Week 10 College Football Review

This was just about as chaotic a weekend as we have seen this season. The Bedlam Game between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State was essentially a playoff eliminator as Oklahoma outlasted Oklahoma State. Ohio State (who many were saying belonged in the playoff) was completely embarrassed by Iowa 55-24. Penn State still suffering from their loss to Ohio State found a way to loose to Michigan State. At this point in the season I feel comfortable in saying that there is no way that the Big Ten will be represented in the playoff if Wisconsin picks up a loss. Army defeated Navy 21-0 without throwing one single pass (it is not that they did not complete a pass, they did not even throw one).

As chaotic as this past week was, this coming week has a chance to be even more chaotic. Notre Dame and Miami play and likely whoever looses the game is eliminated from the playoff, Alabama has to take on a resurgent Mississippi State, Wisconsin takes on an upset minded Iowa, Oklahoma hosts TCU (they both lost to Iowa State for their only loss), and Georgia takes on Auburn. It is entirely possible but not likely that by the end of this coming weekend the entire top of the rankings could be completely destroyed.

Destruction weekend? We shall see.

Playoff Teams

1. Alabama Crimson Tide (9-0)

Alabama had a much tougher fight from LSU than most, including me, thought they would. The game was never fully in doubt and now Alabama goes to the land of the Cowbell to face a resurgent Mississippi State team.

Last week: Defeated LSU 24-10

Up next: at Mississippi State

2. Notre Dame Fighting Irish(8-1)

Notre Dame escaped the upset bug against a much inferior Wake Forest team. Now they have to immediately turn their attention to Miami. This should be a great game. Lose and Notre Dame is eliminated from the playoff.

​Last week: Defeated Wake Forest 48-37

Up next: at Playoff #4 Miami

3. Wisconsin Badgers (8-0)

Wisconsin has played no one this season and the final in their game against Indiana does not show just how close it actually was. Now they host an Iowa team that absolutely destroyed Ohio State. They have to hope that Iowa is still hungover from that win to avoid an upset in Madison. Loose and they are also eliminated from the playoff. In fact, if they loose the Big Ten will not have a representative in the playoff at all.

​Last week: Defeated Indiana 45-17

Up next: at home against Iowa

4. Miami Hurricanes (8-0)

There were people, yes including me, that thought Virginia Tech would knock off Miami. Whatever issues Miami had been facing before this game they were able to put behind them as they absolutely dominated Virginia Tech from the word go. This week, they host #2 Playoff Notre Dame. Whoever loses this game will more than likely be eliminated from playoff consideration.

​Last week: Defeated Virginia Tech 28-10

Up next: at home against #2 Playoff Notre Dame

Next Two Up

There is a simple reason why I have 8-1 Oklahoma ranked over 9-0 Georgia. It happens to be the same reason why the so-called experts believe Wisconsin will not even smell the playoffs, even if they finish the season undefeated and Big Ten Champs. Look at their schedule. Oklahoma has beaten two teams ranked in the top 10 at the time they played at their house. Yes, Georgia beat Notre Dame at home, by 1 but when you look at the rest of their schedule that is it. They have no other marquee wins to date. The SEC East, that Georgia clinched on Saturday, is just god-awful. That division alone should keep Georgia out of the playoffs.

1. Oklahoma (8-1)

I said last week that the Bedlam Game would be high scoring, I even privately said that the final would 45-40 (though I did not predict a winner). That prediction was too low. The only quarter that saw any defense was the third as neither team put any points on the board until 3 minutes left in the quarter when Oklahoma kicked a field goal. When you break it down, you do need to give some credit to the OU defense in the second half. They managed to hold a team that had scored 38 points in the first half to 14 4th quarter points. Baker Mayfield definitely put his mark on the Heisman with this game.

Oklahoma hosts TCU this week at home. If they recover from the post Bedlam hangover and beat TCU they will be in the playoff next week.

