College Football Week 14 #BeatTTUNWeek

Missouri State deserves a bowl. There is no reason, other than “pay your dues” for a school who has won 7+ to be shut out of the postseason in college. In this era of paying players, where is the foul in rewarding players who decided to stick with a transitioning school? You don’t want to give the cash to the schools? Okay. Be greedy. But why shouldn’t the newer brands get a chance to showcase and recruit talent by going to a bowl, especially if they’ve exceeded the prerequisite for all other schools to be considered?

Alright, soapbox collapsed.

Anywho. What a dull Week 13. Second to last week in Nov, and we were treated to 3 SEC v SEC challenges with a whopping 37.5% of the conference represented. However, there were 6 ACC v ACC representing 70% of the conference (and Syracuse danced for Notre Dame), 5 American v American (71%), 7 Big 12 v Big 12 (87.5%), and 8 Big 10 v Big 10 (88%).

What a tough slate for those big guys down south.

But seriously, let’s talk football. USC and Oregon gave us a fantastic playoff play-in. Other than the insane quantity of unsportsXanlike penalties given in the span of, what was that, 300 seconds? That’s when the coaches should both get warned, like in baseball. Just ridiculous. But, it was entertaining.

Utah tried to derail their own lean playoff hopes for a lot of 4 quarters until they turned it on to take a late lead and escape their turf with a win over K-State. On the other hand, TCU took down Houston to send the Cougars crashing out of Top 25 orbit. And the only event in the SEC this week (the rest looked like an extra practice) saw OU’s defense continue to look stout, while their QB continued to look questionable. But hey, at least they played a “ranked” squad.

And then, there was Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish were up 21-0 before their offense got the ball. A pick six, followed by a punt block six, followed by a pick six. They could’ve packed up and gone back to their houses. Instead, they decided to go for a little extra and salted away a 70-7 victory (shared opponents, Canes?).

The ACC is finally getting a clearer picture for their title bout. Georgia Tech allowed Pitt to take out their Irish frustrations early and often en-route to a 42-28 thrashing. The Yellow Jackets are now on the outside, looking in, while the Panthers are on the doorstep. SMU continued the destruction of Louisville in a 38-6 drubbing. The Stangs are now one of three schools in key position for their shot at the Title.

Week 14
1	OSU (1.5)
2	Indiana (2.25)
3	Oregon (4.25)
4	Texas Tech (5.5)
5	Notre Dame (6.25)
6	Texas A&M (6.75)
7	Georgia (7.5)
8	Alabama (8.25)
9	BYU (10.25)
9	Oklahoma (10.25)
11	Miami (11)
12	Utah (11.25)
12	Ole Miss (12.25)
14	Vanderbilt (14)
15	Texas (14.75)
15	Tennessee (14.75)
17	USC (15)
18	TTUN (16)
19	Washington (21.75)
20	Iowa (22.5)
21	Pitt (25)
22	SMU (25.25)
22	Missouri (25.5)
24	South Florida (27)
25	LSU (27.75)
Dropped	Illinois
	Found by Eff+FPI+SOR+GC/4

Title Picture

American– North Texas plays Temple, Tulane has Charlotte, and Navy visits Memphis. The easiest path lies with Charlotte (and Temple), but it could get into to a three-way tie breaker, which really sees Navy not being anywhere close to ranked by the CFP coXXittee. Tulane (as the last rankings showed) are the coXXittee’s top squad in the conference. Thus, either they or North Texas would have to lose for Navy to have a chance, considering Navy’s head-to-head loss against UNT.

ACC– barring a disaster by two of the following schools, the ACC is a three horse race now, with the little engine that could (Miami) trailing behind begging everyone to slow down. Virginia gets Virginia Tech, Pitt gets the Canes, and SMU travels to Cal.

Big 12– Texas Tech and BYU look to be headed for a second go, on neutral ground in Arlington, TX. But Chaos could appear.

Big Ten– Four squads are technically alive for this one. The GaXe will decide who goes. Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon, and TTUN. We’ll see if Ryan Day has figured it out yet.

SEC– Texas A&M, Georgia, Alabama, and Ole Miss. Aggies are in if they beat Arch and Co. They could also reach the title with both the Tide and the Rebels losing their rivalries. The Tide can stake their spot with a win over Auburn. Georgia needs either the Longhorns or the Tigers to win to get in. And Ole Miss needs to win their Egg Bowl, and have Texas and Auburn win theirs.

Sun Belt– James Madison faces their toughest test of the year in their finale against Coastal Carolina. But a win would be just what the Dukes ordered to stay alive, not for the Sun Belt Title, but for the CFP.

CFP CoXXittee

The CFP coXXittee got two things wrong last week:

I can now include Mizzou in this one, but Tennessee and Missouri both have no business being ranked. It’s ridiculous padding for the SEC top-dogs. Without those guys ranked, you could include JMU. North Texas deserves recognition as well. UNT have pounded everyone they’ve played, with a fluke against USF.

Alabama staying ahead of BYU. The Tide have a win over Georgia, a good solid win, but otherwise feature a loss to FSU and a loss at their place to Oklahoma. Mizzou and Tennessee count as ordinary wins, not boosters. On the other hand, BYU has a win over a solid Utah squad, and only a loss on the road to Texas Tech.

CFP Bracket

Weekly Hypothetical

Will Georgia and Ohio State both tank their finales to get a playoff stage in their own house instead of the bye?

We can all recall what The Shoe was like last year when the Buckeyes were able to rest and bring the Vols up north. I’d guess Georgia wouldn’t begrudge bringing Oregon or the Irish down south.