LSU toppled Alabama in Tuscaloosa in a thrilling offensive fireworks display that potentially blocks the Crimson Tide from making the College Football Playoff. Well, maybe. Elsewhere, Minnesota held on at home against Penn State to remain undefeated and now legitimately becomes part of the playoff conversation themselves, although their schedule continues to stiffen as we progress through November.

This Week’s Winner: Tanner Morgan, QB, Minnesota

Morgan entered the national consciousness this weekend with a scorching 18 of 20 for 339 yards and 3 touchdown performance in the biggest game in Minneapolis in years. He’s now 4th nationally in passer rating behind the likes of Jalen Hurts, Tua Tagovailoa, and Joe Burrow.

This Week’s Loser: Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Alabama

Speaking of Tua! Let’s just say for the sake of this argument Alabama doesn’t make the playoffs but wins out the rest of the year. The Bama quarterback would be 25-2 over the last 2 seasons with roughly 7,400 passing yards, 85 touchdown passes, still the likely No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft, and yet not win a Heisman or National Championship in either season. That’ll be a nice story for your grandchildren.

18 Stripes Top 20 Poll

OUT: Wake Forest, Iowa

IN: Boise State, SMU

Let’s take a look at some poll disagreements. By the way, this isn’t a new opinion but it’s super obvious now that they should just retire the Coaches poll, right? It was kind of dumb from the beginning if we’re honest.

LSU, Ohio State, and Clemson are the top 3 in each of the CFP, AP, and 18S polls.

I joined the AP in placing Alabama ahead of Georgia. I have a hard time overlooking that loss to South Carolina, however fluky, and generally think Alabama is better and would beat a Georgia team that doesn’t really look potent enough offensively to hang with the Tide.

Oregon is 6th in all 3 polls.

I have Oklahoma 7th 3 spots higher than the other polls. I don’t really get the CFP putting Utah (with a loss to USC and best wins against Washington and ASU or Cal??) in the 7 spot. The AP went with Minnesota which is fine although it feels like they’ve played a one-game season thus far, fair or not.

I have Penn State with a better loss and better wins above the Utes.

I feel like Baylor’s schedule is just good enough to keep them above all 2-loss teams to date. The AP has Florida above Baylor and the CFP both the Gators and Auburn above the Bears. SEC bias?

With a quality win over Iowa I’ve bumped Wisconsin up to 14th which drops Michigan and Notre Dame one spot apiece just like the CFP poll. The AP has Michigan atop this group of 3 teams.

Both the AP and CFP have Cincinnati ahead of Memphis, 18 Stripes has that flipped.

Like the AP, our poll finishes with Boise State and SMU. The College Football Playoff Committee has decided to spurn the G5 teams here in favor of 3-loss Texas and Iowa teams.

Week 12 Games to Watch

Indiana (+14.5) at Penn State – The Hoosiers are ranked in the AP Poll in mid-November for the first time in history which isn’t fact checked but it seems like it could be right. This is a tricky rebound game for Penn State who faces Indiana coming off a bye, too. Yet, the Hoosiers haven’t beaten a team with a winning record yet so perhaps they aren’t really all that different from past seasons. I’d expect Penn State to struggle for a bit but hold on. Nittany Lions 37-30.

Wake Forest (+34.5) at Clemson – By record, this is the toughest league game possible for Clemson. The ACC, everybody! The Deacons will need a good showing here and some carnage in the ACC Coastal to keep their Orange Bowl odds alive. Tigers 49-21.

Georgia (-3) at Auburn – This is the beginning of the door opening to Alabama sneaking into the playoffs despite not likely winning their division. Of course, the Tide will still need some help in the Big 12 and Pac-12, as well. I usually like Auburn in these big games and think a low-scoring game really suits them well this weekend coming off a bye. Tigers 24-22.

Minnesota (+3) at Iowa – Congratulations to Minnesota for their biggest win in ages now you’re road dogs against scrappy Iowa. A loss here would be very college football-y but maybe not as much as Minnesota feeling like they clinched the Big Ten West with a 2-game lead following a win over Iowa and 2 games remaining, only to face plant at Northwestern next week. That’d be peak college football. I’m feeling overtime here. Gophers 29-26.

Oklahoma (-10) at Baylor – All hail the presence of GameDay back to Waco for the 4th time in history. This is kind of the season for Baylor as they’d pretty much wrap up the Big 12 regular season championship title and then move near the top 5 of the playoff rankings. No pressure! I just have a hard time seeing this happening. Sooners 45-24.