WIS NCAA Football 2016 World Cup

[collegesportsfanms]

Group H

#8 Wisconsin (Big Ten, 7-2, 10-3)
Georgia Tech (ACC, 4-4, 8-4)
Middle Tennessee (Conference USA, 5-3, 8-4)
Ole Miss (SEC, 2-6, 5-7)
South Alabama (Sun Belt, 2-6, 6-6)
San Jose State (Mountain West, 3-5, 4-8)
Toledo (MAC, 6-2, 9-4)
UMass (Independents, NA, 2-10)

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Week 1

Wisconsin- 30, UMass- 29 (2 OT)
Georgia Tech- 23, Toledo- 20
Middle Tennessee- 47, San Jose State- 24
Ole Miss- 37, South Alabama- 14

We almost had the upset of the tournament in the Wisconsin/UMass game, as the Minutemen hung tough the entire game, matching score for score with the Badgers. The difference was in the 2nd OT though. UMass got the ball first and scored the TD, but UMass kicker Logan Laurent missed the XP on what looked to be a bad snap. Wisconsin got their chance and got in the end zone, so it all came down to the extra point, which Wisconsin kicker Andrew Endicott put straight through the uprights in a heartbreaker for UMass. The GA Tech/Toledo game was also an instant classic, as GA Tech kicker Harrison Butker made a 20 yard FG as time expired. The other 2 games.. not so good.

Week 2

Wisconsin- 49, Toledo- 45
San Jose State- 22, UMass- 21
Georgia Tech- 45, South Alabama- 40 (4 OT)
Middle Tennessee- 41, Ole Miss- 23

This is definitely the group for Instant Classics. 3 of the 4 games this week were decided by 5 points or less. The 2nd close scare in a row for the Badgers, who led by 19 at one point, but needed a Corey Clement 2 yard TD run with 44 seconds left to secure the victory. San Jose State also got a last minute TD to beat UMass, while GA Tech and South Alabama needed 4 OTs to decide their game. This coming after the teams literally matched each other score for score, until South Alabama had to settle for a FG in the 4th OT. On a side note, I hate the fact that What If Sports has the teams go for unnecessary XP or 2 point conversions when the game has already been won. Case it point, GA Tech going for 2 after they had won the game in the 4th OT. But that's what WIS does, so guess what? I'm going to acknowledge it in the point differential, so as not to confuse myself.

Week 3

Wisconsin- 45, San Jose State- 6
Toledo- 36, South Alabama- 23
Ole Miss- 55, UMass- 9
Georgia Tech- 33, Middle Tennessee- 24

This week was the complete opposite of Week 2, as 3 of the 4 games were blowouts. Only the GA Tech/Mid Tenn. game was close, but even in that game, the Yellow Jackets led from start to finish.

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Standings after 3 weeks, with point differential in parenthesis:

Wisconsin 3-0 (+44)
Georgia Tech 3-0 (+17)
Ole Miss 2-1 (+51)
Middle Tennessee 2-1 (+32)
Toledo 1-2 (+6)
San Jose State 1-2 (-61)
South Alabama 0-3 (-41)
UMass 0-3 (-48)

[collegesportsfanms]

Group H

Week 4

Wisconsin- 20, South Alabama- 17
Ole Miss- 36, San Jose State- 16
Middle Tennessee- 40, Toledo- 38
Georgia Tech- 26, UMass- 24

More exciting games this week. For the 2nd week in this group, GA Tech needed a FG from Harrison Butker as time expired to get the win. Middle Tennessee was down by 10 at halftime but outscored Toledo 23-7 in the 3rd quarter then had to get a stop on a 2 point conversion attempt to secure their win. Wisconsin also needed a late FG to stay undefeated. Ole Miss again delivered another blowout, as they are owning the point differential, but do have that loss going against them.

Week 5

Ole Miss- 28, Wisconsin- 27
Middle Tennessee- 34, South Alabama- 27
Georgia Tech- 40, San Jose State- 6
UMass- 36, Toledo- 29

It was only a matter of time before Wisconsin's luck ran out, and it did so against Ole Miss, as Chad Kelly got a 14 yard TD run with just over 2 minutes to go, and the Rebel defense held strong, handing the Badgers their first loss. Toledo continues to be the most disappointing team in this group, as they were down 24-3 against UMass at one point. GA Tech and Mid. Tenn. held strong, as the 4 advancing teams from this group are already decided with 2 weeks to go.

Week 6

Middle Tennessee- 44, Wisconsin- 20
Georgia Tech- 51, Ole Miss- 38
South Alabama- 34, UMass- 21
Toledo- 38, San Jose State- 6

Not much excitement in Week 6, as all 4 winners ended up winning by double digits. Georgia Tech stays undefeated and has actually clinched the Group H title with their win this week. And what has gotten into Wisconsin. Another subpar outing as they got rocked by a hot Mid. Tenn. team. Toledo gets back on track, but it's much too late.

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Standings after 6 weeks, with point differential in parenthesis:

Georgia Tech 6-0 (+66)
Middle Tennessee 5-1 (+65)
Ole Miss 4-2 (+59)
Wisconsin 4-2 (+22)
Toledo 2-4 (+29)
South Alabama 1-5 (-38)
UMass 1-5 (-56)
San Jose State 1-5 (-147)

Week 7 Schedule

Georgia Tech vs. Wisconsin
UMass vs. Middle Tennessee
Ole Miss vs. Toledo
South Alabama vs. San Jose State

- As mentioned earlier, GA Tech has already clinched the group. Even if they lose to Wisconsin and Mid. Tenn. beats UMass, the Yellow Jackets own the head to head against Mid. Tenn. by beating them in Week 3. Also, Middle Tennessee has beaten both Ole Miss and Wisconsin, so they are locked into 2nd place no matter what happens. Even if they lose and Ole Miss and Wisconsin both win, Mid. Tenn. will own the head to head 3 team tiebreaker. So it's really a battle between Ole Miss and Wisconsin for 3rd. And Ole Miss owns that head to head tiebreaker, so the only real drama in this group is.. will GA tech beat Wisconsin to go undefeated in group play, and if Wisconsin beats GA Tech, will Toledo beat Ole Miss to jump Wisconsin to 3rd place in the group? Other than that, it's a pretty meaningless week.

[collegesportsfanms]

Group H

Week 7

Georgia Tech- 32, Wisconsin- 24
Middle Tennessee- 28, UMass- 27
Toledo- 43, Ole Miss- 38
South Alabama- 36, San Jose State- 18

So the Yellow Jackets get it done, putting Wisconsin into a tailspin at the end of group play, while going undefeated themselves. Mid. Tenn. rallied from being down 27-14, but got the win to get 2nd place in Group H. Too little, too late for Toledo, who won their last 2 games but it was moot at that point. Even against Ole Miss, they jumped out to a 36-7 halftime lead and had to hang on. South Alabama takes care of business in their win over San Jose State.

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Final Group H standings, with point differential in parenthesis:

#1- Georgia Tech 7-0 (+73)
#2- Middle Tennessee 6-1 (+66)
#3- Ole Miss 4-3 (+54)
#4- Wisconsin 4-3 (+15)
#5- Toledo 3-4 (+34)
#6- South Alabama 2-5 (-20)
#7- San Jose State 1-6 (-165)
#8- UMass 1-6 (-57)

Another surprising group winner, as GA Tech becomes the 4th team in 8 groups to go undefeated. On the other side of things, Wisconsin is the 3rd ranked team and group favorite to finish 4th in their group, so there are going to be some interesting Round of 64 games. Ole Miss beat Wisconsin by 1 to win the tiebreaker for 3rd place. Not that it matters, but San Jose State beat UMass to win that tiebreaker for 7th place, despite the -165 point differential. Poor Toledo, they finally figured it out in their last 2 games, but it was the bad losses to teams like UMass, and the oh so close games against GA Tech and Wisconsin that are keeping them out of the Round of 64.

We're halfway through group play, and there have been some major, major surprises so far.

[collegesportsfanms]

Group I

#9 USC (Pac 12, 7-2, 9-3)
#25 Navy (American, 7-1, 9-4)
Buffalo (MAC, 1-7, 2-10)
Charlotte (Conference USA, 3-5, 4-8)
Northwestern (Big Ten, 5-4, 6-6)
South Carolina (SEC, 3-5, 6-6)
UL Lafayette (Sun Belt, 5-3, 6-7)
Virginia (ACC, 1-7, 2-10)

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Week 1

USC- 48, Virginia- 24
UL Lafayette- 28, Navy- 27
South Carolina- 28, Buffalo- 14
Northwestern- 19, Charlotte- 14

The Trojans rolled over Virginia by amassing over 600 yards of total offense. Meanwhile, UL Lafayette shocks Navy, building a lead as big as 13 in the first half. Despite that, they still had to rally at the end, getting a 10 yard TD pass from Anthony Jennings to Elijah McGuire to steal a victory. Northwestern also needed a late comeback to win, getting a 25 yard Justin Jackson TD run with just 30 seconds left. The Gamecocks handled Buffalo in an uneventful game.

Week 2

USC- 41, UL Lafayette- 7
South Carolina- 34, Virginia- 28
Northwestern- 31, Navy- 13
Charlotte- 17, Buffalo- 14

No upset this week for UL Lafayette, as the Trojans demolished them. However, Navy is already in a hole as Northwestern took care of business. South Carolina also stays undefeated early on, and Charlotte gets their first win of group play in a good defensive battle.

Week 3

USC- 38, South Carolina- 29
Northwestern- 30, UL Lafayette- 7
Virginia- 37, Charlotte- 14
Navy- 13, Buffalo- 10

Not much adventure this week, as we had 2 blowouts, plus our top ranked teams struggle to victories.

Standings after 3 weeks, with point differential in parenthesis:

USC 3-0 (+67)
Northwestern 3-0 (+46)
South Carolina 2-1 (+11)
Virginia 1-2 (-7)
Navy 1-2 (-16)
Charlotte 1-2 (-25)
UL Lafayette 1-2 (-56)
Buffalo 0-3 (-20)

No surprise to see the Trojans on top of the standings, but I really expected Navy to be right there behind them. They are definitely the most disappointing team so far, with 2 upset losses and an uninspiring win against a winless Buffalo. Already a logjam for that final spot, but unless something changes, that top spot seems to be USC's to lose.

[collegesportsfanms]

Group I

Week 4

USC- 48, Northwestern- 23
South Carolina- 28, Charlotte- 20
Buffalo- 20, UL Lafayette- 7
Navy- 27, Virginia- 0

The battle between undefeated teams was good for 1 half, but the Trojans outscored Northwestern 27-3 in the 2nd half to take a convincing win. Meanwhile South Carolina scores late to get by Charlotte, and UL Lafayette has lost 3 straight after upsetting Navy to open group play. Speaking of Navy, they seem to be getting it figured out, as they shutout the Cavaliers, holding them to just 43 yards rushing and 220 yards overall.

