It was a week for silly games.
Three of the top-ranked teams were using this week to play rah-rah home games against the weakest teams they could find. It must be a crazy week for bookies because there is no way to know exactly when the good teams will take a foot off the gas. Alabama covered an enormous spread, the other two did not.
#3 Texas A&M took on Samford, a team rated 59 points lower by the computer and 53.5 by the oddsmakers. Samford is an FCS team with a 1-10 record. They may not be the worst D1 team in the country, but they are in the discussion. A&M won 48-0, as Samford was able to gain only 77 yards from scrimmage. A&M did not try to run up the score, choosing instead to give everyone a chance to play. At the end of the game, the Aggies were playing their 4th-string freshman quarterback.
#10 Alabama matched up against Eastern Illinois. Like Samford, Eastern Illinois is not only an FCS team, but a very weak one. The computer had ‘Bama up by 55, and the bookies called it 50.5 points. ‘Bama won 56-0. Alabama emptied the bench, but poor Eastern Illinois just didn’t belong in that game. They managed only two first downs in the entire game, for a total of 34 yards from scrimmage. At least their punters got plenty of practice.
#4 Georgia played Charlotte. Charlotte is an FBS school, but they came into the game 1-9, and their only win was against an FCS opponent. The computers rank them as the second-worst FBS team in the country, with only lowly U Mass beneath them. The betting spread was 42.5, and the computer rated Georgia 51 points better. Georgia basically gave their starters a rest, so it was one of those games where all the parents got to see their kids play. Their quarterbacks completed passes to fourteen different receivers, nine of whom caught exactly one pass. I don’t know what the D1 record is, but fourteen receivers seems like a big number. I like that a lot, since I would have been one of those “Look, mom, I caught one” kids. Georgia won 35-3.
Auburn, South Carolina, LSU and Clemson also scheduled home games against weak opponents this week, but since they have not performed up to expectations this year, it didn’t matter much.
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#9 Notre Dame and #1 Ohio State weren’t trying to schedule weak opponents. It just worked out that way. Ohio State had a conference game against Rutgers (score 42-9), while Notre Dame scored 35 in the first quarter against Syracuse, on their way to a 70-7 curb-stomping. The Irish couldn’t let up much because they are locked in a life-and-death struggle with Alabama at the bottom of the top ten. It’s not likely that there will be a difference between finishing 9th and 10th in the rankings, but there could be. If BYU wins the Big 12 and is not in the top ten nationally, they will get the tenth tournament seed automatically, knocking out the team ranked 10th nationally. While that isn’t likely, both Notre Dame and Alabama are acutely aware of the possibility that the #9 team is completely safe, while the #10 team is not.
In games that mattered …
Most of the top ten teams have to keep winning to make the playoff, while the teams just below them not only have to win, but have to hope for one of the top ten to lose.
None of the top fourteen teams lost, but there could be some movement among the bubble boys.
#11 BYU beat Cincinnati, 26-14
#12 Utah won, but allowed 47 points
#13 Miami won easily, 34-17
#14 Vanderbilt crushed Kentucky. 45-17
#15 USC lost to #7 Oregon
#16 Georgia Tech fell behind Pitt 21-0 and never recovered.
#17 Texas won, but allowed 37 points.
Miami is obviously hoping that their win will impress the committee more than Utah’s, thus allowing them to climb a little.
Texas should move up to #15, but they have three losses,so their chance of making the playoff is close to zero, if not absolute zero.
The best hope for the bubble boys: Three of the top ten teams have tough opponents next week. Oklahoma plays LSU next week, Oregon plays Washington, and Alabama plays Auburn. An Oklahoma, Oregon or Alabama loss could knock them out of the top ten. Oregon might survive a loss, but the other two can’t. The rest of the top ten teams either have easy games or are so secure that a loss won’t knock them down below #10.
Some essential conference races are still wide open:
The ACC: The winner of the ACC championship game is likely to be the 11th seed in the playoffs. Despite the loss by Georgia Tech, Miami is still on the outside looking in. Both Virginia and SMU are in if they win, making the Miami-Pitt game meaningless.
If BYU stays at #11, they could still make the playoff by winning the Big 12 championship game, in which case it will get the 10th seed and knock out the team ranked #10.
On the other side of the tracks
The worst FBS squad, poor U Mass, remained winless … but they only lost by 28, so it was a decent week.
You read above that #2 Charlotte made the audacious move of scheduling Georgia. They only lost by 32 because Georgia emptied the bench early.
#4 Middle Tennessee played #3 Sam Houston in a sort of reverse bowl game. Call it the Toilet Bowl. Middle Tennessee won easily, 31-17, so Sam Houston held onto the third spot, and the bottom three remain the same.
Overrated teams o’ the week
The current list. (Based on the new Sagarin computer ratings and this week’s AP poll.)
1. 32 places (!!) – Tulane (54, 22)
2. 22 Places – North Texas (43,21)
3. 19 places – Georgia Tech (42, 23)
4. 17 places – Virginia (34,17)
Houston fell from the list because voters finally acknowledged reality.
What happened to last week’s most overrated teams? (Based on last week’s Sagarin computer ratings and last week’s AP poll.)
1. 38 places (!!) – Tulane (62, 24) beat Temple 37-13.
2. 26 places – Houston (51, 25) lost to unranked TCU, 17-14.
3. 24 places – North Texas (46,22) shellacked Rice
4. 20 places – Georgia Tech (35, 15) lost to Pitt, as I expected.
5. 17 places – Virginia (36,19) did not play.
It’s been an odd season, I think. On the home front (the ACC), Stanford won their rivalry game v. Cal. More convincingly than seemed reasonable to expect. With only a 4-win season, their losses were kinda respectable. They did beat Florida State. FSU didn’t have a good season at all. But they beat Alabama!
Stanford’s GM is now Andrew Luck. I have to think that’s good for recruiting. The immediate bad news is… Next up: Notre Dame.
Meanwhile the Washington Huskies tore up UCLA. Oregon’s gonna be an interesting matchup. I like the Ducks, but it could be quite a game. I mean, the Ducks have shown they can have trouble, the Huskies are only modestly good, but that might make it exciting.