The Rest of College Football

[Jeff Buchanan]

Apparently Martinez won't be playing for Neb v. Iowa this Saturday.

https://www.ketv.com/article/husker-quarterback-adrian-martinez-is-out-for-iowa-game/38323091

[Cody_Russell]

Michigan or Ohio State will be out after Saturday. The winner, most likely Ohio State, would have to lose the CCG to miss the play off. That is a possibility, more so if in the unlikely event that M beat OSU

Based on current criteria Alabama and Georgia should both be in regardless of outcome of the Iron Bowl.

It looks as if Cinci wins they will remain at four. I don't have a problem with that as what difference does it make if Cinci or some other team gets railed by Alabama or Georgia?

I could see Notre Dame getting in if either M or OSU losed the CCG or if Cinci should lose to East Carolina

Oh yeah. Fuck Notre Dame

1. Georgia.
Playoff lock.
2. Ohio State
vs #5 Michigan. Winner is a Playoff lock unless they lose to Wisconsin or Iowa in B10 champ.
3. Alabama.
Playoff lock IF they defeat Georgia.
4. Cincinnati
Playoff lock IF they win out and IF either Bama lose OR there isn’t a 1 loss B12 champ.
5. Michigan
See above.
6. Notre Dame.
Can’t really improve their stock. Highly dependent on the teams above and below.
7. Oklahoma State
Should jump Cincinnati IMO if they beat #10 Oklahoma and #8 Baylor.
8. Baylor
I don’t think Baylor can make the Playoff…
9. Ole Miss
Can’t make the Playoff. Fun fact, Ole Miss is a 1 point underdog at Mississippi State tomorrow.
10. Oklahoma
Could jump Cincinnati IMO if they beat #7 Oklahoma State and #8 Baylor.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Based on current criteria Alabama and Georgia should both be in regardless of outcome of the Iron Bowl.

Umm no. If Auburn wins the Iron Bowl Bama is eliminated even with a win over UGA.

[Tom W]

I'm pretty sure that he meant the SEC CCG. Perhaps evidence that CGVTs account is being corrupted by Russian hackers who don't know the difference?

[THE_WIZARD_]

Seconded

[Jeff Buchanan]

I'm positive CGVT's account has been hacked by the Russians along with DSL's. 😎

[CGVT]

I'm pretty sure that he meant the SEC CCG. Perhaps evidence that CGVTs account is being corrupted by Russian hackers who don't know the difference?

Yes CCG. If Auburn beats Bama in the Iron Bowl Bama should be out. Which of course gives fucking Notre Dame a shot to get in.

PAC12 and Big12 should be left out unless everything goes to absolute shit

Fucking Russians

[THE_WIZARD_]

Fussians?

[lineygoblue]

Bama isn't losing to Auburn, because Auburn's top QB is out, I believe with a leg/foot injury.

Winner of M v OSU will beat Wisky in the CCG, and that puts them in for sure. Maybe even as the #2 seed.

As long as Georgia beats Bama in their CCG, the Dawgs are in, and #1. That might knock out Bama with 2 losses. I think Bama only gets in if they win both of their next 2.

Cincy will definitely be in if Bama upsets Georgia, providing that Cincy wins out. They could get upset in their CCG, but not likely. That unfortunately opens the door at least a crack for FND.

I'll predict:

Georgia #1 seed. They'll win out.
OSU #2 seed. See above.
Cincy #3 seed. LOL at the arguments about them not being the best team in Ohio
Notre Dame #4 seed. Just because I'd love to see the Dawgs maul the crap out of them in round 1.

Michigan, Oregon, Bama, B12 Champion, .. all bridesmaids, but would be included in a 12 team playoff, and I hope it happens soon.

[JRB]

The Top Ten

1. Georgia. The Bulldogs destroyed Charleston Southern, as expected, and will almost certainly do likewise to a Georgia Tech team that lacks the ability to challenge them across the board. Right now, the only suspense attached to this team relates to the possibility that DC Dan Lanning is going to get a head coaching job somewhere, but even that isn't likely to come into play until the playoffs. This is the only team that seems like a lock for the CFP now.

2. Alabama. The Tide's passing game was overwhelming against Arkansas. Their pass defense was...considerably less than overwhelming. Is Nick Saban going to have to completely retool his coaching staff after this season? It's looking probable that Bill O'Brien lands a top head coaching job in the next couple of weeks, and he could take a couple of assistants with him. Will AA get his wish and see both coordinators leave town? It's tough seeing the Tide having much trouble in the Iron Bowl with T.J. Finley quarterbacking the Tigers, but strange things have been known to happen on the Plains. At the moment, I have the Tide winning this week, losing next week, and facing a Big XII team in the Sugar Bowl.

3. Ohio State. See, things tend to work out on this list eventually...sometimes, it just takes a while. Ohio State got a top-ten win, and did so in the most convincing fashion imaginable, so they're now earned a spot they've certainly looked good enough to occupy for a while. I argued that Michigan State's best chance to win in Columbus was to shorten the game, while Froot Loops disagreed, saying Michigan State had to try to win a shoot-out. It turns out we were both wrong-- last Saturday, Michigan State had no chance to compete with Ohio State. Their pass defense simply couldn't provide any resistance. Now, what does this mean for this coming Saturday? Read on, my friends. We'll deal with The Game in a second.

