Post by Uncle on Nov 1, 2024 15:45:32 GMT -6
College football teams at the FBS level typically play a 12-game regular season schedule, and just like a stage play, the season is broken into three acts: 4 games in September....4 games in October...and 4 games in November...
...and with the calendar now turned to November, we've entered "The Final Act". The first Playoff rankings will be released this coming Tuesday, 11/5, it's a mad scramble down "The Final Act" of the season across all the Conferences to get in position for the Conference Championhips and for 12 lucky teams, the CFP...
Here's a quick glimpse of the top part of each of the Conferences to see which teams (with only 1 Conf loss) are in position to get their respective Conference Championship games:
With 5 weeks to go until the Conference Championships, there are still plenty of teams that could get one of the two spots for each of those games...and after Week 10 with some big Conference matchups, this list should get smaller and smaller...
With only 2 matchups between ranked teams, Week 10 might not seem so great on paper...but football games are not won/lost on paper, and neither is your College Football viewing pleasure!
Enjoy the action this weekend...and remember, Daylight Savings Time ends immediately after you get done watching Week 10 action on Saturday so don't forget to turn your clocks back one hour!
Friday, November 1st - Evening Game
San Diego St @ #15 Boise St - 8PM ET (ESPN); spread is Boise St -24.5
Per the Conference standings (pictured above), the Aztecs are technically still alive for a spot in the Mountain West Championship game, but realistically, their overall record is 3-4 and they are massive underdogs to win on the "Smurf Turf" in Boise. The only reason to be watching this game is to watch Broncos RB Ashton Jeanty, who's probably one of the leading contenders in a relatively wide open Heisman Trophy race. Jeanty "only" had 128 yds on 33 carries in last week's big win @ UNLV - his 2nd lowest rushing yard output of the season - so it is possible to slow him down a bit, but he's still on-pace for the 4th-best single season (for rushing yards) in College history (12 games) behind only Barry Sanders, Melvin Gordon and Kevin Smtih. The Broncos don't need style pts as they can nearly put it on cruise control until the Mountain West Championship, and if they win it, they're nearly assured a spot in the 12-team Playoff as the highest-ranked Group of Five Conference Champion.
Saturday, November 2nd - Early Afternoon Games
#4 Ohio St @ #3 Penn St - Noon ET (FOX); spread is Ohio St -3
We've seen this many, many times before: James Franklin's Nittany Lion team goes undefeated in Sep/Oct and as soon as the calendar turns to November and they start facing the Top teams in the BIG10 (traditionally its been Ohio St and Michigan), the clock strikes 12 and the Lions turn into pussycats. And their QB, Drew Allar - who might not play in this game after being injured last week @ Wisconsin - epitomizes this better than anyone else as he's seemingly good against the "lesser" teams, but not so good against the better ones. Still though, Penn St has answered some solid challenges on the road this season (@ West Virginia, @ USC, @ Wisconsin) and their defense is definitely legit. They'll need their defense to play the best games of their lives as the Buckeys have hopes of getting into BIG10 Championship and earning a 1st Rd bye in the Playoffs. A few other notes is that Ohio St nearly got knocked-off by Nebraska in Columbus last weekend and Buckyes HC Ryan Day isn't that great against Top 5 opponents in his career (2-6 all-time). Can the Nittany Lions finally get that breakthough win they've been hoping to get for a long time? ESPN's College Gameday will be live in Happy Valley prior to 4th showdown this season between Top 5 teams, and the only reason why this one isn't in primetime is that FOX wanted to keep Saturday night open in case the Yankees/Dodgers World Series went to Game 7.
#19 Ole Miss @ Arkansas - Noon ET (ESPN); spread is Ole Miss -7.5
This is pretty much an SEC & Playoff elimination game in Fayetteville early on Saturday. The Rebels were preseason favorites to get one of the 12 Playoff spots after spending big in the Transfer Portal, but after 2 SEC losses, Lane Kiffin can't afford anymore, and he's already hangin' on by a thread. The Razorbacks also have 2 SEC losses, but if they can get this one, and turn around and win next weeked at home vs Texas, they'll actually be in a decent shape heading into their final 2 games to possibly get one of the two spots in the SEC Championship. I wouldn't have thought this one would be too close as Arkansas looked in rough shape a few weeks ago when LSU beat them 34-10, but they came back last week and put up 58 pts on Miss St, and keep in mind they did upset a Top 5 Tennessee team earlier this season, plus Arkansas is just 1 win away from bowl eligibility so they have a bunch to play for on their side. That Tennessee team is better than this Ole Miss team and if the Razorbacks can come up with the type of game they did vs the Volunteers, Lane Kiffin will have to face the Oxford boosters and tell them why he flushed all of their money spent on a Playoff team in 2024.
