I find it very interesting this year regarding each conference. Is the SEC elite this year or are they are bunch of decent teams, but not great teams that are overrated? Is the Big 10 strong at top but weak overall? Is the Big 12 just a 3 trick pony? Does the ACC really have 4 legitimate playoff contenders?
SEC
LSU lost to USC (Real one) which isn't very good, but barely beats S. Carolina., got crushed by TX AM
AL beat UGA but then lost to Vandy and TN and almost lost to SC
TN beats AL but then loses to ARK
UGA beats us, but loses to AL and beats TX
TX AM loses to ND, but beats LSU
Ole Miss loses to KY and LSU
TX loses to UGA and struggles with Vandy
Arkansas loses to OK ST., but beats TN and barely loses to TX AM
SC loses to AL, LSU and Ole Miss, but beats OK
Florida got smashed by Miami by more than TX AM, and FL almost upset TN.
Is the SEC elite this year or are they are bunch of decent teams, but not great teams that are overrated? It is sure looking like a bunch of decent teams, but not any Elite or great teams. Most of them have a bad loss already (against an unranked team). UGA smashed TX like they smashed us in the 2nd half. To me, they are best team in this league. However, TN could knock them off. I would have Clemson right there with any SEC team not named UGA right now based off what I have seen. Miami has been challenged lately by VT, Louisville, and Duke. VT lost a close one to Vandy who beat AL. Louisville has lost to ND, Miami, and SMU all Highly RANKED TEAMS. Duke lost to SMU in a close one and GT. I could see 3 to 4 SEC teams making it in, but time will tell. The polls keep pumping them up as ranked vs. ranked games so people's judgment and eyeballs are watching these games. I haven't been too impressed with many of these teams. They are very inconsistent.
Big 10
Penn State is unbeaten. Almost lost to USC, but didn't
Ohio State - Lost to Oregon
Oregon - Unbeaten, close games with Ohio State and Boise State, Cal beat Oregon State worse than Oregon BTW
Illinois - Shine finally came off against OR. They barely escaped Purdue and they took care of business against some overrated mid major Big 10 schools
Indiana - unbeaten, They haven't played a soul yet and are 8-0. We know nothing about them right now except that they have murdered low tier Big 10 schools that aren't very good
Is the Big 10 strong at top but weak overall? It seems like the Big 10 is weak overall as a conference. Their best team came close to losing to Boise ST. They beat the doors off of ILL and also beat Ohio St. Penn St has kind of played OK but not that special but are winning. I could see only 2 Big 10 teams really deserving any spot in the playoff. The Big 10 really is weak overall this year. They will have a bunch of bowl teams that probably do fine, but they aren't a great league.
Big 12
BYU - Escaped SMU early in the year before QB change. Close games vs. OK St and Baylor. Not a very tough schedule
Iowa St. - Barely beat Iowa and UCF. Really wimpy schedule.
Kansas St. - All over the place. Got murdered by BYU, escaped Colorado, Tulane and KS with wins. A little tougher schedule but haven't been to great.
CO - Lost to Nebraska and Kansas ST., No good wins.
Is the Big 12 just a 3 trick pony? The Big 12 is really hard to determine if ANY of these teams are good because the league is so bad from top to bottom. The top 2 teams appear to have a pretty darn easy path to going undefeated. Iowa St does need to get by Kansas St. That game will most likely determine which team plays BYU in the championship game. To me this is by far the worst league top to bottom that I watched this year.
ACC
Miami - Destroyed Florida, Close calls with Duke, Louisville and VT but all wins, not to tough of a schedule
Clemson - Got whipped in the 2nd half by UGA, but destroyed everyone else on their easy schedule
Pitt - Beat Cincy and WV and everyone on their easy schedule so far, tough ones coming up with CL, Louisville and SMU
SMU - Lost a close one to BYU early in the year, won a close one against Duke, won a close one against Louisville, crushed most other teams on schedule
Does the ACC really have 4 legitimate playoff contenders? If they were in the SEC with the records they have, all would be in the top 10. However, the ACC plays a very weak schedule this year. We have 4 strong top 4 teams, a decent middle in VT, Louisville, BC, Duke, GT and Syracuse a really bad bottom in Stanford and FSU and some average to below average teams in CAL, NC ST., UNC, UVA, and WF. The problem this year has been the schedule. SMU, Miami and CL don't play each other this season. Clemson's only game was a 2nd half blow out to UGA. All others were cake walks. However, that will change considerably with VT, Louisville, Pitt and S. Carolina on the schedule. Pitt's schedule will get much tougher going forward with CL, SMU, and Louisville. It will be fun to watch it all play out one game at a time. The answer to the question IMO is that YES, the ACC has 4 legitimate College football playoff teams this year, The Big 10 has 4, The Big 12 has 3, The SEC has 4 left that don't have 2 losses. However, all have 1 loss, so that could spell a problem for them very soon.
Other
ND - Lost to N. Illinois, Won a close one against Louisville, Crushed Navy, Beat TX AM early. Overall, their schedule is trash this year for the most part. TX AM is making them look good.
Boise St. - Lost a close one to OR, Also beat Washington St., and beat all of the easy teams on their schedule. No reason they shouldn't win the rest of their games.
Boise St seems like a shoe in for the At large spot if they win out unless ARMY wins out and beats ND,Navy, and wins the AAC championship and is undefeated.
