WASHINGTON — College football’s conference championship week kicks early,
with two name schools adding new faces to their programs: Nebraska hires Mike
Riley away from Oregon State to coach the Cornhuskers while Florida taps the
shoulder of Colorado State’s Jim McElwain to guide the Gators. Both are decent
jobs in a flagship conferences’ “other division,” but let’s be honest — the
SEC East and Big 10 West are the Art Garfunkels of their respective leagues.
Instead of games against Ohio State/Michigan State or Alabama/Auburn, you’re
getting a steady diet of Northwestern/Minnesota and Vanderbilt/Kentucky. The
talent and expectations in Gainesville are justified; while the history and
expectations in Lincoln will work against anyone who doesn’t win as much as
Tom Osborne did.
Michigan remains the remaining open “big job” and the Wolverines are looking
for the next Bo Schembechler (or at least the next Lloyd Carr). Michigan in
2014 is not the Michigan of 1968 when the talent base was a lot deeper in the
Detroit area and upper Midwest region…and as long as Urban Meyer resides in
Columbus, whoever coaches in Ann Arbor is at best likely the second-best coach
in his own division (not to sell Mark Dantonio, Randy Edsall or James Franklin
short). This will be an interesting hire, hit or miss.
Is the playoff finally here?
If you feel as though we’ve been force-fed “rankings” the last month and a
half for a postseason tournament that won’t even be played for a several more
weeks…it’s because that’s what the 12-member committee and ESPN have done.
Now we have one final weekend to shake up the field and shake out the
pretenders from contenders:
Pac-12: #2 Oregon vs #7 Arizona
The Wildcats beat the Ducks on a Thursday night in Eugene earlier this
year…yes, one of those 10:30 p.m. games on Thursday that I despise. The
Ducks imploded that night by converting just 4-of-14 third downs and
committing 10 penalties. They should be a little more focused (and healthy on
the offensive line) this time. In just its third year under Rich Rodriguez,
Arizona is enjoying the third double-digit win season in school history
(perhaps he could be a candidate for…never mind). The Wildcats remain the
lone school from the Pac-10 days to not win a conference title…that remains
the case for at least one more year.
Ducks win over the Wildcats 34-22
SEC: #1 Alabama vs #16 Missouri
Head coaches Nick Saban and Gary Pinkel were actually teammates at Kent State
(although both were probably intimidated by Golden Flashes teammate Jack
Lambert) and Pinkel took over for Saban as head coach at Toledo in the early
90s. Part of the “SEC Invincibility” argument takes a major hit when a
middling Big 12 program like Mizzou is able to win two division titles their
first three seasons in the SEC — even if it is the SEC East. Speaking
of…this isn’t as bad as the “Leaders and Legends” issue was in the Big 10,
but why are the Tigers in the SEC East? Is the SEC trying to channel the old
NFC West that had teams in Atlanta and Carolina?
Crimson Tide tame the Tigers 41-27.
BIG 10: #5 Ohio State vs #13 Wisconsin
The Buckeyes battle the Badgers with plan C at quarterback. After Braxton
Miller’s understudy JT Barrett’s injury, Cardale Jones will start at QB. Lost
in the shuffle is a Buckeye defense that has been less than stellar, allowing
an average of 29 points over the last four games. Enter Melvin Gordon — the
guy who ran for over 400 yards against Nebraska.
Badgers beat the Buckeyes, 23-19.
ACC: #4 Florida State vs #11 Georgia Tech
The defending national champs have taken everybody’s best punch and have
staggered to six one-possession wins. Jameis Winston has become as much a
spectacle as the 2013 Heisman winner was spectacular last season. The Yellow
Jackets, after a two week hiccup against Duke and North Carolina, have won
five straight to capture the Coastal Division and — just as important — beat
non-league rival Georgia. Paul Johnson’s option offense will present problems
for a Seminoles defense that has been just good enough all season. But running
against FSU is a major upgrade from the likes of Virginia and NC State. Plus,
what would the playoff be without the Seminole soap opera?
Seminoles hold off the Yellow Jackets, 39-36.
Big 12 Shakedown
As the Big 12 actually fields 10 schools, there is no conference championship
game. What’s stopping them from simply adding Memphis and Houston?
#3 TCU tops Iowa State 37-15 while #6 Baylor beats #9 Kansas State 44-
40…creating a world where the Bears, despite beating the Horned Frogs,
find themselves on the outside looking in.
CFP Field: 1. Alabama vs. 4. Florida State, 2. Oregon vs. 3. TCU
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