Rankings:
Recap of Last Week:
The Big 10 saw their playoff hopes diminish even more last week when Ohio State had to cancel their game against Illinois and Northwestern lost. Ohio State has only played four games so far, and to get to the conference championship game, they need six games in, and they only have two remaining. If one of those games gets canceled, they will not get to Indy, which could have huge playoff implications. The committee didn’t drop OSU this week, but made the comment that the number of games played will have an impact on their decision making. Northwestern was previously undefeated, but lost to Michigan State last weekend. Their defense did not play up to standard, and their offense could not get it going. Although they clinched the West this week because of all the cancellations, this loss really hurt their chance at a playoff or New Year’s Six spot.
In the SEC, none of the games were very exciting. The usually awesome Iron Bowl was dominated by Alabama and its offense. Texas A&M looked sluggish against LSU, who is still terrible, in the rain. Georgia beat South Carolina, but that is not saying much. I am still baffled by Georgia moving up to eighth in the playoff rankings. They have not played like a top ten team or have the wins to justify it. They got hammered by Alabama and Florida, and the rest of their wins are against average and below average SEC teams. The only reason that explains why they are ranked above Iowa State, another two loss team, is the SEC bias. Iowa State has wins against two top 25 teams (two more than Georgia) and both their losses were by very slim margins, unlike Georgia.
As the Big 12 starts to wrap up, it is most likely that Oklahoma will get a rematch against Iowa State in the title game. Texas saw their final hopes of a trip to Arhlington killed when their kicker missed a field goal to tie as time expired against Iowa State. Now, talks of Urban Meyer replacing Tom Herman are swirling around Texas. Two players opted out after this loss, and the rumor is that the locker room has given up. Oklahoma State continues to have close calls each week, last week barely escaping Texas Tech. Neither team played defense in the Cowboys 50-44 win. Forgetting to play defense is a common theme among Big 12 teams.
The Pac 12’s playoff hopes were dashed in Oregon’s loss to rival Oregon State. Oregon State put up 22 points in the fourth quarter to pull off the upset. With Oregon’s loss, Washington is now in the lead of the Pac 12 North. USC is leading the Pac 12 south, but was off last week, and I am not a believer of them. Washington has looked the most consistent, but with how bad all the Pac 12 teams are, who knows who is going to end up winning that conference.
My Playoff Predictions:
Alabama
Notre Dame
Clemson
Ohio State
First Four Out: UC, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, BYU
My Heisman Candidates:
Kyle Trask (Florida, quarterback)
Mac Jones (Alabama, quarterback)
Trevor Lawrence (Clemson, quarterback)
Breece Hall (Iowa State, running back)
Zach Wilson (BYU, quarterback)
My Predictions for this Week:
(last week I was 7/10)
(10)Miami at Duke: Duke is an absolutely awful team this season, but I don’t think Miami deserves all the hype they are getting and the top ten rankings. Miami has barely escaped their last three games, winning by a total of nine points. Miami has yet to beat anyone really good, and could not make their game against Clemson competitive. I think Miami will win this game easily, but don’t let their top ten ranking trick you into thinking they are that good.
(3)Ohio State vs Michigan State: Ohio State has yet to release who will be sidelined due to Covid, but we do know that Ryan Day will not be on the sidelines. Michigan State has been up and down this season and when QB Rocky Lambardi has a good game they have had some upset wins (Michigan, Northwestern), but other games he has really struggled. I think Ohio State will win this game, but because of what we don’t know, I am not sure how easily they will win.
(15)Oklahoma State at TCU: Oklahoma State got into a shootout last week with Texas Tech, and even without running back Chubba Hubbard, was able to survive. TCU looked promising at the beginning of the season, but has fallen to a 4-4 record. They are very up and down, but I think they are going to upset Oklahoma State.
(5)Texas A&M at Auburn: I think this has the potential to be a trap game for A&M. Auburn is coming off a bad loss to Alabama and will be hungry for revenge. Texas A&M did not look all that great last week against LSU and I really do not understand all the hype around them. I think Auburn is going to upset Texas A&M.
West Virginia at (9)Iowa State: Iowa State has a 99% chance to make the conference championship going into this game win or lose, but their sights are set on beating West Virginia and winning the Big 12 regular season title for the first time in school history. West Virginia has a good defense and should put up a fight, but I think Iowa State will get some help from running back Breece Hall and put away West Virginia to win.
(12)Indiana at (16)Wisconsin: Just when things are going good for Indiana football, they take a huge blow. Their starting quarterback Micahel Penix tore his ACL against Maryland and will be out the remainder of the season. His replacement Jack Throttle looked decent in the second half against Maryland, but they ran the ball most of the time. Wisconsin has only played three games this season, but their defense has played very well in all of them. This is going to be a problem for Indiana since they won’t have Penix, but IU’s defense has been just as good, especially in forcing turnovers. Even without Penix, I think Indiana is a really solid team all around. I think they can beat Wisconsin, but it will likely be a tough fought, low scoring game.
Kansas State at Texas: Some of the Texas players seem to have given up, with two opting out after last week's last second loss to Iowa State. Kansas State started off the season impressive, but has since lost four in a row. Both teams are struggling big time, but I think that Kansas State is going to win because Texas does not seem to have much fight left in them.
(19)Iowa at Illinois: I think this is actually going to be a pretty close game. Iowa won every game in November, but did show that their weaknesses are their freshman quarterback and defending the run. If Illonis can get their run game going, it should give them a chance at the upset. I think that Iowa will come out on top, but it will be closer than expected.
(13)BYU at (18)Coastal: It is going to be interesting to see how both sides get ready for this game with less than 72 hours notice. Coastal Carolina was originally supposed to play Liberty, but that game got canceled because of Covid concerns, so BYU who has been looking for opponents stepped in. I think this is going to be a super fun, high scoring game. Both teams have had great offenses, but I don’t Coastal Carolina will be able to put up enough points to beat Zach Wilson’s offense.
(3)Clemson at Virginia Tech: Virginia Tech has not been able to stop the run, and with Clemson’s Travis Etienne, that is going to be a major problem. I think Clemson is going to win this game very easily.
Baylor at (11)Oklahoma: Oklahoma was off last week, but before that had won five straight. Spencer Rattler seems to be adjusting, and the defense has stepped up. Baylor is a completely different team than last season's 11-3 record. They have not looked good, and I think Oklahoma will beat them pretty easily.
(1)Alabama at LSU: While last year's matchup was arguably the game of the year, I have a feeling this one will not deliver the same hype. LSU’s freshman quarterbacks are still struggling, while Mac Jones is putting up Heisman worthy numbers. I think Alabama will win in a landslide, similar to their crushing of Auburn last week.
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