The first College Football Playoff rankings of the season are out, and while there’s nothing particularly shocking about them, it does help to shed some light on the situation facing college football heading into its final month of regular season games.
Outside of undefeated Florida State, the lone playoff contender from the ACC, there appear to be two teams from each of the remaining Power Five conferences with a shot at a playoff berth. Thankfully, this is the kind of math problem that’s going to solve itself, as each of these remaining contenders will play each other either the final week of the regular season or in a conference championship game.
Before we get to those epic showdowns, however, those remaining contenders have to tread carefully and avoid a costly slip-up that could remove them from contention before they even get a chance to play for it on the big stage.
In our weekly suggestions for which games you should be watching this week, we’ve got a couple of high-profile conference showdowns that could have major playoff implications, as well as a desperation game between two teams with equal talent levels who are having very different seasons.
5
Clemson vs. No. 12 Notre Dame (Saturday, Noon ET on ABC)
Favorite: Notre Dame (-3)
Dabo is having a really bad time. For some people, that means this is a highly entertaining situation. I am not here to judge anyone. If that kind of thing makes you happy, and I’m not saying whether I’m one of those people, this might be a very enjoyable game for you to watch.
4
No. 24 USC vs. No. 5 Washington (Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC)
Favorite: Washington (-3.5)
Many of us assumed after USC was fully exposed by Utah that the Trojans’ season would completely fall apart. And while things certainly haven’t gotten better, they haven’t really gotten any worse either. USC’s offense is still incredibly explosive, if inconsistent, and its defense is still just as much a disaster as it’s been since Lincoln Riley arrived in L.A. Despite staying undefeated, Washington hasn’t quite been the same since its narrow win over Oregon, and if the Huskies don’t put together a complete game this week, USC may have the explosiveness needed to make this an uncomfortable game.
3
No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 14 Missouri (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS)
Favorite: Georgia (-15.5)
I’m not going to try to convince you that Missouri can win this game. Yes, the Tigers are 7-1. Yes, the winner of this game would immediately be in the driver’s seat in the SEC East. Yes, Georgia trailed Missouri by 10 points entering the fourth quarter last season. Missouri could possibly give Georgia it’s toughest outing of the season — that’s a pretty low bar to clear — so this game is going on this list as a “Keep An Eye On This One” entry.
2
No. 7 Texas vs. No. 25 Kansas State (Saturday, Noon ET on FOX)
Favorite: Texas (-4)
Could this be a classic case of two teams meeting each other at the exact wrong time for one team and the exact right time for the other? Kansas State’s offense has been on fire the last two weeks, while Texas has been inconsistent, hitting long and inopportune scoring droughts against Houston and BYU. The Longhorns won’t be able to afford such droughts against an offense as explosive as Kansas State’s, and an upset could be truly seismic for the College Football Playoff race.
1
No. 8 Alabama vs. No. 13 LSU (Saturday, 7:45 p.m. ET on CBS)
Favorite: Alabama (-3)
Since the early season loss to Texas, the college football world has quietly whispered in terror as it has watched Alabama slowly figure things out and begin to look like a team that might slip its way into the playoff. This home game against one of the nation’s best offenses is the biggest remaining obstacle for the Crimson Tide, and it’s a classic matchup of strength-on-strength and weakness-on-weakness. Alabama’s defense versus LSU’s offense will be a showcase of future NFL talent, while the opposite side of the ball will see Alabama’s frantic and unpredictable offense going up against LSU’s porous pass defense.
