College Football TV Schedule, Open Thread, and UW Rooting Guide

Outrage. Anger. Consternation. Indignation. Indifference. SEC Bias!

Our cumulative reactions to the decision of the CFP Committee to list UW #5 in the first release of the playoff seeding rankings ran the gamut. If there were ever a need for a rooting guide, now is the time.

Luckily for you, I am here to guide my fellow Husky fans through the quagmire that is the race for the playoffs. Though the parts are many, the premise is simple. We want anybody that can boost UW’s strength of schedule to win and anybody within one game of a potential one-loss, Pac-12 UW team to lose.

Got it? Good.

Week 10 Rooting Guide

Arizona at #25 WSU

The Cougs have three games left before the Apple Cup: vs Arizona, vs Cal, at Colorado. If you think that there are two losses in there, then you are rooting for the Cougs to get them. UW can’t go to the playoffs if they aren’t Pac-12 champs. They can’t be champs if they don’t go to the Pac-12 championship game. The easiest path there is to take the outcome of the Apple Cup out of the equation.

If you think that there is no chance of WSU dropping two of the next three, or if you think that there is a greater chance of UW losing one of their next three than WSU dropping two of their next three, then yes, we want them to run the whole damn table. A ranked WSU team that we could defeat in the Apple Cup would help our one-loss resume.

Oregon at USC

USC’s chance of winning the South is still very alive despite Colorado’s win on Thursday. So, yeah, let’s root for USC to beat Oregon, get ranked and then get spanked by UW next week in Seattle.

#4 Texas A&M at Mississippi State

The Bulldogs don’t look like much of a match for the Aggies on paper. However, don’t be fooled. Dan Mullen runs a very similar offense in Stark-vegas to what Kevin Sumlin runs at TAMU. The Bulldog defense will have had practice in preparing for the Aggies. I don’t think a Miss State win is likely, but it is in enough question to root for. At the very least, a competitive game that goes into the fourth quarter might remind the committee of how mediocre TAMU has actually been all year against mediocre competition (hello, UCLA).

#8 Wisconsin at Northwestern

The Wildcats have surged the last several weeks. The only blemishes on the schedule since their disastrous opening two weekends are an 11-point loss to an undefeated Nebraska and a four-point loss to Ohio State last week. Think of these guys as the Cougs of the Big 10. I like their matchup against Wisconsin and I think that they are going to upset the Badgers straight up. A loss by Wisconsin might take them out of the equation for the West title, and that wouldn’t be a bad thing. Root for the Wildcats.

Syracuse at #2 Clemson

There isn’t much standing between Clemson and the ACC crown now. The only thing that we can hope for is that the Tigers continue their trend of playing down to competition such as Troy and NC State. They are favored by 26.5 points to a 4-4 Syracuse team. All we need to root for is another sloppy effort and close outcome.

#1 Alabama at #13 LSU

At this point, we don’t want anything to do with a possible upstart taking the SEC crown from Alabama. That would definitely open the door for a two-SEC team playoff situation, so let’s root for Alabama. Though, if they get a little beat up, that wouldn’t be too horrible.

#10 Nebraska at #6 Ohio State

The Cornhuskers can do UW a huge favor here and eliminate any thought of Ohio State becoming a one-loss competitive threat to UW. If they can go on the road and take out the Buckeyes, they could effectively eliminate Ohio State from the Big Ten championship race no matter the outcome of the Michigan game on 11/26 (assuming Michigan keeps winning). That sounds pretty good to me. Root for Nebraska here.

#11 Florida at Arkansas

The Gators at 6-1 are quickly becoming a real threat as a one-loss playoff contender. Similar to the argument against LSU, we don’t want Florida to be an upset in the SEC championship game away from making Alabama a second SEC playoff team. They need to lose one more along the way if not two. Arkansas can definitely get the job done at home.

#7 Louisville at Boston College

Of course, we want Louisville to struggle in this one. Their résumé continues to take hits as they struggle with lesser competition, but they keep finding ways to win. It is hard seeing BC providing any resistance here, but if they did, all the better.

Maryland at #3 Michigan

Jim Harbaugh’s résumé is already so good that we are better off rooting for the Wolverines to go ahead and win out. Anything that puts their Big Ten title at risk is probably bad news for the Huskies. Go Blue.

How To Watch College Football – Week 10