4. Cincinnati. Things just keep working out for Cincinnati so far this year, and after their dominant win at home over an SMU team that was never in the game, the Bearcats were rewarded by the CFP committee with a spot in the top four. They look as though they have a clear path now, so this is where things might get tricky. I've said it before, and I'm not the only one...maybe the hardest thing to do in this sport is to win on the road the week after a big home win. Cincinnati has a trip to Greenville, N.C., this week to play an East Carolina team that's won four straight and has played everybody tough this year. This game has upset alert written all over it, and if the Bearcats survive that one, they'll get an 11-1 Houston team coming off an effective bye (the Cougars play UConn to end the regular season). Getting to the fourth spot was a tremendous accomplishment for the Cincinnati program. Staying there the next couple of weeks is going to be hard.

5. Michigan. Michigan goes into The Game in about as good a shape as they could reasonably have expected, especially if Blake Corum can go on Saturday. Does Michigan have a real chance? I think so. I think Michigan is much better equipped and conditioned to approach the Buckeyes in the way I thought Michigan State should have-- focus on the ground game, try to play ball control and keep the score in the high 20s-low 30s. If it's much higher scoring than that, I don't think this offense can keep up. I think Michigan's more competitive in this one than they've been in the last couple of tries against the Buckeyes, but in the end, they come up short in this one for the same reason they lost in 2006, and 2016, and 2018-- Ohio State has more playmakers than Michigan has stoppers. Prediction: Ohio State 42, Michigan 31.

6. Notre Dame. A Michigan loss, an Alabama loss, maybe a Cincinnati loss-- it's not going to take much at this point for the Irish to sneak into the playoff. It's going to take a win over Stanford, of course, but that seems like a given considering the state of the Cardinal right now. Notre Dame's biggest challenge may be a resume contest with one of the teams behind them. Specifically, if Oklahoma wins out, they'll have done so with two straight wins over oSu. If the Cowboys win out, they'll have two wins against either Oklahoma or Baylor. I'm not sure the Irish win a head-to-head comparison in either of those cases.

7. Oklahoma. Again, I have the Sooners ahead of the Cowboys right now based on a better loss, but honestly, this is a toss-up spot, and it'll get settled this week. Unless, of course, they play again in the much-derided Big XII championship game. Baylor's going to have a tough time getting to the Big XII championship game if Bohannon can't play this week, but they might still have enough to take out Texas Tech. If so, the Sooners have to win in Stillwater to get that rematch. I don't think they get there.

8. Oklahoma State. You know the cliche that they don't play defense in the Big XII? This Oklahoma State team has said the hell with that. They held Texas Tech to 108 yards last week, and currently, they're first in the nation in 3rd down defense, first in sacks, second in scoring defense, third in total defense, fourth against the run, and ninth against the pass. That defense is the biggest reason they're favored to take down OU in Bedlam this week, and I have to agree. Prediction: Pokes 23, Sooners 17.

9. Ole Miss. Tomorrow night, we get Round 2 of the Lane Kiffin-Mike Leach Egg Bowl, and that should be a fun way to cap off Thanksgiving. A win in Starkvegas ought to get the Rebels the third SEC Big Six bid, I'd think in the Peach Bowl against the ACC champion, so this team has a very good chance of finishing 11-2. Is this the last Egg Bowl for Lane Kiffin, though? Will he head back to Miami if given the opportunity? I think so. Lane Kiffin as the Miami head coach just feels like one of those things that has to happen in college football.

10. Oregon. The Ducks' first loss(to Stanford) looked weird at the time, and has only gotten worse since. But this latest disaster against Utah? Hoo boy. The Ducks had no answers in Salt Lake City last Saturday night, and so the PAC-12 is out of the playoff picture once again. I wonder if they'll have anything left for the Civil War this week after taking a beating that bad. So, why did they stay in the top ten? Baylor's QB is hurt, and Michigan State took an even worse beating.

Next Ten: Baylor, Michigan State, BYU, Texas A&M, UTSA, Iowa, Wisconsin, Pittsburgh, Utah, Wake Forest

[JRB]

[Cody_Russell]

I find it interesting how a lot of these coaches are deciding to stay. Several of the names you initially heard for job openings.

Coaches that are staying:
- James Franklin (Penn State)
- Dave Aranda (Baylor)
- Mel Tucker (Michigan State)
- Hugh Freeze (Liberty)
- PJ Fleck (Minnesota)
- Jeff Traylor (UTSA)

LSU. USC, Florida, Virginia Tech, Washington, Washington State, and TCU are currently the top jobs open.
- LSU. Heard they will make a big push for Lincoln Riley.
- Florida. Everything points towards Louisiana’s HC Billy Napier.
- USC. Dallas Cowboys DC Dan Quinn? Not sure here.

For the rest of those teams, the might be setting for an uninspiring hire. Even Billy Napier and Dan Quinn aren’t that thrilling. Mark Stoops from Kentucky could find his way to one of those programs ….

[JRB]

[JRB]

It appears SMU is replacing Dykes with Rhett Lashlee, the offensive coordinator at Miami.

[Cody_Russell]

Here’s my top 10 after today:
1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. Cincinnati
4. Alabama (Down because ugly win + A&M losing today)
5. Notre Dame
6. Oklahoma State (Will jump ND with win over Baylor)
7. Ohio State
8. Baylor
9. Ole Miss
10. Michigan State (Slight bump after impressively winning despite the flu situation)