EVENTUAL 2025 2026 NATIONAL CHAMPION Michigan State 24, Illinois 13
All right, we really need this one to be bowl eligible. I mean, yes Purdue and Rutgers should get us to six, but I prefer seven. It has been a brutal stretch of games since mid September. Chiles is getting better with the turnovers, and Nick Marsh is in the conversation for the third or fourth best freshman Wide Receiver in CFB. I also like the way the man with too many names has been running the ball. Our biggest problem continues to be crossing the goal line. We will get there.
Games With Playoff Implications
Two of the unbeatens, Army and IU, are doing the Bye Bye Bye this week, so there are only two unbeatens at risk. Neither is particularly likely to be upset, but in order of possibility:
Oregon 38, Wisconsin 20
Oregon looks like the most complete team in the country. Being unbeaten kind of does that for you, of course. Wisky has had an uninspiring offense and has lost to every decent team they have played and are coming off of a smoking by Iowa. Still, the game is in Camp Randall, and that time zone jump has caught other teams.
BYU 42, Kansas 15
Wait. Kansas did what to Iowa State? Early in the year there were some who thought Kansas would be a low key threat in the Pure Prairie League, though I am not sure why. Hey have played thoroughly tough though, and it made me very happy to type those three words together, with only one loss by more than 6 points. Still, losses they were.
Then there are the games that impact the Conference Championship races, and/or the CFBP. Leving out the OOC cupcakes, Mercer? Seriously? and in order of importance and the possibility of an upset:
Georgia 23, Tennessee 21
This is seriously a homefield pick. I do not know what is wrong with the Georgia offense. Actually, I do, the QB is so so and the receivers fail to reach that standard. Also, they cannot run the ball. Or block. A third loss knocks Georgia out of the playoffs. A second really puts Tennessee on the brink, but there is a scenario where God Apostrophe S Conference has eight teams finish with two losses, and frankly that would absolutely make my year.
Texas 31, Arkansas 17
That two win scenario probably needs Texas to lose to Arkansas. Of course, Arky took down Tennessee and pushed TAMU to the brink so it is possible. Since resuming sporadic playing since 2003, Arky has taken ranked Texas teams down twice. Of historical note, it is the 55th anniversary of the White Supremacy Bowl, where Richard Nixon presented a plaque anointing the winner of the battle between two all white teams as The Number One College Football Team. Racist bastard. One more example of the Pennsylvania State University getting screwed by pollsters. Am I right cap?
South Carogoddamnedlina 28, Misery 13
I had written Misery off after their second loss, but there is a path for them, I think. Tie breaker scenarii get really strange in the Megaconference Era, since things like head to head or record against common opponents sort of flies out the window when too many teams do not play each other and split with the ones they do play. I think the God Apostrophe S Conference may come down to something like in conference winning percentage of the teams they beat. Anyway, not sure if Cook will be able to play for Misery, and I like SC run defense at home.
Colorado 31, Utah 20
Colorado is definitely getting into the Pure Prairie League Championship game, which gives them a punchers chance of getting into the CFBP. Nice going away present for future Dallas Cowboys head coach Deon Sanders. Utah should have beaten BYU last week, and yes, maybe a bad call on the penalty but you still let them drive 65 yards. Anyway, Utah is the second most disappointing team in college football this year, behind the Florida State. Well, third for me, but soul crushing disappointment is the one thing I totally expect from the CFB season.
Methodists * 31, Boston College 20
SMU looks like another team with a clear path to the Conference Championship game. BC could slow them down, after all they are one of the teams to take down the MSU juggernaught, and I do not think they are all that good, but they should win through.
Our Lady of the Perpetual Tie 35, Virginia 10
Lacking an in through a Conference Championship game, OLotPT needs to be playing the old Rankings game, win everything by as much as you can. If things go as I think they will, OLotPT will be facing some stiff competition for an at large. The balance of probabilities for me has them in with four teams each from God Apostrophe S Conference and the Big I Have Given Up Counting, and one each from the other Conference Champions, but there might well be an argument for a fifth GasC team, like say Georgia.
the Ohio State University 42, Northwestern 3
Or perhaps, though not this week, OLotPT could benefit from a second in conference loss by the. If the loses again and does not make the BIHGUC Championship for that Oregon rematch, they put themselves in a real bind. That IU game next week is going to be key. I have seen nothing from NW to make me think they belong on the same field with the.
the Pennsylvania State University 34, Purdue 10
Actually, the game should not be this close. But the the PSU offense seems to be unable to get over the hump and post big numbers. Discounting Kent, they are scoring right around 30 in their wins, and none of the teams they have played are that good. So, 34.
et alia
the Kansas State University 27, the Arizona State University 24
The Arizona State has been a pretty big surprise for me this year. The KSU has been just what I expected them to be, good enough to win about 8 or 9 games, and just mediocre enough that you are not surprised when they lose to a team like Houston. Both teams need Colorado to slip up to be playoff relevant, but that the ASU game next week against BYU is a sneaky risky game for BYU.
the Iowa State University 24, Cincinnati 15
Technically, the ISU is in a three way tie with the KSU and the ASU, but the ISU just lost to Kansas. I am pretty sure it is written into the CFBP rules that you cannot lose to Kansas and make the playoffs.
ClemSIN 27, Pitt 20
ClemSIN probably needs the U to lose again, I admit to not knowing precisely how the Atlantic [sic] Coast Conference tie breakers work, but overall record with the Georgia loss is probably high up.
University of California* 21, Nebraska 13
Winning out for Bowl Eligibility is not what trojanhorse had in mind when he shelled out the big booster bucks to bring in Lincoln Riley. Yet, that is what they are doing. Fun fact, USC has held a fourth quarter lead in every game they have lost this year. Well, not fun for them, but you get the picture.
Rutgers 6, Maryland 5
Words cannot express my level of disinterest. Games like this make me question my commitment to picking games for the favorite team or alma mater of everyone who posts or used to post here. ClemSIN for jbott, Maryland for yankguy, PSU for cap, USC for trojanhorse, Whoever is playing the for dj. But picking Maryland games is getting soul crushing.
* Southern
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