After what happened this week, two things can safely be assured. One, the spirit of the Pac-12 has come back to haunt the top conference in CFB, SEC, and its cousin for its disbandment, BIG 12. Two, this season can definitely go down as one of the most chaotic years in college football history, up there with the glorious 2007 season. How chaotic were things after the games? Let’s just say, it gave week 6 a run for its money.
#2 Ohio State Tramples #5 Indiana, Looks Towards the Big Game At A Chance For Revenge
In another top 5 matchup this season. The Buckeyes were able to completely wipe the floor with Indiana, 38-15. At first, it seemed like it would be somewhat competitive as it was tied 7-7 in the 1st Quarter. Then, Will Howard completely realizes that he’s facing Indiana, and proceeds to lead the team with 3 touchdowns, a rushing TD by TreVeyon Henderson, and a special teams TD on a punt return by Caleb Downs. Indiana drops to #10, and their only chance at staying in the hunt is to just take care of 1-10 Purdue. This win pretty much solidifies that #2 Ohio State just has to win against Michigan to set up a rematch against #1 Oregon in the conference title, with the winner most likely taking the #1 seed. But Michigan has always been a stubborn foe against the Buckeyes, even if they seem all but finished, Penn State is just waiting for them to slip up and slip right in. Yet this was the only matchup that had major implications for rankings for a higher-ranked team beating out another higher-ranked team. The other teams who had playoff aspirations?
DJ Lagway: A Future Shining Star? Unranked Florida Pulls Off Massive Victory Against #9 Ole Miss
Billy Napier is starting to get some rest at night, knowing that his job security is now completely locked up and safe. A couple of weeks ago, people were clowning on his loss to Texas, getting absolutely mollywhopped. But that would be without DJ Lagway starting. Now, not only a stunning upset against a crashing-down LSU team but a top-10 win against Ole Miss?! There really is hope for the Gators, after all, they even get to go bowling!
As for Ole Miss…yeah it’s done. Your coach said you didn’t want to play in the conference championship game. Congratulations, you got your wish! The only issue is you no longer have a shot in the playoffs…well just maybe…assuming the Crimson Tide of Alabama starts to crash and burn harder than you would be, but it’s Alabama anyways. Surely they won’t lose in an even more horrific fashion than you did right?
Down Goes The Crimson Tide! Unranked Oklahoma Smacks #7 Alabama, Don’t Make It Close!
I’m starting to think that Kalen Deboar wasn’t as good a hire as people thought it would be. A surefire win against Georgia should still have meant something. Turns out, it says more about Georgia having their kryptonite beat them again than Alabama being a true contender. Losing to an unranked Vanderbilt, and letting them score 40 is criminal! Then a close loss to a Tennessee team doesn’t necessarily mean too much as they are a competitive team, and they were expected to drop a game at some point.
But then there was this game…
The Oklahoma Sooners, who were 1-5 in conference play leading up to the game, smacked Alabama for four quarters straight, 24-3!? This loss shoots Alabama down to #13, and to be honest, that’s just being extremely nice to them. The offense stuttered out of control, the defense couldn’t stop the run(Ironic), and now the chance of missing the playoffs is becoming more of a possibility than not. And now, a rivalry game against their old-time foes the Auburn Tigers in the Iron Bowl. This should surely be a surefire win, right? It’s not like they upset another top-10 team who also had playoff aspirations and completely wiped them out…right?!
A 4OT Game With Auburn Pulling Off A Massive Win Against #15 Texas A&M, What The Heck Is Going On?!
This game went into four overtime, and Auburn still managed to scrape off a win by the skin of their teeth. What looked to be a massive blowout at the start, took four overtimes for Auburn to finally put the game away. And now, Auburn can play spoiler to Alabama, as just one more win gets them to go bowling, and completely knocks Alabama from the playoffs as a whole. But with that being said, the SEC truly felt the spirit of the Pac-12 curse the best teams. But surely, this is the only insanity going on within all the conferences as a whole, not like another conference is feeling the wrath of the Pac-12 again right?