Saturday, November 2nd - Late Afternoon Game
Florida vs #2 Georgia - 3:30PM ET (ABC); spread is Georgia -14.5 - game will be played in Jacksonville
Even though the media can't officially recognize the name of this game anymore, this is traditionally known as "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktain Party" as the tailgating for this game is known to be legendary prior to kickoff. The Gators took it on the chin early this season - losing 2 out of their first 3 and HC Billy Napier was within inches of being fired - but they've turned it around lately and all three teams they've lost to this season are currently ranked in the Top 10 (Miami, Texas A&M, Tennessee). And while the Bulldogs certainly made a big statement a few weeks ago by knocking off #1 Texas in Austin, they haven't been playing to their usual standard this season and there's no such thing as an easy win in a rivalry game. The Gators are going to give it everything they have in a last-ditch effort to climb the SEC rankings and possibly try and sneak into the SEC Championship with 2 losses.
Saturday, November 2nd - Evening Games
#10 Texas A&M @ South Carolina - 7:30PM ET (ABC); spread is Texas A&M -3
Fresh off a big victory over LSU in Week 9 and flying solo atop the SEC standings, the Aggies will be looking to continue their upward trench through the SEC and solidify their spot in the SEC Championship. A&M HC Mike Elko discovered a new "toy" in QB Marcell Reed last weekend, as he came into the game for Conner Weigman and proceeded to literally run away from the Tigers and there was nothing LSU could do about it as they hadn't expected to play against a spread QB. And while Reed ran circles around that Tigers defense, he only completed 2 passes and he'll have to be better than that in "The Cockpit". The Gamecocks have a very good defense and have already limited one scrambling this season (Jalen Milroe) and I don't expect this game to be a walk-in-the-park for the Aggies. The team that is ranked 10th heading into the weekend has already lost 4 times this College Season already - will we see a 5th on Saturday Night?
#18 Pitt @ #20 SMU - 8PM ET (ACC Network); spread is SMU-7
It's basically down to a 4-team race in the ACC: 4 teams for 2 spots in the ACC Championship and possibly only 1 spot in the 12-team Playoff, and 2 of those 4 teams face-off in primetime on Saturday night. I don't think many people had either of these teams in this position before the season began and regardless of who wins, there could be several tie-breaker factors that start coming into the equation in the ACC because SMU doesn't play Miami or Clemson while Pitt gets Clemson at home in a few weeks. Both of the QB's for these teams have played really well this season (Alabama transfer Eli Holstein for Pitt, and Kevin Jennings for SMU) but both are dinged-up a bit and it's questionable whether either on will suit-up. But the other thing both of these teams are known for is their defense, with both ranking in the Top 20. The Mustangs should not have escaped Duke with a win last week after coughing up 6 turnovers and the Blue Devils going for 2 (and the win) vs sending the game to OT cost them the game and that wasn't the only close-call SMU has had this season, either: they barely got by Louisville and had to come from behind in the 2nd half in their opener @ Nevada. If Holstein is able to go, I'm thinking that "Lady Luck" might have finally run out for the Mustangs.
...and with the calendar now turned to November, we've entered "The Final Act". The first Playoff rankings will be released this coming Tuesday, 11/5, it's a mad scramble down "The Final Act" of the season across all the Conferences to get in position for the Conference Championhips and for 12 lucky teams, the CFP...
Here's a quick glimpse of the top part of each of the Conferences to see which teams (with only 1 Conf loss) are in position to get their respective Conference Championship games:
With 5 weeks to go until the Conference Championships, there are still plenty of teams that could get one of the two spots for each of those games...and after Week 10 with some big Conference matchups, this list should get smaller and smaller...
With only 2 matchups between ranked teams, Week 10 might not seem so great on paper...but football games are not won/lost on paper, and neither is your College Football viewing pleasure!
Enjoy the action this weekend...and remember, Daylight Savings Time ends immediately after you get done watching Week 10 action on Saturday so don't forget to turn your clocks back one hour!
Friday, November 1st - Evening Game
San Diego St @ #15 Boise St - 8PM ET (ESPN); spread is Boise St -24.5
Per the Conference standings (pictured above), the Aztecs are technically still alive for a spot in the Mountain West Championship game, but realistically, their overall record is 3-4 and they are massive underdogs to win on the "Smurf Turf" in Boise. The only reason to be watching this game is to watch Broncos RB Ashton Jeanty, who's probably one of the leading contenders in a relatively wide open Heisman Trophy race. Jeanty "only" had 128 yds on 33 carries in last week's big win @ UNLV - his 2nd lowest rushing yard output of the season - so it is possible to slow him down a bit, but he's still on-pace for the 4th-best single season (for rushing yards) in College history (12 games) behind only Barry Sanders, Melvin Gordon and Kevin Smtih. The Broncos don't need style pts as they can nearly put it on cruise control until the Mountain West Championship, and if they win it, they're nearly assured a spot in the 12-team Playoff as the highest-ranked Group of Five Conference Champion.
