Football Future-see 2015: Week Seven

I’m beginning to think that there is no rhyme or reason to the AP and coaches polls. In the AP recently, UGA lost 38-10 to a team five spots behind them in the poll and subsequently dropped 11 spots. This week Northwestern lost 38-0 to a team five spots behind them in the poll and fell only 6 spots. It doesn’t make any sense. And now it seems chaos is setting in on the sidelines, as well. South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier announced his immediate retirement Monday night, and USC fired head coach Steve Sarkisian, citing health reasons. More on that later…

Anyway, the last four weeks have not gone anywhere near as well as the first two weeks. For week seven we have three SEC conference games, a PAC-12 conference game, and the yearly USC-ND game. Also this week is the debut of the 2015 Right Wing Top Ten and Playoff prediction.

RECORD

Week One	9-1
Week Two	4-1
Week Three	3-2
Week Four	2-3
Week Five	2-3
Week Six	3-2
Week Seven	5-0
Week Eight
Week Nine
Week Ten
OVERALL	28-12	.700

The Games:

18 UCLA at 15 Stanford (Thursday, 10:30pm, ESPN)

UCLA was supposed to be the class of the PAC-12 this year. So far, that’s not been the case, thanks to Utah. Stanford was supposed to have fallen off, and a week one loss to Northwestern gave many people a reason to think they had. Then they beat down the Trojans of USC and now the Cardinal face off with the Bruins in a battle for California supremacy. UCLA QB Jeff Rosen has not played up to the “Rosen One” potential, and it has cost UCLA dearly at times. I’m looking for Stanford to have a similar game like they played against USC. UCLA is better than USC, so it’ll be closer, but Stanford wins.

Final Score: Stanford 24, UCLA 20
CORRECT: Stanford won 56-35

10 Alabama at 9 TAMU (Saturday, 3:30pm, CBS)

LSU thinks it is the best team in the SEC West. TAMU thinks the same thing. Alabama is one loss behind them and trying to get back into the picture. They will, if they win, after this week, since it would be a loss for TAMU and LSU remains on the schedule. But the Tide has to get by TAMU first, and that won’t be easy. Aggies QB Kyle Allen is playing some fierce football right now. The Tide has bounced back from that tough loss to Ole Miss, and can reach prominence in the West with a win here. It’ll be a bit of a shootout, but Alabama wins. Roll Tide.

Final Score: Alabama 38, TAMU 35
CORRECT: Alabama won 41-23

8 Florida at 6 LSU (Saturday, 7:00pm, ESPN)

Florida has come out of nowhere to be a force to be reckoned with in the SEC East. LSU is running closely with TAMU as the best of the West. The two meet Saturday night in what could be a statement game for Florida. It’s just another stepping stone for LSU in the fearsome SEC West. Florida needs a big road win to maintain their momentum. Losing will open the door for Georgia to start clawing back in the East. Florida’s defense is mighty, but LSU may be one of the best teams in the country. I like the Tigers to win a fairly close game.

Final Score: LSU 28, Florida 21
CORRECT: LSU won 35-28

Missouri at Georgia (Saturday, 7:30pm, SEC Network)

Back-to-back losses have plummeted Georgia out of the Top 25. Is Georgia’s season spinning out of control is was it just another case of “oh, it’s Tennessee, let’s see how many bigtime players we can get hurt in one game?” It never fails that Georgia loses at least one key offensive player during the Tennessee game. This year UT got the better of Georgia as the Dawgs watched Nick Chubb writhe in agony on the sideline after blowing out his knee. Now Georgia plays host to two-time defending SEC East champion Missouri, but the Tigers are way down this year, coming off a hard loss to Florida. Georgia should have enough weapons, and enough anger, to overcome Mizzou this year. Dawgs win.

Final Score: Georgia 34, Missouri 13
CORRECT: Georgia won 9-6

USC at 14 Notre Dame (Saturday, 7:30pm, NBC)

Reports surfaced that USC coach Steve Sarkisian was “under the influence” during the Trojans win over Arizona State. USC athletic director Pat Haden requested Sarkisian take a leave of absence on Sunday, then fired the coach on Monday. That much turmoil at the top cannot be good for USC as they visit Notre Dame. The Irish are still good, as a close loss at Clemson indicates. Even after all the injuries they’ve faced, I’m looking for Notre Dame to take full advantage of the confusion at chaos in Troy to overcome USC. Irish win.

Final Score: Notre Dame 32, USC 14
CORRECT: Notre Dame won 41-31

Right Wing Top Ten

I cannot stand a preseason poll. They’re based off speculation and memories of the previous season. Here’s my poll, or how I would vote. I prefer to let every team play at least five games before I try to determine who is the best. The AP poll has Ohio State as #1. I think they are no better than #9.

15. Oklahoma State Cowboys

14. Florida State Seminoles

13. Iowa Hawkeyes

12. Stanford Cardinal

11. Alabama Crimson Tide

10. Florida Gators- Maybe the right coach can make a difference. The Falcons are proving it in the NFL and Florida appears to be proving it in the SEC.

9. Ohio State Buckeyes- No, coaches and AP voters, Ohio State is not the best team in the nation.

8. Michigan State Spartans- Sparty is not looking like the real deal. They aren’t putting teams away the way they should and that win over Oregon doesn’t look so hot now.

7. Michigan Wolverines- Michigan is looking like the real deal, and in turn they are making Utah look even better.

6. TAMU Aggies- Why do I call them TAMU instead of Texas A&M? Because every time I update the blog, the software changes “A&M” to “A&M” and it’s annoying. (NOTE: It appears blogger has fixed this issue.)

5. LSU Tigers- LSU allowed South Carolina to use their stadium as a home away from home because of the flood in SC. Didn’t stop the Tigers from handing Spurrier yet another big loss, likely leading to his decision to retire.

4. TCU Horned Frogs- TCU and Baylor are just about interchangeable on this list. Yes, they are undefeated, but neither has a defense.

3. Baylor Bears- Baylor and TCU are just about interchangeable on this list. Yes, they are undefeated, but neither has a defense.

2. Clemson Tigers- Clemson is undefeated against a fairly difficult schedule. Now that Deshaun Watson is playing toward his potential they could get even better.

1. Utah Utes- Utah is certainly playing like the best team in the nation. Yeah, their win over Cal wasn’t pretty, but they did make Jared Goff look like he wasn’t the best QB in the country.

Right Wing Playoff Prediction

This is not based off how the polls currently sit, but rather how I think the Playoff committee will decide the four teams that reach the playoff round.

Orange Bowl

#1 Ohio State  vs   #4 TAMU Aggies

Cotton Bowl

#2 Baylor Bears  vs   #3 Utah Utes