A total of 7 teams from last week’s ranking lost and none remain in our top 10 for this week. Four of them dropped out of the rankings altogether as we inch closer to the post-season, increased playoff talk, and figuring out whichever weird bowl games Notre Dame could be signing up for in a couple weeks.
Who is a better 3-loss team than the Fighting Irish?
18 Stripes Top 20 Poll
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | RESULT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgia | 10-0 | 45-19 W at Miss State |
| 2 | Ohio State | 10-0 | 56-14 W vs. Indiana |
| 3 | TCU | 10-0 | 17-10 W at Texas |
| 4 | Michigan | 10-0 | 34-3 W vs. Nebraska |
| 5 | Tennessee | 9-1 | 66-24 W vs. Missouri |
| 6 | USC (+1) | 9-1 | 55-17 W vs. Colorado |
| 7 | LSU (+2) | 8-2 | 13-10 W at Arkansas |
| 8 | Clemson (+3) | 9-1 | 31-16 W vs. Louisville |
| 9 | North Carolina (+3) | 9-1 | 36-34 W at Wake Forest |
| 10 | Alabama (+3) | 8-2 | 30-24 W at Ole Miss |
| 11 | Oregon (-3) | 8-2 | 37-34 L vs. Washington |
| 12 | Ole Miss (-2) | 8-2 | 30-24 L vs. Alabama |
| 13 | UCLA (-3) | 8-2 | 34-28 L vs. Arizona |
| 14 | Utah | 8-2 | 42-7 W vs. Stanford |
| 15 | Penn State (+2) | 8-2 | 30-0 W vs. Maryland |
| 16 | Washington (NR) | 8-2 | 37-34 W at Oregon |
| 17 | Notre Dame (+3) | 7-3 | 35-32 W at Navy |
| 18 | Kansas State (NR) | 7-3 | 31-3 W at Baylor |
| 19 | UCF (NR) | 8-2 | 38-31 W at Tulane |
| 20 | Florida State (NR) | 7-3 | 38-3 W at Syracuse |
National Storylines
UConn opened their season with a loss to Utah State, beat mighty Central Connecticut State, and then lost their next 3 by a combined 148-24. Since then, they’ve won 5 out of their last 6 including this past weekend’s victory over Liberty 36-33 to become bowl eligible. Jim Mora, Jr. is DGT™ for the Huskies.
Tennessee blitzed Missouri 66-24 in Knoxville piling up 724 total yards and nearly 10 yards per play.
Oklahoma has now lost 5 out of their last 7 games following a 23-20 defeat at West Virginia. The Sooners will need a win at Bedlam or on the road at Texas Tech to gain bowl eligibility.
Should Mike Elko be the National Coach of the Year? Duke has won 3 straight and move to 7-3 after taking care of Virginia Tech 24-7.
There’s a 4-way tie atop the Big Ten West standings. That’s thanks to Purdue going into Champaign and winning 31-24. That’s 2 straight losses now for Illinois. Please God, don’t make it 3 in a row. Please.
Vanderbilt’s long SEC losing streak is OVER. Clark Lea and company had enough! The ‘Dores went on the road and beat Kentucky 24-21 and actually out-played the Wildcats, too. This means Texas A&M (13-10 loss at Auburn) now have the worst record in the entire SEC at 1-6.
LSU definitely got into a rock fight with Arkansas but didn’t succumb to a loss in the hangover game. The Tigers win 13-10 and clinched the SEC West in Brian Kelly’s first season. LSU freshman linebacker Harold Perkins went OFF in this game.
Michigan destroyed Nebraska 34-3. It’s late November and Michigan has yet to be challenged by a quality opponent, pending your thoughts on Penn State.
Speaking of which, Penn State shutout Maryland 30-0 and I’m pretty sure I cursed nearly every quarterback on our graduate transfer list from a couple weeks ago.
Alabama needed a couple late field goal drives to hold off Ole Miss 30-24 in Oxford.
UCF raced out to a 24-7 lead against Tulane in the G5 Game of the Week. They would eventually hold on 38-31 in a game where the Green Wave were -2 in turnovers.
