College Football: Week 14 Recap, Pick Results and Bowl Projections

The inaugural College Football Playoff picture is beginning to take shape, but there is still a lot that can happen come championship weekend. The SEC had its fair share of important matchups this past week,  while Florida State avoided another upset to in-state rival Florida and the Pac-12 South, as well as the Big Ten West Division, finally crowned a champion.

On Friday, a wild start to the weekend began with No. 17 Missouri clinching its second consecutive SEC East Division title and critical matchups consisting of Pac-12 South teams. 

The Tigers had to battle back the entire game to take down an improving Arkansas team 21-14 late in the fourth quarter. A long 50-yard field goal by Andrew Baggett as time expired in the first half cut the Razorback lead to 14-6 and was then followed by 15 unanswered points in the second half. Marcus Murphy’s 12-yard rushing touchdown with 4:38 remaining in the fourth quarter was the go-ahead score for Missouri.

The eighth-ranked Bruins appeared to be a lock to win the Pac-12 South Division with a home game against a Stanford squad that had struggled the entire season, but UCLA was defeated for a seventh consecutive time by the Cardinal in a 31-10 loss. With a blowout loss to Stanford, the division title was decided by the outcome of the No. 13 Arizona State and No. 11 Arizona game.

It was a battle for the Territorial Cup that went down until the very end. Trailing 42-28 with 8:31 remaining in the fourth quarter, backup Arizona State quarterback Mike Bercovici threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to De’Marieya Nelson with about five minutes left to cut the deficit to seven, but an incomplete Bercovici pass on 4th-and-12 with 1:07 left gave the Wildcats their first division title and a trip to the Pac-12 Championship Game on Friday where they'll face Oregon.

Arizona freshman running back Nick Wilson had 24 carries for 178 yards and three touchdowns.

If there wasn’t enough drama on Friday, there was more once Saturday rolled around. No. 6 Ohio State struggled early and then eventually took down hated rival Michigan 42-28 to keep itself in the playoff race. The question, though, is how the Buckeyes will fair against Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game without quarterback J.T. Barrett, who fractured his right ankle and will miss the remainder of the season.

It has become an every-week thing, as the third-ranked Seminoles escaped with a 24-19 victory over Florida to stay in the hunt for their second consecutive national championship. The Egg Bowl ended up playing the biggest factor in the College Football Playoff picture, as a 19th-ranked Ole Miss squad, which had lost three of its last four games heading in, likely ruined No. 4 Mississippi State’s national title hopes by pulling off a 31-17 upset.

In the Big Ten, the West Division was decided in Madison when No. 14 Wisconsin knocked off No. 18 Minnesota 34-24 to take Paul Bunyan’s Axe for an 11th straight year. The Badgers outscored the Golden Gophers 21-7 in the second half, and running back Melvin Gordon racked up 151 rushing yards and scored two total touchdowns.

The game of the night featured No. 15 Auburn and No. 1 Alabama in an always-intense and heated Iron Bowl rivalry game. The Tigers had a 36-27 lead late in the third quarter, but the Crimson Tide found their way back into the game with a 75-yard touchdown pass from Blake Sims to Amari Cooper with 3:20 left in the third quarter and on an 11-yard touchdown run by Sims early in the fourth quarter.

Once Alabama took a 42-36 lead, it didn’t look back, as it scored 13 more unanswered points to take a convincing 55-36 lead. In a Crimson Tide 55-44 win, there was an astounding 1,167 total yards and five turnovers.

Alabama will now meet Missouri in Atlanta on Saturday in the SEC Championship Game.


Pick Results

Overall Record: 45-25

Week 14 Record: 3-2

Note: Team in bold indicates author’s pick


Prediction: Missouri 24, Arkansas 21

Result: Missouri 21, Arkansas 14


Prediction: Arizona State 35, Arizona 27

Result: Arizona 42, Arizona State 35


Prediction: Georgia 38, Georgia Tech 30

Result: Georgia Tech 30, Georgia 24 (OT)


Prediction: Wisconsin 38, Minnesota 24

Result: Wisconsin 34, Minnesota 24


Prediction: Alabama 31, Auburn 20

Result: Alabama 55, Auburn 44

Bowl Projections

College Football Playoff

Rose Bowl	Jan. 1	Pasadena, Calif	Semifinal	No. 2 Oregon vs. No. 3 Baylor
Sugar Bowl	Jan. 1	New Orleans, LA	Semifinal	No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 TCU

Selection Committee Bowls

Peach Bowl	Dec. 31	Atlanta, GA	Florida State vs. Michigan State
Fiesta Bowl	Dec. 31	Glendale, Ariz	Wisconsin vs. Boise State
Orange Bowl	Dec. 31	Miami, Fla	Georgia Tech vs. Mississippi State
Cotton Bowl	Jan. 1	Arlington, Tex	Ohio State vs. Arizona