Rock, Chalk, Block Their Ways From the Playoffs, Kansas and #21 Arizona State Dominate the Chances of #16 Colorado, and #14 BYU
At this point, the insanity of 2007, and the vengeful spirit of the Pac-12 just live on in this conference. The Kansas Jayhawks being the first team in CFB history to have a losing record, while also defeating three ranked teams in a row speaks numbers about this team possibly being the best, losing team in the nation. And now #16 Arizona State pulled off a massive victory to sling them closer to Arlington for a chance at making the playoffs. And now, #25 Colorado and #19 BYU can’t control their own destiny…good heavens this conference needs an exorcism badly.
Conference Watch: Two Normal Conferences, One Conference in Rehabilitation, One Conference Needing Therapy and an Exorcism.
BIG 10
Going to keep it short here due to this conference being one of the normal ones. #1 Oregon stays at #1, and now awaits either #2 Ohio State or #4 Penn State in the championship game. Ohio State needs to take on their old rivals, Michigan, which is not an easy win at all, even if they took a massive hangover this year. If Ryan Day can’t escape his demons, #4 Penn State gets to take their place, assuming they don’t get trapped against Maryland. And if they both lose? #10 Indiana gets to continue their magical run into Indianapolis(Home Game Much?).
ACC
Also keeping it short here. SMU, being ranked #9 and also being a newcomer, has already clinched a spot in the championship game. #6 Miami can be the one to face off against the Mustangs, assuming they don’t die against Syracuse. If they do, #12 Clemson isn’t too far back…
SEC
This conference, while having the most insane games out of everyone, made the conference watch easier. #7 Georgia will automatically clinch a spot in the game, due to the amount of insanity that happened. Is the team to face them in Atlanta? Simple, the winner of #3 Texas vs #20 Texas A&M, in the revived Lone Star Showdown. Nothing for #8 Tennessee unfortunately, but at least they have a good chance at still making it…assuming their cousin across the state doesn’t want one more good win on their resume for next year.
BIG 12…
This conference has…nine teams mathematically still eligible for the conference championship, five of which aren’t even ranked. Arizona State, BYU, Colorado, and Iowa State are all tied at 6-2 in conference play. Assuming these teams take care of business against the other lowly hopefuls, #18 Iowa State gets a chance back into the playoffs against…#16 Arizona State?! And that’s just the best possible outcome, all the others are just…ugh. There is a good possibility we can have a matchup between TCU and BAYLOR, and if that stands, NONE OF THEM MAKES THE PLAYOFFS!
Group of Five
Thankfully, this looks to be #11 Boise State’s title to run away with. They clinched a spot in the Mountain West Championship, and it’s set up to be a rematch against #22 UNLV. If they stop running their way to the top, #17 Tulane looks to represent the G5 once again if they take care of business against the Army(I am so sorry Army that your chances are pretty much gone).
Playoff Matchups as of 11/26:
#12 Arizona State @ #5 Ohio State -> Winner takes on #4 Boise State
At this point, whoever wins the reincarnation of the BIG 12 will take on Ohio State at this point, lose in dramatic fashion, and then we see them end up getting trampled against Ashton Jeanty…well hopefully that’s the outcome.
#9 Tennessee @ #8 Georgia -> Winner takes on #1 Oregon
So Tennessee…remember how I said you still have a good chance at making the playoffs, even if you don’t go to the championship game? Well if you end up facing Georgia again, you might as well start packing your bags…
#11 Indiana @ #6 Penn State -> Winner takes on #3 Miami
A BIG 10 matchup in the first round of the playoffs, thankfully including two teams who haven’t faced each other this year so far. Can James Franklin prove to everyone that he can take down the allegations of constant failures against ranked teams? Or will the Hoosiers have more to give than the likes of Alabama and Ole Miss?
#10 SMU @ #7 Notre Dame -> Winner takes on #2 Texas
The Mustangs rode into the team that was supposed to be a part of their conference, but NBC didn’t want to lose their precious money on special broadcasting rights…well they won’t get far anyway.