Week 5

USC- 41, Charlotte- 0
Northwestern- 37, Buffalo- 16
South Carolina- 24, Navy- 19
Virginia- 27, UL Lafayette- 13

The Trojans match Navy's shutout win in Week 4 with one of their own. The offense was better, but USC's defense gave up more yards in their shutout. Spoke too soon about Navy, as they drop another one, and makes it almost a given that USC, Northwestern, and South Carolina will be the top 3 teams in this group. Virginia continues to put UL Lafayette in a deep hole, and Northwestern takes care of business. Pretty uneventful week other than the South Carolina/Navy game.

Week 6

USC- 59, Buffalo- 13
Charlotte- 29, Navy- 27
Northwestern- 40, Virginia- 37 (2 OT)
South Carolina- 17, UL Lafayette- 10

The Trojans were phenomenal in this one, pitching a shutout until the 4th quarter. They led 49-0 after 3 quarters, then put some 3rd and 4th string players in. Buffalo scored 13 in the quarter, but even the 3rd string offense for USC managed 10 points in the quarter. The upset of the group came when Charlotte stunned Navy when Hasaan Klug found T.L Ford in the end zone with no time left to absolutely shock and crush the Midshipmen's chances of moving forward. Klug threw 4 TD passes, none bigger than the last one. Northwestern played a classic with Virginia, as neither team led by more than 7 points. In the end, Virginia wasn't able to answer Northwestern's FG in the 3rd OT. South Carolina played more sharp defense in getting the win.

Standings after 6 weeks, with point differential in parenthesis:

USC 6-0 (+179)
Northwestern 5-1 (+45)
South Carolina 5-1 (+31)
Navy 2-4 (+4)
Virginia 2-4 (-23)
Charlotte 2-4 (-72)
Buffalo 1-5 (-74)
UL Lafayette 1-5 (-90)

Week 7 Schedule

Navy vs. USC
Virginia vs. Buffalo
Charlotte vs. UL Lafayette
Northwestern vs. South Carolina

My goodness, I knew this group would be bad, but I didn't think it would be this bad. We are guaranteed to have a team with a losing record in group play advancing to the Round of 64, as either Navy, Virginia, or Charlotte will be the 4th place team out of this group. USC has won the group already as they've beaten both Northwestern and South Carolina. If they can beat Navy, then they have a very good chance of being the overall #1 seed in the round of 64. The Northwestern/South Carolina winner will finish 2nd in the group, the loser will finish 3rd. As far as 4th place goes, Navy has the toughest chance, as they have to meet undefeated USC. Virginia and Charlotte have much easier games. In the event that all 3 of those teams win, or all 3 lose, then we'll have to go to the point differential tiebreaker as they all went 1-1 against each other in group play. This might be the first time in all of the groups that all 4 Week 7 games actually do matter for seeding and advancement purposes.

[collegesportsfanms]

Group I

Week 7

USC- 38, Navy- 28
Virginia- 38, Buffalo- 28
Charlotte- 20, UL Lafayette- 7
Northwestern- 34, South Carolina- 30 (OT)

This week's theme: Fast starts and 4th quarter comebacks. It took a huge 4th quarter comeback, but the Trojans fought back from 28-16 down to score 22 unanswered points, finish group play undefeated, and likely make Navy the first top 25 team not to advance to the Round of 64. Unbelievable! Virginia scored the games first 24 points to beat Buffalo, while Charlotte held UL Lafayette to just over 200 yards in their win. Northwestern also had to come from behind, as they trailed 27-17 early in the 4th quarter, but rallied to force OT, hold Carolina to a FG, and got the winning TD on a Justin Jackson 12 yard TD run.

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Final Group I standings, with point differential in parenthesis:

#1- USC 7-0 (+189)
#2- Northwestern 6-1 (+49)
#3- South Carolina 5-2 (+27)
#4- Virginia 3-4 (-13)
#5- Charlotte 3-4 (-59)
#6- Navy 2-5 (-6)
#7- Buffalo 1-6 (-84)
#8- UL Lafayette 1-6 (-103)

So USC does what they needed to do, and that point differential has them sitting with a very, very good chance to be the overall #1 seed in the Round of 64. Unfortunately, on the other end, Virginia, with their losing record, is almost a certainty to be the #64 seed, which gives us a rematch in the 1/64 game. I was hoping to avoid any group rematches in the Round of 64, but if that's the way the seedings play out, so be it. Virginia gets the 4th spot out of this group by winning the head to head tiebreaker, as they beat Charlotte handily back in Week 3. I never expected that the possible 1 and 64 seeds would both come from the same group, which just shows how crazy this group really was. Poor Navy. Too many upset losses, they just couldn't get it together, and they will become the first (and quite possibly only) top 25 team not to reach the Round of 64.

Group J next, and it also features 2 top 25 teams. As we've seen already, anything can happen.

[collegesportsfanms]

Group J

#10 Colorado (Pac 12, 8-1, 10-3)
#24 Temple (American, 7-1, 10-3)
Arkansas (SEC, 3-5, 7-5)
FIU (Conference USA, 4-4, 4-8)
Hawaii (Mountain West, 4-4, 6-7)
Indiana (Big Ten, 4-5, 6-6)
Kent State (MAC, 2-6, 3-9)
Miami (FL) (ACC, 5-3, 8-4)

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Week 1

Miami (FL)- 27, Colorado- 26
Temple- 46, Kent State- 12
Arkansas- 36, Indiana- 10
Hawaii- 45, FIU- 30

A big game to open up play in Group J, as the Hurricanes came from 16 points down to score the winning TD with 3 minutes to go, putting Colorado in a jam early. That was the only good game in week 1 though, as the rest were blowouts.

Week 2

Colorado- 29, Kent State- 3
Miami (FL)- 40, Indiana- 25
Temple- 33, Hawaii- 11
Arkansas- 41, FIU- 31

The Buffs get their first win of group play, forcing 3 turnovers in this one, as some of those turnovers came at critical times. Kent State was able to move the ball on the ground without much resistance. Arkansas had a much tougher time than expected with FIU, while Temple didn't give up any points until the 4th quarter. The Hurricanes took control of Indiana early, which was good because Indiana played even with them after that.

Week 3

Colorado- 24, Indiana- 17
Hawaii- 19, Kent State- 14
Miami (FL)- 39, FIU- 26
Temple- 23, Arkansas- 21

The Buffaloes continue to play uninspired ball, falling behind Indiana by 8 points in the 4th quarter before rallying back. Hawaii led Kent State from start to finish, and in the game of the week, Temple got an Aaron Boumerhi 55 yard FG with 10 seconds left to stay undefeated and hand Arkansas their first loss in a classic back and forth game.

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Standings after 3 weeks, with point differential in parenthesis:

Temple 3-0 (+58)
Miami (FL) 3-0 (+29)
Arkansas 2-1 (+34)
Colorado 2-1 (+32)
Hawaii 2-1 (-2)
FIU 0-3 (-38)
Indiana 0-3 (-48)
Kent State 0-3 (-65)

So this group is getting some separation already, with 3 teams winless after the first 3 weeks. I see no hope for FIU or Kent State, and Indiana has been run through the gauntlet already with Miami, Colorado, and Arkansas. The Hoosiers should bounce back to get at least 2, maybe 3 wins, and if they can pull an upset against Temple, they might have a chance to advance. There is still going to be a lot of shake-up, as Temple still has to play Miami and Colorado, and Miami still has to play Arkansas, so the top half of this group is going to start to see some changes. Hawaii sitting at 2-1 probably won't last much longer. They still have some tough games coming up.

[collegesportsfanms]

Group J

Week 4

Hawaii- 27, Colorado- 24 (OT)
Indiana- 28, FIU- 14
Arkansas- 38, Kent State- 27
Miami (FL)- 29, Temple- 27

Colorado is in a bit of trouble now, as Hawaii's Rigoberto Sanchez kicked 4 FG's in the game, his last 2 being the biggest. He kicked a 52 yard FG to tie the game at 24 with 32 seconds left and send it to overtime, then kicked a 32 yarder to stun the Buffs. This all after Colorado kicker Chris Graham hit a 44 yarder with just under 2 minutes to go, that gave Colorado a 24-21 win. Now the Buffs find themselves in a bit of a jam. And this week it was Temple that found themselves the victim of a close loss, but to be honest, Miami dominated this game. They led 26-6 entering the 4th quarter when Temple tried to come back, but ran out of time as the Canes survive the battle of the undefeated.

Week 5

Colorado- 37, FIU- 21
Hawaii- 36, Arkansas- 17
Temple- 25, Indiana- 17
Miami (FL)- 43, Kent State- 7

Colorado gets back on the winning way, while Hawaii continues to shock in group play, this time getting by Arkansas. Temple scores the last 15 points of their game against Indiana, while Miami has no trouble with Kent State.

Week 6

Colorado- 41, Arkansas- 24
FIU- 30, Temple- 10
Miami (FL)- 54, Hawaii- 24
Indiana- 27, Kent State- 13

The stunner this week was FIU all over Temple, as they scored 20 2nd half points to put the Owls in a tough spot. The Hurricanes clinch Group J with an impressive win over Hawaii in which they used a very balanced offensive attack. The Buffaloes have gotten it figured out with 2 straight impressive wins, and Indiana gets their 2nd win of group play.

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Standings after 6 weeks, with point differential in parenthesis:

Miami (FL) 6-0 (+97)
Colorado 4-2 (+62)
Temple 4-2 (+44)
Hawaii 4-2 (-10)
Arkansas 3-3 (+9)
Indiana 2-4 (-28)
FIU 1-5 (-48)
Kent State 0-6 (-126)

Week 7 Schedule

Temple vs. Colorado
Miami (FL) vs. Arkansas
FIU vs. Kent State
Hawaii vs. Indiana

Here's what we know, Indiana, FIU, and Kent State are eliminated. Arkansas must find a way to beat Miami to have a chance to advance. The Hurricanes are going for an undefeated run in group play. If Arkansas wins, then they will be tied at 4-3 with the Colorado-Temple loser, and we'll have at least 1 tiebreaker. On the other hand, if Hawaii beats Indiana, they'll be tied at 5-2 with the Colorado-Temple winner. To put it mildly, we should have 1, possibly 2 tiebreakers out of this group, depending on the results.

[collegesportsfanms]

It was brought to my attention by ntndeacon that I had started Group K before I completed Group J. So I've deleted the post with the first 3 weeks of Group K (but don't worry, I copied and saved it so all I'll have to do is paste it back in a new post) and here is Week 7 of Group J

Group J

Week 7

Colorado- 25, Temple- 14
Miami (FL)- 38, Arkansas- 35
FIU- 51, Kent State- 10
Hawaii- 40, Indiana- 30

So Colorado gets the big win over Temple, and Miami gets through the group undefeated thanks to a Michael Badgley 40 yard FG with 12 seconds left. FIU obliterates Kent State and Hawaii gets a nice win.

Final Group J Standings, with point differential in parenthesis:

#1- Miami (FL) 7-0 (+100)
#2- Hawaii 5-2 (0)
#3- Colorado 5-2 (+73)
#4- Temple 4-3 (+33)
#5- Arkansas 3-4 (+6)
#6- Indiana 2-5 (-38)
#7- FIU 2-5 (-7)
#8- Kent State 0-7 (-167)

So Miami gets through undefeated, and Hawaii is the surprise team out of this group, finishing 2nd thanks to a head to head tiebreaker win over Colorado. Both our ranked teams in this group do advance to the Round of 64, but they finished 3rd and 4th place, respectively. Tough luck for Arkansas, who was victimized by that loss to Hawaii. That was probably the only real surprise in this group, Hawaii overtaking Arkansas.

