Week 13 College Football Review

The final Rivalry Week of the season definitely did not disappoint as both Alabama and Miami lost. That made room in the playoff field for two teams (Auburn and Clemson). Anything can still happen at this point as all four playoff teams are playing in their respective conference championships this week. There has been a lot of talk about Ohio State making the playoffs IF they win the Big Ten Championship. I do not see it happening. I just do not see how the playoff committee would put a 2 loss Ohio State team in. It is not that a 2 loss team should not make the playoff, but when you look at Ohio State's two losses (at home against Oklahoma, at Iowa) the losses were not even close. That alone should be a disqualifier. However, this is why they play the games.

The winners of the SEC and ACC Championship games should receive automatic bids (there is no such thing in college football, but this is about as close as it comes) to the playoff. If TCU and Ohio State win there is the possibility that either the Big 12 or Big Ten do not get an invite to the playoff.

Playoff Teams

1. Oklahoma Sooners (11-1)

Baker Mayfield did not start this game due to his actions against Kansas the week before. It amounted for two offensive plays as on the first play from scrimmage his back up Kyler Murray ran for a 68 yard gain and then Rodney Anderson ran for 4 yards and his first of four touchdowns. If Murray is the future of the Oklahoma program Sooner fans should be excited. But they need to finish this season first. They get a rematch with TCU in the Big 12 Championship.

Last week: Defeated West Virginia 59-31

Up next: against #5 TCU (Big 12 Championship)

2. Auburn Tigers (10-2)

Auburn has beaten the #1 team in the country twice in three weeks. That is quite the feat for a team that halfway through the season people were calling for Gus Malzahn to be fired. There was thinking in Arkansas that if Auburn had lost to Alabama Malzahn would be headed to Arkansas today. If Auburn continues it's winning ways and makes the playoff expect Auburn to offer a huge extension to Malzahn. Auburn gets a rematch with Georgia in the SEC Championship.

​Last week: Defeated Alabama 26-14

Up next: against #1 Georgia (SEC Championship)

3. Wisconsin Badgers (12-0)

One of only two undefeated teams left and Wisconsin is getting absolutely no love. Whether or not you think the Badgers are overrated they did finish the Big Ten season undefeated and that should not be overlooked. They get the task of facing Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship.

​Last week: Defeated Minnesota 31-0

Up next: against #10 Ohio State (Big Ten Championship)

4. Clemson Tigers (11-1)

As uneasy as I had been putting Miami in the playoff (even though they were undefeated) I feel the same with Clemson. Their sole loss was to a Syracuse team that did not win enough games to go bowling this off-season. They take on Miami in the ACC Championship

​Last week: Defeated South Carolina 34-10

Up next: against #3 Miami (ACC Championship)

Next Two Up

1. Georgia Bulldogs (11-1)

If Georgia beat Auburn in the SEC Championship game they are right back in the playoff. If they lose they are out.

​Last week: Defeated Georgia Tech 38-7

Up next: against #2 Playoff Auburn (SEC Championship)

2. Alabama Crimson Tide (11-1)

Alabama needs a lot of help making the playoff. They need Georgia to beat Auburn, as that will make Auburn a 3 loss team. They also need Ohio State to beat Wisconsin, as I believe that the committee would take a 1 loss Alabama team over a 2 loss Big Ten Champion Ohio State team. A lot could happen this week and Alabama catches a break with not having to play.

​Last week: Lost to Auburn 26-14

Up next: Off

Top 20

	Last Week	This Week
#3 Miami(11-1) (down from playoff)	Lost to Pittsburgh 24-14	against #4 Playoff Clemson ACC Championship
#4 Penn State(10-2) (-)	Defeated Maryland 66-3	against #10 Ohio State Big Ten Championship
#5 TCU(10-2) (-)	Defeated Baylor 45-22	against #1 Playoff OU Big 12 Championshp
#6 Central Florida(11-0) (-)	Defeated South Florida 49-42	against #11 Memphis AAC Championship
#7 USC(10-2) (Up 1)	Off	against #13 Stanford Pac-12 Championship (12/1)
#8 Washington(10-2) (Up 1)	Defeated Washington State 41-14	Off
#9 Oklahoma State(9-3) (Up 2)	Defeated Kansas 58-17	Off
#10 Ohio State(10-2) (-)	Defeated Michigan 31-20	against #3 Playoff Wisconsin Big Ten Championship
#11 Memphis(10-1) (Up 1)	Defeated East Carolina 70-13	against #6 Central Florida AAC Championship
#12 Northwestern(9-3) (Up 2)	Defeated Illinois 42-7	Off
#13 Stanford(9-3) (Up 5)	Defeated #14 Notre Dame 38-20	against #7 USC Pac-12 Championship (12/1)
#14 Notre Dame(9-3) (Down 7)	Lost to #13 Stanford 38-20	Off
#15 Virginia Tech(9-3) (Up 5)	Defeated Virginia 10-0	Off
#16 LSU(9-3) (Unranked)	Defeated Texas A&M 45-21	Off
#17 Michigan State(9-3) (Unranked)	Defeated Rutgers 40-7	Off
#18 Washington State(9-3) (Down 5)	Lost to Washington 40-14	Off
#19 NC State(8-4) (Unranked)	Defeated North Carolina 33-21	Off
#20 Army(8-3) (Unranked)	Off	Off