Saturday, November 2nd - Early Afternoon Games
#4 Ohio St @ #3 Penn St - Noon ET (FOX); spread is Ohio St -3
We've seen this many, many times before: James Franklin's Nittany Lion team goes undefeated in Sep/Oct and as soon as the calendar turns to November and they start facing the Top teams in the BIG10 (traditionally its been Ohio St and Michigan), the clock strikes 12 and the Lions turn into pussycats. And their QB, Drew Allar - who might not play in this game after being injured last week @ Wisconsin - epitomizes this better than anyone else as he's seemingly good against the "lesser" teams, but not so good against the better ones. Still though, Penn St has answered some solid challenges on the road this season (@ West Virginia, @ USC, @ Wisconsin) and their defense is definitely legit. They'll need their defense to play the best games of their lives as the Buckeys have hopes of getting into BIG10 Championship and earning a 1st Rd bye in the Playoffs. A few other notes is that Ohio St nearly got knocked-off by Nebraska in Columbus last weekend and Buckyes HC Ryan Day isn't that great against Top 5 opponents in his career (2-6 all-time). Can the Nittany Lions finally get that breakthough win they've been hoping to get for a long time? ESPN's College Gameday will be live in Happy Valley prior to 4th showdown this season between Top 5 teams, and the only reason why this one isn't in primetime is that FOX wanted to keep Saturday night open in case the Yankees/Dodgers World Series went to Game 7.
#19 Ole Miss @ Arkansas - Noon ET (ESPN); spread is Ole Miss -7.5
This is pretty much an SEC & Playoff elimination game in Fayetteville early on Saturday. The Rebels were preseason favorites to get one of the 12 Playoff spots after spending big in the Transfer Portal, but after 2 SEC losses, Lane Kiffin can't afford anymore, and he's already hangin' on by a thread. The Razorbacks also have 2 SEC losses, but if they can get this one, and turn around and win next weeked at home vs Texas, they'll actually be in a decent shape heading into their final 2 games to possibly get one of the two spots in the SEC Championship. I wouldn't have thought this one would be too close as Arkansas looked in rough shape a few weeks ago when LSU beat them 34-10, but they came back last week and put up 58 pts on Miss St, and keep in mind they did upset a Top 5 Tennessee team earlier this season, plus Arkansas is just 1 win away from bowl eligibility so they have a bunch to play for on their side. That Tennessee team is better than this Ole Miss team and if the Razorbacks can come up with the type of game they did vs the Volunteers, Lane Kiffin will have to face the Oxford boosters and tell them why he flushed all of their money spent on a Playoff team in 2024.
Saturday, November 2nd - Late Afternoon Game
Florida vs #2 Georgia - 3:30PM ET (ABC); spread is Georgia -14.5 - game will be played in Jacksonville
Even though the media can't officially recognize the name of this game anymore, this is traditionally known as "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktain Party" as the tailgating for this game is known to be legendary prior to kickoff. The Gators took it on the chin early this season - losing 2 out of their first 3 and HC Billy Napier was within inches of being fired - but they've turned it around lately and all three teams they've lost to this season are currently ranked in the Top 10 (Miami, Texas A&M, Tennessee). And while the Bulldogs certainly made a big statement a few weeks ago by knocking off #1 Texas in Austin, they haven't been playing to their usual standard this season and there's no such thing as an easy win in a rivalry game. The Gators are going to give it everything they have in a last-ditch effort to climb the SEC rankings and possibly try and sneak into the SEC Championship with 2 losses.
Saturday, November 2nd - Evening Games
#10 Texas A&M @ South Carolina - 7:30PM ET (ABC); spread is Texas A&M -3
Fresh off a big victory over LSU in Week 9 and flying solo atop the SEC standings, the Aggies will be looking to continue their upward trench through the SEC and solidify their spot in the SEC Championship. A&M HC Mike Elko discovered a new "toy" in QB Marcell Reed last weekend, as he came into the game for Conner Weigman and proceeded to literally run away from the Tigers and there was nothing LSU could do about it as they hadn't expected to play against a spread QB. And while Reed ran circles around that Tigers defense, he only completed 2 passes and he'll have to be better than that in "The Cockpit". The Gamecocks have a very good defense and have already limited one scrambling this season (Jalen Milroe) and I don't expect this game to be a walk-in-the-park for the Aggies. The team that is ranked 10th heading into the weekend has already lost 4 times this College Season already - will we see a 5th on Saturday Night?
#18 Pitt @ #20 SMU - 8PM ET (ACC Network); spread is SMU-7
It's basically down to a 4-team race in the ACC: 4 teams for 2 spots in the ACC Championship and possibly only 1 spot in the 12-team Playoff, and 2 of those 4 teams face-off in primetime on Saturday night. I don't think many people had either of these teams in this position before the season began and regardless of who wins, there could be several tie-breaker factors that start coming into the equation in the ACC because SMU doesn't play Miami or Clemson while Pitt gets Clemson at home in a few weeks. Both of the QB's for these teams have played really well this season (Alabama transfer Eli Holstein for Pitt, and Kevin Jennings for SMU) but both are dinged-up a bit and it's questionable whether either on will suit-up. But the other thing both of these teams are known for is their defense, with both ranking in the Top 20. The Mustangs should not have escaped Duke with a win last week after coughing up 6 turnovers and the Blue Devils going for 2 (and the win) vs sending the game to OT cost them the game and that wasn't the only close-call SMU has had this season, either: they barely got by Louisville and had to come from behind in the 2nd half in their opener @ Nevada. If Holstein is able to go, I'm thinking that "Lady Luck" might have finally run out for the Mustangs.
... and neither is this Chris guy.