SC is not good, but it’s fairly unbelievable that the Wildcats are the favorite in a game against a Power Five opponent considering they got blasted by Florida and allowed New Mexico State to put 42 points on them.
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Out with the old, in with the new. It’s unusual to see Florida State as less than a touchdown favorite, but after last week it’s clear that the Seminoles have some work to do to live up to the lofty expectations placed on them. They turned it over twice, one of them right on their own goal line, and missed a field goal. That’s what happens when league members go 15-11 in non-conference games and loses the vast majority of its marquee games.
Technically, the playoff committee says no team is eliminated until the end of the regular season.
Notre Dame has shown some fight in its two losses. It was the kind of statement win against a ranked opponent that doubters or critics were waiting to see, and Louisville delivered. Simple, because Lamar Jackson and Louisville beat them off FSU. Oklahoma’s loss to Ohio State dropped it to 1-2 for the first time since 2005, and no Big 12 team now looks like a contender for the College Football Playoff.
The Big 12’s last meaningful non-conference game comes Saturday, when West Virginia plays Brigham Young in Landover, Md.
North Dakota State, the five-time- defending FCS national champion, set a record for most points AP poll received by team from Division I football’s second tier. Still, Iowa lost at home (albeit on a field goal as time expired) to an unranked team. If they can survive that two-week stretch, the Huskies will have one of the easier paths to the Playoff in the country. Now, their national title aspirations have vanished with the Michigan State loss. The Spartans continue to be at their best when expectations are modest.
The Bulldogs squeaked out a two-point win over FCS Nicholls State. The Trojans were embarrassed in their season-opening loss to Alabama and were outscored by a combined 79-16 in their two losses. Which matchups do you find the most compelling?
Into the playoff picture: Stanford (still). Florida State was the beneficiary of Ole Miss’s propensity to blow leads this year in week one, but Louisville wasn’t letting this one go, and Florida State might be in trouble this year, as far as their playoff hopes go.
Poor finishes doom Ole Miss.
No. 13 Florida State (-6.5) at South Florida: The Seminoles got worked by Louisville on the road last week and will be looking to avoid such disappointment in back-to-back weeks against a quality South Florida team. It’s not impossible, but certainly seems unlikely considering the Rebels’ performances in their past two losses and the schedule that lies ahead.
At 10:30, California hosts Texas on ESPN. Head coach Brian Kelly has a lot of work to do with this team if he wants to salvage any positives from this season.
For this reason, Notre Dame is essentially eliminated from the CFB Playoff. Losing in double overtime to Texas in the season opener was forgivable, but starting September 1-2 will be almost impossible to overcome. Or are they overlooking a few other teams?
Notre Dame still has their annual rivalries with the Stanford Cardinal and the USC Trojans left on the 2016 slate.
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Here are three must watch games this Saturday – with picks for all three. To keep their Playoff hopes alive, Louisville must survive those two trips at Clemson and Houston, two games which may act as de facto Playoff auditions. Texas had more yards, held the ball longer and had 10 more first downs than Cal, and still couldn’t win.
