The start of college football’s closing month adds a sense of urgency to the mix. Can you get to six wins and bowl eligibility? And if you’re in contention for a conference title or seat at the expanded playoff, can you lock things up?
With two full months in the books (and most of the local FBS schools off this weekend) now is a suitable time to check in with the power conferences (now four instead of five). Who legitimately has postseason hopes? Who’s dealing with a nightmare instead of a dream season? And how are each conference’s “new kids” finding the neighborhood their first trip around?
SEC Hopefuls: Eight schools in the Top 25, with No. 2 Georgia owning the highest ranking and No. 10 Texas A&M standing as the only team still unbeaten in league play. Other contenders include No. 6 Texas, No. 7 Tennessee, and two-loss teams LSU, Ole Miss and Missouri, as well as Alabama (who still controls their path to the College Football Playoff).
Sad Sack: Woe is Mississippi State, who’s dropped seven of their first eight games while starting league play 0-5. First-year Head Coach Jeff Lebby has his work cut out for him.
New Kids: While Texas has mostly held its own, the Longhorns melted on the field in their first half against Georgia and melted off the field in the second half when fans threw bottles from the stands to argue a call. Oklahoma (4-4, 1-4) hasn’t been that good, spiraling out of the rankings with three straight double-digit defeats.
Big Ten Hopefuls: Five schools in the Top 25 with three in the top four (No. 1 Oregon, No. 3 Penn State, No. 4 Ohio State) and perhaps the best story this fall residing at No. 13 (8-0 Indiana). And the best thing this fall is that there is no West Division to suffer watching.
Sad Sack: Purdue (1-6, 0-4) may be two years removed from playing Michigan for the conference championship but they’ve have coughed up 50, 52, and 66 points in losses to Illinois, Wisconsin, and Notre Dame. Thank goodness they had Indiana State on their schedule (49-0 win).
New Kids: Take No. 1 Oregon out of the mix and the trio of Washington, USC, and UCLA are 10-11 (5-11 in the league). While much has been made of the two-time zone travel that league expansion has created, the Bruins are 0-3 at home in the Big Ten.
Big 12 Hopefuls: Four schools in the Top 25 including a pair of unbeaten teams in No. 9 BYU and No. 11 Iowa State. And No. 23 Colorado after a September slip is surging.
Sad Sack: Oklahoma State (3-5, 0-5) played for the conference championship last year and had hoped to take advantage of a league without Oklahoma and Texas, but so far this fall they’re without a league win.
New Kids: Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah are a combined 8-11 in league play with the Utes going from Top 10 contender to .500 pretender thanks to four straight losses. Their only conference win was Oklahoma State.
ACC Hopefuls: Four Top 25 teams with one from the pre-Big East raiding era as No. 11 Clemson has recovered from their season-opening loss to Georgia. Both No. 5 Miami and No. 18 Pitt have won national championships, albeit in pre-ACC form (while Tony Dorsett and Clinton Portis remain “ACC legends”) and No. 20 SMU’s lone loss is to unbeaten BYU.
Sad Sack: Florida State (1-7, 1-6) is already out of bowl contention one season after getting robbed of a playoff berth at 13-0. I believe their mojo somehow got misplaced with their luggage on the way to Dublin, Ireland, for their season-opening loss to Georgia Tech.
New Kids: While the Mustangs haven’t missed a beat, the Bay Area duo of Cal and Stanford is a combined 1-8 in league play.
Saturday’s Games:
Virginia (4-4, 2-3) may be idle, but Kippy and Buffy will most definitely be busy this weekend. Pumpkin patch perusing and apple picking are on the docket as well as wolfing down the candy not handed out on Halloween. To complement their sweets, they’ll be enjoying a glass or two from their bottle of Royal Oporto Late Bottled Vintage Port.
“Deep in color, it offers a complex bouquet of berries and spice, enriched by luscious notes of red fruit and raisins,” according to its website. “On the palate, it presents a refined experience with firm, round tannins that underscore its robust structure.”
Virginia Tech (5-3, 3-1 ACC) at Syracuse (5-2, 2-2), noon, CW
Bowl eligibility goes to the winner at the JMA Wireless Dome, where in addition to numbers honored for the likes of football’s Jim Brown and basketball’s Pearl Washington, musician Billy Joel is saluted for performing more concerts than any other artist at the venue. The Hokies haven’t won there in the longest time (2000), although they’ve played here sparingly since moving out of the Big East two decades ago. The Orange learned they were only human in a 41-13 loss at No. 18 Pitt last Thursday, as quarterback Kyle McCord threw three pick-sixes. Will they get a second wind?
Pressure is a priority for the Hokies who are tied for the ACC lead with 26 sacks. Despite issues running the ball (16th in the ACC) or stopping the pass (14th in efficiency) this fall the Orange are the second-best team on third down at moving the chains (50.4%) AND keeping teams from reaching the marker (29.3%). It’s also homecoming and can the Syracuse faithful delude themselves into thinking they can beat a Hokie team that’s heating up (three straight wins by double digits)?
Sometimes a fantasy is all you need. Don’t ask me why.
Presto’s Pick: You may be right but the Hokies win 34-30.
Navy (6-1, 4-0 AAC) at Rice (2-6, 1-3), 4 p.m., ESPN2
The Midshipmen look to bounce back from their loss to Notre Dame and the Owls are a great team to try to bounce back against. Head coach Mike Bloomgren guided the program to consecutive bowl games but was fired this past week after losing to Connecticut (don’t knock these Huskies: they’re 5-3 with one-possession losses to Duke and Wake Forest).
The offense has been an issue this fall as the Owls rank near the bottom of the conference in scoring, rushing and total yards. But they boast a quarterback in EJ Warner (son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner), who at Temple carved up Navy for 402 yards and four touchdowns passing last fall. Injury kept the junior out of the loss to UConn while freshman Drew Devillier threw for just 88 yards against the Huskies. But the Owls despite all of their faults are good at keeping their QBs upright, allowing less than one sack per game.
Navy’s won four straight in the series and even though this is their first meeting as AAC foes, one feels the trend will continue.
Presto’s Pick: Midshipmen bounce back with a 47-17 blowout.
Georgetown over Lehigh, Howard defeats Delaware State, Richmond tops Towson, William & Mary wins over North Carolina A&T, Morgan State edges Norfolk State.
Last Week: 8-3.
Overall: 51-29.
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