Group K is next, where we take a look at Florida State, who I consider the heavy favorite in the group.

[collegesportsfanms]

Group K

#11 Florida State (ACC, 5-3. 9-3)
Eastern Michigan (MAC, 4-4, 7-5)
Illinois (Big Ten, 2-7, 3-9)
Iowa State (Big 12, 2-7, 3-9)
Oregon State (Pac 12, 3-6, 4-8)
San Diego State (Mountain West, 6-2, 11-3)
Tulsa (American, 6-2, 10-3)
UL Monroe (Sun Belt, 3-5, 4-8)

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Week 1

Florida State- 38. UL Monroe- 3
Eastern Michigan- 24, Tulsa- 21
San Diego State- 42, Illinois- 17
Iowa State- 43, Oregon State- 28

No real surprises in Week 1 of this group. If you could consider anything a surprise, it would be Eastern Michigan beating Tulsa, but Eastern Michigan wasn't a terrible team. Iowa State scored 17 unanswered in the 4th quarter to come back against the Beavers, while Florida State and San Diego State demolished their opponents.

Week 2

Florida State- 35, Tulsa- 15
San Diego State- 55, UL Monroe- 17
Oregon State- 27, Eastern Michigan- 13
Iowa State- 29, Illinois- 24

Only 1 game was really close this week, as Iowa State got a 1 yard Mike Warren TD run with 1:33 left to take the lead over Illinois. The Cyclones failed the 2 point conversion, but with the Illini needing a touchdown, they weren't able to do it, so Iowa State starts group play 2-0! A bit of a surprise to see Oregon State beat Eastern Michigan, and really surprised to see Tulsa at 0-2 already. They've got some work to do.

Week 3

San Diego State- 20, Florida State- 19
Oregon State- 38, Tulsa- 20
Iowa State- 40, UL Monroe- 7
Illinois- 48, Eastern Michigan- 29

More blowouts, except for 1. An exciting one as Florida State got behind early, but couldn't quite complete the comeback as they fall short. Illinois used a 21 point 1st quarter and a 20 point 4th quarter to get their first win of group play, while Oregon State puts Tulsa even farther down, keeping them winless.

Standings after 3 weeks, with point differential in parenthesis:

San Diego State 3-0 (+64)
Iowa State 3-0 (+53)
Florida State 2-1 (+54)
Oregon State 2-1 (+17)
Illinois 1-2 (-11)
Eastern Michigan 1-2 (-30)
Tulsa 0-3 (-41)
UL Monroe 0-3 (-106)

[collegesportsfanms]

Group K

Week 4

Florida State- 45, Oregon State- 21
Iowa State- 19, San Diego State- 12
Tulsa- 32, Illinois- 21
Eastern Michigan- 55, UL Monroe- 24

The stunner of the week has to be Iowa State, who in reality won 3 games in the 2016 NCAA season, but has already eclipsed that win total in group play here. Jacob Park found Trever Ryen from 11 yards out with just over 2 minutes to go, and the Cyclones' defense got the big stops when they needed to as Iowa State stays undefeated in group play. Florida State and Eastern Michigan take care of business, and Tulsa gets their first win by scoring 16 unanswered to beat Illinois.

Week 5

Florida State- 34, Iowa State- 16
Oregon State- 48, Illinois- 34
Eastern Michigan- 31, San Diego State- 26
UL Monroe- 33, Tulsa- 28

Well, it was a lot to ask for the Cyclones to beat Florida State. It didn't happen. 2 more stunners, as Eastern Michigan hands the Aztecs their second straight loss, while UL Monroe gets their first win of the season and in the process all but eliminates Tulsa's possibility to advance. It wouldn't have happened except for Ben Luckett broke free with a 4 yard TD run with 13 seconds to go to steal the win for UL Monroe.

Week 6

Florida State- 36, Illinois- 20
Iowa State- 63, Eastern Michigan- 26
Oregon State- 34, UL Monroe- 3
San Diego State- 45, Tulsa- 13

This was definitely the week for blowouts. The closest game, surprisingly, was the Florida State game, in which they shut out Illinois in the second half to preserve the victory. Tulsa continues to fall apart in this tournament, making it another 9+ win team that will fail to advance. And how about Iowa State? You think they were mad about that loss to the Seminoles? They amounted over 600 yards of total offense and scored 28 third quarter points to put Eastern Michigan in a win and get help situation in Week 7.

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Standings after 6 weeks, with point differential in parenthesis:

Florida State 5-1 (+112)
Iowa State 5-1 (+79)
San Diego State 4-2 (+84)
Oregon State 4-2 (+38)
Eastern Michigan 3-3 (-31)
Illinois 1-5 (-52)
Tulsa 1-5 (-67)
UL Monroe 1-5 (-163)

Week 7 Schedule

Eastern Michigan vs. Florida State
UL Monroe vs. Illinois
Iowa State vs. Tulsa
Oregon State vs. San Diego State

Obviously the game to watch in Week 7 is the San Diego St.-Oregon St. game. The winner assure themselves of advancement, the loser has to wait and see. We know that Florida State and Iowa State are advancing no matter what, and Illinois, Tulsa, and UL Monroe are eliminated. Eastern Michigan is in the toughest spot. First, they have to find a way to beat Florida State, and if they lost by 37 points to the Cyclones, what the heck is going to happen to them against the Seminoles? Assuming they find a way to pull an upset, they'll need Oregon State to beat San Diego State, because Eastern Michigan holds the head to head tiebreaker over San Diego State, while the Beavers hold the head to head over Eastern Michigan. Simply put, the only way Eastern Michigan can advance is if they upset Florida State and Oregon State beats San Diego State.

All Florida State needs to do to clinch the group title is to beat Eastern Michigan. If they lose and Iowa State wins, then Iowa State would win the group. If both Iowa State and Florida State lose and San Diego State wins, we would have a 3 way tie for the group title. Not likely, but as we've seen, anything is possible.

[collegesportsfanms]

Group K

Week 7

Florida State- 42, Eastern Michigan- 28
Illinois- 34, UL Monroe- 10
Iowa State- 31, Tulsa- 14
San Diego State- 46, Oregon State- 29

The Seminoles get the win, but it took them almost the entire half to wake up. They were down 21-10 late in the 2nd quarter before they got a late TD to trail 21-17 at halftime. The telling quarter was the fourth quarter, in which Florida State scored 22 unanswered points to get the win and clinch the group title. San Diego State also needed a big second half, outscoring the Beavers 39-15 to coast to victory and clinch 3rd place in the group. Illinois picks up their 2nd win of group play, and Iowa State continues to be the shock of the tournament, beating up on Tulsa.

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Final Group K standings, with point differential in parenthesis:

#1- Florida State 6-1 (+126)
#2- Iowa State 6-1 (+96)
#3- San Diego State 5-2 (+101)
#4- Oregon State 4-3 (+21)
#5- Eastern Michigan 3-4 (-45)
#6- Illinois 2-5 (-28)
#7- UL Monroe 1-6 (-187)
#8- Tulsa 1-6 (-84)

I'm still in complete amazement at what Iowa State did in group play. A 3 win team in reality wins 6 games in their group, while a 9 win team wins 1 game in their group? That's why I do things like this. Sure, for the most part, the teams that are expected to win and advance do, but every now and then you have a group like this. I love it.

Florida State has to feel a bit perturbed though, a lousy 1 point loss took them from a potential top 5, maybe even top 3 seed in the Round of 64, to a seed somewhere between 6-10 probably. Still very good, but what could have been. Iowa State will just be happy to still be playing, while The Aztecs and Beavers round it out. Tough luck for Tulsa, you know they'd love a chance to redeem themselves. Next we head to Group L, which has 2 ranked teams, as well as 3 other teams in the group that post 8+ wins. This group is gonna be a dogfight for sure, with no real clear favorite.

[collegesportsfanms]

Group L

#12 Oklahoma State (Big 12, 7-2, 9-3)
#21 Tennessee (SEC, 4-4, 8-4)
Arizona (Pac 12, 1-8, 3-9)
Bowling Green (MAC, 3-5, 4-8)
Louisiana Tech (Conference USA, 6-2, 8-5)
North Carolina (ACC, 5-3, 8-4)
Purdue (Big Ten, 1-8, 3-9)
Troy (Sun Belt, 6-2, 9-3)

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Week 1

Oklahoma State- 33, Troy- 19
Purdue- 31, Tennessee- 23
North Carolina- 37, Arizona- 23
Bowling Green- 41, Louisiana Tech- 27

14 was the magic number this week, as 3 of our 4 games ended up with a 14 point margin of victory. The one that didn't was also the most stunning, as Purdue jumped out to a 28-13 lead on Tennessee and held on. Oklahoma State also got out to a big lead on Troy, as they led 27-6 at halftime. LA Tech didn't help their chances right off the bat, as they fumbled twice (but recovered both) and had 3 interceptions in a bit of an upset loss to Bowling Green. North Carolina jumped out to a 30-10 lead against Arizona to seal that game early.

Week 2

Oklahoma State- 45, Purdue- 24
North Carolina- 48, Troy- 14
Louisiana Tech- 40, Tennessee- 30
Arizona- 31, Bowling Green- 15

No upset this week for Purdue, as the Cowboys scored early and often. Same thing with North Carolina against Troy. Tennessee is in a real jam already, with 2 losses that would both have to be considered upsets, and Arizona gets on the winning side of things by allowing just 3 second half points.

Week 3

Oklahoma State- 35, North Carolina- 31
Louisiana Tech- 43, Purdue- 17
Troy- 23, Bowling Green- 16
Tennessee- 40, Arizona- 28

The battle of 2-0 teams didn't look like much of a battle early on, as the Cowboys jumped out to a 21-0 lead, but North Carolina fought all the way back to take a 31-28 lead with 4 minutes to go on a Nick Weiler 39 yard FG. But Oklahoma State wasn't done, and with 8 seconds left, Rennie Childs ran it in from 8 yards out to salvage the win for the Pokes, who almost blew it. Troy got their first win of group play by scoring 10 points in both the first and fourth quarters, while Purdue has come back down to earth after 2 straight blowout losses. Tennessee gets their first win of group play by jumping out to a 30-7 lead over Arizona then hanging on.

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Standings after 3 weeks, with point differential in parenthesis:

Oklahoma State 3-0 (+39)
North Carolina 2-1 (+44)
Louisiana Tech 2-1 (+22)
Tennessee 1-2 (-6)
Bowling Green 1-2 (-9)
Arizona 1-2 (-10)
Purdue 1-2 (-39)
Troy 1-2 (-41)

What a mess, with 5 teams at 1-2. Surely there will be some separation there in the coming weeks.

