Record
|
||
Week 1
|
8-2
|
|
Week 2
|
5-0
|
|
Week 3
|
2-3
|
|
Week 4
|
4-1
|
|
Week 5
|
2-3
|
|
Week 6
|
2-8
|
|
Week 7
|
4-1
|
|
Week 8
|
3-2
|
|
Week 9
|
2-3
|
|
Week 10
|
2-3
|
|
Total
|
34-26
|
0.567
|
The College Football Playoff Selection Committee unveiled its first set
of rankings Tuesday night, and it’s quite different from the AP or Coaches
Poll. Ole Miss is still very highly ranked, even after losing to LSU. Georgia,
ranked comfortably inside the Top Ten in both the AP and the Coaches rankings,
finds itself 11th in the eyes of the CFPSC. So, with the new rankings out, we’ll
bow to peer-pressure and start using the CFPSC rankings in the picks.
This week we get some big games. Florida State visits the toughest test
left on its schedule, a Thursday night affair in Louisville. Florida and
Georgia meet once more in the World’s Largest Outdoor Non-Alcoholic Fun-For-The-Whole-Family
Party. TCU ventures to Morgantown. Auburn crosses state lines to battle Ole
Miss. And there’s a ranked PAC-12 battle for kicks.
The Games:
2 Florida State at 25 Louisville
(Thursday, 7:30pm, ESPN)
Upset special, right here. Florida State has yet to truly look
impressive. The Noles are averaging two fewer TDs per game than they were at
this time last season. Louisville, meanwhile, has been sneakily good,
especially on defense. Kinda makes you wonder what Todd Grantham was doing all those
years at UGA… Anyway, the Noles need to be on the lookout here, as Louisville
will definitely be fired up for this one. I’m not going to be surprised to hear
that Louisville has knocked off the ACC front-runner. Cardinals score the
upset.
Final Score: Louisville 28, FSU
24
INCORRECT: Florida State won 42-31
INCORRECT: Florida State won 42-31
Florida vs 11 Georgia (Saturday,
3:30pm, CBS)
Todd Gurley accepted money for autographs, seemed fairly
apologetic afterward, the university suspended him indefinitely, and after two
games (at Missouri, at Arkansas) they sought his reinstatement. The NCAA said
that’s all well and good, but Gurley has to sit two more games (vs Florida, at
Kentucky). Last year, Johnny Manziel was suspended for one half of one game (vs
Rice). Manziel then openly flaunted his “infraction” by doing that stupid money
sign every time he gained a yard. I wish the NCAA had a better, more concrete
set of rules. That said, I wonder if Florida can stop Georgia. After all,
Florida held Missouri to 119 yards of total offense…and lost 42-13. I hate to
break it to Florida, but Georgia is better than Missouri on both sides of the
ball. Chubb has a solid day against a pretty stout Gator defense and Mason
makes enough throws to win, while the defense makes its fair share of plays.
Dawgs roll.
Final Score: Georgia 35, Florida
14
INCORRECT: Florida won 38-20
INCORRECT: Florida won 38-20
7 TCU at 20 West Virginia
(Saturday, 3:30pm, ESPN2)
Quick, name the highest ranked Big XII team. If you said TCU, you’re
right. West Virginia, though, is arguably a better conference team. See, WVU
beat Baylor by two touchdowns while Baylor beat TCU by a field goal after
giving up 58 points. Of course, that means TCU gave up 61 to a team that WVU
only allowed 27 points to. Confused yet? Big XII ranked teams have a habit of
going to Morgantown and falling. I’m actually quite tempted to call for an
upset here, but I think TCU is settling into their role as a Big XII favorite.
It’s possible that the BIG XII is sorted out next week when TCU hosts Kansas
State. So this might be a trap game for the Horned Frogs…Still, I think TCU
wins this one, but it’ll be close.