​Last week: Defeated Oklahoma State 62-52

Up next: at home against #3 TCU

2. Georgia (9-0)

As I stated above you really cannot look at Georgia's schedule and really be that impressed. Outside of Notre Dame their schedule has been incredibly weak, thanks to the SEC LEast. A win this week against #18 Auburn would certainly help, but for me they have to beat Alabama in the SEC Championship game to have any chance of making the playoff.

​Last week: defeated South Carolina 24-10

Up next: at #18 Auburn

Top 20

Right after giving Iowa State a big boost after beating TCU at home, they managed to lay an egg against West Virginia. This has been their season. Beat the teams they are not supposed to beat (Oklahoma and TCU) lose to the teams they are not suppose to lose to (Texas, West Virginia). The biggest winner in this week's shake-up is Washington and the Pac-12.

Teams falling out of the top 20 are: Iowa State, Northern Illinois, SMU, Stanford, and NC State. New teams to the top 20 are: Michigan, USC, Auburn, Boise State, and Washington State

3. TCU(8-1)(up 2): ​Defeated Texas 24-7​; up next: at #1 Oklahoma

4. Clemson(8-1)(up 3): ​Defeated NC State 38-31​; up next: at home against Florida State

5. Washington(8-1)(up 6): ​Defeated Oregon 38-3​; up next: at Stanford

6. Central Florida(8-0)(up 2): Defeated SMU 31-24​; up next: at home against Connecticut

7. Oklahoma St(7-2)(down 1): Lost to #1 Oklahoma 62-52​; up next: at Iowa St

8. Memphis(8-1)(up 4): Defeated Tulsa 41-14​; up next: Bye

9. Toledo(8-1)(up 4): ​Defeated Northern Illinois 27-17​; up next: at Ohio (Wednesday 11/8)

10. Michigan St(7-2)(up 6): Defeated #13 Penn St 27-24​; up next: at #14 Ohio State

11. Army(7-2)(up 3): Defeated Air Force 21-0​; up next: at home against Duke

12. South Florida(8-2)(up 3): ​Defeated Connecticut 37-20​; up next: Bye

13. Penn State(7-2)(down 9): Lost to #10 Michigan St 27-24​; up next: at home against Rutgers

14. Ohio State(7-2)(down 11): ​Lost to Iowa 55-24​; up next: at home against #10 Michigan St

15. Michigan(7-2)(unranked): ​Defeated Minnesota 33-10​; up next: at Maryland

16. Virginia Tech(7-2)down 7): ​Lost to #4 Playoff Miami 28-10​; up next: at Georgia Tech

17. USC(8-2)(unranked): ​Defeated Arizona 49-35​; up next: at home against Colorado

18. Auburn(7-2)(unranked): ​Defeated Texas A&M 42-27​; up next: at home against #2 Georgia

19. Boise St(7-2)(unranked): ​Defeated Nevada 41-14​; up next: at Colorado St

20. Washington St(8-2)(unranked): ​Defeated Stanford 24-21​; up next: at Utah

Bowl and Playoff Projection

Nothing changes for the playoffs but there was some movement in the New Year's Six. I do not actually see it happening but as of now I have two non-Power 5 schools (South Florida and Memphis) playing in those bowls. Most of the rest of the bowls actually stayed the same. I did fix the Taxslayer Bowl. Last week I had a Big Ten team position there, but this season it is going to be an ACC team.