Washington is quietly 8-2 and enters our rankings again following a big, big win at Oregon. That leaves USC, Oregon, and UCLA all tied with 1-loss in league play. The Huskies have a great shot at finishing 10-2 (Colorado, at Wazzu) with their sights set on a good bowl game. They might even be seeing Notre Dame in the Holiday Bowl.
For the 2nd time in 3 weeks, Kansas State wrecks someone as they beat Baylor 31-3 in Waco. The Wildcats move up to 2nd place in the Big 12 now.
Still sitting atop the Big 12 is TCU who remain undefeated with an excellent defensive effort in a 17-10 win over Texas.
Most may have missed it or woke up to the news that UCLA couldn’t do enough on offense and allowed Arizona over 400 yards in a 34-28 loss.
OUT:
No. 15 NC State
If there ever was a Power 5 team you’d feel comfortable nursing a 20-7 lead against in the 2nd half it would be Boston College. Allowing the Eagles to come back and win is a brutal loss for the Wolfpack.
No. 16 Tulane
The Green Wave’s 2-week stay in the rankings is over as they lost to UCF and give the world a 3-way tie atop the AAC standings.
No. 18 Texas
Grumblings of discontent are louder following a 199-yard performance in a close loss to TCU. This Horns offense has shown so many flashes this season but the team now sits at 6-4.
No. 19 Liberty
No one goes into Storrs without a fight!
Opponent Watch
Ohio State (10-0): The running back room continues to suffer injuries for the Buckeyes but it doesn’t matter as they score over 50 for the 4th time this season in a blowout win over Indiana.
Marshall (6-4): The Thundering Herd have won two in a row as their defense played well again in a 28-21 over Appalachian State.
California (3-7): That’s 6 straight losses for Cal as they are blown out by Oregon State 38-10 in Corvallis. The Bears totaled just 156 yards.
North Carolina (9-1): Drake Maye threw for 448 yards and ran for 71 yard in a comeback win over Wake Forest 36-34. The Tar Heels have booked their trip to the ACC Championship with this win.
BYU (5-5): The Cougars were off this week and face Utah Tech this weekend.
Stanford (3-7): The Cardinal scored first at Utah this weekend then were out-scored 42-0 in their 7th loss of the season. They travel to Cal this weekend to see who will finish last in the Pac-12 conference.
UNLV (4-6): Now 5 straight losses for the Rebels as they come up short at home against Fresno State 37-30.
Syracuse (6-4): Quarterback Garrett Shrader returned to the lineup but their offense remains absolutely putrid in recent weeks with only 160 total yards after Florida State whooped ’em 38-3 in the dome.
Clemson (9-1): The Tigers picked themselves up after last week’s devastation and soundly defeated Louisville 31-16.
Navy (3-7): They tried their best to spring an upset and never gave up!
Boston College (3-7): A last-second end zone fade gave Boston College a 21-20 upset win on the road at NC State.
Phil Jurkovec did not play again as backup Emmett Morehead threw for 330 yards with 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
USC (9-1): The Trojans started slow but eventually blasted hapless Colorado 55-17 on Friday night in the Coliseum.
Week 12 Games to Watch
Now featuring dates, channels, and times eastern!
SMU (+3) at Tulane
Thursday, ESPN, 7:30 PM
Tulane is reeling a little bit after last week’s loss and relinquishing the ability to win the conference on their own terms without help. Hopefully they bounce back against a decent SMU team because I want to see the finale at Cincinnati have a lot of meaning.
Illinois (+18) at Michigan
Saturday, ABC, Noon
What are we supposed to do? It’s nearly Thanksgiving and we have to feature this game because of Michigan’s pathetic schedule and with the hopes that maybe, just maybe, someone outside of Ohio State can do the entire country a favor and make sure Michigan doesn’t get into the playoffs. Come on, Bret. Do something for us.
TCU (-3) at Baylor
Saturday, Fox, Noon
I was waiting to see this line and yup, Vegas agrees this is going to be a tough game for TCU. I know Baylor have been so up and down this season and the Big 12 really doesn’t feel like it’s been nearly competitive enough. Are we really going to see TCU get through all of this without a loss?
Georgia (-22.5) at Kentucky
Saturday, CBS, 3:30 PM
Kentucky started 4-0 with that win over Florida and had to be feeling so good. Now, they’re coming off a loss to Vanderbilt and get the pleasure of hosting Georgia as 3+ touchdowns dogs. That’s college football for you.
