The SEC’s oft-used slogan — “It Just Means More” — holds a particular meaning this weekend.
It does just mean more — more teams with losses, all bunched up toward the top of the conference, beating one another to pieces in the first year of the expanded playoff. Can six SEC teams make the playoff field? Logic says absolutely not, but no logic applies to college sports these days.
With two weeks left in the regular season, there still exists the possibility that the conference will end in a six-way tie at the top. There very much exists the probability that a tiebreaker will decide at least one participant in the SEC championship game. The final tiebreaker option is a random draw out of, perhaps, Greg Sankey’s favorite hat — a made-for-TV spectacle that we’re all rooting for but that is highly unlikely (there are five tiebreakers before getting to a draw).
Either way, the SEC standings are quite a jumble, led by Texas (5-1 in the SEC) and Texas A&M (5-1), two teams that meet in College Station to end the regular season. Following them is the only team that has completed its SEC schedule, Georgia (6-2), and then Tennessee (5-2), followed by Ole Miss and Alabama, each 4-2.
The real issue for Top 10 purposes (and for the CFP selection committee come Tuesday’s rankings) is how to position Georgia, Tennessee, Ole Miss and Alabama as they’ve beaten one another. Georgia beat Tennessee, but lost to Alabama and Ole Miss. Tennessee beat Alabama but lost to Georgia. Ole Miss beat Georgia and doesn’t play Tennessee or Alabama. Alabama beat Georgia but lost to Tennessee. To make matters more complicated, Texas lost to Georgia at home.
The worst loss of the group belongs to Ole Miss (vs. Kentucky at home). The best win belongs to Georgia (the win in Austin).
Stop.
We’ve gotten off on an SEC tangent, haven’t we? Plenty more happened during a busy Saturday of college football, including BYU dropping from the unbeatens in a loss against Kansas that ended in the wee hours of Sunday morning.
Deion Sanders and Colorado won a fourth straight game to move to 8-2 and in control of their path to the Big 12 title game. If they beat Kansas and Oklahoma State, the Buffaloes are Dallas bound with a chance at the playoff and the Heisman Trophy favorite. Two-way player Travis Hunter had a ball Saturday again: 5 catches, 55 yards, TD; 1 rush for 5 yards, TD; 3 tackles, a pass breakup, one interception.
In the Group of Five, another Heisman hopeful, Ashton Jeanty, scored three touchdowns as Boise State fought off a challenge from San Jose State to stay atop the G5 pecking order to the CFP berth. One championship game, in the American Athletic Conference, has been settled: Army will play Tulane (site TBD as the higher seed hosts).
Meanwhile, Top 10 members Oregon and SMU survived scares on Saturday and so did Clemson, which keeps its ACC title hopes alive. Pitt, Missouri and Kansas State all suffered their third loss, eliminating them from playoff contention.
Other happenings included Billy Napier and Florida saddling Brian Kelly’s Tigers with a fourth loss this season; Stanford storming back to beat Louisville to get their first FBS home win in two years; and USC out-lasting Nebraska and new offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen (the Huskers have lost four straight and have two more chances to snap their seven-year bowl skid).
But enough already! To the Top 10, we go!
1. Oregon Ducks
This week: beat Wisconsin 16-13
Next week: Bye
Championship teams don’t always win in dominating fashion. At times, they’ve got to survive against middling teams on the road. That’s what happened here. The Ducks trailed 13-6 in the third quarter before mounting a pair of scoring drives to take the lead. A dice-rolling Dan Lanning attempted a fake field goal that came up short in the final two minutes, giving the Badgers an opportunity to win with a touchdown. However, DT Matayo Uiagalelei picked off a tipped pass to seal it.
2. Ohio State Buckeyes
This week: beat Northwestern 31-7
Next week: vs. Indiana
Seemed like trouble for the Buckeyes at the midway point of the second quarter as they trailed 7-0. But alas, Chip Kelly’s offense reminded everyone of its extensive weapons. Ohio State scored three touchdowns in a six-minute window to take control and set up next week’s showdown with the Hoosiers in Columbus.