Playoffs

Rose Bowl

January 1st, 5 PM

#2 Notre Dame vs #3 Wisconsin

Sugar Bowl

January 1st, 8:45 PM

#1 Alabama vs #4 Miami

New Year's Six

Cotton Bowl

December 29th, 8:30 PM

#1 Oklahoma vs #6 Central Florida

Fiesta Bowl

December 30th, 4 PM

#3 TCU vs #5 Washington

Orange Bowl

December 30th, 8 PM

#4 Clemson vs #10 Michigan St

Peach Bowl

January 1st, 12:30 PM

#8 Memphis vs #2 Georgia

Rest of the Bowls

December 13th

New Orleans Bowl

1 PM

Arkansas State vs Marshall

Cure Bowl

2:30 PM

Tulane vs Appalachian St

Las Vegas Bowl

3:30 PM

Boise St vs Arizona St

New Mexico Bowl

4:30 PM

Florida International vs Wyoming

Camellia Bowl

8 PM

Ohio vs Georgia St

December 19th

Boca Raton Bowl

7 PM

Connecticut vs Florida Atlantic

December 20th

Frisco Bowl

8 PM

SMU vs Louisiana-Monroe

​December 21st

Gasparilla Bowl

8 PM

Houston vs North Texas

​December 22nd

Bahamas Bowl

12:30 PM

UAB vs Akron

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl

4 PM

Northern Illinois vs San Diego St

​December 23rd

Birmingham Bowl

Noon

Ole Miss vs South Florida

Armed Forces Bowl

3:30 PM

Army ​vs Southern Miss

Dollar General Bowl

7 PM

Toledo vs Troy

​December 24th

Hawai'i Bowl

8:30 PM

Temple vs Fresno St

December 26th

​ Heart of Dallas Bowl

1:30 PM

Texas Tech vs Maryland

Quick Lane Bowl

5:15 PM

Rutgers vs Florida St

Cactus Bowl

10 PM

Kansas St vs Utah

​December 27th

​ Independence Bowl

1:30 PM

Arkansas vs Pittsburgh

Pinstripe Bowl

5:15 PM

Northwestern vs Wake Forest

Foster Farms Bowl

8:30 PM

Nebraska vs Washington St

Texas Bowl

9 PM

Iowa St vs Kentucky

​December 28th

Military Bowl

1:30 PM

Navy vs Syracuse

Camping World Bowl

5:15 PM

West Virginia vs Virginia Tech

Alamo Bowl

9 PM

Oklahoma St vs USC

Holiday Bowl

9 PM

Stanford vs Ohio St

​December 29th

Belk Bowl

1 PM

Texas A&M vs Boston College

Sun Bowl

3 PM

Arizona vs Georgia Tech

Music City Bowl

4:30 PM

LSU vs Iowa

Arizona Bowl

5:30 PM

Louisiana vs Colorado St

December 30th

Taxslayer Bowl

Noon

Mississippi St vs Virginia

Liberty Bowl

12:30 PM

Texas vs Florida

​January 1st

Outback Bowl

Noon

Michigan vs South Carolina

Citrus Bowl

1 PM

Auburn vs North Carolina St

Game of the Week

It is hard to settle on just one game of the week; Notre Dame vs Miami, Alabama vs Mississippi State, Wisconsin vs Iowa, Georgia vs Auburn, TCU vs Oklahoma but I am going to go with:

Notre Dame vs Miami

This is an old rivalry from the 80s that is still talked about today. It cooled up when first Notre Dame hit the skids, followed by Miami but here we are in 2017, both teams in the playoff. Let's do this!

Honorable Mention

​The "We Both Got Beat by Iowa State" Bowl

TCU vs Oklahoma

This game decides a lot but at the same time nothing. The team that wins will be 1st in the Big 12 but both teams still have two more games after that and potentially will meet up again in the Big 12 Championship game. The team that wins also will more than likely find themselves in the playoff, while the team that loses will more than likely (though no completely) be eliminated from playoff consideration.

Worst of the Week

​Arkansas 29, Coastal Carolina 28

I hate to keep piling on Arkansas but when is enough going to be enough. This was lowest attended game I have seen in Fayetteville since at least the 90s. Wally Hall said in his years covering Arkansas, but I think he has put a mental block for the entire decade of the 90s (not that I blame him). Arkansas trailed for most of the game, mostly by double digits. Arkansas State (an in state Division 1 team that Arkansas refuses to play) beat CCU earlier in the season 51-14. This is CCUs first full season at the Bowl Subdivision level. Those within the program and those cheering on the program want Hog fans to be excited after the win. There is nothing to be excited about right now in Fayetteville. It is time to stop drinking the Kool-Aid and change coaches. Brett Bielema had five years to make Arkansas competitive, he has not. There were two decent seasons in there, but it is time to move on.