The last weekend before the College Football Playoff rankings debut shook loose some hopefuls, clearing the clutter before the last month of the season.
No. 9 Florida? Done. No. 18 Iowa? There will be no Hawkeyes run. No. 6 Texas is now a fringe contender after being on the short of Saturday’s most significant upset.
However, don’t count out No. 14 Washington State just yet. The Cougars are the Pac-12’s long shot last hope. If you’re a fan of playoff chaos, Mike Leach might be your man.
The Longhorns took their first Big 12 loss at Oklahoma State, which came in having lost two straight and three of four. Texas has one of the season’s best victories, beating No. 8 Oklahoma, but struggles against Kansas State and Baylor had Tom Herman’s team looking like it was not quite ready for prime time.
Mike Gundy’s Cowboys exposed the Longhorns, who are now tied with No. 13 West Virginia and the Sooners for first in the conference. The Mountaineers come to Austin next week.
There is enough potential for mayhem around the country, especially in the Big Ten, to keep the possibility of a two-loss conference champion making the playoff alive. Texas can still hope that two victories against Oklahoma will make a strong case. But the Sooners still look like the class of the conference.
ELIMINATED
Florida and Iowa have no such hope.
No. 7 Georgia bounced back from its loss at LSU to restore some order in the SEC East and hand Florida its second loss of the season. The Bulldogs looked the part of national title contender again, pulling away from the Gators with an array of weapons . And Jake Fromm did not need any assistance from freshman Justin Field. Fromm threw for 240 yards and three touchdowns.
The Bulldogs can wrap up the SEC East crown and eliminate another one of those fringe playoff contenders next week when they visit No. 12 Kentucky. The Wildcats won on the last play of the game at Missouri to set up the biggest football game in Lexington, Kentucky, maybe since Bear Bryant was coach there.
The Wildcats are a great story, but have not scored more than 15 points in their last three games. That’s probably not going to cut it against the Bulldogs.
By next Saturday night, the Alabama-Georgia rematch in Atlanta could be set. This time for the SEC championship instead of the national title. Georgia-Kentucky will be the first game of the nationally televised SEC doubleheader on CBS. The top-ranked Crimson Tide is at No. 4 LSU in the nightcap.
Those who like chaos in their playoff race will root for the Wildcats and Tigers, but don’t count on it.
Iowa’s playoff dreams went away at Penn State in a bizarre game that featured Kirk Ferentz calling fake field goals and punts and Penn State handing the Hawkeyes four points worth of safeties. It was starting to feel a little like 2015, when Iowa reached the Big Ten championship game unbeaten and came one long Michigan State touchdown drive from making the playoff.
Beating Penn State would have opened a clear path to Indianapolis for the Hawkeyes, but quarterback Nate Stanley was all over the place and they couldn’t close the deal. Another L for those on team chaos.
LAST-HOPE LEACH
No. 14 Washington State (7-1) rallied to win at No. 24 Stanford and sits atop the Pac-12 North all by itself. The Cougars provide a glimmer of playoff hope for the fast-fading conference. But the reality is that even if Wazzu wins out, its resume with no Power Five nonconference victories probably won’t be winning many selection committee arguments.
Still, just think what fun it could be having Leach in the mix as the committee’s ranking are released and his team is on the outside looking in week after week.
After beating Stanford, Leach quoted John Wooden and talked about how his team needed to focus on the small picture — and not the playoff race. He then talked about his desire for a 64-team playoff field.
“I think if you were to vote on it, there would be a lot more playoff teams,” Leach said. “I would vote for 64. But I do think there will probably be 16 (in the future). You know, and of course, how could you possibly do it? Like everybody else.”