WCE College Football Top 10 #11 & Podcast #38

Things have definitely gotten weird – our top 10 is going to change an awful lot next week, depending on what happens in these championship games.

The committee is in a very weird spot with the Big 10 this year – Ohio St last year was basically in the same spot – didn’t win their division, but was definitely one of the best 4 teams in the country… but the lost the game to the division winner, and if Penn St wins the conference championship, even with 2 losses, you have to wonder whether or not the championship and the head-to-head win will be enough to topple an Ohio St team with only 1 loss, but without a conference championship.


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1. Alabama
Alabama handled Auburn fairly easily, 30-12.  The Tide went the entire month of November without allowing a touchdown.  This includes games against Auburn, LSU, and Mississippi St – Teams that have all scored over 50 in conference games.  In other games in November, Miss St scored 42 against Arkansas and 55 against Ole Miss, LSU scored 38 at Arkansas and 55 at Texas A&M.  The Alabama defense is #1 in the country in rushing defense, total defense, and scoring defense.  This has been, by far, the best team in country from week 1 through the last week of the regular season.  The only thing that could derail this is if their offensive coordinator, Lane Kiffin, leaves for LSU before the season is completed.

Next up: Sat, Dec 3 – vs Florida

2. Ohio St
Ohio St won a thrilling, come from behind, ballgame at home against Michigan in the Horseshoe Saturday.  Down 17-7 in the 3rd quarter, the defense really showed up and accounted for almost all of the team’s points, getting 14 points off of interceptions.  In double overtime, they converted a 4th-and-1 that Harbaugh is still upset about, and then busted a 15 yard touchdown run to win.

The issue with Ohio St is that they did not win their division, thanks to Penn St blowing out Michigan St yesterday in Happy Valley.  If Penn St wins the Big 10 Championship, it will be very difficult for the playoff committee to keep the Nittany Lions out of the playoffs, considering Penn St beat Ohio St head-to-head, and they will have the conference championship as well (so long as they beat Wisconsin in the championship game).  It gets a little bit easier for Ohio St if Colorado beats Washington, or Virginia Tech beats Clemson… or even if Wisconsin wins the Big 10 championship, because Ohio St beat Wisconsin head to head and has a better conference record, even if they don’t have the championship.

Next up: regular season done

3. Clemson
The Tigers did what they were supposed to do in disposing of South Carolina quickly on Saturday night.  They jumped out to a 21-0 lead after the 1st quarter, then 35-0 at the half, en route to a 56-7 win.  Clemson looks like they’re in a perfect spot to make the playoff, so long as they find a way to beat Virginia Tech Saturday in the ACC Championship game in Orlando.

Next up: Sat, Dec 3 – vs Virginia Tech

4. Washington
Washington surprised me by beating up on Washington St in Pullman Friday afternoon 45-17.  Washington’s defense definitely rose to the occasion, even with their 2 best defensive players being out for the season.  The Huskies did not have a great strength of schedule this season, but playing top 10 ranked Colorado will help boost that this coming weekend.  If they can win that game, they should find a spot in the playoff, because the committee would like to send 4 different conference representatives, and we all know how politics work.

Next up: Fri, Dec 2 – vs Colorado

5. Wisconsin
Wisconsin’s best win of the season, to date, is probably LSU… and after that, it may be Iowa, or Minnesota.  That’s it.  Not much to work with here.  Even with a win in the conference championship, they’ll have a difficult time getting into the playoff over Ohio St, which isn’t necessarily fair, but they lost the head to head to the Buckeyes in Madison.  Regardless, they’ll still have a better chance to get in if they win than if they lose, so they’ll be up for this one.

Next up: Sat, Dec 3 – vs Penn St

6. Michigan
Michigan is effectively out of the playoff, but the win will still look good for Ohio St, because that’ll be another top 10 win on the resume.  Jim Harbaugh only wanted to blame the referees after the game, but the bottom line is that your QB threw 2 picks that turned into 14 points, and your offense only managed to put up 17 points.  In the 4th quarter, Ohio St outgained Michigan 127 yds to 5 yds.  I’m not sympathetic of a “fix” because they seemed to have the better team for most of the day, but screwed up in huge spots.  Still a big season for Michigan.  They’ll probably end up in the Rose Bowl, if the Big 10 gets 2 teams in the playoffs.  If not, Citrus again?  Probably.

Next up: regular season done

7. Penn St
James Franklin has done a fantastic job turning this team around.  Down 12-10 at the half to Michigan St, they made adjustments and came out of the locker room scoring 35 unanswered points to win 45-12.  This game will actually help Penn St’s chances of locking up the playoff berth if they can beat Wisconsin in the Big 10 Championship game… because the week before, Michigan St lost 17-16 to Ohio St, and actually went for 2 with 4 mins left to try and take the lead.  Penn St blew the Spartans out, while Ohio St couldn’t do anything against them.  Since the win over Ohio St, Penn St has beaten everyone by at least 14 points.

Next up: Sat, Dec 3 – vs Wisconsin

8. Colorado
The Buffs squeaked out a 27-22 win over Utah Saturday night, wrapping up the Pac 12 South division and an appearance against Washington in the Pac 12 Championship game.  Colorado, with a little chaos, could find a way to get into the playoff, but it’s not very likely, even with a win.  Mike McIntyre has done a phenomenal job, and Colorado looks like they could be stacked for the future, now that they’ve gotten that program turned around.

Next up: Fri, Dec 2 – vs Washington

9. USC
USC is the scariest team in the college football outside of Alabama.  I would take USC on a neutral field against anybody but the Tide… but, they made their own bed by losing 3 of their first 4 games (to Alabama, at Stanford, and at Utah).  Since then, they’ve rolled off 8 straight wins, and, had Utah beaten Colorado, they would have represented the Pac 12 South in the Championship game.  If Colorado loses to Washington, it would depend on the final rankings… but USC could end up in the Rose Bowl.  Pretty good first season for Clay Helton.

Next up: regular season done

10. Oklahoma St
The Cowboys, since losing at Baylor, have won 7 straight games, and would be in the mix for the playoffs if not for a loss to Central Michigan – a game they should have won, but the referees made a terrible mistake, giving Cent Mich one final play that allowed them to win on a hail mary / hook & ladder play in Stillwater.  They can still win the Big 12 Championship by winning Bedlam this weekend in Norman against Oklahoma.

Next up: Sat, Dec 3 – at Oklahoma


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Gary Segars

Gary began his first website in 1998 as a sophomore in high school, writing reviews of cds and live shows in the Memphis area. He became editor of his college newspaper, then moved towards a career in music.He started the infamous MemphisTider.com blog during the 2006 football season, and was lucky enough to get into blogging just before the coaching search that landed Nick Saban at Alabama. The month and a half long coaching search netted his site, which was known for tracking airplanes, over 1 million hits in less than 90 days. The website introduced Gary to tons of new friends, including Nico and Todd, who had just started the site RollBamaRoll.com.After diving into more than just Alabama news, Gary started up his first installment of WinningCuresEverything.com in 2012. After keeping the site quiet for a while, it was started back up in April 2016. Gary then joined forces with high school friend Chris Giannini and began a podcast during the 2016 football season that runs at least 2 times a week, focusing on college football, NFL football, and sports wagering, and diving into other sports and pop-culture topics.E-mail: gary@winningcureseverything.com Twitter: @GaryWCE

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