Week 14 Discussion

[LowerWolf]

So here we are ... Thanksgiving week and the final week of the regular season. It goes by so so fast.

Playoff rankings are out, so let's get this thread started.

ACC

• #6 Miami at Syracuse
• #9 SMU vs. California
• #12 Clemson vs. #15 South Carolina

SMU has clinched its spot in the ACC title game. Miami can join the Mustangs with a win over Syracuse. A Miami loss would send Clemson to the ACC title game.

After last week's carnage, SMU or Miami could probably survive a loss in the championship game and still make the CFP. And Clemson now has a chance to get in as an at-large.

B1G

• #1 Oregon vs. Washington
• #2 Ohio State vs. Michigan
• #4 Penn State vs. Maryland
• #10 Indiana vs. Purdue

It's looking like an Oregon-Ohio State rematch in the B1G title game. If Ohio State falters (again) against Michigan, Penn State can get in with a win. Indiana is waiting if both Ohio State and Penn State fall.

Regardless, it's a good bet that all four of these teams have tickets to the CFP, unless Purdue somehow stuns Indiana.

BIG 12

• #16 Arizona State at Arizona
• #18 Iowa State vs. #24 Kansas State
• #19 BYU vs. Houston
• #25 Colorado vs. Oklahoma State (Friday)

The Big 12 is getting - at most - one team in, so winning the conference is the only path. Right now, there's a four-way tie atop the conference with Arizona State, BYU, Colorado and Iowa State. But figuring it all out is ... complicated.

Arizona State and Iowa State should be in good shape to meet in the title game if each wins ... unless BYU loses and Colorado wins. That opens scenarios where Colorado could meet one of them in the title game. Colorado would also get in if two of the other three lose. BYU needs an Arizona State or Iowa State loss. And I don't even want to think about what happens if all four lose.

SEC

• #3 Texas at #20 Texas A&M
• #7 Georgia vs. Georgia Tech (Friday)
• #8 Tennessee at Vanderbilt
• #13 Alabama vs. Auburn
• #14 Ole Miss vs. Mississippi State (Friday)

OK, back to a simple conference race. The winner of the long-awaited renewal of the rivalry between Texas-Texas A&M will face Georgia in the SEC championship game.

Texas is probably in the CFP no matter what now. A&M's only path is to win the conference. Georgia and Tennessee clinch spots with wins this week, but Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt have already played spoiler before. Alabama and Ole Miss were part of the chaos last week; now each has to hope for more chaos this week. And I guess it would be remiss to not mention South Carolina, but with losses to both Bama and Ole Miss it's a pretty steep climb for the Gamecocks to reach the CFP.

Other

• #5 Notre Dame at USC
• #11 Boise State vs. Oregon State (Friday)
• #17 Tulane vs. Memphis (Thursday)
• #22 UNLV vs. Nevada

Bubble teams will be pulling hard for USC to pull the upset. That Northern Illinois loss would rear its ugly head for the Irish if they suffer another defeat.

Boise State will likely meet UNLV in the Mountain West championship game. If the Broncos win out, they have a shot at getting the #4 seed in the playoff. But if they falter, either here or in the MW title game, that could open the door for Tulane to grab one of the automatic bids as American champ (assuming the Green Wave beat Memphis and then Army in the conference title game). Heck, as pointed out on ESPN, even if Boise State wins out, Tulane could benefit from the Big 12 chaos and grab a spot over the Big 12 champ.

[KSUowls]

Final week of the regular season and the only thing that the top 4 teams in the B1G have in common is Ohio State. Michigan is partially to blame for this since they too would have been a common opponent had they not completely fallen off, but clearly 18 teams is too many for 1 conference without some kind of tournament. Especially with playoff bids on the line.


SC & Clemson should be an interesting game. A few weeks ago there was talk about Shane Beamer being on the hotseat and now his team has an outside shot at making the playoffs. On Clemson's side they could make the playoff even with a loss.

Admittedly this isn't likely to happen, but with just this week and conference championships left it would not take much for us to end up with as many as 3 different 3 loss teams thanks to playoff expansion and automatic bids.

[illwill10]

https://x.com/ESPNCFB/status/1862344...OpgvzfqvQ&s=19


Those Ankles would be on Bright Red on EA CFB 25 after that lol.

[LowerWolf]

I kind of hate that the NFL has completely taken over Thanksgiving too. The Egg Bowl being on Friday feels wrong.

[illwill10]

Weird for a Gundy Cowboys team to be this bad and undisciplined

[KSUowls]

Jeanty is 20 yards away from having his 5th 200 yard rushing game this season.

[legendkiller5]

Travis Hunter has A.J. Green-level of body control on those 50/50 balls. Just so natural for him.

[illwill10]

Quote: Originally Posted by legendkiller5

Travis Hunter has A.J. Green-level of body control on those 50/50 balls. Just so natural for him.

He's makes those "That would've been a great catch" catches effortlessly. He's definitely going to be College Football HOF player.



I do think Hunter will win Heisman. I think it's a lot to ask for a scenario for them to make the Big 12 title game. He's on pace for 100+ catches, 1200+ yards, 15 TDs, and maybe 5 Ints, and a FF that won them a game. Jeanty definitely has case. Boise State has a legit shot at getting the 4th seed and a bye with ridiculous stats. I just think being in the MWC team is the only thing that holds him back. If he was on a P4 team with same stats and team success, I think he would win only Hunter