washington (if it beats Washington State and Oregon) or Oregon (if it beats Oregon State and Washington). If the Ducks lose to Oregon State, but still make the league title game and beat Washington, or if Washington loses to Washington State, then you're looking at Texas making the playoff. If it can beat Texas Tech and win the Big 12 title game. The Horns are in great shape if they win out because of a head to head win over Alabama. The chaos scenario is still Alabama beating Georgia in the SEC title game and the Bulldogs, Tide and Longhorns all finishing 12-1 while Washington, Florida State and the Big Ten champ finish undefeated. If that happens, you either put Alabama in over a Texas team that won in Tuscaloosa or you have the final four-team playoff without a representative from the SEC. Either way, heads would absolutely explode. This, obviously, is what I'm rooting for.
Nobody else has a chance. Those are the eight teams that can get in. I know this board is busy concocting wild scenarios where Missouri makes it, but I really don't think it's possible. A two-loss team that doesn't make its conference title game isn't getting in.
10) Seven games I'll watch next week besides Mizzou/Arkansas:
Ole Miss at Mississippi State, 6:30 Thursday, ESPN: It's the Egg Bowl on Thanksgiving night. Of course I'm going to watch.
Oregon State at Oregon, 7:30 Friday, FOX: Ruining Oregon's PAC-12 title hopes in the last Civil War as conference mates might be the biggest moment in school history
Ohio State at Michigan, 11:00 Saturday, FOX: No explanation needed
Kentucky at Louisville, 11:00 Saturday, ABC: I wouldn't think Louisville loses this one, but it will be worth monitoring
Alabama at Auburn, 2:30 Saturday, CBS: It probably won't be a good game but weird things happen in the Iron Bowl
Washington State at Washington, 3:00, FOX: Again, if Wazzu takes down the Huskies and wrecks their title hopes, it's the sweetest Apple Cup ever
Florida State at Florida, 6:00 Saturday, ESPN: Backup quarterback battle. You never know.
