We are one week into the Expanded College Football Playoff rankings that were released on Tuesday, and it gave us our first preview of how screwed up this whole thing actually looks. We now not only sort through the projected conference winners, but the rankings themselves.
It feels like a crime that none of these teams will likely have to go play on the blue turf.
We've got MACtion on weekdays in November. Remember when Northern Illinois got into the AP rankings after winning at Notre Dame? Well, they're 4-4 now, and 1-3 in the conference, which puts them in 9th place. On Wednesday they go to Western Michigan as slim 1-point favorites.
Fox College Football Friday is back within the Big Ten. Iowa gets the blessing to make the trip out west after a 42-10 win over Wisconsin, and play UCLA, as a 5-point favorite. Other games sees Cal (-7) coming east to play Wake Forest on ACC Network, and Rice at Memphis (-9). Memphis is 7-2.
Noon on Sunday, and it's #2 Ohio State in that slot again for Fox, coming off that huge win over Penn State and the faculty, they get a softball in 1-7 Purdue. Ohio State -38
#4 Miami has ascended and is still undefeated after pulling out another second half offensive explosion with a 53-31 win over Duke. They willl be in Atlanta to play the Ramblin' Wreck of Georgia Tech, giving 11 points on ESPN.
SEC on ABC at noon sees #5 Texas returning off the bye following a tough win over Vanderbilt to host Florida. DJ Lagway got hurt last week against Georgia, but has not been ruled out quite yet. Hasn't stopped the Horns from being favored by 21.5.
The afternoon window features one of our two ranked matchups this week, both in the SEC on ABC. At 3:30 #3 Georgia heads down to #16 Ole Miss. The Rebels hung 63 on Arkansas last week, as Georgia took down Florida in the Cocktail Party. Ole Miss definitely needs to win this game, and probably run the table to get into the Expanded College Football Playoff.
Michigan is back on CBS this week, after their loss to Oregon, #8 Indiana has taken their spot among the ranks of the top 10 for now. They are up to 9-0, and the letdown we keep waiting for from them hasn't happened yet. So, now they are firmly in the mix for not just the Expanded College Football Playoff, but the Big Ten Championship. IU -14
#17 Iowa State finally did take that L to Texas Tech 23-22 last week, and it's muddled up the Big 12 a bit as three teams fight over two spots. They look like they have a reasonably easy game at Kansas, but the Hawkeyes are only favored by 3.
#23 Clemson also got taken down a peg last week, getting walked by Louisville, they may have a tough one in Blacksburg as 5-4 Virginia Tech has been a game program this year. Their loss to Vanderbilt isn't nearly as bad as it looked at the time, but they did win 3 in a row before last week's OT loss to Syracuse. Clemson is still in the mix for the ACC Championship, but need help.
Big Noon Kickoff is in Lubbock for the aforementioned Texas Tech Red Raiders, at 6-3, hosting Coach Prime and #20 Colorado at 4pm. The Buffs had a week off after their win vs. Cincinnati, and they are in a tie with Iowa State for second in the Big 12. Someone explained part of the tiebreaker to me last week, but I kinda didn't get to wrap my mind around that. So we'll see how it plays out. By the way, Colorado's game against Utah in 2 weeks has already been selected for Big Noon, so the Buffs best keep on winning. Prime's made it known he's not fond of having to prepare for so many different time slots. Welcome to Colllege Football! Colorado -3.5
Night time is where we find #1 Oregon, maintaining that spot with their win over Michigan. Appear to have a clear path to the Big Ten Championship. They're 25-points to Maryland, who are 4-4. Some rumors around Mike Locksley, which seem silly. Big Ten Network airs the game
NBC probably thought when they put #10 Notre Dame hosting Florida State in a prime time spot that it would be a big game. But the Seminoles are only 1-8, and are already finished with their conference games with three games to go.
If it's not the biggest game of the week, it's the most consequential, SEC on ABC at night has #11 Alabama in Death Valley to play #15 LSU under the lights at Tiger Stadium once again. It's one of the sport's big rivalries, settling in as the first Saturday in November. Both teams are 6-2, probably both definitely felt they'd be in the Expanded College Football Playoff quite easily, but this is looking like an eliminator for the loser. Alabama is listed at 8th in the conference, even though they're 3-2 in the SEC, they are the 3-point road favorite.
The assignment for the Faculty this week is Washington. #6 Penn State has the night game they so desperately yearn for after getting skunked by Ohio State last week. They're still firmly in position for the Expanded College Football Playoff, but this game is streaming on Peacock for Big Ten Saturday Night. PSU -13
The leader of the Group of Five is #12 Boise State, they get to play prime time on Fox against Nevada. Boise's only loss was by 3 points to Oregon. 24 point favorite.
After Dark is back this week, we got two games. On ESPN, #9 BYU, 8-0, looking to keep pace ahead of the fray behind them, but they have to deal with their in-state rival from Utah, and sounds like it's expected to be close, BYU -4.
#21 Washington State is the second team in the G5, and at 7-1 good for them getting in the rankings. They're airing on the CW against Utah State