Final Score: TCU 31, WVU 28
CORRECT: TCU won 31-30
CORRECT: TCU won 31-30
3 Auburn at 4 Ole Miss (Saturday,
7:30pm, ESPN2)
Auburn barely got by South Carolina, beating the Gamecocks 42-35. Ole
Miss finally faltered against LSU. Now, though, the Rebels are at home and
welcoming the Tigers to Oxford. Auburn needs to find a solid groove on both
sides of the ball to account for the big games they have remaining (Ole Miss,
Georgia, Alabama). Ole Miss QB Bo Wallace is due for a bounce back game after a
less-than-stellar outing against LSU. If the Ole Miss landshark defense can
stop Auburn, which is no easy task, then Ole Miss wins this game. And that’s
what I think happens. Auburn is too good offensively to be totally shut down,
but Nick Marshall just cannot make enough plays to pull one out for the Tigers.
Ole Miss wins.
Final Score: Ole Miss 24, Auburn
17
INCORRECT: Auburn won 35-31
INCORRECT: Auburn won 35-31
12 Arizona at 22 UCLA (Saturday,
10:30pm, ESPN)
The PAC-12 claims there is an East Coast Bias. Well, yeah…you guys don’t
play until 10:30pm. Most of us east of the Mississippi have already been up and
watched over 10 hours of football. We’re tired. We’re burned out by then. So
yeah, we’re biased to the teams that actually make it to television while we’re
still coherent. But look, you’ve got a matchup of two teams within the Top 25.
That’s good, right? Arizona is riding high after beating Oregon, but I think
the Wildcats come back down to Earth this week as Brett Hundley and the Bruins
power past them, scoring an important PAC-12 South home win.
Final Score: UCLA 27, Arizona 21
CORRECT: UCLA won 17-7
CORRECT: UCLA won 17-7
The Right Wing Top Ten
The Associated Press Poll and the Amway Coaches Poll both feature a
Preseason version. I even posted a “Preseason Top Ten,” or something to that
effect, a while back. I never intended to use that poll as a basis for the
Right Wing Top Ten, though.
15. Arizona Wildcats (last
week: NR)
14. Arizona State Sun Devils (last
week: 14)
13. Baylor Bears (last week:
13)
12. East Carolina Pirates (last
week: 12)
11. Kansas State Wildcats (last
week: 11)
10. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (last
week: 10)
Why: Notre Dame anchors the
tenth spot in my poll.
9. Ole Miss Rebels (last
week: 2)
Why: You’re going to fall if
you lose, unless you are being chosen by the College Football Playoff Selection
Committee. To me, Ole Miss had to drop.
8. TCU Horned Frogs (last
week: 9)
Why: Those Horned Frogs are
making some noise in the Big XII. A trip to WVU will tell a big part of their
playoff-push story.
7. Georgia Bulldogs (last
week: 8)
Why: Georgia is rested and
ready for the annual matchup with Florida. Star RB Todd Gurley will not be back
until the Auburn game.
6. Auburn Tigers (last week:
7)
Why: Auburn had a rough win over South Carolina and must now travel to Oxford...
5. Michigan State Spartans (last
week: 5)
Why: Sparty looks to be the
top dog in the Big Ten. A later-season date with Ohio State will tell the tale,
though.
4. Oregon Ducks (last week: 6)
Why: This is me correcting
my own error of not having Oregon ahead of Sparty. Oregon looks to still be on a collision course with Arizona State
for the PAC-12 title.
3. Alabama Crimson Tide (last
week: 4)
Why: Alabama still can grab
control of a playoff spot, but they need some help.
2. Florida State Seminoles (last
week: 3)
Why: The only thing standing
in the way of Florida State and reaching the playoff is a Thursday night game
in Louisville.
1. Mississippi State Bulldogs (last
week: 1)
Why: Mississippi State hung
45 on Kentucky and Dak Prescott had some plays that may go down as his Heisman
moments.
If the Playoff Started Today
I say goodbye to a section that got a good run for a while. Now that we
actually have a playoff selection committee, I no longer need to guess at what
they’re going to do.
