College Football 2016: Week 6 Review

Unfortunately I didn’t have an opportunity to take in enough of the Week 6 action to really have anything of value to write, aside from the Terps-PSU game….and I really don’t want to talk about that. I could take this chance to review where my preseason Playoff picks stand….but I really don’t want to talk about that. We are still three weeks away from the release of the first playoff rankings, so I think maybe this is a good chance to assess where things currently stand, see what stands between the teams from now until Nov 1, and take a quick look at the Heisman race.

The two major polls (AP and Coaches) are consistent in their Top 7 teams: 1-Alabama, 2-Ohio State, 3-Clemson, 4-Michigan, 5-Washington, 6-Texas A&M, 7-Louisville. I think if they were released today the Playoff rankings would look similar enough to that to go with it for now.

(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)

Let’s focus on what’s upcoming for the Top 4, schedule-wise:

 

Alabama	Ohio State	Clemson	Michigan
10/15 @Tenn	10/15 @Wisc	10/15 NC St	10/15 BYE
10/22 Tex A&M	10/22 @PSU	10/22 BYE	10/22 Illinois
10/29 BYE	10/29 NW	10/29 @FSU	10/29 @Mich St

 

How good is Alabama? Only Ole Miss has challenged them, but they did surrender 43 points to the Rebels and needed scores from the defense and special teams to win. They should be tested the next two weeks, and I’ll go ahead and predict they stumble in one of those games….but that won’t be the last we hear from them. Far from it. Ohio State has a tough game at Wisconsin, followed by a trip to play a rejuvenated and confident Penn State squad. I think the Buckeyes find a way to win both of those. Clemson should handle NC State, then gets to rest up before their trip to Tallahassee. The Seminoles have the week off before that matchup off too. I picked FSU to win that game before the season, and I’ll stick with it (and probably go down with the ship). Michigan clearly has the easiest path to remain unbeaten the next three weeks, not much more needs to be said there. That means two teams could move up to the Top Four (depending on how far Alabama drops). So here’s how things shape up for the next three:

 

Washington	Texas A&M	Louisville
10/15 BYE	10/15 BYE	10/14 Duke
10/22 OSU	10/22 @Ala	10/22 NC St
10/29 @Utah	10/29 NM St	10/29 @UVA

 

Washington answered any and all concerns I had about them experiencing a letdown Saturday by demolishing Oregon. The trip to Utah looms large, but if they remain focused and execute they are better than the Utes and should win. I painted myself in to a corner above when I said Alabama will either lose at Tennessee -or- at home to Texas A&M. Now I have to call my shot. OK, next week is the week the Tide stumble, in Knoxville. Then they come home and take it out on the Aggies (I had to look this up: The last time Alabama lost back-to-back regular season games was in 2007, Nick Saban’s first season there). Louisville should cruise the next three weeks, but with a loss already on the books I don’t think they move into the Top 4.

So here’s who I think the Top Four will be on Nov 1:

1. Ohio State
2. Washington
3. Michigan
4. Alabama

Heisman Race

Here were Bovada’s preseason Heisman odds:

• Leonard Fournette (RB, LSU) – 9/2
• Deshaun Watson (QB, Clemson) – 5/1
• Christian McCaffrey (RB, Stanford) – 11/2
• JT Barrett (QB, Ohio State) – 12/1
• Dalvin Cook (RB, Florida State) – 12/1
• Baker Mayfield (QB, Oklahoma) – 12/1
• Nick Chubb (RB, Georgia) – 16/1
• Chad Kelly (QB, Mississippi) – 16/1
• Josh Rosen (QB, UCLA) – 16/1
• Royce Freeman (RB, Oregon) – 20/1

You can see why it’s not a good idea to bet serious money on the Heisman. Leonard Fournette isn’t even his team’s leading rusher (due mostly to injuries). Christian McCaffrey has put up decent numbers, but nothing Heisman-like, and has had two very sub-par games in a row. Anyone ever hear the name Lamar Jackson? Hello? But, predicting the future is the second favorite things sports fans love to do….right behind showing off our 20/20 hindsight. So with that, here’s who I would mail invites to if the presentation were this weekend, in no particular order.

• Lamar Jackson (Seriously, he wasn’t even a Top 10 candidate?)
• JT Barrett
• Deshaun Watson
• Greg Ward Jr

Yeah, it’s a QB’s game.

Week 7 Preview

I promise I will watch more games this week.

*checks schedule* 

Then again, maybe not….there are two very good matchups this week, but the rest is slop. You’ll want to catch Alabama at Tennessee (3:30 ET, CBS) and Ohio State at Wisconsin (8 ET, ABC). You’ll only need one TV. Seriously, there isn’t much else. Stanford at Notre Dame was one you’d probably have circled before the season began. Now? Ugh. If you just can’t get enough of the SEC, Ole Miss at Arkansas might be interesting (they played one hell of a game last year). I’ll pass. North Carolina at Miami lost a lot of its luster on Saturday. The Terps fans can at least tune in to the game vs Minnesota knowing that they won’t miss anything else.