Falling Out: Boise State, South Florida, Michigan, Mississippi State

Coming In: LSU, Michigan State, NC State, Army

Championship Games

Pac-12 (12/1 7:00 PM)	Stanford-28 vs USC-31
AAC (12/2 11:00 AM)	Memphis vs Central Florida
MAC (12/2 11:00 AM)	Akron vs Toledo
C-USA (12/2 11:00 AM)	North Texas vs Florida Atlantic
Big 12 (12/2 11:30 AM)	TCU vs Oklahoma
SEC (12/2 3:00 PM)	Georgia vs Auburn
Mountain West (12/2 6:45 PM)	Fresno State vs Boise State
ACC (12/2 7:00 PM)	Miami vs Clemson
Big Ten (12/2 7:00PM)	Ohio State vs Wisconsin

Bowl and Playoff Projection

Playoffs

Rose Bowl

January 1st, 5 PM

#1 Oklahoma vs #4 Clemson

Sugar Bowl

January 1st, 8:45 PM

#2 Auburn vs #3 Wisconsin

New Year's Six

Cotton Bowl

December 29th, 8:30 PM

#8 Washington vs #9 Oklahoma State

Fiesta Bowl

December 30th, 4 PM

#7 USC vs #4 Penn State

Orange Bowl

December 30th, 8 PM

#2 Miami vs #10 Ohio State

Peach Bowl

January 1st, 12:30 PM

#3 Alabama vs #6 Central Florida

Rest of the Bowls

December 13th

New Orleans Bowl

1 PM

Troy vs Florida International

Cure Bowl

2:30 PM

Louisiana Tech vs Georgia State

Las Vegas Bowl

3:30 PM

Fresno State vs Arizona

New Mexico Bowl

4:30 PM

Alabama-Birmingham vs San Diego State

Camellia Bowl

8 PM

Akron vs Appalachian State

December 19th

Boca Raton Bowl

7 PM

Temple vs Florida Atlantic

December 20th

Frisco Bowl

8 PM

Houston vs New Mexico State

​December 21st

Gasparilla Bowl

8 PM

South Florida vs North Texas

​December 22nd

Bahamas Bowl

12:30 PM

Southern Miss vs Northern Illinois

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl

4 PM

Central Michigan vs Wyoming

​December 23rd

Birmingham Bowl

Noon

Buffalo vs Memphis

Armed Forces Bowl

3:30 PM

Army ​vs Marshall

Dollar General Bowl

7 PM

Toledo vs Arkansas State

​December 24th

Hawai'i Bowl

8:30 PM

SMU vs Boise Stare

December 26th

​ Heart of Dallas Bowl

1:30 PM

Utah State vs Middle Tennessee State

Quick Lane Bowl

5:15 PM

Western Michigan vs Duke

Cactus Bowl

10 PM

Texas Tech vs Oregon

​December 27th

​ Independence Bowl

1:30 PM

Western Kentucky vs Florida State

Pinstripe Bowl

5:15 PM

Michigan vs Notre Dame

Foster Farms Bowl

8:30 PM

Iowa vs Washington State

Texas Bowl

9 PM

Kansas State vs Texas A&M

​December 28th

Military Bowl

1:30 PM

Navy vs Virginia

Camping World Bowl

5:15 PM

West Virginia vs Virginia Tech

Alamo Bowl

9 PM

Texas vs Stanford

Holiday Bowl

9 PM

Washington vs Northwestern

​December 29th

Belk Bowl

1 PM

Kentucky vs Boston College

Sun Bowl

3 PM

Arizona State vs Louisville

Music City Bowl

4:30 PM

Mississippi State vs Purdue

Arizona Bowl

5:30 PM

Louisiana vs Colorado St

December 30th

Taxslayer Bowl

Noon

South Carolina vs Wake Forest

Liberty Bowl

12:30 PM

Iowa State vs Missouri

​January 1st

Outback Bowl

Noon

Michigan State vs LSU

Citrus Bowl

1 PM

Georgia vs North Carolina St

​Fired Coaches

The list is getting longer as UCLA, South Alabama, Kent State, Arkansas, Nebraska, and Arizona State fired their head coaches. The list also got a bit shorter as UCLA made the first big hire with Chip Kelly.

​Update: Florida officially hired Dan Mullen away from Mississippi State (which was not fully unanticipated after Chip Kelly went to UCLA) and Ole Miss took the interim tag off of Matt Luke.

School	Old Coach	Interim Coach	New Coach
Oklahoma	Bob Stoops	--	Lincoln Riley+
Ole Miss	Hugh Freeze++	Matt Luke	Matt Luke
UTEP	Sean Kugler	Mike Price
Oregon State	Gary Andersen	Cory Hall	Jonathan Smith
Georgia Southern	Tyson Summers	Chad Lunsford	Chad Lunsford
Florida	Jim McElwain	Randy Shannon	Dan Mullen
Tennessee	Butch Jones	Brady Hoke
UCLA	Jim Mora	Jedd Fisch	Chip Kelly
South Alabama	Joey Jones	+++
Kent State	Paul Haynes
Arkansas	Brett Bielema	Paul Rhodes
Nebraska	Mike Riley
Arizona State	Todd Graham	++++	Herm Edwards
Texas A&M	Kevin Sumlin	Jeff Banks	Jimbo Fisher
Mississippi State	Dan Mullen		Joe Moorehead
Florida State	Jimbo Fisher	Odell Haggins

+ Oklahoma - Bob Stoops suddenly retired during the summer and the same day Lincoln Riley was named as the new head coach (no interim tag)

++ Ole Miss - Hugh Freeze resigned before the season started and Matt Luke was named the interim head coach for this season. It is believed that he will not be named head coach following the season

+++ South Alabama - Though Joey Jones resigned today he is going to finish the season with the team. They are not going to a bowl this season (record) so there should not be any interim coached appointed.

++++ Arizona State - Though the school fired Todd Graham he will coach the team in their bowl game.