On Tuesday night, the College Football Selection Committee released their first poll. There have been many conversations around the country about the SEC dominating the AP poll. The SEC does have five teams in the top eleven and they have four of the top six coming out of the WEST division alone. However, there are other conferences that have strong numbers as well and are not getting talked about because they are not in the top ten. The PAC-10 and The Big-12 each have five teams and there is plenty of football that is left.
Here is the current ranking:
(1) Mississippi State
(2) Florida State
(3) Auburn
(4) Mississippi
(5) Oregon
(6) Alabama
(7) TCU
(8) Michigan State
(9) Kansas State
(10) Notre Dame
(11) Georgia
(12) Arizona
(13) Baylor
(14) Arizona St
(15) Nebraska
(16) Ohio State
(17) Utah
(18) Oklahoma
(19) LSU
(20) WVU
(21) Clemson (22) UCLA
(23) East Carolina
(24) Duke
(25) Louisville
There are three games this weekend that have the potential to shake up these rankings; specifically the Top 7. Here is the list of the games:
Florida State traveling to Louisville
Louisville’s defense has the potential (with their home crowd) to really upset this apple cart. Florida State does have their two (Florida and Miami) in-state rivals on their schedule but this could be the game that will derail their opportunity to play in the first 4-team playoff system and eliminate their chance at a back-to-back championship.
TCU traveling to WVU
WVU has been playing very well. They have two losses but those losses come against Alabama and Oklahoma. TCU is traveling into a hostile environment with a Game-Day push. Clint Trickett and Kevin White will be looking to hook up and keep up with TCU’s scoring machine. If TCUcan get this win, they have a favorable 4-game schedule ahead of them. Yes, they have K-State next week but that is at home and then they have Kansas, Texas, and Iowa State.
Auburn traveling to Ole Miss
In this game, one of the SEC teams will get knocked out of the playoff talk. Auburn should be able to handle Ole Miss, as the pressure will be too much for Ole Miss and they do not have enough striking power. Auburn will remain in the playoff conversation and Ole Miss will trail off. Now, if Ole Miss pulls out the win, conversations will be swirling.
The Future
There is quite a bit of football remaining and within the SEC, there are a lot of teams who still have to play each other and should knock each other down a little, creating space for other teams and conferences to sneak in. Thus, there is not much argument in the current standings; however, the teams at the top are there because of their perceived strength and their preseason ranking.
Looking ahead and looking at the remaining games, the following four teams have a real good chance at being in the final four:
Oregon, Alabama, TCU, and Michigan State
Yes, teams 5 – 8 will push their way up to the top with an upset tonight (Louisville), Alabama running the table, Oregon holding serve, TCU surviving in Morgantown, and Michigan State getting the nod because they are the Big 10 champ and the others falling.
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