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FOX Sports Digital
Week 6 began with 24-point underdog Arizona winning at Oregon on Thursday night and it ended around 2:30 a.m. eastern Sunday with a 60-59 game (Cal-Washington State). Five of the APās Top 8 lost, a first in the 78-year history of that poll, and by Sunday afternoon longtime afterthoughts Ole Miss and Mississippi State had moved in to a tie for the third-best team in the country.
How darn fun is this sport?
And yet as captivating as all those upsets were, they took on a different feel than in the BCS era. The chaos in the air was no less prevalent, but the ramifications were less serious. Instead of talking about teamsā devastated national championship hopes, weāre talking instead about their dented playoff hopes. As I wrote Saturday night, in the four-team playoff world, virtually every power-conference team gets at least one mulligan. Maybe even two.
I also wrote that the widespread parity weāre seeing across the board is reminiscent of the crazy 2007 season. Had a playoff been in place that year we would likely have had three two-loss teams among the four participants. Iām not ready to go that far yet, but would it surprise anyone if the loaded SEC West finishes with a three-way tie of 6-2 teams? Or that the winner of a Nov. 8 showdown between Michigan State and Ohio State ā both of whom many ruled dead back in Week 2 ā winds up in the committeeās top four?
āIāve been saying for years thereās more parity in college fooball than ever before,ā Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez told FOX Sports on Sunday. āTo say weāre going to have four undefeated teams, thatās not going to happen, and I think itās even going to be tough to have four one-loss teams.ā
Only poor BYU -- which lost to Utah State and lost star Taysom Hill for the season -- got eliminated from contention over the weekend, and the Cougars were long-shots to begin with. But some of the rest are in better shape than others.
Here now I rank Week 6ās five Top 10 victims in order of their likelihood to still reach the playoff.
1) Alabama Crimson Tide
After two weeks of articles about Lane Kiffinās offensive genius, the Tide managed one offensive touchdown in their 23-17 loss at Ole Miss. You can look at that one of two ways. Either Nick Sabanās dynasty is crumbling to the ground, or āBama lost a close conference road game to a team that currently boasts the best defense in the SEC. My guess is the committee will take the latter approach if the Tide turn around and win the West, which remains entirely possible. Ole Miss more validated its own legitimacy than it set off any five-alarm fires surrounding its opponent.
Blake Sims and Amari Cooper wonāt encounter nearly as much resistance this week at Arkansas. Landon Collins and the Tide defense, though, struggled enough against Bo Wallace to raise concerns about facing Kenny Hill,Dak Prescott and Nick Marshall down the road.
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How darn fun is this sport?
And yet as captivating as all those upsets were, they took on a different feel than in the BCS era. The chaos in the air was no less prevalent, but the ramifications were less serious. Instead of talking about teamsā devastated national championship hopes, weāre talking instead about their dented playoff hopes. As I wrote Saturday night, in the four-team playoff world, virtually every power-conference team gets at least one mulligan. Maybe even two.
I also wrote that the widespread parity weāre seeing across the board is reminiscent of the crazy 2007 season. Had a playoff been in place that year we would likely have had three two-loss teams among the four participants. Iām not ready to go that far yet, but would it surprise anyone if the loaded SEC West finishes with a three-way tie of 6-2 teams? Or that the winner of a Nov. 8 showdown between Michigan State and Ohio State ā both of whom many ruled dead back in Week 2 ā winds up in the committeeās top four?
āIāve been saying for years thereās more parity in college fooball than ever before,ā Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez told FOX Sports on Sunday. āTo say weāre going to have four undefeated teams, thatās not going to happen, and I think itās even going to be tough to have four one-loss teams.ā
Only poor BYU -- which lost to Utah State and lost star Taysom Hill for the season -- got eliminated from contention over the weekend, and the Cougars were long-shots to begin with. But some of the rest are in better shape than others.
Here now I rank Week 6ās five Top 10 victims in order of their likelihood to still reach the playoff.
1) Alabama Crimson Tide
After two weeks of articles about Lane Kiffinās offensive genius, the Tide managed one offensive touchdown in their 23-17 loss at Ole Miss. You can look at that one of two ways. Either Nick Sabanās dynasty is crumbling to the ground, or āBama lost a close conference road game to a team that currently boasts the best defense in the SEC. My guess is the committee will take the latter approach if the Tide turn around and win the West, which remains entirely possible. Ole Miss more validated its own legitimacy than it set off any five-alarm fires surrounding its opponent.
Blake Sims and Amari Cooper wonāt encounter nearly as much resistance this week at Arkansas. Landon Collins and the Tide defense, though, struggled enough against Bo Wallace to raise concerns about facing Kenny Hill,Dak Prescott and Nick Marshall down the road.
Continue reading...