[collegesportsfanms]

Group L

Week 4

Oklahoma State- 38, Louisiana Tech- 31
North Carolina- 55, Bowling Green- 21
Arizona- 33, Purdue- 23
Troy- 34, Tennessee- 18

The struggles are real for Tennessee, who is in danger of being the 2nd ranked team not to advance to the Round of 64. They didn't help themselves by committing 3 turnovers against Troy. No such trouble for the Cowboys, who stay undefeated. North Carolina continues to put up gaudy offensive numbers. Even in their loss last week, they scored 31. Arizona was unstoppable on the ground, piling up 443 rushing yards in their win over Purdue.

Week 5

Oklahoma State- 51, Bowling Green- 22
Louisiana Tech- 41, Arizona- 34
North Carolina- 26, Tennessee- 20
Purdue- 26, Troy- 23 (2 OT)

Lots of exciting games this week, as North Carolina all but eliminated Tennessee from Round of 64 contention with 16 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to come back from a 20-10 deficit. Louisiana Tech had the reverse in their game, as they bounced out to a 31-0 lead, only to see the Wildcats come all the way back and tie it at 34 with 4 minutes to go. But the Bulldogs would not be denied, as Ryan Higgins ran it in from 6 yards out with 45 seconds left, as the Techsters become the 2nd team in group play to jump to a big lead, give it up, and then score late to win. And Troy kicker Ryan Kay kicked a 25 yard FG to send that game into OT. The teams traded FGs in the 1st OT, then in the 2nd OT, Troy couldn't score, and Purdue won it on with a J.D Dellinger 40 yard FG to keep their Round of 64 hopes alive.

Week 6

Oklahoma State- 28, Arizona- 20
Tennessee- 20, Bowling Green- 16
Louisiana Tech- 34, Troy- 17
North Carolina- 38, Purdue- 17

The Cowboys stay undefeated, while Tennessee gets their 2nd win of group play and guess what, they are STILL in contention for the Round of 64. More on that later. LA Tech with another big win as they jumped out to a 31-7 lead. Purdue QB David Blough threw 6, count em, 6 interceptions in the loss to the Tarheels. My question is, what the heck was he still doing out there? Don't the Boilermakers have a back-up QB? Wow.

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Standings after 6 weeks, with point differential in parenthesis:

Oklahoma State 6-0 (+83)
North Carolina 5-1 (+105)
Louisiana Tech 4-2 (+39)
Arizona 2-4 (-15)
Tennessee 2-4 (-24)
Troy 2-4 (-45)
Purdue 2-4 (-67)
Bowling Green 1-5 (-76)

Week 7 Schedule

Tennessee vs. Oklahoma State
Troy vs. Arizona
Bowling Green vs. Purdue
Louisiana Tech vs. North Carolina

What...a....mess! All we know about this group is that Oklahoma State has won the group, and Bowling Green is eliminated. The North Carolina-LA Tech winner will finish 2nd in the group, with the loser finishing 3rd. And once again, we will have a team with a losing record advancing to the Round of 64. This is great news for Virginia, who just might get bumped up and out of the #64 spot, which is where they are likely to be headed. So the Troy-Arizona winner will stay alive, and both Tennessee and Purdue will have to win their games to stay alive. If Oklahoma State beats Tennessee and Bowling Green beats Purdue, then the Arizona-Troy winner will lock up the #4 spot in the group. If UNC wins and Purdue loses, or vice versa, we'll have a 2 way tiebreaker for slot #4. If both UNC and Purdue win, then we'll have a 3 way tie for slot #4. So still a lot to play for, but the teams that are 2-4 MUST win to have a chance.

[collegesportsfanms]

Group L

Week 7

Oklahoma State- 35, Tennessee- 31
Troy- 31, Arizona- 21
Purdue- 49, Bowling Green- 17
North Carolina- 48, Louisiana Tech- 20

The last 2 games of the group weren't exciting at all, as Purdue and North Carolina ran out to big leads and never looked back. Troy got by Arizona, and Oklahoma State stunned Tennessee with another late second comeback. This time it was Chris Carson running it in from 3 yards out with 5 seconds to go to give the Cowboys the win and break the hearts of the Volunteers and their fans, who will miss out on the Round of 64. That forces a tiebreaker between Troy and Purdue for the 4th spot.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Final Group L standings, with point differential in parenthesis:

#1- Oklahoma State 7-0 (+87)
#2- North Carolina 6-1 (+133)
#3- Louisiana Tech 4-3 (+11)
#4- Purdue 3-4 (-35)
#5- Troy 3-4 (-35)
#6- Tennessee 2-5 (-28)
#7- Arizona 2-5 (-25)
#8- Bowling Green 1-6 (-108)

So Purdue wins the head to head tiebreaker with Troy and becomes the 2nd 3-4 team to advance to the Round of 64, and Virginia is very happy as the Boilermakers take over the likely #64 spot. Not that there should be a lot of difference between #63 and #64, but you never know. On the flip side, Tennessee becomes the 2nd ranked team not to qualify for the Round of 64, as they had just a disastrous group run. Oklahoma State is our 7th team in 12 groups to finish group play undefeated, but they have one of the lowest point differentials among those 7 teams. Meanwhile, North Carolina had the highest point differential among the 6-1 teams that finished 2nd in their group, so it's very likely they'll be the 17th seed in the Round of 64. All those big wins early certainly helped, but they sure would have liked to get that one against Oklahoma State.

Group M is next, and it also features 2 ranked teams.

[collegesportsfanms]

Group M

#13 Louisville (ACC, 7-1, 9-3)
#17 Florida (SEC, 6-2, 8-4)
Marshall (Conference USA, 2-6, 3-9)
Michigan State (Big Ten, 1-8, 3-9)
Ohio (MAC, 6-2, 8-5)
TCU (Big 12, 4-5, 6-6)
UConn (American, 1-7, 3-9)
Washington State (Pac 12, 7-2, 8-4)

-------------------------------------------------

Week 1

Washington State- 45, Louisville- 20
Florida- 41, UConn- 3
Marshall- 27, TCU- 17
Michigan State- 51, Ohio- 19

A few surprises in this opening week of Group M, as Louisville was completely handled by Washington St. The Cougars outscored them 21-3 in the first half and never looked back. Also was a bit surprising to see Marshall get by TCU, and Michigan St. beating an 8 win Ohio team by that much. Looks to be an interesting group.

Week 2

Louisville- 52, UConn- 6
TCU- 35, Washington State- 34
Florida- 41, Ohio- 13
Michigan State- 56, Marshall- 38

The battle of former Big East foes was a laugher, as Louisville gets their first win by gaining 375 yards on the ground. TCU stunned Washington State by jumping out to a 21-10 first half lead and holding on, while the Gators had another dominating performance. Sparty goes to 2-0 after a shootout with Marshall in which the 2 teams combined for 1250 total yards, and Michigan State had almost 700 of them.

Week 3

Louisville- 63, TCU- 16
Ohio- 25, UConn- 3
Washington State- 57, Michigan State- 31
Florida- 27, Marshall- 26

Wow! Talk about taking care of business. The Cardinals left no doubt that they have woken up, beating TCU by 47 points! Louisville intercepted TCU Quarterback Kenny Hill 5 times in this one. Ohio wins the battle of winless teams, while Washington State exploded offensively again, outscoring the Spartans 40-7 in the first and fourth quarter combined. The Gators stayed undefeated, but barely, as they trailed 26-13 late in the third quarter but got the final 2 touchdowns.

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Standings after 3 weeks, with point differential in parenthesis:

Florida 3-0 (+67)
Louisville 2-1 (+68)
Washington State 2-1 (+50)
Michigan State 2-1 (+24)
Marshall 1-2 (-9)
Ohio 1-2 (-38)
TCU 1-2 (-56)
UConn 0-3 (-106)

[collegesportsfanms]

Group M

Week 4

Louisville- 28, Ohio- 18
TCU- 30, Michigan State- 17
Marshall- 37, UConn- 21
Florida- 52, Washington State- 34

It wasn't easy, but Louisville survived upset minded Ohio, while TCU and Michigan State both continue to live in mediocrity. Marshall is back in the hunt, keeping UConn winless, while Florida gets the shootout win this time around, getting 3 interceptions in the process.

Week 5

Michigan State- 23, Louisville- 10
Marshall- 35, Ohio- 13
TCU- 40, Florida- 37
Washington State- 38, UConn- 17

I'd like to say I'm surprised by Michigan State beating Louisville, but as inconsistent as this group has been, I'm really not. The Spartans held Louisville to just 319 total yards and pitched a shutout in the second half. Marshall and Washington State took care of business, all but eliminating the possibility of advancement for Ohio and UConn. And TCU kicker Brandon Hatfield kicked 2 huge field goals in the last 5 minutes of the game. First, a 41 yarder to tie the game at 37, then the even bigger one: a 53 yarder at the buzzer to win it for the Horned Frogs, shocking the Gators and ensuring that there will NOT be an undefeated team coming out of Group M.

Week 6

Louisville- 45, Marshall- 17
Florida- 37, Michigan State- 27
Washington State- 58, Ohio- 28
UConn- 35, TCU- 34

The Cardinals started and ended well against Marshall, scoring 35 of their 45 points in the first and fourth quarters combined, rolling to an easy victory. Florida got back on the winning side, breaking it open in the fourth quarter, and only a last second Spartan touchdown made the game seem closer than it really was. Washington State had no trouble with Ohio, while UConn pulls the upset of the tournament so far, getting a Bryant Shirreffs to Noel Thomas 23 yard TD pass with 7 seconds to go to absolutely crush TCU.

--------------------------------------------

Standings after 6 weeks, with point differential in parenthesis:

Florida 5-1 (+92)
Washington State 4-2 (+83)
Louisville 4-2 (+93)
Michigan State 3-3 (+14)
Marshall 3-3 (+1)
TCU 3-3 (-41)
Ohio 1-5 (-100)
UConn 1-5 (-142)

Week 7 Schedule

Florida vs. Louisville
Washington State vs. Marshall
Michigan State vs. UConn
Ohio vs. TCU

So we know that Ohio and UConn are eliminated from Round of 64 contention. If Florida can beat Louisville, then the Gators win the group. However, if Louisville beats Florida, we'll have a 2 way tie for the group title, and if Washington State beats Marshall, as we expect them to, it would be a 3 way tie for the group title. Michigan State and Marshall really need a win to boost their chances, and TCU not only needs to beat Ohio, but really, really dismantle Ohio. Their point differential is so bad that a win of any kind may not be enough. It's quite possible that we could still be looking at a 3 or 4 way tiebreaker.. or worst case scenario.. god forbid, if Florida beats Louisville, Marshall beats Washington State, and Michigan State and TCU both win, we would have 5, count em, 5 teams at 4-3, vying for 3 spots. Yikes!

[collegesportsfanms]

Group M

Week 7

Louisville- 42, Florida- 24
Washington State- 34, Marshall- 16
Michigan State- 34, UConn- 13
TCU- 31, Ohio- 10

Louisville kept themselves in the hunt for the group title by handling the Gators, jumping out to a 28-14 halftime lead and using a balanced offense. The Cougars make it a 3 way tie for the group title by beating Marshall, and both Michigan State and TCU take care of business, but will it be enough? We'll soon find out.

