Alabama is gearing up for it’s always intense Iron Bowl affair at Auburn.
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Brown was way more decoy than dominant that freshman year as ND was making its run to the 2012 BCS National Championship Game.
Notre Dame (10-1) came into the week fourth in the playoff rankings and hoped to hold off a hard-charging Iowa team that seeks to wrap up a flawless regular season this week. Finishing the season with wins against Baylor, TCU and maybe at Bedlam?
Oklahoma has already lost to one major rival this season, losing to Texas in the annual Red River rivalry game. Basically, everything that Baylor and Oklahoma State are rooting for, plus a Baylor loss.
Oklahoma makes an inexplicably huge jump after outlasting TCU by 1 at home.
Similarly puzzling: Long was explicit that the committee viewed Iowa and Michigan State as “extremely close” and “equal in so many areas”. Iowa, however, has been very successful executing its plays and is one of the most complete teams in college football. Look no further. Don’t worry, they’ll be completely different by next week. Again, playing Nebraska on the road is no small task (i.e. this might be a curse-worthy assumption), but let’s plan on a win for Iowa. The committee does not seem to be hung up on the Sooners’ October loss to Texas.
On the surface, this is an awfully even matchup between teams that feature high-scoring offenses and shaky defenses. The difference in this game will be the ground attack of Stanford.
If Houston wins, then it would still have the AAC Championship Game against Temple or South Florida to worry about. That would leave, at least today, Oklahoma and Notre Dame to decide the final one.
The rest of the Top 10 was rounded out by Baylor (9-1) at No. 7, Stanford (9-2) at No. 9 and MI (9-2) at No. 10. You would have to think a win over Oklahoma State would ensure a spot in the playoff for the Sooners at this point. If Iowa beats Nebraska on Friday and Michigan State beats Penn State on Saturday, the 12-0 Hawkeyes and 11-1 Spartans will play in the Big Ten Championship and the victor will go to the playoff. The first meeting of Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh has lost some of its juice. Losses by Ohio State, Baylor and Oklahoma are musts.
No. 14 Florida State at No. 10 Florida. I think he steps up and carries the Buckeyes to victory. Neither is the University of Michigan’s, despite the Wolverines’ loss to Michigan State early in the year.
The Gators’ drop is deserved after they barely beat 2-9 (!!!) Florida Atlantic in overtime.
“They have performed at a high level since then, so they’ve overcome that loss with their play on the field and the success they’ve had and the wins they’ve accumulated, with now six wins over teams with”. A two loss Iowa team won’t get love from the committee, even as Big Ten champions, right? With the Sooners being rated #3, they are in with a win. Final Score: Florida State 23, Florida 22. An uninspiring, five-turnover performance during a 19-16 victory last weekend against 3-8 Boston College didn’t help. The Rebels and Bulldogs square off in the Egg Bowl on Saturday.
The race for entrance into this season’s College Football Playoff might be winding down, but that doesn’t mean the drama in each of the Power 5 conferences is finished. The Irish could be blocked without an upset or two in the Big Ten over the next couple weeks.
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That’s the path Washington State took in its near-upset of the Cardinal on Halloween, foiled by a missed field goal late. “They know that. I don’t have to preach it as much as they know going into this game that they have to take care of the ball and they have to play really well”. He is a finalist for the Doak Walker award, given to the nation’s best running back, and the Maxwell Award, which is given to the country’s best college football player.
