The week of the regular season for college football is upon us. How quickly we navigated a season full of upsets, disappointments and a selection committee tasked with the largest College Football Playoff since its inception in 2014.
And in the CFP selection committee’s latest rankings, it made this week’s slate of rivalry-based games all the more exciting. Because there are a handful of games that don’t just carry bragging rights with them. The fate of the team’s hope to get into the playoff lies with several teams this weekend.
So here’s a look at the top games this week that could shake up the College Football Playoff rankings again ahead of conference championship week.
When South Carolina suffered back-to-back losses to Ole Miss and Alabama, it looked like another season that got away from coach Shane Beamer. Yet, in the final regular season game of the season, the Gamecocks have a chance at the College Football Playoff.
If they beat Clemson on the road, the CFP committee’s favoritism toward the SEC would almost certainly favor a team like South Carolina. The Gamecocks have won the last five games, including two over ranked conference opponents.
Honestly, a third win over a ranked opponent this week should be more than enough to put the Gamecocks in. If there’s ever an argument for any three-loss team, South Carolina is the poster child for that.
And in that same tone, Clemson can get blessed with one of the final spots with a win themselves. The Tigers have been quiet this season, suffering losses to Louisville and Georgia. But they’ve snuck their way into CFP contention.
With a win, like South Carolina, they have the strongest argument to get one of the final at-large spots. The loser of this game will come up just short of a CFP appearance.
Arizona State went from afterthought in the Big 12 to the favorite to win the conference in a matter of weeks. The Sun Devils pretty much ended BYU’s dream season and Colorado virtually ended their own season with a loss to Kansas.
Because of that, it’s pretty much impossible for a second Big 12 team to get into the playoff. And for that, Arizona State has to win to keep their hopes alive. As of now, Arizona State and Iowa State have the best chance to play in the title game, though it’s not guaranteed.
That’s important because if the committee decides to throw Tulane a bone and bump them up, or if one of Big 12 teams is a three- or four-loss team after the title game, they might not be ranked over Tulane to get the fifth auto bid.
This game is big because Tulane had a clear shot at crashing the College Football Playoff party. They just have to win out, probably do it convincingly and claim a conference championship. If Tulane can dominate both Memphis and Army, it might be enough to prove they deserve a shot.
But Memphis can play spoiler. And after losses to Navy and UTSA, they could find solace in this season by knocking Tulane out of CFP contention. Memphis will probably feel like this was a dud of a season after entering the year as a favorite to be one of the five conference champion auto bids in the CFP.
And while this season is far from a failure despite the frustrations of missing the CFP, they could get some consolation, closing the season out with a win over Tulane to reach 10 on the season. This very much falls into the category of a trap game for the Green Wave.
This game not only will set the stage for the SEC championship game, but will either seal the fate of the Aggies of missing the CFP, or throw a wrench into the final rankings after conference championship week.
Georgia will face either Texas or Texas A&M for the conference title. The only way Texas A&M gets in is if they defeat Texas and Georgia. They most likely won’t be ranked high enough for a first-round bye.
If Texas loses, they’ll get one of the at-large spots and fortunately have a couple weeks off before the CFP begins. If the Aggies win, it would drastically reshuffle the CFP rankings as the Aggies would certainly inch to one of the first teams out.
After Iowa State lost to Texas Tech and then Kansas, it seemed like the Cyclones had no shot of getting back into the CFP conversation. Yet after a few strokes of good luck, Iowa State is precisely two wins away from getting one of the coveted spots.
But the Cyclones are a streaky team so Saturday’s game against Kansas State won’t be an easy one. Kansas State is in a similar position at Memphis and looking to play spoiler. Iowa State was given an olive branch in this week’s rankings.
They won’t be lucky enough to get in if they lose anymore games.
