Well, leave it to the ACC to cause a little chaos on Saturday that will certainly affect the latest college football playoff rankings. Texas Tech made a very big statement against BYU, and Indiana and Oregon survived big scares on the road.
I would imagine Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti let out a massive sigh of relief as he watched two of his teams avoid upsets that would have led to plenty of discussion this week around strength of schedule and metrics.
You know how those talking points take up a majority of the conversations around whether a team is worthy of being a title contender, even if some of it is overblown. Those new metrics will be an intriguing center of discussion over the next two days as CFP committee members discuss their new rankings.
If anything, Texas A&M made their case as to why they deserve to be ranked first, with a dominant win over Missouri on the road. Will it be enough to jump Indiana and Ohio State? I don’t know, but it would at least send a statement that the committee is paying attention.
We have also seen enough upsets this season to last until 2027, with Oregon keeping its playoff chances intact for now, thanks to a last-second field goal against Iowa.
We were close to saying goodbye to Oregon’s playoff chances.
Fernando Mendoza Has His ‘Heisman Moment’ After Drive Of The Year For Indiana. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)
Top-10 Teams Take Care Of Business. One-Bid Big 12?
The hype this week around the Texas Tech versus BYU game made this feel like the biggest conference game in recent memory for the Big 12.
Unfortunately, the Cougars didn’t get the message, or maybe it was the suffocating Red Raiders defense that held BYU to just seven points. Credit to Texas Tech, they look like a title contender, even if it’s tough to judge some of the competition out of the conference this season.
I’m fascinated to see how the Big 12 plays out from here, with Utah still hanging around as well at No. 13. Can the loser of the conference title game still make the CFP? It depends on if it’s Texas Tech potentially catching a second loss.
How about Texas A&M? After throttling Missouri on the road, the Aggies should be the No.1 ranked team in the new CFP rankings, if we’re basing it on the committee’s new metrics. Right? Mike Elko has his team headed straight for the college football playoff, looking like a team that could be hoisting the trophy in Miami. You have to love what Marcel Reed is doing on offense.
Oh, and Vanderbilt’s win over Auburn keeps them in the CFP conversation, as Diego Pavia diced up a tough Tigers defense. If the Commodores win their next two games, they should be hovering around the 10-12 spot in the rankings, and that could be enough to get them in. Long ways to go, but Clark Lea has this team in contention.
As for Indiana, they got out of State College with the win thanks to a grown-man drive from quarterback Fernando Mendoza. If there ever was a Heisman Trophy moment for the Hoosiers leader, it came on the final possession for Indiana, as they drove the field to defeat the Nittany Lions.
Alabama might not have looked fabulous on offense, but winning a rivalry game against LSU was a must as we head down the stretch in the SEC. Sometimes, there are teams that look different after a coaching change, and while the Tigers did look inspired a week after firing Brian Kelly, Ty Simpson did enough to get Alabama out with the win.
As for Oregon, the Ducks found a way to win in ‘Big Ten’ fashion, as Dan Lanning pointed out following the last-second victory over Iowa.
This was one of those games where the Ducks had to find a different way to escape, as the conditions weren’t ripe for the passing game of Dante Moore. But, this was the type of win that could serve the Ducks down the stretch, as they fight for that third Big Ten spot in the College Football Playoff.
Ohio State took care of business, Texas A&M destroyed Missouri, Georgia pounced on Mississippi State, Notre Dame deflated Navy, while Ohio State didn’t need more than 40 points to keep Purdue at bay.
ACC Down To A One-Bid League? Down Goes Lousville, Virginia
Absolutely they are, thanks to both Virginia and Louisville losing on Saturday night within about five minutes of each other.
What are we doing here, ACC? You had an opportunity to potentially get two teams into the playoff, depending on who was playing in the conference title game, but my goodness they had a rough day.
It’s a cluster in the standings, with Virginia, Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh and SMU sitting with one conference loss. Heck, Duke is 5-4 on the season, but only has one ACC loss, so let that sink in for a minute.
All I’m saying is that whichever team wins the ACC title is most likely going to be the only squad fighting for a national championship.
Looking At Next Week In College Football
Ok, here are a number of key matchups for week twelve of the season to pay close attention to.
- No. 12 Oklahoma @ No. 4 Alabama
- No. 11 Texas @ No. 5 Georgia
- No. 10 Notre Dame @ No. 24 Pittsburgh
- Iowa @ No. 19 USC
- Florida @ No. 6 Ole Miss (Both fanbases are going to lose their minds over Kiffin talk)
There you have it, week eleven of the college football season is in the books. This time, it was the ACC that brought a little chaos to the party.
Next week, there will be a lot of eyes on games in Athens and Tuscaloosa.