Texas (-9) at Kansas
Saturday, FS1, 3:30 PM
I was tempted not to include this game but who can forget the awesome Kansas win at Texas last year? Finally, the re-match! Following last weekend’s performance I was a little surprised that the Horns were this heavy of a road favorite. I suppose they’re thinking Texas can get their offense going against the Jayhawks.
USC (-2.5) at UCLA
Saturday, Fox, 8:00 PM
I’ve long felt that UCLA was going to beat USC in this spot and take away from Notre Dame the chance to beat a very highly ranked USC team hoping for a playoff spot. Since losing to Arizona, I’m not so sure UCLA is up to it, but this Trojans defense is so susceptible to, well, everything.
Utah (+3) at Oregon
Saturday, ESPN, 10:30 PM
HUGE weekend in the Pac-12 as with the game above we have the top 4 teams in the league all facing off against each other. I’m not even sure how tie-breakers work in the new division-less Pac-12 (especially with USC and Washington who will not have faced each other) but there has to be a scenario where USC drops all the way down to 5th in the league with only 2 losses. Can someone run the math on that?
So UGA is essentially a lock for the playoff, yeah?
Then winner of UM/tOSU is a lock. (sorry, I am not even willing to consider a UofI win)
Then you’ve got two of TCU (if undefeated), ACC champ (maybe only if it’s Clemson), USC (if 11-1), Tennessee, LSU (if SEC champs, lolz).
Nightmare scenario:
LSU beats Georgia, TCU and USC both drop games, and UNC wins the ACC? Only one of those is extremely unlikely to happen, but this could put 3 SEC teams in the playoff.
UNC couldn’t possibly jump LSU after a win against UGA and SEC Championship vs just a win against Clemson. UT would have better wins than TCU/UNC. They would have to give one of those teams a pretty undeserving jump just for being a conf champ of a mediocre conference.
Thank god this scenario requires LSU to beat UGA. Not gonna happen.
If UI hadn’t gone on their losing streak and entered the BIG championship game at 11-1, then the loser of Ohio St and scUM probably had an off chance to make it into the final four as well.
If Marshall and Stanford didn’t happen… where would be in this conversation?
I think we’d be pretty similar to where we were after losing to Clemson in the ACC championship game.
Illinois going 11-1 would require them to beat Michigan, so if/when the loser of OSU/Michigan is Michigan, they’d be 10-2. They wouldn’t then be in the conversation for top 4.
Clearly 2 years ago we all would have predicted that George Takacs would have a more successful 2022 for Boston College than Phil Jurkovec.
Nice little season for Georgie.
If I remember right, Takacs was getting on the field at ND, just had a lot of talent in front of him. Jurkovec, not so much. So maybe it should have been predictable.
The joy – and maybe the heartbreak – is why you love college football. Irish students and others swarming the field after Clemson with Pyne and other players being surrounded by fellow students they knew. The other celebrations for Kansas, Duke, UConn, Vandy by their fans and supporters becoming bowl bound.
Who would have thought Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Michigan St, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Miami, and Texas Tech would be five win teams and needing one more to go to bowls. Five of those have FCS wins, too. (I see what you did there with the Texas-Kansas comment.)
As far as Pac12 championship and USC, all five get to 7-2 with
USC losing to UCLAUCLA beating USC and CalUW beating Colo and WSUOregon beating Utah and losing to Oregon StUtah losing to Oregon and beating ColoradoUSC would lose head-to-head tiebreakers to UCLA and Utah, but did not play Oregon or Washington. Oregon would have tiebreakers over Utah and UCLA who would have both beat USC. UCLA has a tiebreaker over Washington as well as USC and Utah. Washington has the tiebreaker over Oregon. Oregon vs UCLA? USC fifth?
I root for Vandy as hard as anyone, but they are almost certainly not going to a bowl this year. I would love it, but it would be truly amazing for them to go from losing 26 straight SEC games to 3 straight wins, with the final one, giving them bowl eligibility, being over Tennessee.
I hold out hope for two upsets that would shock the CFB world and mistakingly include their celebration with the bowl bound others. Still, very wise of them to schedule Hawaii the next couple of years. Also, they should be scheduling Tennessee Tech as their FCS game.