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Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 1168161, member: 289"] It’s October and so I will once again chart the future challenges of the undefeated in major college football. Once November comes I’ll include the one-loss teams. We now have a four team playoff, (maybe someday we’ll move to 8 with auto bids for the Power Five champions), so more of these teams will continue to have a chance until the very end of the regular season. I’ll limit my coverage to ranked teams. (For fun I’ll also keep track of the teams eligible for the Tidy Bowl, which decides the worst team in the country, although I’ll not spend as much time on them. I think I’ll do a four team playoff for that, too, this year.) MISSISSIPPI STATE 6-0 (250-120) #1 in both polls Sat 10/25 at Kentucky (5-2) Sat 11/1 Arkansas (3-4) Sat 11/8 UT Martin (3-5 in FCS) Sat 11/15 at #4 Alabama (6-1) Sat 11/22 Vanderbilt (2-5) Sat 11/29 at #3 Mississippi (7-0) Comment Mississippi State, with their blow-out wins at LSU and over Texas A&M and Auburn at home has been the most impressive team so far. But they have their challenges, as well with a surprising Kentucky a revived Alabama and Ole Miss in Oxford at the end of the season. But I like their odds of running the table. They just seem to have “it”. Versus Ranked teams: 99 points (best in the country). FLORIDA STATE 7-0-0 (265-151) #2 both polls Thu 10/30 at Louisville (6-2) Sat 11/8 Virginia (4-3) Sat 11/15 at Miami (5-3) Sat 11/22 Boston College (4-3) Sat 11/29 Florida (3-3) Comment: Well, they got by Clemson and Notre Dame but the Noles are not home free, although they won’t face a currently ranked team the rest of the way, (likely including the conference title game). I still think they’ll get dinged somewhere along the way. Louisville is lying in wait. Boston College game them the most trouble in the regular season last year. Miami and Florida are rivalry games and Virginia has a winning record. Can Jameis Winston keep playing? Can FSU keep blade-running? Stay tuned. Versus Ranked Teams: 35 points. MISSISSIPPI 7-0 (248-74) #3 in both polls Sat 10/25 at #24/#23 Louisiana State (6-2) Sat 11/1 #5-6 Auburn (5-1) Sat 11/8 Presbyterian (4-3 in FCS) BYE Sat 11/22 at Arkansas (3-4) Sat 11/29 #1 Mississippi State (6-0) Comment: I think it would be great if the “Egg Bowl” were a battle of undefeated teams ranked in the top 5, (maybe the Top 2), and looking ahead to a possible spot in the four team playoffs. A combination of new blood and an old rivalry. (I also like it when teams that were good when SU was really good in the 50’s and 60’s do well: it suggests we can be good in this era, too.) I think the Rebels have a slightly tougher road than the Bulldogs. Versus Ranked Teams: 56 points. MARSHALL 7-0 (332-116) #23 in the writer’s poll and #22 in the coaches poll. Sat 10/25 Florida Atlantic 3-5 BYE Sat 11/8 at Southern Mississippi 3-4 Sat 11/15 Rice 3-3 Sat 11/22 at Alabama-Birmingham 4-3 Friday 11/28 Western Kentucky 2-4 Mea Culpa- I actually missed them last week when they cracked the top 25. Let’s get theflux capacitor going and return to 1999! Most impressively, they scored at least 42 points in every game this year. Least impressively, they have yet to play a ranked team all season and will not be playing one the rest of the way. They are a cinch to go 12-0 and it’s a cinch that all it will get them is a minor bowl game. But scoring 40+ against every opponent would indeed be impressive. I doubt anybody has ever done that. Bye-Bye Baylor and Notre Dame, (and Hello, Marshall). But they could be back as we are down to three undefeated teams who are in the Top ten, (sorry Marshall), which means that there will be at least one loss team in the national championship playoff. That’s hardly a surprise. We haven’t ended the regular season with four undefeated teams since 2009- but we had 5 then. Fans of the old BCS are probably rooting for there to be two unbeaten so that can ask what we need these two other teams for. Fans of an eight team playoff, (like me) will be rooting for there to be enough one loss teams that the combined total of them and the undefeated teams will exceed 5. Here are the total undefeated and one loss teams, year by year for the last decade: 2004 4-3, 2005 2-4, 2006 2-4, 2007 1-2, 2008 2-7, 2009 5-1, 2010 3-6, 2011 1-5, 2012 2-5 and 2013 1-9, (yes, 9). That’s an average of 2- 5. I’ll get into detail about our current one loss teams in November but here is the current list: Baylor, Notre Dame, Auburn, Alabama, Michigan State, Oregon, Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas Christian, Ohio State, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Arizona, Arizona State, East Carolina, Nebraska, Utah and Colorado State. For now, take your pick. THE TIDY BOWL Amazingly, only one FBS team, and none from power conferences, is still winless: SOUTHERN METHODIST 0-6 They play 1-6 Tulsa, 1-5 Connecticut, and 3-4 South Florida The Bottom Four will have to include three of these one-loss teams: Connecticut, Georgia State, Idaho, Kent State, Miami of Ohio, (sorry Accurater 2- they’ve got to earn their way out of this- Kent State is next), Troy and Tulsa [/QUOTE]

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