College Football Three and Out: Week 10

First and 10: Recapping week 9

Top-10 Bold Prediction: Florida State downs Clemson

It was close, but some late penalties cost the Seminoles in this one.  That, and the fact that their offensive line more closely resembles swiss cheese than a capable blocking unit.  I will be surprised if FSU QB Deondre Francois makes it through the rest of the season with all of his bones intact, as he has gotten pummeled thus far.  As for Clemson, they will try to win out against a very manageable slate of remaining games to get in the playoffs for the second consecutive year.  But can they avoid a letdown in the meantime?

B1G Bold Prediction: Michigan State stuns Michigan again

The final score was much closer than many expected, but the Wolverines controlled this game for the most part.  It was Michigan's first win over their in-state rivals in four years and only their second since 2007.

Buckeye Bold Prediction: Angry Buckeyes score 50+ on Wildcats

I was right that the OSU offense would come out firing on all cylinders, but it didn't last long.  They looked sharp, scoring a touchdown on their first possession for the first time this year, and then promptly returned to inconsistency.  They just don't look like the same team that went into Norman and rocked the Sooners.  Still, you have to consider how young they are, and hope that they will get better as the season continues.  They will need to be ready this week, though, with the #10 Cornhuskers coming to town.

Why-not Bold Prediction: Cowboys tame the Broncos

Boise State was just one of a number of undefeated teams that fell last week.  They looked like they were in good position to get a New Year's Six bid before, but now it will be an uphill battle just to win their division, with the Cowboys now having the lead and potential tie-breaker over the Broncos.

Not-so-bold Bold Prediction: Kansas holds Oklahoma under 100 points

Wow.  Such defense.

Week 9 record: 2 - 3

2016 record: 19 - 26

Second and 7: Predicting the future!

Top-10 Bold Prediction: Alabama stumbles in Death Valley

In 1997, there were two ties in the NFL, the Indians lost game 7 of the World Series in extra innings, and the LSU tigers defeated the #1 ranked team in the country at home.  This year, there have been two ties in the NFL and the Indians just lost game 7 of the World Series in extra innings.  Alabama, currently ranked #1, comes to Baton Rouge to play LSU this Saturday.  Coincidence or the Illuminati?

B1G Bold Prediction: Northwestern handles tired Badgers

It's been a brutal stretch for Wisconsin.  Four out of their five last opponents have been ranked in the top 10 (though Michigan State's #8 ranking turned out to be a damn lie).  They have to be exhausted, mentally and physically.  Heading to Evanston to take on the 4-4 Wildcats may seem like a breather, but Fitzgerald's team has proven that they're much better now than they were at the beginning of the season, in which they started 1-3.  They've beaten the Badgers the last two years, and they'll do it again this year, 27 - 23.

Buckeye Bold Prediction: Nebraska held to 7 points or fewer in 4th quarter

The Cornhuskers are one of the best teams in the fourth quarter.  In fact, they're averaging 13.5 points in the final period of regulation.  But on the flip side, the Silver Bullets have been clutch in quarter #4 as well.  On average, they only give up 3.4 points.  And if you throw out the Penn State game,(wouldn't that be nice if we could actually do that?) in which special teams blunders allowed for costly late-game points, that average drops to 1.3 points in the 4th.  In the 'Shoe this Saturday night, look for the Buckeye defense to step up and stop a late Nebraska rally.  OSU holds on to win, 30 - 24.

Why-not Bold Prediction: Cal derails Washington in Berkeley

They might not have much to brag about in the way of defense (124th in the country) but the Golden Bears' offense might just give them a shot to upset the 5th ranked Huskies.  I think they pull it off.  Cal by 7.

Not-so-bold Bold Prediction: Mark May says something idiotic

No... he would never do that.

Third and 4: First CFP rankings revealed

The committee finally released their first set of playoff rankings, and there were some interesting revelations.  The first is obviously Texas A&M's #4 ranking.  It's surprising for the Aggies to be ranked this high, but it likely won't matter by season's end.  Even if they finish 11-1 (possible, but not likely in my opinion), they would need serious help to make the playoffs.  They would need Bama to drop at least 2 games (not gonna happen) for them to sneak into the SEC championship game.  Their only other path to the playoff is chaos in other Power 5 conferences.  We've already seen that the committee favors conference champs over other teams with a similar record, so they'd likely need a two-loss champ to come out of the Big Ten, ACC, or Pac 12, and even then they might be competing with other one-loss teams in a similar position as them.  So, they may be ranked fourth for now, but it won't last.

You might have noticed I didn't mention the Big 12 in my list above, which brings me to my second takeaway from the rankings, which is how the committee views the Big 12.  That is to say they view the conference as garbage, which is probably fair.  The highest ranked Big 12 team is 6-2 Oklahoma, at #14.  Up next is Baylor and West Virginia at #18 and #20, respectively, each with a 6-1 record.  It appears that any one of these teams would need a lot of things to happen to reach the top 4.  It's worth noting that the inaugural rankings for 2014 had eventual champion Ohio State at #16.  But I just don't see any of the Big 12 teams with the same opportunities to move up, unless things get really crazy in these last few weeks of college football.  But who knows?

Fourth down: Stop them.