Week 11 in College Football gave us more insight into what it will take for a team to win it all. We saw Michigan overcome Penn State, Alabama run Kentucky, Utah outlast Washington, Missouri ROLL Tennessee, Oregon handle USC, and Georgia obsoletely dismantle Ole Miss. The big-time teams won the big-time games.
Starting with the best bets.
Tennessee had one of the worst performances this week. They gave up 36 points and allowed Cody Schrader to destroy them, rushing and receiving. Schrader had 321 total yards, only 29 less than the Tennessee team. Tennessee also could not run the ball, finishing with only 83 rushing yards.
Utah lost to Washington 35-28, covering the 9 points they were getting. Washington again showed that they are gettable for good teams, allowing Utah 382 total yards and having 11 penalties for 100 yards. These issues may come out as soon as this weekend when they go to Corvallis and face Oregon St. Expect a challenging game where Oregon State moves the ball a lot and scores a lot of points against this defense.
Georgia showed why they are back-to-back National Champs with a dominating win over Ole Miss, 52-17. Ole Miss is not a test for a team like Georgia, especially when they have over 600 yards of total offense with 300 on the ground. This was prime Georgia all over again, with Bowers back, they will be a test for Alabama in the SEC Championship game.
In the game of the week, Michigan handled Penn State 24-15. The score doesn’t indicate how this game played out. It’s very reminiscent of last year’s Georgia/Tennessee game, where Georgia won 27-13 but just dominated the entire game. Michigan was so good that they threw the ball eight times in this game, yes, eight times. In the second half, they threw just one pass.
So what does this mean? For Penn State, as of Sunday, 11/12, they fired their OC Mike Yurcich, and they will be 10-2 with a hopeful trip to a bowl game. For Michigan, they show that they are still Michigan. They are willing to put eight guys on the line of scrimmage and run the ball 44 times.
We know how they want to win, but how does Michigan lose? If they get behind in a game, and JJ McCarthy has to make plays, it could be the TCU game all over again. That’s a big “if”, though.
JJ has shown that he can make plays this year, and unless a team is more physical than them on the line of scrimmage, then it seems like there is no way they can lose.
Other notable games this past weekend: Alabama blew out Kentucky 49-21, Oregon handled USC 36-27, Iowa beat Rutgers 22-0, and UCF beat Oklahoma St 45-3.
Alabama clinched their bid for the SEC Championship, and they will face
Georgia. The winner has an almost perfect chance to go to the CFB Playoff.
Oregon did what they do and beat USC, giving them more confidence come the Pac-12 title game.
Iowa is one win away from clinching their Big Ten Championship bid after defeating Rutgers.
With the Oklahoma St loss, there are now 4 teams at 5-2 in the Big 12.
Texas stands alone at 6-1 and will make it if they win out, and Oklahoma St is 5-2 and needs to win out, Texas to win out, and Kansas St to lose to Iowa St. Iowa St is 5-2 and needs to win out and have Oklahoma lose again. Oklahoma is 5-2 and needs to win out, Texas to win out, and Oklahoma St to lose once. Kansas St is 5-2 and needs to win out and have Texas lose once.
The Big 12 race is as chaotic as it can be right now.
Other conference races
ACC: Florida St has clinched and will likely play Louisville in the ACC Championship.
Pac-12: As of now, Washington will take on Oregon in the Pac-12 title game, pending any losses for either team.
SEC: Georgia and Alabama clinched the SEC Championship spots.
Big Ten: Iowa is one win away from representing the Big Ten West. The winner of Ohio State and Michigan will most likely represent the East.
The College Football Playoff is coming closer and closer as each week goes by.
I predict that the winner of the SEC, the Big Ten, the Pac-12, and the Big 12 will get in as long as Florida St loses to Louisville.
If Florida State is undefeated and wins the ACC, they will be in along with the undefeated Big Ten champ. So, who else gets in?
If Georgia and Washington are undefeated, they are in. If Oregon, Alabama, and Texas win, then there is controversy because one team with one loss must be held out.
I believe that it will be Texas. Texas will play Oklahoma St, Oklahoma, Iowa St, or Kansas St.
One team is in the top 15 of the AP Poll, and we are still determining where these teams will be ranked once the Selection Committee comes out with their picks.
All of this is to say that Texas will play a team ranked 15 or lower, while Washington is ranked fifth and Georgia is ranked second in the Selection Committee rankings.
I predict that Alabama, Oregon, Ohio St, and Florida St will be the four teams in the playoff.
Alabama will beat Georgia because the one weakness that Georgia has is stopping a running QB. Oregon beats Washington based on how each team has performed as of late. Ohio State beats Michigan in Ann Arbor by the same method that Penn State had. Think about it. Michigan scored 17 points until they got the ball after a turnover on downs when Penn State went for it on their 30-yard line. That was at the 4-minute mark.
If Ohio State can hold Michigan to 24 points, they can score 25 and win.
And Florida St has the most straightforward path. As long as they win out, they will play a decent Louisville team at best, which will be their ticket into the playoff.
I have the seeding being: 1. Ohio State, 2. Alabama, 3. Oregon, 4. Florida St
Ohio State and Alabama play in the National Championship.