---------------------------------------------------

Final Group M standings, with point differential in parenthesis:

#1- Washington State 5-2 (+101)
#2- Louisville 5-2 (+111)
#3- Florida 5-2 (+74)
#4- TCU 4-3 (-20)
#5- Michigan State 4-3 (+35)
#6- Marshall 3-4 (-17)
#7- Ohio 1-6 (-121)
#8- UConn 1-6 (-163)

I'm going to post the 3+ team tiebreaker criteria again, just so there's no questions.

3+ team tie
(every step seeks to eliminate the bottom team, or bottom tied teams. Then the remaining teams go back to the first step of the tiebreaker procedure)
1. Head-To-Head within tied teams (if they've all played each other)
2. Point Differential in Group Stage
3. Winning % Of Teams Defeated
4. Total Points Scored in Group Stage
5. Coin Toss

This is the way I've done it all tournament, and I didn't want to change it now. So going by that, since Washington State, Louisville, and Florida all went 1-1 against each other, we move to point differential. Florida had the lowest point differential, so that locks them into 3rd place in the group. Then it becomes a head to head between Washington State and Louisville for the group title. Since the Cougars beat Louisville in Week 1, Washington State wins Group M, with Louisville in 2nd. We had another tiebreaker for the 4th and final spot out of Group M. It went to TCU, since the Horned Frogs beat Michigan State head to head.

Washington State will likely be the #16 seed in the Round of 64, as of now they are the only 2 loss group winner. They can jump up to a #13 seed if the last 3 group winners all lose twice in their group, but that's very unlikely. Louisville has the highest point differential of all the 2nd place 5-2 finishers, so they should be a top 25 seed in the Round of 64. The Gators and TCU are both looking at their week 5 matchup, but for different reasons. Florida knows that last second loss probably cost them the group title, while TCU knows that last second win is a big reason why they are going to the Round of 64, despite their lousy point differential.

Next up is Group N, where we have Nebraska, Auburn, Baylor, and UCLA as the teams expected to advance.

[collegesportsfanms]

Group N

#14 Auburn (SEC, 5-3, 8-4)
Baylor (Big 12, 3-6, 6-6)
Northern Illinois (MAC, 5-3, 5-7)
Nebraska (Big Ten, 6-3, 9-3)
New Mexico State (Sun Belt, 2-6, 3-9)
Rice (Conference USA, 2-6, 3-9)
UCLA (Pac 12, 2-7, 4-8)
UNLV (Mountain West, 3-5, 4-8)

-----------------------------------------------

Week 1

Auburn- 29, UNLV- 10
UCLA- 33, Baylor- 21
Northern Illinois- 41, Rice- 27
Nebraska- 24, New Mexico State- 20

A pretty uneventful week for what I feel will be a pretty uneventful group. Nebraska did have a scare in their game, although New Mexico State never led, they did cut the Husker lead to 21-20 at one point. Auburn looked impressive over subpar competition, and UCLA beat Baylor in a match-up of teams that had disappointing seasons that are trying to make up for it here in this tournament.

Week 2

Auburn- 40, UCLA- 20
Rice- 47, UNLV- 17
Baylor- 47, New Mexico State- 17
Nebraska- 31, Northern Illinois- 21

Another game which saw a quarterback get lit up defensively. Auburn forced UCLA QB Mike Fafaul into 6 interceptions and were able to get short field and score off many of them. This was a very interesting week, as the results were pretty much expected, but I'm not sure we've ever had a week where we had 2 or more games with identical scores, and I'm almost positive we've never had a week where each game had a margin of victory with a multiple of 10 (10,20,30). Wonder if that will be a recurring theme.

Week 3

Auburn- 28, Rice- 21
UCLA- 34, New Mexico State- 10
Nebraska- 38, UNLV- 27
Baylor- 42, Northern Illinois- 10

The Tigers survived an early scare in this one, falling behind both 7-0 and 14-7, but they rallied to stay undefeated. The Huskers also had a scare, falling behind UNLV 27-14, but they rallied to score the final 24 points of the game to also stay undefeated. UCLA and Baylor took care of business and had no such struggles.

---------------------------------------------------

Standings after 3 weeks, with point differential in parenthesis:

Auburn 3-0 (+46)
Nebraska 3-0 (+25)
UCLA 2-1 (+16)
Baylor 2-1 (+50)
Northern Illinois 1-2 (-28)
Rice 1-2 (+9)
New Mexico State 0-3 (-58)
UNLV 0-3 (-60)

[collegesportsfanms]

Group N

Week 4

Auburn- 36, New Mexico State- 17
Nebraska- 37, Rice- 19
Northern Illinois- 34, UCLA- 27
UNLV- 20, Baylor- 17

The Tigers again found themselves down early, as they trailed 17-10 at halftime. They pitched a shutout in the second half though to remain undefeated. Nebraska used a big fourth quarter to put their game away and set up a battle of the undefeated teams between Auburn and the Huskers next week. Northern Illinois trailed most of the game, but got it going in the last quarter to stun UCLA. Another stunner was UNLV, who got their first win by leading Baylor through the first 2 and a half quarters before Baylor got back in front. The Rebels scored last though, and it was enough.

Week 5

Nebraska- 26, Auburn- 23
New Mexico State- 19, Northern Illinois- 17
Baylor- 52, Rice- 7
UCLA- 24, UNLV- 14

The Nebraska/Auburn game was a battle of field goals in the first half, but the scoring opened up as Auburn looked to take control, building a 20-9 lead. The Huskers came storming back and took the lead for good at the 4 minute mark with Terrell Newby running it in from 31 yards out and the 2 point conversion good. The Huskers have taken full control of the group with this win. New Mexico State stunned Northern Illinois to get their first win of group play, getting a Tyler Rogers to Izaiah Lottie 11 yard TD conversion with 1:29 left. Baylor took care of Rice in big fashion, and UCLA stayed in the hunt.

Week 6

Auburn- 37, Northern Illinois- 24
Nebraska- 51, Baylor- 44 (OT)
UNLV- 45, New Mexico State- 14
Rice- 19, UCLA- 9

Auburn gets back on the winning track over Northern Illinois, and the battle between former Big 12 foes was a classic. Baylor controlled most of the game and led by as many as 21 points in the 2nd half. But again Nebraska came storming back, getting a Terrell Newby 1 yard TD run with 35 seconds left to force OT. In the overtime period, Baylor failed to score, while Tommy Armstrong Jr. hooked up with Brandon Reilly from 24 yards out, and WIS added the meaningless XP, but the Huskers clinch the group with the big comeback victory. The Rebels had no such drama in their win, and while the Bruins outgained Rice by over 100 yards total, UCLA QB Mike Fafaul again had problems throwing the ball to his teammates, throwing 3 interceptions in this one as Rice pulls the mild upset.

----------------------------------------------------------

Standings after 6 weeks, with point differential in parenthesis:

Nebraska 6-0 (+53)
Auburn 5-1 (+75)
UCLA 3-3 (+9)
Baylor 3-3 (+85)
Northern Illinois 2-4 (-36)
UNLV 2-4 (-36)
Rice 2-4 (-44)
New Mexico State 1-5 (-106)

Week 7 Schedule

Baylor vs. Auburn
UNLV vs. Northern Illinois
Nebraska vs. UCLA
New Mexico State vs. Rice

So here's what we know: Nebraska and Auburn have clinched advancement to the Round of 64. Nebraska has clinched the Group N title. Even if they lose to UCLA and Auburn beats Baylor, the Huskers beat Auburn in week 5 to control the head to head tiebreaker. New Mexico State is eliminated, and the other 5 teams are battling for the final 2 spots. Now, if UCLA and Baylor can both win, then that's it. But with having to play the top 2 teams in the group that'll be tough. Not improbable, but tough. I certainly don't expect both of them to win. This opens up the door for the 2-4 teams and brings up the possibility of yet another 3-4 (or maybe 2 3-4 teams) advancing to the Round of 64. Although, Northern Illinois and UNLV will play each other in Week 7, so the loser of that game will be 2-5 and be out of the hunt. We could be seeing the potential for a 4 team tiebreaker for 2 spots coming up.

[collegesportsfanms]

Group N

Week 7

Auburn- 31, Baylor- 21
Northern Illinois- 43, UNLV- 7
UCLA- 30, Nebraska- 13
Rice- 52, New Mexico State- 16

The Tigers intercepted Baylor QB Seth Russell 3 times and scored the last 11 points to get the victory, putting Baylor in a tiebreaker situation. The Huskies of Northern Illinois did even better, getting 5 interceptions and rolling to victory, eliminating UNLV from Round of 64 contention. The Bruins decided they wanted to earn the spot in the Round of 64 on the field. No tiebreaker situation for them as they took control early, holding Nebraska to just over 300 total yards of offense, handing Nebraska their first loss of the tournament. This clinches the 3rd place spot in Group N for UCLA. Rice stayed alive with a huge victory over the Aggies, using a balanced offense and outscoring New Mexico State 31-3 in the second half. So it's not as disastrous as it could have been, we'll have a 3 team tiebreaker to determine the 4th place slot in Group N.

------------------------------------------------------------

Final Group N standings, with point differential in parenthesis:

#1- Nebraska 6-1 (+36)
#2- Auburn 6-1 (+85)
#3- UCLA 4-3 (+26)
#4- Baylor 3-4 (+75)
#5- Northern Illinois 3-4 (0)
#6- Rice 3-4 (-8)
#7- UNLV 2-5 (-72)
#8- New Mexico State 1-6 (-142)

So Nebraska backs into the group title, even though they lost in Week 7, as they beat Auburn in Week 5 to get the head to head tiebreaker. The 3 team tiebreaker between Baylor, Northern Illinois, and Rice was solved easily. Baylor crushed both Northern Illinois and Rice, so that gives them the 3+ team head to head tiebreaker and gets them in 4th place, as they get the final slot in the Round of 64 out of Group N. Northern Illinois beat Rice in Week 1, for those that care, so they take 5th place. It even worked out with point differential, so thankfully that was one of the easier 3+ team tiebreakers I've had to deal with. However, that does mean a 3rd 3-4 team in the Round of 64, but don't sleep on Baylor. They are tough! With that point differential, they'll likely be the #62 seed, and will be a tough out for whoever the #3 seed is.

Next up, Group O, which features just 3 teams that had a winning record in the actual 2016 season, including our MAC darlings of Western Michigan, who played in a BCS game. This is the group that I think is most up for grabs. It also features Kansas, and I'll be interested to see how they fare in this wide open group.

[collegesportsfanms]

Group O

#15 Western Michigan (MAC, 8-0, 13-0)
Arizona State (Pac 12, 2-7, 5-7)
Florida Atlantic (Conference USA, 2-6, 3-9)
Idaho (Sun Belt, 6-2, 8-4)
Kansas (Big 12, 1-8, 2-10)
Tulane (American, 1-7, 4-8)
Vanderbilt (SEC, 3-5, 6-6)
Wyoming (Mountain West, 6-2, 8-6)

---------------------------------------------------------

Week 1

Western Michigan- 48, Wyoming- 20
Vanderbilt- 48, Arizona State- 10
Florida Atlantic- 44, Tulane- 27
Idaho- 41, Kansas- 31

Not much for interesting games in this first week of Group O. Surprisingly, the Kansas/Idaho game was the closest, but that's not saying much. Western Michigan and Vanderbilt looked really good to open the group.

