SWC75
Bored Historian
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 32,848
- Like
- 63,262
The last few years at this time in the college football season I’ve begun making weekly posts called “The Undefeated”, in which I gave detailed information about the remaining undefeated teams and they tried to stay in contention for first the BCS championships game and now the playoffs. Toward the end of the season, if it became apparent that we were going to have a one loss team in the playoff, I included information about them. The information was their record, their ranking, their points against ranked teams, (see that post), the remaining schedule, including the same information for each team.
I’ve decided to simply these posts by focusing on upcoming games against the teams most likely to knock them off and be contenders themselves. I won’t be providing all the stats about each team: just who they play and when that might be a big threat. I’m going to call it “The Contenders” instead of “The Undefeated”. I’m going to list each undefeated team ranked in the AP, (writer’s) top 25 and then each one loss team from any of the ‘power five’ conferences, (the ACC, The SEC, the Big 10, Big 12 and Pac 12)or that continues to be ranked. There is virtually a 100% chance that all four playoff teams will come from this group. We’ve had one two loss team play for the title since the BCS started, (LSU 2007) and they are the only two loss national champion we’ve ever had. Then I’ll list the teams also on that list that they will be playing, when and where. That way we’ll be able to look forward to the big match-ups to come on the same page.
Undefeated teams:
ALABAMA is 6-0 and will be playing:
At Tennessee (5-1) on 10/15
Texas A&M (6-0) on 10/22 at home
OHIO STATE is 5-0 and will be playing:
At Wisconsin (4-1) on 10/15
Nebraska (5-0) on 11/5 at home
At Maryland (4-1) on 11/12
Michigan (6-0) on 11/26
CLEMSON is 6-0 and will be playing:
North Carolina State (4-1) on 10/15 at home
At Wake Forest (5-1) on 11/19
MICHIGAN is 6-0 and will be playing:
Maryland (4-1) on 11/5 at home
At Ohio State on 11/26
WASHINGTON is 6-0 and will be playing:
At Utah (5-1) on 10/29
Arizona State (5-1) on 11/19 at home
TEXAS A&M is 6-0 and will be playing:
At Alabama (6-0) on 10/22
NEBRASKA is 5-0 and will be playing:
At Wisconsin (4-1) on 10/29
At Ohio State (5-0) on 11/5
Maryland (4-1) on 11/19 at home
BAYLOR is 5-0 and will be playing:
West Virginia (4-0) on 12/3 at home
BOISE STATE is 5-0 and will not be playing anyone on this list but they will be playing at Air Force (4-1, unranked) on 11/25.
WEST VIRGINIA is 4-0 and will be playing:
At Baylor (5-0) on 12/3
Comments: Ohio State will play the most contenders the rest of the way, which is a double-edged sword: They have the most challenges and the best chance to prove how good they are. But they are already ranked #2 and really don’t have to prove themselves. Their annual confrontation with Michigan will be huge. Baylor and West Virginia may wind up playing for the Big 12 title but they have the opposite problem: they both may have a hard time convincing the committee that they’ve done enough to be in the playoff if there are other teams from power five conferences with similar records. They are in a conference with no title game, which lies on the same double-edged sword: they might need one to improve their resume. Alabama, Clemson and Washington are all in good positon to run the table. So is Boise State but it won’t matter.
One loss teams:
LOUISVILLE is 4-1 and will be playing:
North Carolina State (4-1) on 10/22 at home
Wake Forest (5-1) 11/12 at home
At Houston (5-1) 11/17
HOUSTON is 5-1 and will be playing:
Tulsa (4-1) on 10/15 at home
Louisville (4-1) on 11/17 at home
At Memphis (4-1) on 11/25
TENNESSEE is 5-1 and will be playing:
Alabama (6-0) on 10/15 at home
MIAMI is 4-1 and will be playing:
At Virginia Tech (4-1) on 11/12
At North Carolina State (4-1) on 11/19
WISCONSIN is 4-1 and will be playing:
Ohio State (5-0) on 10/15
Nebraska (5-0) on 10/29
FLORIDA is 4-1 and will be playing no one on this list the rest of the way.
UTAH is 5-1 and will be playing:
Washington (6-0) on 10/29 at home
At Arizona State (5-1) on 11/10
VIRGINIA TECH is 4-1 and will be playing:
Miami (4-1) on 10/20 at home
ARIZONA STATE is 5-1 and will be playing:
Utah (5-1) on 11/10 at home
At Washington (6-0) on 11/19
MARYLAND is 4-1 and will be playing:
At Michigan (6-0) on 11/5
Ohio State (5-0) on 11/12 at home
At Nebraska (5-0) on 11/19
NORTH CAROLINA STATE is 4-1 and will be playing:
At Clemson (6-0) on 10/15
At Louisville (4-1) on 10/22
Miami (4-1) on 11/19 at home
WAKE FOREST is 5-1 and will be playing:
At Louisville (4-1) on 11/12
Clemson (6-0) on 11.19
Comment: There probably will be 1-2 one loss teams in the playoff but I think they are likely to be currently undefeated teams, with the possible exception of Louisville. These one-loss teams face some serious challenges, (Maryland will be playing Michigan, Ohio State and Nebraska on consecutive weekends, two of them on the road: that’s about as serious as challenges get). The best chance for these teams might we with Virginia Tech or Miami who could run the table to the ACC title game and then knock off Clemson. If Tennessee can knock off Alabama or Wisconsin beat Ohio State, they could get in the mix. Florida still has to figure out if and when they might be playing LSU. They have already lost to Tennessee so it will be hard for them to get to the SEC title game.