3. Indiana Hoosiers
This week: Bye
Next week: at Ohio State
Coach Curt Cignetti, fresh off agreeing to a contract extension and raise with IU, brings his Hoosiers to Columbus on two weeks of rest and with a chance to move closer to advancing to the Big Ten title game — a phrase we didn’t expect to be writing in mid-November! And yet, the first-year coach has Indiana in the midst of a historic season (this is the first 10-win season in program history). Still, there are plenty of doubters. The Hoosers strength of schedule is the worst — by far — among top-10 teams.
4. Georgia Bulldogs
This week: beat Tennessee 31-17
Next week: vs. UMass
The Bulldogs continued their dominance over the Vols, beating them for an eighth straight year and further complicating the top of the SEC standings. Down 10-0, QB Carson Beck rallied UGA with one of the best performances of his career. He rolled up nearly 350 yards passing and two touchdowns and had 32 yards on the ground with a touchdown.
5. Texas Longhorns
This week: beat Arkansas 20-10
Next week: vs. Kentucky
There are stretches — maybe too many of them — when the Texas offense looks nothing like a top-10 unit. We saw it at times against lowly Mississippi State (1.5 quarters without scoring), at Vanderbilt (zero TDs in the final 2.5 quarters) and versus Georgia (scoreless for the first half). Against Arkansas on Saturday, there was more of that. But in the end, the Longhorns defense did enough and kicker Bert Auburn made a couple of field goals to give Steve Sarkisian’s team some early cushion.
6. Penn State Nittany Lions
This week: beat Purdue 49-10
Next week: at Minnesota
The Nittany Lions are barreling toward an 11-1 finish and hosting a playoff game at Happy Valley (sounds cool, no?). But that’s not what we want to talk about here and now. Tyler Warren continues to prove that he’s one of the best tight ends — and players — in college football. He had eight catches for 127 yards, three rushes for 63 yards and scored twice on Saturday.
7. Ole Miss Rebels
This week: Bye
Next week: at Florida
The Rebels got a rest this week after the win over top-five Georgia. The path to the playoffs seems quite clear: Win the final two games and you’re in. It might not be that easy with the cluster of two-loss teams in the SEC vying for at-large berths, but the Rebels’ win over Georgia remains one of the best of anyone in the country this season. A trip to Gainesville and a home game against Mississippi State stand in the way of, perhaps, a playoff ticket.
8. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
This week: beat Virginia 35-14
Next week: vs. Army (New York)
The Irish won an eighth straight game after the stunning loss to Northern Illinois — a defeat that seems to have launched them into their winning ways. Marcus Freeman’s team scored the first 35 points on Saturday, leaning on Jeremiyah Love’s 137 yards and two scores for another blowout victory. Of their eight consecutive victories, six of them have come by at least two touchdowns.
9. SMU Mustangs
This week: beat Boston College 38-28
Next week: at Virginia
SMU QB Kevin Jennings continued his hot streak since assuming starting quarterback duties a few games into the season. He threw for 298 and three touchdowns, and SMU answered each time that the Eagles closed the gap or took the lead. BC led 21-20 in the third quarter before Jennings hit Jordan Hudson for a 38-yard TD. The Mustangs’ only loss of the season? By three points to unbeaten BYU.
10. Miami Hurricanes
This week: Bye
Next week: vs. Wake Forest
The Hurricanes re-emerge in our top 10 after the loss from BYU. Sure, the Hurricanes might finish the regular season without a top-25 win and, yes, they barely survived some mighty close calls, and of course, they did lose at Georgia Tech… but other than that, things are great! Seriously, though, QB Cam Ward is one of the best players in the country and the Canes, with two wins to end the year, will be in the ACC championship game.
Dropped out: BYU (4), Tennessee (8)