Week 2

Western Michigan- 44, Vanderbilt- 42
Tulane- 37, Wyoming- 17
Kansas- 38, Arizona State- 23
Idaho- 38, Florida Atlantic- 31

In a battle of the 2 teams that looked the best in Week 1, it became an instant classic. Western Michigan jumped out to a 38-21 lead in the 4th quarter, but Vanderbilt came storming back to take a 42-41 lead with 25 seconds to go, but Western Michigan drove downfield quickly and put it in the hands (or in this case, the legs) of kicker Butch Hampton, from 52 yards out, and he drilled it at the buzzer to cap a miracle 25 second (not 2 minute, but 25 second) drill. Tulane put Wyoming in a hole early, while the Jayhawks scored 17 4th quarter points to stun Arizona State. Idaho blew a 2 touchdown lead in the 4th quarter, but got the game winning TD with a minute to go, improving to 2-0.

Week 3

Western Michigan- 19, Tulane- 14
Vanderbilt- 42, Kansas- 35
Wyoming- 31, Idaho- 27
Arizona State- 32, Florida Atlantic- 29

Western Michigan again relied on the leg of Butch Hampton, who kicked 4 field goals in the narrow win over Tulane to stay undefeated. Kansas led 21-7 early but couldn't hang on, and both Wyoming and Arizona State got last minute scores to get their first wins in group play, making sure we would have no winless teams when Group O is finished.

-------------------------------------------------------

Standings after 3 weeks, with point differential in parenthesis:

Western Michigan 3-0 (+35)
Vanderbilt 2-1 (+43)
Idaho 2-1 (+13)
Florida Atlantic 1-2 (+7)
Kansas 1-2 (-2)
Tulane 1-2 (-2)
Wyoming 1-2 (-44)
Arizona State 1-2 (-50)

Based on what I've seen out of the first 3 weeks, it's very likely we'll have another 3-4 team advancing to the Round of 64 once this group is finished.

[collegesportsfanms]

Group O

Week 4

Western Michigan- 33, Kansas- 17
Tulane- 38, Idaho- 27
Vanderbilt- 35, Florida Atlantic- 21
Arizona State- 19, Wyoming- 10

Western Michigan had no trouble with Kansas, as they stayed undefeated, while all but 14 of the points between Tulane and Idaho came in the first half. The second half was all defense, but Tulane prevailed. Vanderbilt jumped out to a 21-0 lead and coasted to victory, while Arizona State got 4 field goals from Zane Gonzalez in their win.

Week 5

Western Michigan- 30, Idaho- 24
Florida Atlantic- 37, Kansas- 31
Tulane- 27, Arizona State- 22
Wyoming- 20, Vanderbilt- 17

Strong starts were the theme in our first 3 games of the week, as Western Michigan, Florida Atlantic, and Tulane all jumped out to double digit leads before their opponents could get on the board. Wyoming forced 2 key turnovers at critical times, handing Vanderbilt their second loss and all but assuring that Western Michigan will win the group.

Week 6

Western Michigan- 62, Florida Atlantic- 7
Arizona State- 17, Idaho- 3
Wyoming- 49, Kansas- 14
Vanderbilt- 34, Tulane- 14

The Broncos finally got that big blowout they were looking for, holding the Owls to just 241 yards of total offense and forcing 3 Florida Atlantic turnovers. That win clinched the group O Title for Western Michigan. In fact, all the games were double digit margin of victories, with the closest being the Arizona State/Idaho game. Both teams moved the ball well on offense, but the Sun Devils forced 4 Idaho turnovers.

------------------------------------------------------------

Standings after 6 weeks, with point differential in parenthesis:

Western Michigan 6-0 (+112)
Vanderbilt 4-2 (+74)
Tulane 3-3 (-6)
Wyoming 3-3 (-15)
Arizona State 3-3 (-32)
Idaho 2-4 (-18)
Florida Atlantic 2-4 (-56)
Kansas 1-5 (-59)

Week 7 Schedule

Arizona State vs. Western Michigan
Wyoming vs. Florida Atlantic
Idaho vs. Vanderbilt
Kansas vs. Tulane

So all we really know about this group is that Western Michigan has clinched it, and that Kansas is eliminated (go figure, I thought they had a decent chance after beating Arizona State). Vanderbilt can clinch 2nd place in the group by beating Idaho. On the other hand, Idaho and Florida Atlantic MUST win their games just to have a chance, and then they'd still probably be reduced to a tiebreaker. Tulane and Wyoming would put themselves in great positions with wins too, as would Arizona State. Unfortunately, the Sun Devils have to do battle with a hot Western Michigan team who is looking for an undefeated run through group play and a top 10 seed in the Round of 64. Not gonna be easy. There's still a very good chance that we'll have a tiebreaker of some sort, with 6 teams battling for 3 spots, but there's a bit less of a chance of having a 3-4 team advance now, as I fully expect Tulane and Vanderbilt to win at least.

[collegesportsfanms]

Group O

Week 7

Arizona State- 20, Western Michigan- 14
Wyoming- 27, Florida Atlantic- 20
Vanderbilt- 44, Idaho- 13
Tulane- 34, Kansas- 26

For the second straight group, an undefeated team loses in Week 7 and will back their way into the group title and see their seed in the round of 64 lowered drastically. Although the score was close, Arizona State dominated this game, as they scored first, and led from start to finish. As for the other games, worst case scenario for sure, as Tulane and Wyoming also won, which means that we have 3 teams at 4-3 battling for the 3rd and 4th place spots in the Round of 64. Hopefully this tiebreaker will be as easy to figure out as the last one was.

----------------------------------------------------------

Final Group O standings, with point differential in parenthesis:

#1- Western Michigan 6-1 (+106)
#2- Vanderbilt 5-2 (+105)
#3- Tulane 4-3 (+2)
#4- Arizona State 4-3 (-26)
#5- Wyoming 4-3 (-8)
#6- Idaho 2-5 (-49)
#7- Florida Atlantic 2-5 (-63)
#8- Kansas 1-6 (-67)

It must be my lucky day for 3+ team tiebreakers, as Tulane made it easy for me as they defeated both Arizona State and Wyoming, so they get 3rd place in Group O, while Arizona State defeated Wyoming, so the Sun Devils get 4th place. Wyoming, unfortunately, is eliminated. Tulane is definitely the surprise as far as teams that exceeded expectations. I'm not too shocked that Idaho vastly underperformed, I rather expected that. I'm disappointed the Jayhawks couldn't muster up a few more wins to at least give themselves a chance, but so be it. Arizona State will definitely be looking back on that Week 7 win over Western Michigan as the key moment of their group run.

1 more group to go, it's group P, and it has 2 ranked teams in it: West Virginia and Stanford, along with 2 other solid teams in Air Force and Minnesota.

[collegesportsfanms]

Group P

#16 West Virginia (Big 12, 7-2, 10-2)
#18 Stanford (Pac 12, 6-3, 9-3)
Air Force (Mountain West, 5-3, 9-3)
Georgia (SEC, 4-4, 7-5)
Minnesota (Big 10, 5-4, 8-4)
SMU (American, 3-5, 5-7)
Syracuse (ACC, 2-6, 4-8)
UTSA (Conference USA, 5-3, 6-7)

-----------------------------------------------------

Week 1

West Virginia- 52, UTSA- 19
Stanford- 42, Syracuse- 22
Air Force- 22, SMU- 14
Minnesota- 21, Georgia- 20

Down 16-10 at halftime, the Mountaineers outscored UTSA 42-3 in the second half to roll to victory. Stanford and Air Force took care of business, while Minnesota got a Mitch Leidner to Rashad Still 20 yard TD pass with 2 minutes to go to get a big Week 1 win there.

Week 2

West Virginia- 28, Syracuse- 21
SMU- 35, UTSA- 21
Stanford- 34, Minnesota- 17
Air Force- 41, Georgia- 6

The battle of former Big East foes went the way of the Mountaineers, while SMU had to rally from a 21-10 halftime deficit, but pitched a second half shutout. The big surprise was how much Air Force dominated Georgia. Air Force held the Bulldogs to just 196 yards of total offense and 11 first downs in the most dominating performance of the group so far.

Week 3

West Virginia- 30, SMU- 10
Minnesota- 37, Syracuse- 10
Georgia- 27, UTSA- 26
Stanford- 40, Air Force- 14

Lots of blowouts this week, with the only close game being a game I figured would be a blowout as well. Georgia trailed 19-7 early in the third quarter, but came back to take the lead on a Nick Chubb 17 yard TD run with 38 seconds left to get their first win of group play and to avoid what would have been an upset.

------------------------------------------------------

Standings after 3 weeks with point differential in parenthesis:

Stanford 3-0 (+63)
West Virginia 3-0 (+60)
Air Force 2-1 (+17)
Minnesota 2-1 (+11)
SMU 1-2 (-14)
Georgia 1-2 (-35)
UTSA 0-3 (-48)
Syracuse 0-3 (-54)

[collegesportsfanms]

Group P

Week 4

Minnesota- 24, West Virginia- 7
Georgia- 32, SMU- 8
Air Force- 30, Syracuse- 3
Stanford- 48, UTSA- 42

The Golden Gophers held West Virginia scoreless in the 4th quarter to get a surprise victory and get themselves back in the hunt for a group title. Georgia and Air Force won easily, while Stanford stayed undefeated, but it was much closer than anticipated. The Cardinal built a 38-14 lead but a late TD by UTSA made the score 48-42. Stanford recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock to hang on.

Week 5

West Virginia- 40, Georgia- 17
Minnesota- 51, Air Force- 28
Stanford- 55, SMU- 20
Syracuse- 33, UTSA- 21

A lot of blowouts this week, as West Virginia and Minnesota both had over 400 yards rushing in their victories and Stanford took care of business, getting a balanced attack in their win. That just left the battle of winless teams, and Syracuse won that battle by outscoring UTSA 19-0 in the 2nd half.

Week 6

West Virginia- 33, Air Force- 23
Georgia- 50, Stanford- 38
Minnesota- 24, UTSA- 19
Syracuse- 62, SMU- 21

The biggest shock this week was Georgia jumping to a 26-9 lead over Stanford and holding on, knocking off the previously undefeated Cardinal and totally opening up this group again, as well as giving Georgia an outside chance to advance to the Round of 128. The other shock was Minnesota needing a last second TD to keep UTSA winless. Syracuse seems to be peaking at the right time, with a monster win this week, but it's too little, too late for them.

