Allow this to be your first look at the playoff picture. Every team’s path is simple no matter how things stack up Tuesday when the initial CFP committee rankings are revealed: Win out, and you’ll be in. College football always surprises, but this is how things look heading into the first rankings. Think of what’s to follow as less of a firm pecking order and more of an outline of playoff buckets identifying the four available spots.
SEC: Georgia and, you guessed it, Alabama seem to be on a collision course. Bama has to get through LSU and UGA has to get through Missouri, but provided that they do they will meet in Atlanta in all likelihood with a playoff berth on the line.
Big Ten: Michigan needs to get through Penn State, but if they do it’s all systems go to Thanksgiving weekend where they play Ohio State in the de facto Big Ten championship game and CFP spot.
Pac-12: Washington and Oregon seem like they’ll meet again. Oregon certainly cannot afford another loss, and the rest of their slate includes a major landmines in rival Oregon State and USC on Nov. 11. But meeting in Vegas for the league title and a playoff berth is likely.
Big 12 and ACC: That’s Oklahoma, Texas, and Florida State. Obviously, Texas and OU may end up playing each other if OU can avoid taking another loss after falling to Kansas. Bedlam looms next week for the Sooners, and Texas will need to get past K-State and continue to manage life without quarterback Quinn Ewers. But if they do meet in the Big 12 title game, it could be with a Playoff berth on the line. And Florida State? They keep on keeping on impressively unblemished on the season. Can they stay that way?
Kim Klement Neitzel/USA TODAY Sports
SI top 10 (of the week)
1. Georgia
The Dawgs remain on top of Florida after a dominating 43–20 win. The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party was a Hallowwen horror show for the Gators. Hometown guy Carson Beck had a great day in Jacksonville, showing that the UGA offense is more than just Brock Bowers.
2. Oregon
There’s a certain satisfaction Dan Lanning must take in winning this game this way as the Ducks did, 35–6. They went into a tremendously difficult road environment and dominated. Utah is really good, but this year’s team lacks a gear offensively when they aren’t controlling the game.
3. Florida State
The Noles have been looking for a 60-minute performance this season, and this was pretty close to just that in a dominating 41–16 win over Wake Forest. FSU got up early and when it looked like Wake Forest had a faint chance of maybe, just maybe, getting back into the game, the Seminoles shut the door for good with a 10-play, 75-yard drive to open the fourth quarter and end the proceedings.
4. Texas
No Quinn Ewers? No problem for Texas. They left no doubt against BYU, rolling the Cougars 35–6. Backup quarterback Maalik Murphy showed a steady hand and ensured there’d be no Arch Manning sightings in this game.
5. Ohio State
Boy, did the Buckeyes need TreVeyon Henderson back. The elite running back gave Ohio State the explosive rushing attack its lacked the last few weeks in his absence, and the defense certainly did everything they could to hold Wisconsin under wraps and keep Ryan Day’s squad undefeated with a 24–10 win.
6. Notre Dame
Forget about Notre Dame? Well, we don’t all the way blame you after losses to Ohio State and Louisville took them out of playoff contention, but they straight up evaporated the Pitt team that beat the Cardinals a couple weeks ago. The Irish have now put together back-to-back dominant performances up the last two times out.
7. Washington
It wasn’t pretty, but a win’s a win for the Huskies as they continue undefeated. Things were seriously dicey late in this one after an end zone interception with just five minutes left gave Stanford the ball back with a chance to win the game. But a drop on fourth down essentially sealed the deal, and the Huskies ended up with a 42–33 victory.
8. Louisville
Louisville took full advantage of a Duke team that struggled to do much of anything on offense, bullying the Blue Devils all game in a 23–0 win.
9. Air Force
It was snow problem for the Falcons in unrelenting weather to get the job done in this game. The best team in the Group of Five keeps on rolling after a 30–13 victory, but there is another team that could lay claim to that moniker.
10. James Madison
The Dukes can’t go to the postseason due to the NCAA rules, but if they could, they’d be a serious threat for the New Year’s Six spot as they move to 8–0 with a 30–27 win over Old Dominion, holding on at the end to secure the victory.
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch/USA TODAY NETWORK
SI players of the week: Ohio State RB TreVeyon Henderson, the UCLA defensive front
- Henderson paced a hard-fought road victory with 162 yards and a late touchdown to shut the door on Wisconsin. He gave the rushing attack that extra gear, and with him, perhaps some pressure can be taken off of the young Kyle McCord.
- Take your pick: Laiatu Latu, the Murphy twins (Gabriel and Grayson) it doesn’t matter. UCLA’s defensive front took advantage of an overmatched Colorado offensive line with: 24 pressures, 17 hits, 13 knock downs, and seven sacks of Shedeur Sanders.
Did you see that?
- Better watch who you’re calling a basketball school:
— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) October 28, 2023
- How on earth did Darius Lassiter come down with this?:
Former Grizzly @darius_lassiter doing @darius_lassiter things 😳#RoarGrizz🐻
— Butler Grizzlies (@ButlerGrizzlies) October 29, 2023
pic.twitter.com/KVwBU2EYKH
- Travis Hunter is back doing Travis Hunter things:
— go to ➡️ collegefootballnetwork.com (@PickettsPool) October 29, 2023
- Not often you hear a ref announcement like this one:
— no context college football (@nocontextcfb) October 29, 2023
- Almost, North Texas. Almost.
— no context college football (@nocontextcfb) October 28, 2023
