This article is part of our College Football Picks series.
One week left in the regular season and it looks like there will be no drama this season. Well, concerning which teams make the playoffs anyway. Then again, if Clemson loses this week, there might be too much drama to handle. If Alabama loses, well, then all he ... ah, nevermind, that's not happening.
Clemson, the team that has held the top ranking since the playoff rankings were first released, actually stands a reasonable chance of losing this week, however, which would open up a lot of possible scenarios. Scenarios the playoff committee is hoping to avoid.
The playoff committee made it well known from the outset that conference championships carry a lot of weight. I think it's a copout, but nonetheless, it's something we'll have to consider if Clemson loses.
A North Carolina win would produce a quandry. With a win this Saturday, the Tar Heels are conference champions, a conference that held the top team in the land for more than a month. You'd think it would be easy enough to just replace Clemson with North Carolina, but the Tar Heels have not been much of a factor in the rankings. Could they possibly jump committee favorites like Stanford and Ohio State?
A two-loss Stanford team does not deserve to be in the conversation at this point. There are qualified one-loss teams to choose from, so why jump Stanford ahead of all of them? Let's not forget, the Cardinal's first loss came at the hands of a Big
One week left in the regular season and it looks like there will be no drama this season. Well, concerning which teams make the playoffs anyway. Then again, if Clemson loses this week, there might be too much drama to handle. If Alabama loses, well, then all he ... ah, nevermind, that's not happening.
Clemson, the team that has held the top ranking since the playoff rankings were first released, actually stands a reasonable chance of losing this week, however, which would open up a lot of possible scenarios. Scenarios the playoff committee is hoping to avoid.
The playoff committee made it well known from the outset that conference championships carry a lot of weight. I think it's a copout, but nonetheless, it's something we'll have to consider if Clemson loses.
A North Carolina win would produce a quandry. With a win this Saturday, the Tar Heels are conference champions, a conference that held the top team in the land for more than a month. You'd think it would be easy enough to just replace Clemson with North Carolina, but the Tar Heels have not been much of a factor in the rankings. Could they possibly jump committee favorites like Stanford and Ohio State?
A two-loss Stanford team does not deserve to be in the conversation at this point. There are qualified one-loss teams to choose from, so why jump Stanford ahead of all of them? Let's not forget, the Cardinal's first loss came at the hands of a Big Ten team, the conference where one-loss Ohio State resides.
With any luck, though, the standings will hold and we can all sit back and watch Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma and Iowa/MSU battle it out on New Year's Eve.
As always, I'll tweet any insights I come up with post-article each week. You can follow me at @gregvara.
CREAM OF THE CROP (Week: 1-2; Season: 19-22)
Saturday
Texas at Baylor: Both teams are coming off tough losses last week and neither will call this season a success, so I expect both teams to let loose this week and put up a bunch of points. Baylor never had the chance to unleash its new starting QB last week because the game was played in a monsoon, but that will change this week.
Total: Over 67.5
Alabama vs. Florida: There have been bigger upsets in the history of college football, but this would be as unlikely as any we've seen. Florida looked awful last week, and Alabama simply has too much to lose to even play around with a punch-less Gator team.
Side: Alabama -18
BEST OF THE REST (Week: 1-3; Season: 16-24)
Saturday
North Carolina vs. Clemson: It's strange, Clemson is unbeaten and the atop the rankings, yet we still don't know that much about the Tigers. That's likely behind the rather small number the Tigers are laying this week. Still, I'm a little skiddish about siding with them here, so I'll look at the total. Yes, this is a championship game and the teams are bound to be tight, but both teams have stronger offenses than defenses.
Total: Over 67.5
Michigan State vs. Iowa: Iowa has played the underdog role to perfection all year and the Hawkeyes will once again use the "us against the world" mantra again this week. The question is ... will it be enough. The Hawkeyes have proven to be a legit contender, but I wonder if they've already accomplished everything they set out to at the beginning of the year? I don't expect them to lay down this week, but I do expect MSU to be more focused on the goal that was in front of the Spartans at the beginning of the year.
Side: MSU -3.5
PASSing THOUGHTS (Week: 1-2; Season: 14-19)
Friday
Northern Illinois vs. Bowling Green: I admittedly have not paid much attention to the MAC this year, but I know something about championship games. When the stakes are higher, teams tend to tighten up a bit, and as such, I'm expecting the total to go under in this game.
Total: Under 69.5