-------------------------------------------------------

Standings after 6 weeks, with point differential in parenthesis:

Stanford 5-1 (+92)
West Virginia 5-1 (+76)
Minnesota 5-1 (+56)
Air Force 3-3 (+11)
Georgia 3-3 (-22)
Syracuse 2-4 (-28)
SMU 1-5 (-114)
UTSA 0-6 (-71)

Week 7 Schedule

Stanford vs. West Virginia
UTSA vs. Air Force
Georgia vs. Syracuse
Minnesota vs. SMU

We know that West Virginia, Minnesota, and Stanford are all advancing to the Round of 128. The Stanford/West Virginia winner will clinch at least a tie for the group title, depending on what Minnesota does. If Minnesota beats SMU, then the Stanford/West Virginia winner will have a head to head tiebreak with Minnesota for the group title. However, if SMU beats Minnesota, then the Stanford/West Virginia winner will clinch the group title outright, and the loser of that game will have a head to head tiebreaker with Minnesota. Either way, Minnesota is having a head to head tiebreaker with either Stanford (who they lost to), or West Virginia (who they beat).

The other big scenario in this is between Air Force and Georgia, who are battling for 4th place in the group. Since Air Force beat Georgia handily in Week 2, then the Bulldogs not only have to beat a hot Syracuse team, but then Air Force would have to lose to a winless UTSA team. Not likely. In short, Georgia needs a miracle.

[collegesportsfanms]

Group P

Week 7

Stanford- 38, West Virginia- 30
UTSA- 14, Air Force- 13
Georgia- 38, Syracuse- 20
Minnesota- 25, SMU- 10

Stanford clinches at least a tie for the Group P title by getting the best of West Virginia, which will drop the Mountaineers to 3rd place in the group. And the stunner of the tournament is Air Force losing to UTSA! UTSA got a TD run with 6 seconds to go to stun Air Force, and Georgia took care of Syracuse, knocking out the Falcons in unbelievable fashion. Minnesota took care of SMU to also clinch a tie for the Group P title, setting up a head to head tiebreaker between Stanford and Minnesota to decide the Group P winner.

---------------------------------------------------

Final Group P standings, with point differential in parenthesis:

#1- Stanford 6-1 (+100)
#2- Minnesota 6-1 (+71)
#3- West Virginia 5-2 (+68)
#4- Georgia 4-3 (-4)
#5- Air Force 3-4 (+10)
#6- Syracuse 2-5 (-46)
#7- SMU 1-6 (-129)
#8- UTSA 1-6 (-70)

Stanford beat Minnesota back in Week 2, so they win Group P and Minnesota takes 2nd. And poor Air Force. All they had to do was beat a winless UTSA team in Week 7 and they would have advanced to the Round of 64, but they couldn't do it. Then they had to pray for Syracuse to beat Georgia, and that didn't happen either. So just like that, the Falcons are on the outside looking in, and are yet another team that did really well in real life but didn't do so great in this tournament.

Round of 64 seedings will be announced tomorrow, as it'll take me some time to set it all up.

[bbgunn]

Can't believe I completely missed Hawaii finishing 2nd in its group. Amazing.

[collegesportsfanms]

I am still trying to figure out what I am going to do once the Round of 64 is completed and we get to the Round of 32. The Round of 64 will be seeded like normal (1 plays 64, 2 plays 63 and so on) and then the Round of 32 itself will be drawn at random. Then from there, I haven't decided if I'll make it straight thru single elimination from that point, or if I'll reseed the bracket for the round of 16 and have the highest remaining seed #1, 2nd highest #2, and so on, then have it go into straight bracket form from there. I like the sound of both options, so if anybody as an opinion or a vote, I'd be glad to hear it.

[collegesportsfanms]

PRELIMINARY KNOCK OUT STAGE SEEDING

We started with 128 teams, and with the group stage complete, 64 advance to the next round, the preliminary knock-out stage. Here, the teams are seeded 1-64. The first place group stage teams are seeded first, then the 2nd place teams, then the 3rd place teams, then the 4th place teams. Point differential is the first tiebreaker, followed by group winning % of teams defeated in the group stage, followed by total points scored in group stage (head-to-head tiebreaker doesn't come into play here since none of the tied teams would have played each other in group stage). In this stage, #1 plays #64, #2 plays #63, and so on. The winners of the matchups in the preliminary knock-out stage advance to the Round of 32, and that format is still TBD. I do know it will be a random draw for the Round of 32, but I don't know what the Round of 16 and on will be.

Group Winners
(Top 25 teams of the final CFP poll of 2016-2017 are in bold, there are 2 that didn't make the Round of 128)

#1- USC 7-0 (+189)
#2- Alabama 7-0 (+184)
#3- Washington 7-0 (+158)
#4- Miami (FL) 7-0 (+100)
#5- Iowa 7-0 (+98)
#6- Oklahoma State 7-0 (+87)
#7- Georgia Tech 7-0 (+73)
#8- Western Kentucky 6-1 (+138)
#9- Florida State 6-1 (+126)
#10- Michigan 6-1 (+124)
#11- Western Michigan 6-1 (+106)
#12- Stanford 6-1 (+100)
#13- LSU 6-1 (+88)
#14- Penn State 6-1 (+82)
#15- Nebraska 6-1 (+36)
#16- Washington State 5-2 (+101)

2nd Place Teams

#17- North Carolina 6-1 (+133)
#18- Utah 6-1 (+120)
#19- Iowa State 6-1 (+96)
#20- N.C. State 6-1 (+89)
#21- Auburn 6-1 (+85)
#22- Minnesota 6-1 (+71)
#23- Middle Tennessee 6-1 (+66)
#24- Northwestern 6-1 (+49)
#25- Louisville 5-2 (+111)
#26- Vanderbilt 5-2 (+105)
#27- South Florida 5-2 (+103)
#28- Texas A&M 5-2 (+95)
#29- Ohio State 5-2 (+54)
#30- Texas Tech 5-2 (+36)
#31- Hawaii 5-2 (0)
#32- Arkansas State 4-3 (-25)

3rd Place Teams

#33- San Diego State 5-2 (+101)
#34- California 5-2 (+99)
#35- Oklahoma 5-2 (+83)
#36- Florida 5-2 (+74)
#37- Colorado 5-2 (+73)
#38- West Virginia 5-2 (+68)
#39- Boise State 5-2 (+52)
#40- South Carolina 5-2 (+27)
#41- Kansas State 5-2 (+14)
#42- Pittsburgh 4-3 (+57)
#43- Ole Miss 4-3 (+54)
#44- UCLA 4-3 (+26)
#45- Duke 4-3 (+15)
#46- Louisiana Tech 4-3 (+11)
#47- Maryland 4-3 (+6)
#48- Tulane 4-3 (+2)

4th Place Teams

#49- Clemson 5-2 (+4)
#50- Memphis 4-3 (+98)
#51- Notre Dame 4-3 (+76)
#52- Colorado State 4-3 (+42)
#53- Temple 4-3 (+33)
#54- Oregon State 4-3 (+21)
#55- Virginia Tech 4-3 (+20)
#56- Wisconsin 4-3 (+15)
#57- Nevada 4-3 (-3)
#58- Georgia 4-3 (-4)
#59- TCU 4-3 (-20)
#60- Arizona State 4-3 (-26)
#61- New Mexico 4-3 (-51)
#62- Baylor 3-4 (+75)
#63- Virginia 3-4 (-13)
#64- Purdue 3-4 (-35)

The Round of 64 Matchups will be announced tomorrow

[bbgunn]

I like the idea of reseeding up until the Round of 16, then going from there.

[collegesportsfanms]

Round of 64 Match-ups

(conference, group record, point differential)
Teams in bold were BCS Top 25 teams as of the final BCS poll of the 2016-2017 season.

#1 USC (Pac 12, 7-0, +189) vs. #64 Purdue (Big Ten, 3-4, -35)
#2 Alabama (SEC, 7-0, +184) vs. #63 Virginia (ACC, 3-4, -13)
#3 Washington (Pac 12, 7-0, +158) vs. #62 Baylor (Big 12, 3-4, +75)
#4 Miami (FL) (ACC, 7-0, +100) vs. #61 New Mexico (Mountain West, 4-3, -51)
#5 Iowa (Big Ten, 7-0, +98) vs. #60 Arizona State (Pac 12, 4-3, -26)
#6 Oklahoma State (Big 12, 7-0, +87) vs. #59 TCU (Big 12, 4-3, -20)
#7 Georgia Tech (ACC, 7-0, +73) vs. #58 Georgia (SEC, 4-3, -4)
#8 Western Kentucky (Conference USA, 6-1, +138) vs. #57 Nevada (4-3, -3)
#9 Florida State (ACC, 6-1, +126) vs. #56 Wisconsin (Big Ten, 4-3, +15)
#10 Michigan (Big Ten, 6-1, +124) vs. #55 Virginia Tech (ACC, 4-3, +20)
#11 Western Michigan (MAC, 6-1, +106) vs. #54 Oregon State (Pac 12, 4-3, +21)
#12 Stanford (Pac 12, 6-1, +100) vs. #53 Temple (American, 4-3, +33)
#13 LSU (SEC, 6-1, +88) vs. #52 Colorado State (Mountain West, 4-3, +42)
#14 Penn State (Big Ten, 6-1, +82) vs. #51 Notre Dame (Independent, 4-3, +76)
#15 Nebraska (Big Ten, 6-1, +36) vs. #50 Memphis (American, 4-3, +98)
#16 Washington State (Pac 12, 5-2, +101) vs. #49 Clemson (ACC, 5-2, +4)
#17 North Carolina (ACC, 6-1, +133) vs. #48 Tulane (American, 4-3, +2)
#18 Utah (Pac 12, 6-1, +120) vs. #47 Maryland (Big Ten, 4-3, +6)
#19 Iowa State (Big 12, 6-1, +96) vs. #46 Louisiana Tech (Conference USA, 4-3, +11)
#20 N.C. State (ACC, 6-1, +89) vs. #45 Duke (ACC, 4-3, +15)
#21 Auburn (SEC, 6-1, +85) vs. #44 UCLA (Pac 12, 4-3, +26)
#22 Minnesota (Big Ten, 6-1, +71) vs. #43 Ole Miss (SEC, 4-3, +54)
#23 Middle Tennessee (Conference USA, 6-1, +66) vs. #42 Pittsburgh (ACC, 4-3, +57)
#24 Northwestern (Big Ten, 6-1. +49) vs. #41 Kansas State (Big 12, 5-2, +14)
#25 Louisville (ACC, 5-2, +111) vs. #40 South Carolina (SEC, 5-2, +27)
#26 Vanderbilt (SEC, 5-2, +105) vs. #39 Boise State (Mountain West, 5-2, +52)
#27 South Florida (American, 5-2, +103) vs. #38 West Virginia (Big 12, 5-2, +68)
#28 Texas A&M (SEC, 5-2, +95) vs. #37 Colorado (Pac 12, 5-2, +73)
#29 Ohio State (Big Ten, 5-2, +54) vs. #36 Florida (SEC, 5-2, +74)
#30 Texas Tech (Big 12, 5-2, +36) vs. #35 Oklahoma (Big 12, 5-2, +83)
#31 Hawaii (Mountain West, 5-2, 0) vs. #34 California (Pac 12, 5-2, +99)
#32 Arkansas State (Sun Belt, 4-3, -25) vs. #33 San Diego State (Mountain West, 5-2, +101)

[collegesportsfanms]

Round of 64 Conference Breakdown

ACC- 11
Big Ten- 10
Pac 12- 10
SEC- 9
Big 12- 8
MWC- 6
American- 4
Conference USA- 3
Independents- 1
MAC- 1
Sun Belt- 1

[collegesportsfanms]

#1 USC (Pac 12, 7-0, +189) vs. #64 Purdue (Big Ten, 3-4, -35)

USC is 1 of 7 teams that went undefeated in group play, putting up an incredible offensive display in which they averaged 44.7 points a game. The only scored below 40 points twice, and both those games they scored 38 points. Purdue, on the other hand, is 1 of 3 teams that come into the Round of 64 with a losing record. They started strong and finished strong, as they upset Tennessee in Week 1, and beat Bowling Green by 32 in Week 7. Even then, they had to go to a head to head tiebreaker with Troy to advance, and since they beat Troy, it's fair to say all 3 of their wins were of equal importance.

