The Rest of College Football

[iam416]

Correct

[Cody_Russell]

Fuck Cincinnati. I demand that Michigan be in the top 5 when we are obliterated by OSU.

I’m interested to see if 11-2 Alabama (2nd loss to Georgia, perhaps a close loss) would have an argument over 13-0 Cincinnati for the Playoff.
IMO, would rather see Cincinnati in the Playoff in this scenario. We don’t need to see a 1 vs 4 Georgia-Bama rematch. Still wonder if there would be an argument because of metrics… strength of schedule…

If Ohio State wins out, they should be ranked #2 if Bama loses to Georgia in the SEC Championship. Wins vs MSU, M, and Wisconsin would big a big boost for the Buckeyes. I wouldn’t sweat playing Georgia in the first round of the Playoff.

Outside of the obvious Michigan State at Ohio State, Oregon at Utah is a significant game this weekend. All sorts of chaos could happen.

Also, what if Michigan State AND Michigan both win out. Oh boy, that final Playoff show could be pain for us M fans.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Look up Georgia Tech vs. Cumberland, 1916. We'll be lucky to do as well as Cumberland in that matchup.

JFC ....... neither team is going to get lit up. The ridiculously embarrassing losses suffered by M v CRD belong right at the feet of Don Brown. He had nothing to offer in 2 games v. OSU when the M D got shreded over the top and underneath. McDonald may be the new guy on the block but he ain't stupid, well, except for not adjusting to M getting tempoed by Mel Tucker. Janklin tried it and that didn't turn out so well for them.

M will get had a few times with the underneath stuff CRD killed M with in the last blow-out loss. Barrett has come on in the hybrid LB roll and is faster and more agile than Brad Hawkins. He should be fine in underneath coverage. Turner, Gray and Gamon Green have come on and if Turner covered Jahan Dotson on deep balls and fades and controlled his output, I expect something as good from Turner, Dax Hill and Green/Gray on any of Olave, WIlson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

Day's gonna get his plays in. M has the potential to limit the big ones this time around.

[iam416]

If the M secondary is going to control two definite first round WRs and 1 probable first round WR then M is going to fucking assjack Ohio State. I mean fucking assjack them.

So, Buchanan and I are on the same page.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Linesman, did you see us play against Nebraska? They're practically a junior high team.

No sir, HARABUGH!!! will not let this opportunity pass.

You both played against that same Jr. High team dipfuck.

STFU

[froot loops]

CRD can start making hotel reservations in Indy. As usual. Nothing has changed. They're the best team in the conference.

M might give them a bit of a stronger battle than usual, but in the end OSU will prevail.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Oh woe is you.

[lineygoblue]

McDonald may be the new guy on the block but he ain't stupid, well, except for not adjusting to M getting tempoed by Mel Tucker. Janklin tried it and that didn't turn out so well for them.

I think that's one of a few things I like about McDonald vs Brown. McDonald isn't afraid to make changes, when he gets schooled. I wish he would have made his substitution corrections earlier in the MSU game, but in the ensuing games, his defense hasn't been de-pantsed that way since. Brown was determined to make his schemes work, no matter what. Even if it cost them wins.

I feel like the "chance" Michigan has vs OSU is the Jim Carrey thing (dumb and dumberer?) A 'chance' but not likely.

[froot loops]

Don Brown wouldn't have gotten depantsed on tempo.

[JRB]

The Top Ten

1. Georgia. Tennessee couldn't make this as interesting as I'd thought they could, though they did manage to become the first team all year to score more than 13 points on the Bulldogs. Georgia has only Charleston Southern(yikes) and Georgia Tech left, and while Clean Old Fashioned Hate has provided a surprise or two over the years, it's never supplied one as big as the Yellow Jackets beating this Georgia team would be. I think this team can safely start looking ahead to the SEC championship game, in which they'll almost certainly be taking on...

2. Alabama. The Crimson Tide's path to Atlanta got a little clearer with the injuries at Auburn, as if Alabama needed much in the way of help. You can't tell all that much from their bludgeoning of New Mexico State, and while Arkansas is ranked, the Razorbacks don't figure to provide enough resistance in Bryant-Denny to give us a real sense of where this team is right now. The loss to Texas A&M stings, and the win over Florida looks much less impressive than it did at the time. The Ole Miss win is the biggest notch on their belt, but would this team, with this resume, deserve to go to the playoff with two losses? Right now, I don't think so.

3. Oregon. Oregon did Oregon-type things against Washington State last week. They completely dominated the first twenty minutes or so, and looked to be putting the Cougars away early. Then Travis Dye fumbled, Oregon went in the tank for the rest of the second quarter, and Washington State came back to tie the game at halftime. Oregon finally got themselves right and won by two touchdowns, but this is a streaky team that has had trouble recently putting a complete game together. This could be the week that comes back to bite them, as they have to travel to Utah. I'm calling this upset right now. Prediction: Utah 35, Oregon 31.

4. Cincinnati. Once again, the Bearcats were in a competitive game in the second half against a team you'd think a top five team would simply blow away. They keep getting tested, and so far, they keep coming up with the answers. Notre Dame is helping them out by continuing to win, and while Oklahoma's loss didn't help them in the CFP standings, it might help later on in keeping the Big 12 champion out of the top four. It would help this team if Desmond Ridder could come up with a clean game this week, as he's facing an SMU defense that can be had through the air. The Bearcats would like to avoid a shootout in this one, as the Mustangs are one of the few teams in the AAC that have enough firepower to last a while in one of those.

