Week 11 of college football was another stunning week. Several teams have pretty much lost any chance of making the playoffs, while others are simply barely getting along. For the college football playoffs, what effects did Week 11 have?
College Football Takeaways From Week 11
ACC and Group of 5 May Have No Playoff Contenders
For the ACC, the conference remains to be the weakest one of all, as only one team the power four, the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets, has one loss. Other teams like the Pittsburgh Panthers, Virginia Cavs, and Miami Hurricanes have two losses. The ACC can get at least one team into the playoffs, but the question remains if a two-loss team or even a three loss team will be ranked ahead of Big Ten team or SEC team that also has two losses or three.
For the group of 5, there remains to be a small amount of teams in contention for a spot, as Tulane, USF, and Memphis probably lead the pack at the moment. Again though, it will be really hard for an 11-2 Tulane to be ahead of a 10-2 USC for example. In other words, the group of 5 is running out time and teams that can even reach the playoffs.
Big Teams Seemingly Eliminated, Others Feel Like Locks
Major teams were pretty much eliminated from playoff contention after Saturday, including the Missouri Tigers, Washington Huskies, Iowa Hawkeyes, and probably Virginia. Missouri suffered an ugly 38-17 loss against the undefeated Texas A&M Aggies, while Washington suffered an humiliating loss against the terrible Wisconsin Badgers 13-10 (Wisconsin passed for 46 yards-yikes). Iowa lost in depressing fashion again, this time on a walk off 18-16 field-goal against No. 9 Oregon. Finally Virginia suffered just it’s second loss of the season against Wake Forest 16-9.
Yet that feels like the end of the line for a team that barely got along it’s schedule anyway. The locks are the Ohio State Buckeyes and Indiana Hoosiers, while Texas A&M and Alabama both feel like locks as well. The Buckeyes have done nothing wrong in route to a 9-0 start, the remaining schedule is just too easy for OSU, other than Michigan of course. For Indiana- there 10-0 with some of the easiest teams remaining on it’s schedule. Texas A&M will have to take on the Texas Longhorns and South Carolina.
But to be honest, there a lock. For Alabama, there probably are as well, with just one big thing though: they continue to drag their feet through the schedule. This time, Alabama’s leading rusher went for just 26 yards as they defeated LSU 20-9 in unimpressive fashion. There remains on the schedule the Auburn Tigers and gritty Oklahoma Sooners, both can end Bama’s dreams rather quickly.
Major Matchups Could Shakeup Playoff Teams In Week 12
(7-2) Notre Dame At. Pittsburgh (7-2)
Clearly, this matchup is extremely important for both teams. Pitt is looking to solidify themselves as contenders while Notre Dame looks to continue rolling into the playoffs. It’s also safe to say that whoever loses is eliminated from playoff contention.
(7-2) Oklahoma At. Alabama (8-1)
Oklahoma is an extremely strange team this season, as at first it seemed John Mateer was a Heisman contender. Now, he has struggled and the Sooners will massively rely on their defense to stop the sluggish Crimson Tide. A loss means eliminations from contention for the Sooners as well. Alabama has won all of it’s games since week 1, but the way their playing, they are waiting for a rude awakening. If they survive, great, but if they don’t- playoff hopes could shrink massively.
(7-2) Texas At. Georgia (8-1)
Simply put, Texas can’t afford to lose this game, as they also have Texas A&M on their schedule and a low chance of making the conference championship. Georgia meanwhile is hoping for another win and much clearer path into the playoffs.
Week 11 was again pretty amazing. From upsets that were just missed to ones that actually occurred, it was will be interesting to see the results of the week on the playoffs. And something tells me that Week 12 will be just as entertaining.
Main Image: Amber Searls-Imagn Images
