College Football Playoff 2014: Latest NCAA Predictions After Week 11 Standings
Every week in the college football season affects the projections for the playoff, but no set of games have been bigger this year than Week 12.
With six games between teams ranked in the top 20 in the College Football Playoff Rankings, there was clearly a lot on the line coming into Saturday. Those that came through are now one step closer to reaching the goal of competing for a national title.
Of course, there is still a lot of season left to be played with important matchups between top teams coming up over the next few weeks. Keeping the rest of the year in mind as well as the latest games, here are predictions for the four teams left standings.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
College Football Playoff Predictions
1. Florida State
Florida State does not deserve to be the top team in the nation at the moment, and they will likely not be too much more impressive by the end of the year. However, it seems like an almost certainty the squad will remain undefeated at this point, which in a major conference is enough for a ticket to the College Football Playoff.
The Seminoles' best win of the year came at home against Notre Dame, and only after a disputed call in the closing seconds. ESPN's Colin Cowherd explained why this win is not even all that impressive anymore:
Arizona State destroyed the Irish Saturday with a 55-31 victory that makes Florida State's schedule look even worse.
Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk also broke down how the team rates statistically compared to others around the nation:
Despite all this, the squad is good enough to beat Miami, Boston College and Florida, as well as whoever it plays in the ACC Championship Game. With the SEC likely to beat each other up, the Seminoles will be sitting alone on top of the rankings.
2. Alabama
If the season ended today, there is no question Mississippi State would represent the SEC in the playoff while Alabama would also likely get a bid. However, there are still a bunch of tough games remaining on the schedule for each squad.
Mississippi State has to go on the road to face both Alabama and Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl. One slip could be enough to ruin the team's chances of a national title.
On the other hand, Alabama fans had been upset about the team's low ranking, but there will still be chances to prove itself. As CBS Sports noted, it did that Saturday:
The Crimson Tide have played their final true road game of the year and now have home games against Auburn and Mississippi State. Considering how much better Alabama is at home (remember that 59-0 win over Texas A&M?), this team should be able to win out.
If this does indeed happen, there will be no argument against Nick Saban's squad being the best one-loss team in the nation.
3. Oregon
We will never know what would have happened if Utah had gone up 14-0 in this game, which is what should have happened if Kaelin Clay did not drop the ball at the 1-yard line before celebrating a touchdown, which resulted in a 99-yard touchdown return for Oregon.
Instead of having a two-touchdown lead at home, Utah ended up tied at 7-7 with the Ducks remaining in the game.
Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated explained the rest:
Oregon clearly has one of the most talented teams in the nation with an explosive offense led by Marcus Mariota. While the team struggles at times, it usually still finds a way to blow out opponents.
Most importantly, the Ducks knocked off what appeared to be the toughest remaining regular-season game on the schedule. Colorado and Oregon State have a combined 1-12 record in the Pac-12 and should not be too much trouble.
A potential conference-title game against Arizona State could be a difficult matchup for Oregon, but a win will be enough to put this team into the playoffs.
4. TCU
Although many college football fans would prefer to see more traditional teams in the College Football Playoff, it will be hard to keep TCU out after what they have done this season.
Trevone Boykin has led one of the best offenses in the nation all year and recently dominated a very good opponent in Kansas State. The only loss on the year came in a 61-58 shootout against Baylor, which also has only one loss but a much weaker overall resume.
Head coach Gary Patterson was asked after his latest win whether he felt he needed to justify the team's ranking over Baylor:
"No. It was at their place, we were up 21 points, and it was a three-point ball game. I don’t have a problem. I think Baylor is a really good football team. But I also know Minnesota is now 7-2, and they just beat Iowa. I thought Baylor did a great job [at Oklahoma].
I don’t see any of the games [the Bears] have left would mean any more than the games we have.
"
TCU has as respectable of a loss as anyone in the country while also adding a number of quality wins. With games against Kansas and Iowa State on the schedule, arguably the only tough obstacle remaining is a road game against Texas.
Based on what we have seen so far with this squad, there is no reason to believe the Horned Frogs will not keep winning and play their way into the playoff.
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.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
