Welcome to the new landscape of College Football.
After 12 of the Top 25 teams in the nation lost over the weekend, we are left to wonder who is going to be in the new four-team College Football Playoff come January.
Let’s take a peek at the madness of last week and how the playoff picture looks headed into Week 7:
ESPN uses strength of schedule (SOS), strength of record (SOR) and game control to rank the resume in their playoff picture. Here is ESPN’s current playoff picture:
1. Florida State (5-0), AP Poll: 1, SOS: 44. SOR: 5, and GC: 21
2. Auburn (5-0), AP Poll: 2, SOS: 7, SOR: 2, and GC: 3
3. Mississippi State (5-0), AP Poll: 3. SOS: 31, SOR: 1, and GC: 1
4. Ole Miss (5-0), AP Poll: 3, SOS: 16, SOR: 3, and GC: 12
Now, that’s just ESPN’s take on the playoff picture, but let’s be honest, it’s pretty fuzzy at best. Who would’ve thought after Week 6 of the season that the 2 teams from the State of Mississippi would be tied at number 3 in the AP Poll? I know I sure didn’t.
Sure, number 1 and number 2 are exactly the teams that most analysts and everyone thought they would be, Florida State and Auburn respectively at 1 and 2. It then gets messy after last weekend.
Ole Miss and Mississippi State are tied at number 3 in the AP Poll followed by Baylor at number 5. The Big 12 currently has two teams ranked in the Top 10 of the AP Poll. Baylor was a given to contend for the four team playoff on the basis that Oklahoma went down early and Baylor got that wish over the weekend when TCU beat Oklahoma. TCU jumped up 16 spots from number 25 to number 9 while dropping Oklahoma from number 4 to number 11.
The Pac-12 is a little messy now as well. Oregon was ranked number 2 in the AP Poll and led the Pac-12 North, but was defeated by then unranked Arizona. Arizona stays undefeated and with UCLA’s loss to Utah, Arizona now controls its own destiny to the Pac-12 Championship Game. The North is led by California, who narrowly escaped Pullman over the weekend. Washington State is 1-2 in conference play, but quarterback Connor Halliday is making a name for himself, too bad his defense and the kicker couldn’t solidify their QB’s FBS-record performance. Halliday threw for 734 yards against Cal.
The Big 10 is an absolute disaster this season. Michigan State’s lone loss is to Oregon, but now that coupled with Oregon losing to Arizona, doesn’t help Sparty’s chances of making the four team playoff. Michigan is 2-4, 0-2 in conference play and has lost its fan base plus it looks like major changes are headed to Ann Arbor. Northwestern leads the Big 10 West Division, with Iowa and Minnesota also challenging them to make it to the Big 10 Championship Game.
After upset weekend in College Football, who knows exactly what is going through the minds of the 12 people selected to the selection committee. One thing is for sure, Ole Miss and Mississippi State control their own destiny in the SEC. The problem for Mississippi State is that they host #2 Auburn on Saturday in another test. A win would be huge for the Bulldogs. Circle your calendars though folks because if Ole Miss and Mississippi State can win out till November 29th, the two teams play that day (or night) at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in what would be the biggest game of the season.
We wanted the BCS gone and that happened, but now with the human element choosing who’s in and who’s out, how do you pick? There is a lot of football left to play, but let’s be realistic, none of the 12 people who are going to decide the four teams in the playoff have a clue at this point who they are going to pick.
