This article is part of our College Football Picks series.
We are past the midpoint of the 2015 season and with a couple undefeated teams going down last week, I think it's finally time to start looking ahead to the final four.
The two aforementioned teams which fell from the ranks of the undefeated last week were Utah and Florida State. Both losses had major implications on the college football playoff as it looks like the Pac-12 will be shut out and Clemson is now the ACC's last hope.
Heading into Week 9 there are seven undefeated teams from major conferences. For sake of argument, I'm going to exclude the mid-majors as it looks like none of the undefeated teams have enough steam to make a serious run, save for Memphis perhaps.
Onto the teams in the hunt. At the top is Ohio State, but the Buckeyes have two, possibly three hurdles in the way, one of which is Michigan State, which is also part of the playoff mix right now. OSU and MSU meet in the "Big House" in a couple weeks and the winner will stay alive, the loser, will likely be done ... unless things go haywire in the final weeks, but we can't account for that this far out. Let's just assume that a one-loss MSU or OSU would be out of the mix and the reason why is ...
Iowa is also undefeated and there's a decent chance that come the end of November, when it's Big Ten championship time, the Hawkeyes will still be
We are past the midpoint of the 2015 season and with a couple undefeated teams going down last week, I think it's finally time to start looking ahead to the final four.
The two aforementioned teams which fell from the ranks of the undefeated last week were Utah and Florida State. Both losses had major implications on the college football playoff as it looks like the Pac-12 will be shut out and Clemson is now the ACC's last hope.
Heading into Week 9 there are seven undefeated teams from major conferences. For sake of argument, I'm going to exclude the mid-majors as it looks like none of the undefeated teams have enough steam to make a serious run, save for Memphis perhaps.
Onto the teams in the hunt. At the top is Ohio State, but the Buckeyes have two, possibly three hurdles in the way, one of which is Michigan State, which is also part of the playoff mix right now. OSU and MSU meet in the "Big House" in a couple weeks and the winner will stay alive, the loser, will likely be done ... unless things go haywire in the final weeks, but we can't account for that this far out. Let's just assume that a one-loss MSU or OSU would be out of the mix and the reason why is ...
Iowa is also undefeated and there's a decent chance that come the end of November, when it's Big Ten championship time, the Hawkeyes will still be undefeated, creating a de-facto playoff game between the winner of the two divisions. As of now, that winner looks to be the Buckeyes, so they get the first spot.
Baylor and TCU are also undefeated and much like the OSU-MSU game, the game between these two will also push one team into the mix, while excluding the other. The difference being that the loser here, might have a chance of cracking the final-four. With the loss of Seth Russell, TCU is now in the driver seat. Spot two to the Horned Frogs.
Clemson occupies spot three right now and if the Tigers can simply take care of business, then the Tigers will hold onto spot three in the end. The biggest hurdle comes in two weeks against FSU, in Death Valley.
LSU is the only undefeated team remaining in the SEC and obviously the Tigers will make the final-four if they go undefeated. However, the Tigers face Alabama this weekend and this game could be considered another de facto playoff game. With a win in Baton Rouge, Alabama is back in the mix with only a couple mediocre tests remaining afterwards. Here's where things get tricky though, I expect LSU to win this week, but a potential landmine awaits at Ole Miss in a few weeks. With that said, if Leonard Fournette is as good as we all think he is, he'll find a way to carry this team to the playoff. Spot four goes to LSU.
There it is, it's a wrap; OSU, TCU, Clemson and LSU are your final four teams. Might as well just go to the playoff right now ... Unless something strange happens, but that never happens in college football.
As always, I'll tweet any insights I come up with post-article each week. You can follow me at @gregvara.
CREAM OF THE CROP (Week: 1-2; Season: 11-15)
Thursday
West Virginia at TCU: As I mentioned, TCU needs only to continue to win to reach its goals, so style points are aren't necessary, but winning is, so the Horned Frogs will win the only way they know how and that's score and score quickly. Defense has been as issue all year and it takes only a competent offense to put up points on TCU, which West Virginia certainly has.
Total: Over 76
Saturday
Oklahoma State at Texas Tech: If you had the misfortune of watching the Texas Tech defenders trying to tackle last week, you know that there is not only a lack of talent on the defensive side of the ball, but a lack of fundamentals as well. The Red Raiders are simply not interested in playing defense and a match-up against a formidable Cowboy defense spells yet another disaster. As for the offense, well that's not going to be a problem, especially at home.
Total: Over 79
Texas at Iowa State: Two teams headed in opposite directions meet up in Ames this week as the Longhorns will try to continue their recent hot streak and the Cyclones will try to snap a three-game losing streak. Texas turned its season around two weeks ago with a win over Oklahoma and the Longhorns aren't about to blow that momentum by losing to a bottom-feeder like Iowa State. Unlike the Cyclone teams of the past decade, this team doesn't seem to put up much of a fight at home or on the road. ISU has only two wins on the year, Northern Iowa and Kansas.
Side: Texas -6
BEST OF THE REST(Week: 2-2; Season: 7-16)
Saturday
Maryland at Iowa: The Hawkeyes put it all together a couple weeks ago at Northwestern and they now enter a stretch-run that will likely end with a spot in the Big Ten championship game. They simply need to take care of business and under normal circumstances, they might look past lowly Maryland, but not with two weeks to prepare.
Side: Iowa -17
Nebraska at Purdue: Nebraska is in the midst of one of its toughest seasons in a while as every loss seems to be a heartbreaker, yet there's still hope to salvage a decent season. Purdue has no hope of saving its season, but give them credit, the Boilers have played hard just about every week. Nebraska will likely win this game, but in true Husker fashion, it will be a close one.
Side: Purdue +8.5
Notre Dame at Temple: Temple is undefeated heading into this match-up and while its schedule hasn't been anything to write home about, it's still impressive. Notre Dame has played well all season as well, but the Fighting Irish have played their best at home this season. On the road, it's been a bit of a struggle and I look for that trend to continue this week as the Irish will get a heck of a battle from the Owls.
Side: Temple +10.5
Michigan at Minnesota: Minnesota starts a new chapter this week as head coach Jerry Kill announced his retirement on Wednesday. Michigan started its new chapter last offseason with the hire of Jim Harbaugh. Things have gone well for Michigan since the hire and while there's no way to tell how the Gophers will do with their new situation in the long run, I expect a good effort for their interim coach this week. Does that mean a cover? I'm not sure, but I expect them to pull out some tricks to get this offense going and with a total under 40, it will only take a couple big plays to go over.
Total: Over 39
PASSing THOUGHTS: (Week: 1-2; Season: 8-12)
Saturday
Georgia at Florida: The Gator's might still be stinging from the loss at LSU a couple weeks ago, but they shouldn't be too disappointed. After all, expectations weren't that high coming into the season and if they simply pull it together this week, they could end up having a great season.
Side: Florida -3
USC at California: It's hard to find a good win on California's schedule, and what looked like a solid team a few weeks ago has been exposed. However, the Bears have faced two good Pac-12 teams on the road in recent weeks and a return home should help them find their way. USC on the other hand has all the momentum in the world after whooping Utah last week. But Pac-12 teams have struggled with success this season and I look for that trend to continue this week.
Side: Cal +6
