News/Commentary

Week 12 Preview, Playoff Rankings

November 8, 2017 by Dave Congrove

The playoff committee on Tuesday night left its top five unchanged with Georgia at the top, followed Alabama, Notre Dame, Clemson and Oklahoma. Losses by Ohio State and Penn State opened the door for TCU to jump to 6th and Miami to 7th.

Here 's the complete Selection Committee Rankings:

  Team W-L LW
1. Georgia 9-0 1
2. Alabama 9-0 2
3. Notre Dame 8-1 3
4. Clemson 8-1 4
5. Oklahoma 8-1 5
6. TCU 8-1 8
7. Miami (Fla.) 8-0 10
8. Wisconsin 9-0 9
9. Washington 8-1 12
10. Auburn 7-2 14
11. USC 8-2 17
12. Michigan State 7-2 24
13. Ohio State 7-2 6
14. Penn State 7-2 7
15. Oklahoma State 7-2 11
16. Mississippi State 7-2 16
17. Virginia Tech 7-2 13
18. UCF 8-0 18
19. Washington State 8-2 25
20. Iowa 6-3 ---
21. Iowa State 6-3 16
22. Memphis 8-1 23
23. N.C. State 6-3 ---
24. LSU 6-3 19
25. Northwestern 6-3 ---

A tough week is in store for every member of the top 10 which includes Wisconsin at No. 8, Washington at No. 9 and Auburn at 10.

Three games pit Top 10 teams against each other as (1) Georgia visits (10) Auburn, (3) Notre Dame goes to (7) Miami, and (6) TCU travels to (5) Oklahoma. The computer likes the Tigers to upset the Bulldogs by a scant 0.29 points, the 'Canes by 2.10 points over the Irish, and the Sooners by 7.59 over the Horned Frogs.

Meanwhile, No. 2 Alabama is a 14.85-point pick at the committee's 16th-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs, and 4th-ranked Clemson is a 12.81-point pick over visiting Florida State.

8th-ranked Wisconsin hosts No. 20 Iowa as a 9.95-point pick, but the Hawkeyes are coming off a shocking 55-24 romp over Ohio State.

No. 9 Washington hits the road to face an unranked, but dangerous, Stanford team as a fractional (0.12 points) underdog.

It all sets up to be a potentially wild weekend, and it doesn't get any easier for many of the other teams in the top 25. Here's the rest of the schedule with the computer's pick:

- No. 11 USC by 6.29 at Colorado
- No. 13 Ohio State by 20.45 at home vs. No. 12 Michigan State
- No. 14 Penn State by 34.06 over visiting Rutgers
- No. 15 Oklahoma State by 10.94 at No. 21 Iowa State
- No. 17 Virginia Tech is a 0.44-point underdog at unranked Georgia Tech
- No. 18 UCF is a 27.74-point home favorite over Connecticut
- No. 19 Washington State is a 2.90-point pick at unranked Utah
- No. 22 Memphis is the only top 25 team with a bye week
- No. 23 N.C. State is a 0.06-point pick at Boston College
- No. 24 LSU is a 19.05-point home favorite vs. Arkansas
- No. 25 Northwestern is a 14.25-point pick over visiting Purdue

My ballot in the FWAA-NFF Super 16 Poll on Sunday put the only four remaining unbeaten Power 5 Conference teams in slots 1 thru 4 for the second straight week, with Alabama leading the way ahead of Georgia, Miami and Wisconsin. My computer rankings, the CCR Top 130, has Alabama and Georgia at 1st and 2nd, but moved up Wisconsin to 3rd and Miami to 4th.

I voted Notre Dame 5th and my computer rankings have the Irish 8th.

A 60-game schedule this week kicked off last night with a pair of MAC games as Miami (O.) downed Akron 24-14, and Buffalo defeated Bowling Green 38-28.

Three games tonight include an 8-1 Toledo team visiting Ohio (7-2) with the Rockets favored by 4.25 points.

FBS vs. FCS

There is one FBS vs. FCS battle this week as Massachusetts plays Maine at Fenway Park in Boston. FBS teams are 83-9 (.902) vs. the FCS this season, and 1,213-117 (.912) since 2003.

These are the FCS victories in 2017:
September 23: Western Illinois 52, Coastal Carolina 10
September 16: North Carolina A&T 35, Charlotte 31
September 16: Idaho State 30, Nevada 28
September 9: South Dakota 35. Bowling Green 27
September 9: New Hampshire 22, Georgia Southern 12
September 2: Liberty 48, Baylor 45
September 2: Howard 43, UNLV 40
September 2: James Madison 34, East Carolina 14
August 31: Tennessee State 17, Georgia State 10.

98 FBS teams are playing 98 games vs. FCS members this year, down substantially from the 110 FBS schools that played 113 games vs. FCS squads last year.

Streaks

Alabama - Won 39 straight regular season nonconference games (FBS longest). Won 18 straight home games (FBS longest). Won 13 straight road games (FBS second-longest). Won 23 straight conference games (FBS longest). Visits Mississippi State on Saturday.

Oklahoma - Won 15 straight road games (FBS longest). Hosts TCU on Saturday.

Miami (Fla.) - Won 13 straight overall (FBS longest). Hosts Notre Dame on Saturday.

UTEP - Lost 9 straight overall (FBS longest). Visits North Texas on Saturday.

Coastal Carolina - Lost 11 straight conference games (FBS longest). Hosts Troy on Saturday.

Kansas - Lost 44 straight road games (FBS longest). Visits Texas on Saturday.