5. Ohio State. The Buckeyes scored on all seven first half possessions against Purdue, with six of those scores being touchdowns, rendering any struggles their defense might have been having against the Boilermaker offense largely meaningless. Now Michigan State comes calling, and while the Spartans have arguably overachieved so far this season, a win in Columbus for them would be the height of overachievement this season. Kenneth Walker will be a factor, but I don't think the Spartans have enough playmakers besides Walker to challenge Ohio State's fleet of gamebreakers. The Spartans might keep this close for three quarters, but I don't think they manage to hang for all four. Prediction: Ohio State 42, Michigan State 24.

6. Michigan State. Now, having said all of that, Michigan State has a puncher's chance in this one, at the very least. They know what they have to do. It's not a revolutionary game plan-- give Walker as many carries as possible, shorten the game, win the turnover battle and try to hold Ohio State to field goals in the red zone. The trouble for Michigan State is that Ohio State's run defense has improved over the course of the season, now ranking #13 nationally. The Buckeyes aren't likely to get gashed on the ground the way Michigan was in East Lansing, and without a hero kind of day from Walker, it's difficult to see how Sparty gets the job done at the 'Shoe.

7. Michigan. The Wolverines managed to grab another big road win with their late comeback in Happy Valley, and head to Maryland for a road game where half the attending fans will likely be Michigan fans. I don't see Michigan screwing up this week, as Maryland's offense is down too many receivers and their defense is a little soft against the run. What's saved this Michigan team this year has been its defensive resurgence-- I don't think any Michigan fan would have believed that at this point in the season, this Michigan team would rank #7 nationally in pass efficiency defense and #4 in scoring defense. The defensive ends have lead the charge, but the improvement in the secondary has been tremendous. Have they improved enough on the back end to have a chance against Ohio State? I wouldn't go that far, but we'll find out in eleven days.

8. Notre Dame. More and more, Notre Dame's profile most closely resembles Michigan's. Each team's best win is a win away from home against Wisconsin, each team lost to the best team they've played so far, and the rest of their schedules has been kind of meh. It's Notre Dame's singular bad luck to have lined up and beaten Florida State, USC, a preseason top-ten North Carolina and Virginia Tech in a year in which none of those wins counts for much. Their next two games don't figure to help either, as Georgia Tech and Stanford are a combined 6-14. Does this team have a path to the playoff? Strangely enough, now I think they do. If Oregon loses, Alabama loses in the SEC title game, and there's carnage in the Big Ten(say, with a Wisconsin win in the Big Ten championship game), that might be enough help for the Irish to sneak in.

9. Oklahoma. I rank the Sooners ahead of Oklahoma State for now simply because their loss came to a better team. But I had to drop OU behind everybody else on this list, and I must concede that the CFP rankings had them more accurately ranked than I did. Caleb Williams finally played like a freshman against Baylor, and neither he nor anyone else could bail out an Oklahoma offense that has sputtered all year and finally ground to a halt for much of the first three quarters in Waco. A repeat performance against Iowa State could remove them from Big 12 contention entirely, although it'll be tough for the Cyclones to recover from the loss they just suffered in Lubbock. I think OU gets a win this week, but Bedlam is another matter.

10. Oklahoma State. The Cowboys wiped out TCU in what was probably their best overall performance of the season. As long as their pass defense can hold up, they ought to win in Lubbock this week, though it would be fittingly bizarre for this season if Texas Tech scored another upset after firing their head coach. Then it's Bedlam, and with OU staggering late, the opportunity should be there for the Cowboys to finish atop the Big 12 regular season standings. Have they done enough to make a late playoff run? I doubt it, but they have beaten Baylor and Houston, and they could end the season with two wins over OU or a second win over Baylor. The right kind of mess takes place ahead of them, and they have a chance.

Next Ten: Ole Miss, Baylor, Wake Forest, BYU, UTSA, Houston, Texas A&M, Iowa, Pittsburgh, Wisconsin

[THE_WIZARD_]

shaddup

[JRB]

Cogent, but ineffective.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Seconded.

[lineygoblue]

Two thoughts:

If Cincinnati is ranked ahead of OSU, does anyone really believe that Cincinnati would beat OSU? Really? I don't. No matter where they play, in Cincinnati, in Columbus or in Tuscaloosa. OSU wins every time.

If anyone thinks that MSU is really a better team than Michigan based on their shaky, officiating mistake marred win, has anyone considered that MSU promptly went out the following week and lost to an unranked team? At least Michigan's loss came to a ranked team. Does anyone believe MSU could wiggle out a win again? How about on a neutral field?

1. Georgia
2. Alabama
3. Oregon
4. OSU
5. Cincinnati
6. Michigan

7 and beyond .. who cares...

And I think M could overhaul Cincy as well, but even though Cincy has a weak schedule, they still haven't lost, so they get the spot ahead of Michigan.

[iam416]

I certainly think Sparty could beat M again. I mean, fuck, if they played on a neutral field M is maybe a 6 or 7 point favorite at best. That's not a 10 out of 10 number. That's a 7 out of 10 number. So, yeah, I can get someone arguing that M is actually better than Sparty, but there ain't no way that any rematch is some sort of foregone conclusion. Especially coming from the same people who think M has no chance against a massively flawed Ohio State team.

[lineygoblue]

lol .. "massively flawed OSU team" ..

May Michigan be your definition of "massively flawed" when they play next Saturday.