College Football Playoff Predictions 2014: NCAA Underdogs to Watch After Week 12
When it comes to the inaugural College Football Playoff, Week 12 was the most catastrophic blow yet to the impending postseason.
The slate of games was akin to a minefield, and that may be putting it lightly. No. 1 Mississippi State went down at the hands of Alabama. The Florida State Seminoles hardly survived Miami. Ditto for TCU against Kansas.
What remains is a shaky outlook for the CFP. A number of one-loss teams all look deserving but can certainly take losses in the coming weeks that ruin everything. Underdogs for the playoff abound, but only a few have a serious stab at the CFP—for now.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Underdogs to Watch
Ohio State
Like it or not, the Ohio State Buckeyes are a serious threat to the CFP in the coming weeks.
While the Buckeyes have taken care of business each step of the way despite some extreme adversity, fellow contenders have fallen left and right. Saturday was a 31-24 road win over the No. 25 Minnesota Golden Gophers, which proved to be a great test for Urban Meyer's team.
"I'd like to see anybody in the country come up here and do this, come up here in November," Meyer said, per Doug Lesmerises of Cleveland.com. "I challenge any team that wants to go ahead and schedule this one, against a very good team, have at it."
Many will roll their eyes. Minnesota is not an SEC team, yes, but the Golden Gophers are still 7-3 with a strong defense and a great running game.
The Buckeyes are an attractive option for the CFP committee for a number of obvious reasons, chief among them being quarterback J.T. Barrett. Tom Withers of The Associated Press puts it best:
Barrett put on another show for his Heisman resume Saturday night, throwing for 200 yards and a trio of touchdowns while adding another 189 yards and a score on the ground.
As long as Barrett continues to play at this level, few stand in the Buckeyes' way when it comes to the playoff. Unlike teams such as Mississippi State and others, the Buckeyes have a relatively easy finish to the season against Indiana and Michigan.
Baylor
Even though the Bulldogs went down at the hands of the Crimson Tide Saturday, there may not be enough for the committee to bump Baylor over the loser of that encounter.
Yet, of course.
The Bears were on a bye in Week 12, a beautiful thing considering what went down over the course of the weekend. What sweetens the pot is the fact that just last week Bryce Petty and the Bears blew away the Oklahoma Sooners, 48-14.
Not only that, these Bears already own the head-to-head encounter with TCU by way of a 61-58 win back in mid-October. To further that position, the Horned Frogs struggled to a 34-30 win over Kansas Saturday—a team the Bears beat 60-14.
The nation's fourth-best passing attack led by Petty (2,421 yards and 21 touchdowns to three interceptions) scored the most points per game on average entering the weekend at 50.1.
That elite attack still has to avoid a choke job against Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Kansas State, but that is more than enough time to perhaps secure the Big 12 and allow one of the other top contenders such as Oregon to take a dive.
So long as Baylor continues to play its game, the Bears are on the hunt.
CFP Projection
| 1 | Alabama |
| 2 | Oregon |
| 3 | Florida State |
| 4 | Mississippi State |
It should go without saying that the Crimson Tide are once again on top of the collegiate football world.
A loss to then-No. 11 Ole Miss way back when continues to look like a non-factor at this juncture. Nick Saban's defense found a way to hold Dak Prescott to 290 passing yards and two touchdowns to three interceptions. Blake Sims continues to improve under center.
Speaking of the Bulldogs, the loss is in no way enough to knock them out of contention just yet. It stings, but a loss to Alabama by five points is what it sounds like—not bad at all. So long as the Bulldogs take care of business against Ole Miss to close the season, they will be in the CFP.
The same goes for Oregon and Florida State. Marcus Mariota and the Ducks were on a timely bye in Week 12. The team is not going anywhere, not with a 9-1 record, three wins against ranked opponents and a prolific offense.
Florida State needed the full four frames to take down rival Miami, but the point is that Jameis Winston and Co. survived. Avoiding upsets at the hands of Boston College and Florida are next for the Seminoles in order to ease into the CFP.
Stats and information via ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