Game Results

#1 USC- 42, #64 Purdue- 28

This game was a wild one, as Purdue jumped out to a 13-0 lead after 1 quarter, and also scored the last 15 points of the game. In between that, though, the Trojans scored their 42 points in the 2nd and 3rd quarters to eliminate the first of our 3-4 teams. A good effort by the Boilermakers, but they couldn't stop USC's ground game: more specifically, Ronald Jones II who had 230 of USC's 323 rushing yards.

[collegesportsfanms]

#2 Alabama (SEC, 7-0, +184) vs. #63 Virginia (ACC, 3-4, -13)

The 2nd of our 3 7-0 vs. 3-4 match-ups to start the Round of 64. Alabama surprised nobody by going through their group undefeated, but it didn't come easy after Week 5. In Week 6, they only won by 14 points, and in week 7, they had to come from behind to beat Utah, so they were a little rocky in their last 2 games of group play. Virginia was in the same group as USC, needing to win their Week 7 game to advance. They did that by beating Buffalo, and had to go to a head to head tiebreaker with Charlotte to earn the 4th spot out of Group I. Nothing special about the Cavaliers, they won the games they were expected to win, and lost the games they were expected to lose. If not for Navy falling apart in this group, Virginia probably wouldn't even be here.

Game Results

#2 Alabama- 29, #63 Virginia- 21

For the 2nd straight game, Alabama had to come from behind to win. This time, they jumped out to a quick 16-0 lead, but the Cavaliers took a 21-19 lead into the 4th quarter. They couldn't hold it though, as the Crimson Tide locked down defensively to get the victory, but they are certainly not wowing anybody at the moment.

[collegesportsfanms]

#3 Washington (Pac 12, 7-0, +158) vs. #62 Baylor (Big 12, 3-4, +75)

Washington fans are a little worried by this game, and they probably have a right to be. Baylor is not the typical low seed you would expect. As for the Huskies, they were really only tested once in group play. They needed a last second FG to beat a very solid Appalachian State team. Their point differential was helped with 2 big wins, a 61-14 victory over UCF, and a shocking 49-10 victory over a BYU team that was expected to advance out of their group. Now, back to Baylor. Talk about a Jekyll and Hyde performance in group play. In their 3 wins, they outscored their opponents 141-34. But an upset loss to UNLV, plus not being able to get a significant victory over either Nebraska or Auburn, had them (go figure) needing a head to head tiebreaker win over Northern Illinois to advance. If only they could have pulled out a couple more victories, with the point differential they had from their 3 wins, they could have finished a lot higher in their group.

Game Results

#3 Washington- 49, #62 Baylor- 17

The Huskies made sure they wouldn't be the first upset victims, scoring 28 straight points in the 2nd and 3rd quarters using a balanced rushing/passing attack. They had 2 100+ yard rushers in Myles Gaskin and Lavon Coleman, and QB Jake Browning threw for 3 TDs.

[collegesportsfanms]

#4 Miami (FL) (ACC, 7-0, +100) vs. #61 New Mexico (Mountain West, 4-3, -51)

The Hurricanes became the first of our surprise group winners, as they found a way to beat both the ranked teams (Colorado, Temple) in their group. The combined margin of victory in those 2 games was just 3 points. 3 points is really all that led them to the group title. If not for that, plus back to back 30+ point wins over Kent State and Hawaii, then Miami would be looking at a much lower seed. New Mexico started strong, but was just not good down the stretch, as they lost to N.C. State by 31 points in Week 6, then needed a missed 2 point conversion by Miami (OH) to preserve the victory in Week 7. That 31 point loss to N.C. State plus a 27 point loss to Penn State is a big reason why the Lobos' point differential is so low.

Game Results

#4 Miami (FL)- 35, #61 New Mexico- 23

A tight game that saw 5 lead changes, but the Hurricanes forced 2 turnovers in the second half and created some distance in the 3rd quarter. Aside from the 2 interceptions that New Mexico QB Austin Apodaca threw, the Lobos also had 2 fumbles that they were able to recover, but lost momentum because of it. Through the first 4 games, the higher seeds are holding strong, but I look for that to change very soon.

[collegesportsfanms]

Because I am ready to get this project done and move on to one of the NCAA Basketball tournaments I usually do, I'm just going to post quick scores from all the games in all the rounds and be done with it. A little anti-climactic I know, but hey, I'm a basketball guy. Anyways, here are the rest of the scores from the Round of 64, and a lot of lower seeds won:

#5 Iowa- 41, #60 Arizona State- 16
#6 Oklahoma State- 43, #59 TCU- 7
#58 Georgia- 26, #7 Georgia Tech- 21
#8 Western Kentucky- 48, #57 Nevada- 17
#9 Florida State- 48, #56 Wisconsin- 10
#10 Michigan- 47, #55 Virginia Tech- 36
#54 Oregon State- 35, #11 Western Michigan- 24
#12 Stanford- 36, #53 Temple- 25
#13 LSU- 34, #52 Colorado State- 24
#51 Notre Dame- 37, #14 Penn State- 31
#15 Nebraska- 42, #50 Memphis- 27
#16 Washington State- 52, #49 Clemson- 28
#17 North Carolina- 28, #48 Tulane- 21
#18 Utah- 47, #47 Maryland- 26
#46 Louisiana Tech- 52, #19 Iowa State- 21
#20 N.C. State- 41, #45 Duke- 22
#21 Auburn- 57, #44 UCLA- 7
#43 Ole Miss- 45, #22 Minnesota- 38 (2 OT)
#23 Middle Tennessee- 60, #42 Pittsburgh- 57 (3 OT)
#41 Kansas State- 37, #24 Northwestern- 24
#40 South Carolina- 45, #25 Louisville- 43 (3 OT)
#39 Boise State- 23, #26 Vanderbilt- 10
#27 South Florida- 34, #38 West Virginia- 21
#37 Colorado- 36, #28 Texas A&M- 33
#36 Florida- 34, #29 Ohio State- 27
#35 Oklahoma- 38, #30 Texas Tech- 37
#34 California- 52, #31 Hawaii- 35
#32 Arkansas State- 27, #33 San Diego State- 17

Match-ups for the Round of 32 will be selected using a random dice roller, so it's a possibility that you could have the top 2 seeds playing each other, or the bottom 2 remaining seeds. I will try to get those match-ups set today, but it might not be until Monday.

[collegesportsfanms]

The Round of 32 Match-ups are set, and let's have a look:

#17 North Carolina vs. #3 Washington
#35 Oklahoma vs. #2 Alabama
#34 California vs. #18 Utah
#51 Notre Dame vs. #23 Middle Tennessee
#37 Colorado vs. #5 Iowa
#54 Oregon State vs. #4 Miami (FL)
#40 South Carolina vs. #21 Auburn
#12 Stanford vs. #1 USC
#16 Washington State vs. #8 Western Kentucky
#58 Georgia vs. #39 Boise State
#13 LSU vs. #6 Oklahoma State
#43 Ole Miss vs. #36 Florida
#10 Michigan vs. #9 Florida State
#32 Arkansas State vs. #27 South Florida
#46 Louisiana Tech vs. #41 Kansas State
#20 N.C. State vs. #15 Nebraska

Some powerful Round of 32 Match-ups. In any tournament, you have to beat who you have in front of you, and for several teams, they have a very tough draw. 4 of the 16 match-ups are between teams that play in the same conference. I decided not to change it, that's just how the dice rolled. There are 13 teams left from the last CFP Top 25 of the actual 2016 college football season, and in looking at the Round of 32 schedule, we know at least 4 of them will be eliminated, so there will be no more than 9 in the Round of 16. A non-CFP Top 25 team still has a chance to win this thing.

[collegesportsfanms]

Round of 32 Results

#17 North Carolina- 53, #3 Washington- 42
#2 Alabama- 31, #35 Oklahoma- 24
#18 Utah- 44, #34 California- 29
#51 Notre Dame- 24, #23 Middle Tennessee- 21
#5 Iowa- 33, #37 Colorado- 21
#4 Miami (FL)- 42, #54 Oregon State- 17
#21 Auburn- 27, #40 South Carolina- 6
#12 Stanford- 27, #1 USC- 24
#8 Western Kentucky- 34, #16 Washington State- 20
#39 Boise State- 38, #58 Georgia- 31
#13 LSU- 36, #6 Oklahoma State- 13
#36 Florida- 37, #43 Ole Miss- 33
#10 Michigan- 27, #9 Florida State- 13
#32 Arkansas State- 42, #27 South Florida- 34
#46 Louisiana Tech- 38, #41 Kansas State- 24
#20 N.C. State- 26, #15 Nebraska- 10

Totally bummed that Kansas State lost, was hoping they'd at least make it to the Round of 16.

6 of the 13 remaining CFP Top 25 teams lost, which means that only 7 remain in the Round of 16. A non-CFP Top 25 team still has a great chance to win this thing.

[collegesportsfanms]

The 16 remaining teams have been reseeded, and the way I've done it is by going to teamrankings.com and getting each teams predictive ranking as of Jan. 10, 2017. Here are the new seeds that will stay pat for the rest of the tournament.

#1- Alabama
#2- Michigan
#3- LSU
#4- Auburn
#5- Miami (FL)
#6- Stanford
#7- Western Kentucky
#8- Florida
#9- North Carolina
#10- Notre Dame
#11- Iowa
#12- Utah
#13- Boise State
#14- N.C. State
#15- Louisiana Tech
#16- Arkansas State

Match-ups for the Round of 16 are as follows:

#16 Arkansas State vs. #1 Alabama
#9 North Carolina vs. #8 Florida
#12 Utah vs. #5 Miami (FL)
#13 Boise State vs. #4 Auburn
#11 Iowa vs. #6 Stanford
#14 N.C. State vs. #3 LSU
#10 Notre Dame vs. #7 Western Kentucky
#15 Louisiana Tech vs. #2 Michigan

[collegesportsfanms]

For those that are following this, I apologize. With everything else going on it got lost in the shuffle. I will get back to it next week when I get back to the office and get the files and everything. I want to get it finished up so that I have one less project to worry about now that I'm a full time student with a possible full time job coming in the fall.