As we head
toward the final stretch of the college football season, I wanted to take a
look at the playoff outlook and see what teams still had the best chance to make
the College Football Playoff. There are still a ton of BIG games coming up with
major playoff implications. Teams still looking to make a statement. For some
teams like Iowa, that opportunity won’t come until a conference championship
games. For others, such as LSU, and Florida State, those opportunities come as
early as next week! This is what makes it so exciting for all college football
fans. Teams with one loss, like an Alabama, a Florida State, a Notre Dame,
among others know they can’t afford another loss if they want a chance to hold
the trophy. So I’ll break it down by conference, and see who still has a chance
and who I think will get it done. Here’s “My Take”…
ACC
Clemson is
DEFINITELY my pick here. I guess Florida State still has a chance if they manage
to go get a win in death valley which I
do not see happening. And does anyone really believe in 1 loss Pittsburgh? They’re
schedule is about to get tougher and I can easily see them losing another 2-3
games before this year ends.
BIG 10
The BIG TEN
has played out pretty much the way I expected it too. While Ohio State hasn’t
been the dominant team we all expected, they are still undefeated and remain
the one of, if not the most talented team in the country. Cardale Jones
struggled all year at the quarterback position and with the change to J.T.
Barrett at that position, I expect that talent to finally be able to flourish.
Michigan State, like Ohio State, hasn’t been dominant this year but still are undefeated
and control their own destiny to get to the playoff. Win out and they’re in.
Michigan has been impressive, particularly on the defensive end and but a 2
loss BIG TEN team probably is not going to make it in. Also, Iowa is undefeated
and have a good a chance of anyone to make it to the conference title game, and
with a weak schedule the rest of the way, I don’t see them losing until
they get there.
BIG 12
For some
reason this is the only conference that schedules all of their big games at the end of the year so
there is still a lot to play for to win this conference, especially when all
these schedule literally no one in the non-conference. So basically we have
TCU, Baylor, and Oklahoma State who are all undefeated. We also have Oklahoma
who has 1 loss and still plays each unbeaten team so they will have a chance to
play themselves into the playoff. This
should set up a great stretch run for the BIG 12. With the injury to Baylor
quarterback Seth Russell, I definitely think that hurts their chances. My pick
is TCU. I know they have a VERY suspect defense, but how can you bet against
Trevone Boykin??
PAC 12
Stanford
looks like the favorite to win the PAC 12 this year. With traditional powers
like Oregon and USC having down years, the stage is set for Stanford to take
over. Utah is still in the mix but you have to wonder how they will respond
after the beat down USC just gave them. Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan is
climbing up draft boards and seeing him lead Stanford to the playoff will show
you why.
SEC
It all seems
so simple. LSU VS BAMA on November 7th, winner takes all right? NOT
SO FAST. While that is the likely outcome of the SEC, there are still a couple
other teams who will have a say in how the SEC is won. Ole Miss with only one
conference loss and a win over Alabama is still number 1 in the West and
Florida also only has 1 loss on the season. As good as Florida is, I think
losing their starting quarterback will be too much for them to overcome. Ole
Miss looked great against Texas A&M, but looked anything but that against
Memphis. I just don’t believe in the consistency of Ole Miss to pick them to
win the SEC. So to my original question. The answers yes. LSU vs Bama, November
7th..winner takes the SEC. I’ll go with Alabama.
"THE U"
Full
disclosure. I am a Miami Hurricanes football fan. I have always been loyal to
the U. From the ups when we were consistently winning in the late 90’s, early
2000’s and the last several years as we have struggled to make bowl games. No
matter what, I’ll be a Miami fan. Over the weekend, we FINALLY made the
decision to fire Al Golden. Now I respect and appreciate what he did for the
program. Stood by the Canes as they went through NCAA investigations, and
sanctions and still managed to recruit great recruiting classes year in and
year out. Miami currently has the number 6 ranked recruiting class so it’s
obvious he was doing something right. Golden’s main issues was not winning. He
could not develop talent and guys never seemed to improve under his watch. If
you want to keep students, and fans interested in your program you must win
games and win excitingly! There is WAYYY to much to do in Miami for people to
want to watch your team play when you’re not very good. Also, having a stadium
that’s 45 minutes away from campus probably isn’t going to entice many students
to make that trip. Miami needs to upgrade their facilities, their stadium, and
there coaching staff before they should be taken seriously again. I’ve seen
several names come up as far as possible coaching candidates, and not many
excite me. Miami typically doesn’t pay a lot to coaches but if they want to
return to national relevance, the time for that to change is now. As a fan, I
just want them to hire the best coach possible. Kevin Sumlin would be GREAT,
but I doubt that happens. I believe in the AD knowing how essential it is now
to make the right hire, so I’ll comment on that once I see a few more realistic
names comes up! It’s been said that “The U invented swagger”. Now is the time
to get it back.
I am
extremely excited for the rest of the year! Bigtime matchups almost every week
that will define what we see in January. Close conference races, Heisman moments,
and players climbing draft boards. We’re at the point where we don’t have to
guess who’s pretending and who’s contending now. All the big boys have stepped
up and shown us they’re real. Now it’s just a matter of who’s the realest!
“My Take”
College
Football Playoff Rankings
1. Ohio State
2. Clemson
3. TCU
4. Stanford
5. Baylor
6. Alabama
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