College Football Rankings 2014: Week 10 Games That Will Shake Up Playoff Picture
The release of the first College Football Playoff rankings has completely changed the anticipation for this week's slate of games. Now that teams know where they stand in the committee's eyes, they better understand how much work is ahead of them.
Week 10 feels like the first huge slate of games on the season. There have been patches of games so far that made the season worth watching closely, but the heart of conference season ratchets up the tension and drama.
In order to properly prepare you for Saturday's action, here are the matchups you should be watching closely. That's coming up right after we remind you of how the selection committee ordered the top 25 teams.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
| Pos. | Team | Record |
| 1 | Mississippi State | 7-0 |
| 2 | Florida State | 7-0 |
| 3 | Auburn | 6-1 |
| 4 | Mississippi | 7-1 |
| 5 | Oregon | 7-1 |
| 6 | Alabama | 7-1 |
| 7 | TCU | 6-1 |
| 8 | Michigan State | 7-1 |
| 9 | Kansas State | 6-1 |
| 10 | Notre Dame | 6-1 |
| 11 | Georgia | 6-1 |
| 12 | Arizona | 6-1 |
| 13 | Baylor | 6-1 |
| 14 | Arizona State | 6-1 |
| 15 | Nebraska | 7-1 |
| 16 | Ohio State | 6-1 |
| 17 | Utah | 6-1 |
| 18 | Oklahoma | 5-2 |
| 19 | LSU | 7-2 |
| 20 | West Virginia | 6-2 |
| 21 | Clemson | 6-2 |
| 22 | UCLA | 6-2 |
| 23 | East Carolina | 6-1 |
| 24 | Duke | 6-1 |
| 25 | Louisville | 6-2 |
For the record, Florida State at Louisville wasn't considered for this particular piece since it is just focused on Saturday games.
Key College Football Playoff Games
No. 3 Auburn at No. 4 Mississippi
What better place to start than with the biggest game of the weekend? This game seemed to lose some luster after Mississippi lost to LSU last weekend, then the selection committee kept the Rebels in the top four to make it a monumental clash.
Of course, since the committee seemed to favor schedules and wins over close losses, the loser of this game isn't necessarily dead despite having two losses. Auburn still has games against Georgia and Alabama to build itself back up in the event of defeat, while Mississippi has the Egg Bowl against Mississippi State looming.
This game is also fascinating because it's a contrast in styles. Mississippi does have talent on offense, but the defense carries this team, allowing an FBS-best 10.5 points per game. Auburn hasn't played defense the last two weeks, allowing 73 points to Mississippi State and South Carolina.
The Tigers make up for their defensive ineptitude with one of the best rushing attacks and a cool 39.3 points per game.
Toby Petitpas of ESPN Stats & Info provided some numbers that will tell you why Auburn's running game against Mississippi's stout defense is the right way to determine who will win:
"-Since Malzahn took over as head coach, Auburn is 15-0 when it runs for at least 250 yards and 3-3 when it does not. Ole Miss is winless (0-7) in three seasons under Hugh Freeze when its opponent rushes for more than 200 yards, including last week’s loss to LSU.
"
-Ole Miss has allowed three rushing touchdowns this season, tied for third fewest in the FBS. Auburn scored five rushing touchdowns last week against South Carolina.
In fairness, Auburn's defense allowed 416 passing yards against South Carolina last week. Bo Wallace has been mostly good this season, though the last two weeks have seen him complete less than 50 percent of his passes and under 60 percent in four of the last five games.
Given Wallace's inconsistent nature and how LSU just gashed the defense for 264 yards, everything is set up for Auburn to win this game. That's what you should expect to happen at The Grove.
No. 7 TCU at No. 20 West Virginia
No one wants to give the Big 12 any love, but it's the only conference outside the SEC to place two teams in the Top 10 of the College Football Playoff rankings (Kansas State is No. 9). TCU has been slowly building an impressive resume, despite that ugly loss against Baylor.
This week against West Virginia will tell us how far the Horned Frogs have come. The Mountaineers have been rolling since losing to Oklahoma on September 20, defeating Baylor and Oklahoma State in the last two weeks by a combined score of 75-37.
One factor to keep in mind that isn't getting a lot of attention is the weather. Specifically because TCU hasn't played in anything other than pristine conditions, per Chris Anderson of 247Sports.com:
TCU also has the misfortune of being inconsistent on defense with Kevin White, arguably the nation's best receiver, on the other side.
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy told David Ubben of Fox Sports Southwest that the Cowboys got torched by White because they didn't have enough personnel in the secondary to match up with him and cover the other areas on the field:
"You can single him up and go man and hope he doesn't make plays or you can help some," Gundy said. "Because of the youth we have in our secondary right now, we chose to help some and it hurt us in run support."
White had just three catches for 27 yards against Oklahoma State, but since he commanded so much attention, the Mountaineers ran for 210 yards in the game.
TCU has given up a lot of points to ranked opponents this season. Oklahoma and Baylor, the two best offenses it's faced, scored a combined 98 points. The Horned Frogs have a potent offense of their own, scoring 82 points against Texas Tech and leading all FBS schools with 50.4 per game.
At some point, it would be nice to think TCU can get a stop when it has to win a game. West Virginia hasn't always done that, but it's also got the weapons to keep pace offensively in this showdown. The Mountaineers are peaking at the right time and have this game on their home turf. Look for the upset.
Stanford at No. 5 Oregon
Even though Stanford's title hopes disappeared long ago, its matchup with Oregon is always a fascinating one because Cardinal head coach David Shaw seems to have the formula for slowing down the Ducks offense.
The Cardinal have won this Pac-12 clash the last two years, holding Oregon to a total of 34 points. They gave up 717 yards in the two games but forced the Ducks to play catch-up with a limited clock by controlling the ball for 79 minutes and 59 seconds.
It's a battle of strength versus strength at Autzen Stadium, as David Lombardi of ESPN tweeted out how Stanford's defense stacks up against Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota:
That's how the game is going to be won because neither Oregon's defense nor Stanford's offense offers much hope. The Cardinal have shown some proficiency in the running game with Remound Wright and Barry Sanders combining for 616 yards on 109 carries.
However, it's easy for opponents to stop Stanford's running game because QB Kevin Hogan can't move the ball in the passing game. We could've thought the same thing last year, then Stanford wound up running for 274 rushing yards to make the quarterback play moot.
Mariota has carried Oregon all year, despite getting beat up behind a bad and banged-up offensive line. That group is getting healthy at the right time, and this is the junior quarterback's last chance to make noise in the title race and improve his stock in the Heisman picture.
If you want to talk sports, hit me up on Twitter: @adamwells1985.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