I’ve decided to simply these posts by focusing on upcoming games against the teams most likely to knock them off and be contenders themselves. I won’t be providing all the stats about each team: just who they play and when that might be a big threat. I’m going to call it “The Contenders” instead of “The Undefeated”. I’m going to list each undefeated team ranked in the AP, (writer’s) top 25 and then each one loss team from any of the ‘power five’ conferences, (the ACC, The SEC, the Big 10, Big 12 and Pac 12)or that continues to be ranked. There is virtually a 100% chance that all four playoff teams will come from this group. We’ve had one two loss team play for the title since the BCS started, (LSU 2007) and they are the only two loss national champion we’ve ever had. Then I’ll list the teams also on that list that they will be playing, when and where. That way we’ll be able to look forward to the big match-ups to come on the same page.
Undefeated teams:
ALABAMA is 6-0 and will be playing:
At Tennessee (5-1) on 10/15
Texas A&M (6-0) on 10/22 at home
OHIO STATE is 5-0 and will be playing:
At Wisconsin (4-1) on 10/15
Nebraska (5-0) on 11/5 at home
At Maryland (4-1) on 11/12
Michigan (6-0) on 11/26
CLEMSON is 6-0 and will be playing:
North Carolina State (4-1) on 10/15 at home
At Wake Forest (5-1) on 11/19
MICHIGAN is 6-0 and will be playing:
Maryland (4-1) on 11/5 at home
At Ohio State on 11/26
WASHINGTON is 6-0 and will be playing:
At Utah (5-1) on 10/29
Arizona State (5-1) on 11/19 at home
TEXAS A&M is 6-0 and will be playing:
At Alabama (6-0) on 10/22
NEBRASKA is 5-0 and will be playing:
At Wisconsin (4-1) on 10/29
At Ohio State (5-0) on 11/5
Maryland (4-1) on 11/19 at home
BAYLOR is 5-0 and will be playing:
West Virginia (4-0) on 12/3 at home
BOISE STATE is 5-0 and will not be playing anyone on this list but they will be playing at Air Force (4-1, unranked) on 11/25.
WEST VIRGINIA is 4-0 and will be playing:
At Baylor (5-0) on 12/3
Comments: Ohio State will play the most contenders the rest of the way, which is a double-edged sword: They have the most challenges and the best chance to prove how good they are. But they are already ranked #2 and really don’t have to prove themselves. Their annual confrontation with Michigan will be huge. Baylor and West Virginia may wind up playing for the Big 12 title but they have the opposite problem: they both may have a hard time convincing the committee that they’ve done enough to be in the playoff if there are other teams from power five conferences with similar records. They are in a conference with no title game, which lies on the same double-edged sword: they might need one to improve their resume. Alabama, Clemson and Washington are all in good positon to run the table. So is Boise State but it won’t matter.
One loss teams:
LOUISVILLE is 4-1 and will be playing:
North Carolina State (4-1) on 10/22 at home
Wake Forest (5-1) 11/12 at home
At Houston (5-1) 11/17
HOUSTON is 5-1 and will be playing:
Tulsa (4-1) on 10/15 at home
Louisville (4-1) on 11/17 at home
At Memphis (4-1) on 11/25
TENNESSEE is 5-1 and will be playing:
Alabama (6-0) on 10/15 at home
MIAMI is 4-1 and will be playing:
At Virginia Tech (4-1) on 11/12
At North Carolina State (4-1) on 11/19
WISCONSIN is 4-1 and will be playing:
Ohio State (5-0) on 10/15
Nebraska (5-0) on 10/29
FLORIDA is 4-1 and will be playing no one on this list the rest of the way.
UTAH is 5-1 and will be playing:
Washington (6-0) on 10/29 at home
At Arizona State (5-1) on 11/10
VIRGINIA TECH is 4-1 and will be playing:
Miami (4-1) on 10/20 at home
ARIZONA STATE is 5-1 and will be playing:
Utah (5-1) on 11/10 at home
At Washington (6-0) on 11/19
MARYLAND is 4-1 and will be playing:
At Michigan (6-0) on 11/5
Ohio State (5-0) on 11/12 at home
At Nebraska (5-0) on 11/19
NORTH CAROLINA STATE is 4-1 and will be playing:
At Clemson (6-0) on 10/15
At Louisville (4-1) on 10/22
Miami (4-1) on 11/19 at home
WAKE FOREST is 5-1 and will be playing:
At Louisville (4-1) on 11/12
Clemson (6-0) on 11.19
Comment: There probably will be 1-2 one loss teams in the playoff but I think they are likely to be currently undefeated teams, with the possible exception of Louisville. These one-loss teams face some serious challenges, (Maryland will be playing Michigan, Ohio State and Nebraska on consecutive weekends, two of them on the road: that’s about as serious as challenges get). The best chance for these teams might we with Virginia Tech or Miami who could run the table to the ACC title game and then knock off Clemson. If Tennessee can knock off Alabama or Wisconsin beat Ohio State, they could get in the mix. Florida still has to figure out if and when they might be playing LSU. They have already lost to Tennessee so it will be hard for them to get to the SEC title game.