ND will walk into the playoffs with 1 less game than everyone and a really weak schedule. They shouldn't have rewarded them so high this week with a win against sorry ass Navy. The only teams with a pulse left on their schedule are ARMY and USC.
SEC
LSU lost to USC (Real one) which isn't very good, but barely beats S. Carolina., got crushed by TX AM
AL beat UGA but then lost to Vandy and TN and almost lost to SC
TN beats AL but then loses to ARK
UGA beats us, but loses to AL and beats TX
TX AM loses to ND, but beats LSU
Ole Miss loses to KY and LSU
TX loses to UGA and struggles with Vandy
Arkansas loses to OK ST., but beats TN and barely loses to TX AM
SC loses to AL, LSU and Ole Miss, but beats OK
Florida got smashed by Miami by more than TX AM, and FL almost upset TN.
Is the SEC elite this year or are they are bunch of decent teams, but not great teams that are overrated? It is sure looking like a bunch of decent teams, but not any Elite or great teams. Most of them have a bad loss already (against an unranked team). UGA smashed TX like they smashed us in the 2nd half. To me, they are best team in this league. However, TN could knock them off. I would have Clemson right there with any SEC team not named UGA right now based off what I have seen. Miami has been challenged lately by VT, Louisville, and Duke. VT lost a close one to Vandy who beat AL. Louisville has lost to ND, Miami, and SMU all Highly RANKED TEAMS. Duke lost to SMU in a close one and GT. I could see 3 to 4 SEC teams making it in, but time will tell. The polls keep pumping them up as ranked vs. ranked games so people's judgment and eyeballs are watching these games. I haven't been too impressed with many of these teams. They are very inconsistent.
Big 10
Penn State is unbeaten. Almost lost to USC, but didn't
Ohio State - Lost to Oregon
Oregon - Unbeaten, close games with Ohio State and Boise State, Cal beat Oregon State worse than Oregon BTW
Illinois - Shine finally came off against OR. They barely escaped Purdue and they took care of business against some overrated mid major Big 10 schools
Indiana - unbeaten, They haven't played a soul yet and are 8-0. We know nothing about them right now except that they have murdered low tier Big 10 schools that aren't very good
Is the Big 10 strong at top but weak overall? It seems like the Big 10 is weak overall as a conference. Their best team came close to losing to Boise ST. They beat the doors off of ILL and also beat Ohio St. Penn St has kind of played OK but not that special but are winning. I could see only 2 Big 10 teams really deserving any spot in the playoff. The Big 10 really is weak overall this year. They will have a bunch of bowl teams that probably do fine, but they aren't a great league.
Big 12
BYU - Escaped SMU early in the year before QB change. Close games vs. OK St and Baylor. Not a very tough schedule
Iowa St. - Barely beat Iowa and UCF. Really wimpy schedule.
Kansas St. - All over the place. Got murdered by BYU, escaped Colorado, Tulane and KS with wins. A little tougher schedule but haven't been to great.
CO - Lost to Nebraska and Kansas ST., No good wins.
Is the Big 12 just a 3 trick pony? The Big 12 is really hard to determine if ANY of these teams are good because the league is so bad from top to bottom. The top 2 teams appear to have a pretty darn easy path to going undefeated. Iowa St does need to get by Kansas St. That game will most likely determine which team plays BYU in the championship game. To me this is by far the worst league top to bottom that I watched this year.
ACC
Miami - Destroyed Florida, Close calls with Duke, Louisville and VT but all wins, not to tough of a schedule
Clemson - Got whipped in the 2nd half by UGA, but destroyed everyone else on their easy schedule
Pitt - Beat Cincy and WV and everyone on their easy schedule so far, tough ones coming up with CL, Louisville and SMU
SMU - Lost a close one to BYU early in the year, won a close one against Duke, won a close one against Louisville, crushed most other teams on schedule
Does the ACC really have 4 legitimate playoff contenders? If they were in the SEC with the records they have, all would be in the top 10. However, the ACC plays a very weak schedule this year. We have 4 strong top 4 teams, a decent middle in VT, Louisville, BC, Duke, GT and Syracuse a really bad bottom in Stanford and FSU and some average to below average teams in CAL, NC ST., UNC, UVA, and WF. The problem this year has been the schedule. SMU, Miami and CL don't play each other this season. Clemson's only game was a 2nd half blow out to UGA. All others were cake walks. However, that will change considerably with VT, Louisville, Pitt and S. Carolina on the schedule. Pitt's schedule will get much tougher going forward with CL, SMU, and Louisville. It will be fun to watch it all play out one game at a time. The answer to the question IMO is that YES, the ACC has 4 legitimate College football playoff teams this year, The Big 10 has 4, The Big 12 has 3, The SEC has 4 left that don't have 2 losses. However, all have 1 loss, so that could spell a problem for them very soon.
Other
ND - Lost to N. Illinois, Won a close one against Louisville, Crushed Navy, Beat TX AM early. Overall, their schedule is trash this year for the most part. TX AM is making them look good.
Boise St. - Lost a close one to OR, Also beat Washington St., and beat all of the easy teams on their schedule. No reason they shouldn't win the rest of their games.
Boise St seems like a shoe in for the At large spot if they win out unless ARMY wins out and beats ND,Navy, and wins the AAC championship and is undefeated.
ND will walk into the playoffs with 1 less game than everyone and a really weak schedule. They shouldn't have rewarded them so high this week with a win against sorry ass Navy. The only teams with a pulse left on their schedule are ARMY and USC.
