We are just a little over a week after the hallway point in this years college football regular season. And we are just under a week until the first college football Playoff rankings are released (October 30). So for the next 2 months The college football world will all be focused on one thing. The top four. And this is where all the fun starts, all the drama of who is going to get in. All the possible upsets that we may see. All of the reactions such as “That was an obvious top choice”. Or “I can not believe that happened”. “They just lost their championship hopes”. All of the reactions are reasonable. For instance we got quite a few2 of the reactions already last weekend especially with the upsets of Georgia and Ohio State. I will get to both of those upsets later on. Let me give you a little preview of what we can expect the next two months.
The Obvious Three:
Alabama
Surprise, surprise the Crimson Tide is at the top of the college football world at this time of the year. Year after year they are the top of the rankings. Will they be at the top come October 30 and by seasons end? It is certainly possible. However they are beginning the bulk of their tough part of their schedule. They are facing LSU this Saturday. And I would not be too surprised if LSU comes away with the upset this weekend. If LSU does not defeat Alabama this weekend, do not expect anybody else too. Can we just go ahead and put the Tide in the Championship game already?
Clemson
Up until a couple of weeks ago, the Tigers did not seem like a team that was worthy of a playoff spot. They seemed like a team that could not live up to expectations. Case and point. Their near loss to Syracuse earlier in the year, a come from behind victory at that. I guess you can say they have one resume win when they blew out NC State 41-7. They are the heavy favorite to win the ACC. Obviously that is a good thing for them. However the rest of the ACC is not helping them. If the Tigers slip up, it could be very costly for them.
Notre Dame
The Irish keep winning. Of course winning week after week is going to keep their Playoff hopes alive and well. With wins against Michigan, Stanford and Virginia Tech their playoff resume looks very good. AS long as they have that “Play Like a Champion” attitude, they could certainly be champions by seasons end. Of course that is all easier said then done.
Control Their Own Fate:
Louisiana State
LSU has the most impressive wins out of any school in the nation. With wins against Miami, Auburn, Mississippi State, and Georgia. That Georgia victory certainly helped them out after a loss to Florida. However a win against Bama will certainly help them out even more. But a loss against the Tide probably will knock out the Tigers of playoff contention. It is do or die for the Tigers this weekend.
Georgia
The Bulldogs do not quite yet have themselves a big win over a ranked opponent. However they will have three chances to do so soon. With a trip to Jacksonville to face their arch rivals the Florida Gators in the “Worlds Biggest Cocktail Party”. And then they have a road trip up to Lexington, Kentucky to face the Wildcats of Kentucky. Yes, we are now talking about a win over the Kentucky Wildcats in football would look SEXY on college football teams season resume. Who would have thought that?
Michigan
The Wolverines are much like LSU. With impressive wins against Wisconsin and Michigan State, but I am not really sure how they will look come mid to late November. However a loss to Notre Dame does put them in a do or die situation. With upcoming games against Penn State and Ohio State, they will be looking for a win against both of them which is easier said then done.. Wins against them both would certainly make them look great to the Playoff committee. As long as they keep winning until the last vote by seasons end, it would be hard to deny them a Playoff spot.
Florida
Much like their fellow SEC foes, the Gators are do or die. That win against LSU certainly makes them look great. The loss to Kentucky does not look as bad as it did when they first suffered the loss. The Gators are very much alive in the hunt for the SEC Championship. And if they win the SEC Championship, you certainly can not keep them out of the Playoffs.
Who Could use a bit of help:
West Virginia
The Mountaineers were riding pretty high to start their season behind quarterback and Heisman candidate Will Grier. However an embarrassing loss to Iowa State have really made their road to the Playoffs very difficult as it will be used against them much like how Ohio States loss to Iowa last year kept Ohio State out of the Playoffs last year. The Mountaineers still have to face Oklahoma, Baylor, TCU, and Texas. Those games with all of them being wins would look fantastic to the Playoff committee. And having them win all of those games seems to be asking a lot.
Ohio State
The Buckeyes are alive, but they are not well. They are hurting after that loss to Purdue, and their win against TCU in week 3 does not look as good as it does now. The Penn State win is the only impressive win they have. However Penn State has home losses to Michigan and they struggled against Indiana. If the Buckeyes have a victory over Michigan and come away with a Big 10 title, we may see a repeat of last year where the Buckeyes were left out of the Playoffs because of an embarrassing loss.
Oklahoma
If the Sooners win out, it would be hard to deny them an entry into the Playoffs, but it is not guaranteed. Much like their fellow Big 12 foes in Texas and West Virginia. They need Texas and West Virginia to not slip up the rest of the season. More than likely, they will face either West Virginia or Texas in the Big 12 championship. And with a Big 12 championship going into the final voting, will certainly boost their Playoff stock.
Texas
I guess you can say the Longhorns are the sleeper team. I never would have thought I would be sitting here at this time of the year that I would be talking about Texas being in playoff contention. As it currently stand, the Oklahoma win is very impressive. With a chance to come away with another great win against West Virginia as long as the Mountaineers do not fall off the map until they meet up. And we could be looking at a potential rematch with the Sooners in the Big 12 title game, it would be hard to deny the Longhorns a shot at a National Championship.
The next two months will be filled with drama, heartache, disappointment. Here is to hoping your team ends up on the right side of history.