NMP Week 11
Oregon
Notre Dame
Georgia
Texas
Penn St
Tennessee
Ohio St
Arizona St
South Carolina
Boise St
SMU
Indiana
Ole Miss
Alabama
Clemson
Miami
Iowa St
Colorado
Syracuse
Army
Memphis
Texas A&M
UNLV
Missouri
BYU
Others Getting Votes: Duke, Illinois
Added: BYU
Dropped: Tulane
Biggest Winners: Army (5), Clemson (3)
Biggest Losers: SMU (3), UNLV (3)
Conference championship weekend started with a ton of blowouts but ended with 3 incredible games. I don’t think there is clear cut #2 right now, 4 teams you could make an argument for and I wouldn’t complain. Pushed Notre Dame ahead of Texas really only because Texas lost to UGA twice and really didn’t look all that great in either game. Georgia then slots in ahead of Texas, head to head x2. Then I just don’t see any reason to flip TX and PSU, so their order stays the same. Arizona St destroys Iowa St, hops South Carolina because of it. Boise wins, SMU loses, pretty logical there, Boise also hops Indiana this week. Conference champion has to hold some weight in here and that puts them over the top. Clemson goes over Miami as the king of the ACC now, also jumps the Big 12 loser and Colorado due to their ACC crown. Army, best in American, so they get treated as such, above Memphis and kicks Tulane out of top 25. UNLV drops a little, they did not look great against Boise this weekend.
Heisman Race:
My winner: Travis Hunter, Colorado
My runner up: Ashton Jeanty, Boise St
My Playoff Field:
1 Oregon, 2 Georgia, 3 Arizona St, 4 Boise St
5 Notre Dame vs 12 Clemson
6 Texas vs 11 SMU
7 Penn St vs 10 South Carolina
8 Tennessee vs 9 Ohio St
I will be very interested to see what the committee does with the rankings in the first year of the 12 teamer, historically they don’t drop losers of conference champ games too much, if at all. Also interested to see how close the Heisman race is this year, the media makes it out to be a near landslide for Travis, but we will see. This season was chaotic and fun to watch, ready to see what other surprises bowl season has in store. As for the playoff and the committee, SMU should get in over Bama. For the health of conf champ games, SMU should be in, for the health of the sport, I have no idea what should happen. The team that you know can beat the big dogs and has a higher ceiling is Bama. Path of least resistance is definitely SMU, but they are an unproven product and will likely bring less eyes and dollars to the NCAA, ADs, conferences, and TV networks… we will see which side wins that battle soon.
What I think the committee will do:
1 Oregon, 2 Georgia, 3 Boise St, 4 Arizona St
5 Texas vs 12 Clemson -> Arizona St
6 Penn St vs 11 SMU -> Boise St
7 Notre Dame vs 10 Indiana -> Georgia
8 Ohio St vs 9 Tennessee -> Oregon