Football Future-see 2014: Week Ten

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

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

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

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

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

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.