The Big Guys
Once again, it seems nobody wants to be #1 this year. Top-rated Miami lost to Notre Dame 31-24, although perhaps they should not have. Notre Dame had a 21-point lead at one time, but Miami came roaring back, and seemed to get screwed out of the tying touchdown. The ‘Canes appeared to have a fourth-down touchdown catch that would have made it 31-30 with 3:36 left, with only a PAT needed to tie it up. The receiver seemed to make the grab in the end zone and got his feet down, but the officials ruled that the kid didn’t have control long enough before the defender knocked it away, so Miami had to give the ball up on downs. Here’s the disputed play. VERY questionable call with a national championship on the line. Miami had one more chance after that – a first down with about a minute left, but couldn’t muster up the tie.
Utah and UCLA remained undefeated, but #2 Georgia absolute demolished another team in the top ten, so I assume Georgia will advance to #1 despite having a loss. Utah will probably be #2. I don’t have a guess about what the committee will do with UCLA, but I don’t know how long they can keep an undefeated Big Ten team out of the top four. UCLA will certainly pass Kentucky, so they’ll be no worse than 7th, but whether they’ll go higher is anyone’s guess.
I have no idea what logic the committee had used to place Kentucky at #6. The SP+ system evaluated them at 34th. Whether they deserved the spot or not, they didn’t look good in losing to Tennessee by four touchdowns. It’s tough to win games if you can’t get the ball across the goal line. (Although Michigan State did defeat Michigan today with no TDs and five field goals.) That’s a big win for #13 Tennessee because it should push them into the playoff zone for now, since #9 (BYU) and #10 (Mississippi) lost.
THE Ohio State university lost for the third time this year. And a nation rejoiced. I would like to say their playoff hopes are dead, but I can’t. If they win out and some higher-ranked teams lose, they could slither back into the top ten.
Playoff News
In terms of the playoff situation, some new drama has appeared in the battle for one of the automatic bids.
Background:
New this year, a playoff spot is guaranteed to the highest-ranked team outside the Power Four conferences. This is why the committee seems to shoehorn one of those teams into the top 25, whether they deserve it or not – because there can’t be a “highest ranked” team if nobody is ranked at all. Last week the committee members placed Boise State on the very bottom of their list even though there is no solid evidence that they are among the top 25 teams in the nation.
The new contender:
Since James Madison has been upset twice this year, including an embarrassing loss to Troy, Boise State seemed to have a clear path to that guaranteed spot. Their only loss was to Oregon, which was ranked number two in the nation at the time. They seemed to have such a solid hold on the spot that they could even survive a loss. But that apparent lock is no longer certain. Something I didn’t notice last week, because I ignore the AP poll once the committee rankings become official, is that New Mexico was ranked only two places behind Boise State by the AP. New Mexico really snuck up on me. I haven’t thought about them in so long that I even had to look up their team name, which is the Lobos. They have only one loss, and that was to a solid Oklahoma squad that has been ranked at various times this year, and the Lobos even managed to hold Oklahoma to 14 points in that game. They are legit.
Silliness
Wake Forest 77, Merrimack 0
Wake Forest, with 11 touchdowns, broke its all-time school scoring record. Wake Forest QB Steele Pizzella threw for 432 yards.
* In the first half!
* And he’s the back-up quarterback.
* And he’s a redshirt freshman.
So you might say it was a bit of a mismatch.
The original Merrimack fought the Monitor to a draw. This Merrimack was sunk, salvaged, refloated, and sunk again.
More Silliness
‘Twas a time not so long ago when the Big 12 really wasn’t into that whole “defense” thing. It just wasn’t their bag. It wasn’t uncommon to see both teams just going back-and-forth, parading almost unobstructed down the field.
#15 Texas Tech and West Virginia brought back a little of that old time feeling Saturday. Tech started out strong, with 41 in the first half, but West Virginia scored 27 of their own that half and then scored three unanswered TDs in the third quarter to take a 48-41 lead. You know it didn’t end there. Tech answered with 12 in the final period to make it 53-48. Both teams had around 600 yards of offense, and they were both split quite evenly between rushing and passing. The only strong D of the game came when it counted. The Mountaineers got one last chance with the ball in the game’s final minute, needing a TD to win, but they were deep in their own territory, and Tech sacked them in their own end zone for a safety.
Tech was ranked 15th coming into the game, and six of the teams above them lost, so they seem like a good bet to go back up into the playoff zone, which is 11th or better. (With a Gang of Six team guaranteed a spot in the 12-team playoff, the teams in the Power Four have to finish 11th or better. Even 11th is not secure, because Power Four conference champions are also guaranteed a playoff spot, and they may or may not be in the top twelve.)
