Many of you want to have a college football playoffs system that has eight teams. I can understand the position. The point of this post isn’t to argue it.
However, it would be nice to take a second to acknowledge the escalation of drama surrounding the Washington Huskies right now. First we are out. Then we are in. Then we are out. Then we might be back in. And now we are all anxious about Arizona State.
This is how it is supposed to be. Enjoy it. And root for the who I tell you to in the post below.
Houston at #5 Louisville
Thank you very much, Tom Herrmann.
The Houston Cougars became the only team in FBS to have beaten two Top 5 teams when they upset Louisville via an ass-kicking on Thursday night. That effectively eliminates Louisville as a threat to a one-loss UW team in the playoff race.
So, feel free ... hug a Coug.
Indiana at #3 Michigan
Indiana gets to be the warm up act for a Michigan team frantically trying to prepare senior QB John O’Korn (and, c’mon, Wilton Speight is not coming back from a broken collarbone folks) for a big showdown with Ohio State next week. This one is pretty easy. Michigan really needs to win the Big Ten in order to minimize the odds of two Big Ten teams in the playoffs.
#8 Penn State at Rutgers
Penn State winning the Big Ten is a worst case scenario for the Huskies. I doubt Rutgers can do anything about it. Let’s hope the Scarlet Knights put up a fight and wear down the Nittany Lions before the Michigan State game next week.
#4 Clemson at Wake Forest
That Clemson is still ahead of UW is really hard for me to digest. The eyeball test doesn’t pass, the numbers don’t agree and the nature of each team’s one loss isn’t all that comparable. Regardless, it would be nice for Clemson to lose again. A second loss weakens their resume without opening the door for any second ACC team candidates. Not even Louisville. Go Deacons!
#22 WSU at #10 Colorado
We really don’t care. If Colorado wins, the odds that they end up in the conference championship increase which would make a win over them likely a top 10 thing for UW. So, I suppose it is slightly better that Colorado wins. But a win over a top 15 ish WSU on the road in the Apple Cup would also look good. So, pick your poison.
#2 Ohio State at Michigan State
Watch out, Buckeyes. You are not good enough to take for granted a dangerous and injured Michigan State team. The Spartans are still a well-stocked, well-coached team who are getting you in front of 90,000 fans at home. A Buckeye loss under these circumstances would go a long, long way towards assuring that the Huskies - and perhaps some other PAC 12 champ - end up in the playoffs if they win the conference.
#9 Oklahoma at #14 West Virginia
Ok, we have to talk about the Big 12. The national media isn’t giving this situation its due.
I started sounding the alarm bells about Oklahoma a few weeks ago. I’m actually more concerned about the Sooners than a non-champion Ohio State. The fact that their loss to Houston was substantiated by Louisville’s loss to the same team only reinforces the notion that OU could jump a conference champion UW if they win the Big 12.
But WVU is a one-loss team (a loss to OKST - also a one-conference loss team). So, they theoretically could win the Big 12 and also jump UW.
Our best bet is to have OKST win the conference with two losses. Those two losses plus no championship game ought to be enough. For that to happen, we need WVU to beat Oklahoma and then to have OKST also beat the Sooners the following week. Root for that.
#24 Stanford at Cal
Stanford staying among the cohort of ranked teams would be useful for UW’s resume. It would be great if they didn’t blow that.
The SEC
We still want Alabama to go undefeated. If they do that, there isn’t really a serious risk of a second SEC team. However, if the Tide were to lose in the SEC championship, we’d have a problem on our hands (unless UW can get to the third or second seed - which only happens if the Big Ten and ACC self-destruct as noted above). Still, if Auburn or Florida wanted to give one away this weekend, it wouldn’t hurt.
Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016 | ||
---|---|---|
Matchup | Time (ET) | TV / Streaming |
(2) Ohio State at Michigan State | 12:00 p.m. | ESPN / WatchESPN |
(7) Wisconsin at Purdue | 12:00 p.m. | ABC / WatchESPN |
(11) Oklahoma State at TCU | 12:00 p.m. | FS1 / FS Go |
Maryland at (18) Nebraska | 12:00 p.m. | ESPNEWS / WatchESPN |
UTSA at (25) Texas A&M | 12:00 p.m. | ESPNU / WatchESPN |
Iowa at Illinois | 12:00 p.m. | BTN / BTN2Go |
Kansas State at Baylor | 12:00 p.m. | ESPN2 / WatchESPN |
UL Lafayette at Georgia | 12:00 p.m. | SECN / WatchESPN |
Morgan State at Army | 12:00 p.m. | CBSSN / CBSSports.com |
UTEP at Rice | 12:00 p.m. | ESPN3 |
Miami (FL) at NC State | 12:30 p.m. | ACCN (split) / WatchESPN |
Virginia at Georgia Tech | 12:30 p.m. | ACCN (split) / WatchESPN |
(23) Florida at (16) LSU | 1:00 p.m. | SECN / WatchESPN |
UConn at Boston College | 1:00 p.m. | WatchESPN |
Oregon at (12) Utah | 2:00 p.m. | Pac-12N / Pac-12.com |
Georgia Southern at Georgia State | 2:00 p.m. | ESPN3 |
Middle Tennessee at Charlotte | 2:00 p.m. | ESPN3 |
UMass at BYU | 2:00 p.m. | BYUtv / ESPN3 |
ULM at Appalachian State | 2:30 p.m. | ESPN3 |
Duke at Pittsburgh | 3:00 p.m. | RSN / WatchESPN |
(22) Washington State at (10) Colorado | 3:30 p.m. | FOX / FS Go |
Indiana at (3) Michigan | 3:30 p.m. | ESPN / WatchESPN |
(17) Florida State at Syracuse | 3:30 p.m. | ABC/ESPN2 (RM) / WatchESPN |
Missouri at (19) Tennessee | 3:30 p.m. | CBS / CBSSports.com |
Buffalo at (21) Western Michigan | 3:30 p.m. | ESPNU / WatchESPN |
Northwestern at Minnesota | 3:30 p.m. | BTN / BTN2Go |
San Diego State at Wyoming | 3:30 p.m. | CBSSN / CBSSports.com |
Texas at Kansas | 3:30 p.m. | ABC/ESPN2 (RM) |
Texas Tech at Iowa State | 3:30 p.m. | FS1 / FS Go |
The Citadel at North Carolina | 3:30 p.m. | WatchESPN |
Virginia Tech at Notre Dame | 3:30 p.m. | NBC / NBC Sports Live Extra |
Temple at Tulane | 3:30 p.m. | ASN / ESPN3 |
Navy at East Carolina | 4:00 p.m. | ESPNEWS / WatchESPN |
Texas State at New Mexico State | 4:00 p.m. | ESPN3 / AggieVision |
Utah State at Nevada | 4:00 p.m. | ESPN3 |
Western Carolina at South Carolina | 4:00 p.m. | SECN Alt. / WatchESPN |
Austin Peay at Kentucky | 4:30 p.m. | SECN / WatchESPN |
(24) Stanford at California | 5:30 p.m. | Pac-12N / Pac-12.com |
Southern Miss at North Texas | 5:30 p.m. | beIN Sports / beIN Sports Connect |
Old Dominion at Florida Atlantic | 6:00 p.m. | CampusInsiders |
Chattanooga at (1) Alabama | 7:00 p.m. | ESPN2 / WatchESPN |
Arkansas at Mississippi State | 7:00 p.m. | ESPNU / WatchESPN |
(4) Clemson at Wake Forest | 7:00 p.m. | ESPN / WatchESPN |
Hawaii at Fresno State | 7:00 p.m. | Oceanic PPV / MWN |
Marshall at FIU | 7:00 p.m. | ASN/MASN |
Presbyterian at South Alabama | 7:00 p.m. | ESPN3 |
USF at SMU | 7:00 p.m. | CBSSN / CBSSports.com |
Arizona State at (6) Washington | 7:30 p.m. | FOX / FS Go |
Alabama A&M at (15) Auburn | 7:30 p.m. | SEC Alt. / WatchESPN |
(9) Oklahoma at (14) West Virginia | 8:00 p.m. | ABC / WatchESPN |
(8) Penn State at Rutgers | 8:00 p.m. | BTN / BTN2Go |
Ole Miss at Vanderbilt | 8:00 p.m. | SECN / WatchESPN |
Tulsa at UCF | 8:00 p.m. | ESPNEWS / WatchESPN |
New Mexico at Colorado State | 10:15 p.m. | ESPN2 / WatchESPN |
(13) USC at UCLA | 10:30 p.m. | ESPN / WatchESPN |
Air Force at San Jose State | 10:30 p.m. | CBSSN / CBSSports.com |
Arizona at Oregon State | 10:30 p.m. | Pac-12N / Pac-12.com |