Triple Option

By Michael Maynard

Essentially nothing has changed in the playoff hunt, except West Virginia is now out after the loss to Oklahoma State, so Oklahoma is the Big 12’s lone outside shot at the playoff.

The New Year’s Six has 11 teams worthy of 12 spots, so one spot will have to be a stretch.  If Northwestern, Utah, Pitt, or Texas won their conference championships, that would fill the spot.  Otherwise an at large team from the SEC will probably get the bid because of the conference depth.  I have #14 Florida going to the Fiesta Bowl over #13 Kentucky, which doesn’t make sense, but I feel the committee would value Florida’s resume more with the win to LSU and with Kentucky struggling down the stretch.

For the other 33 games, everything will be answered after Rivalry Week.  Arizona, SMU, Tulane Wyoming, FAU, Southern Miss, Miami (OH), and Coastal Carolina all have 5-wins and are projected to win this week to get to bowl eligibility.  Indiana vs. Purdue, Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt, and Texas Tech vs. Baylor will decide 3 more.  Maryland, Minnesota, Florida State, USC, Kansas State, and TCU could all become bowl eligible, but it would require an upset.  Virginia Tech (4-6) has the weirdest scenario.  If they upset Virginia, they would play Marshall in Conference Championship week to try to get to 6 wins.  Both them and Florida State have ancient postseason streaks at stake.

I have 82 [projected] bowl eligible teams fighting for 78 spots.  Southern Miss, Western Michigan, Miami (OH), and Coastal Carolina are omitted.  I had to get creative in cases where a conference did not produce a team eligible for a bowl spot, so the spot was filled with an at-large team.  Such instances are denoted with *.

College Football Playoff:

Orange: #1 Alabama (11-0) vs. #4 Michigan (10-1)

Cotton: #2 Clemson (11-0) vs. #3 Notre Dame (11-0)

New Year’s Six:

Peach: #10 LSU (9-2) vs. #11 West Virginia (9-3)

Fiesta: #9 UCF (10-0) vs. #14 Florida (9-2)

Rose: #8 Ohio State (10-1) vs. #6 Washington State (10-1)

Sugar: #5 Georgia (10-1) vs. #7 Oklahoma (10-1)

Other Bowl Games:

New Mexico: San Diego State (7-4) vs. Middle Tennessee (8-3)

Cure: Tulane (5-6) vs. Louisiana-Monroe (6-5)

Las Vegas: #16 Utah (8-3) vs. #17 Utah State (10-1)

Camellia: Ohio (7-4) vs. Georgia Southern (8-3)

New Orleans: FAU (5-6) vs. Arkansas State (7-4)

Boca Raton: UAB (9-2) vs. Buffalo (9-2)

Frisco: Houston (8-3) vs. North Texas (8-3)

Gasparilla: USF (7-4) vs. Louisiana Tech (7-4)

Bahamas: FIU (8-3) vs. Northern Illinois (7-4)

Famous Idaho Potato: Toledo (6-5) vs. #23 Boise State (9-2)

Birmingham: BYU* (6-5) vs. Temple (7-4)

Armed Forces: California* (6-4) vs. Fresno State* (9-2)

Dollar General: Eastern Michigan (6-5)  vs. Troy (9-2)

Hawaii: SMU* (5-6) vs. Hawaii (7-5)

First Responder: #24 Army* (9-2) vs. Marshall (7-3)

Quick Lane: Purdue (5-6) vs. Miami (FL) (6-5)

Cheez-It: Oklahoma State (6-5) vs. South Carolina (6-4)

Independence: Oregon* (7-4) vs. Boston College (7-4)

Pinstripe: Michigan State (6-5) vs. Virginia (7-4)

Texas: Texas Tech (5-6) vs. Texas A&M (7-4)

Music City: Tennessee (5-6) vs. Nevada* (7-4)

Camping World: #21 Iowa State (6-4) vs. #20 Syracuse (8-3)

Alamo: #12 Texas (8-3) vs. #19 Washington (8-3)

Belk: Missouri (7-4) vs. #25 Pitt (7-4)

Arizona: Wyoming (5-6) vs. Louisiana-Lafayette (6-5)

Military: Duke (7-4) vs. #22 Cincinnati (9-2)

Sun: Arizona (5-6) vs. Georgia Tech (7-4)

RedBox: Iowa (7-4) vs. Arizona State (6-5)

Liberty: Appalachian State* (8-2) vs. Memphis* (7-4)

Holiday: #18 Northwestern (7-4) vs. Stanford (6-4)

Gator: Auburn (7-4) vs. NC State (7-3)

Outback: #15 Penn State (8-3) vs. #13 Kentucky (8-3)

Citrus: Wisconsin (7-4) vs. #22 Mississippi State (7-4)

Published November 20, 2018 @ 5:25 PM C.T.

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