College Football Week 12 Playoff Ranking Thoughts.

College Football Week 12 Playoff Ranking Thoughts.

The committee has released their Week 12 Playoff rankings. The top 6 in College Football has stayed the same due to fact that none of those teams lost last week. Oklahoma was on upset alert against Oklahoma State but their defense did pull through at the end winning 48-47. Number 1 Alabama is very clear as they are in the top 10 in both total offense and defense. Their third ranked offense is leaded by Tua Tagovailoa who is 23rd in the nation in passing yards but he has only thrown one interception. More than likely everyone’s front runner for the Heisman. Nick Saban has built another team for the ages, and maybe one of Alabama best yet. As they have beaten #7 LSU and #21 Mississippi State both top 25 teams by a combined score of 53-0 in the last two weeks. It’s gonna be hard to knock the Crimson Tide in 2018-2019. Clemson at number 2 makes the most sense. They are probably the best team to compete with Alabama on both sides of the ball. Clemson is number 8th in total offense and 3rd in total defense. Their defense ranks higher than Bama’s defense, but their offense is a tad below their offense. However Trevor Lawrence looks to be the real deal as he threw all over #17 Boston College for nearly 300 yards and completing 73% of his passes. The Clemson beat up on BC 27-7. Clemson is tied with Alabama in the nation at 3rd in sacks. A big way to beat anyone is to pressure the quarterback especially a young College one their more prone to make mistakes, and the Tigers do that well. We could have another Clemson vs Bama National Title on our hands. Notre Dame is the interesting team in the College Football because unlike the other top 4 they don’t rank inside the top 10 in total offense or defense. However when it comes to the big game they have always managed to come up big. Last week against long time rival without their starting quarterback Ian Book Notre Dame still rolled over the broken FSU team. They have showed up for ranked opponent; they have beaten three of the four by two scores or more. The only one  that was within one score was Michigan. Notre Dame may have one of the best pocket passers in the land with Book as he can throw it right in the bucket. Notre Dame has a huge final test in #12 Syracuse this week if they can get through them with no upset Notre Dame will be on the big stage once again. Michigan so still want to get rid of Jim Harbaugh? Yeah we didn’t think so. Michigan has a very talented quarterback in Shea Patterson. He is a top flight college quarterback which is all Harabaugh will need come playoff time to compete. The only questions surrounding them is the offensive line which will face big test in Alabama and maybe Clemson. However the biggest assets for the Wolverines is they have been able to keep drives alive as they are 8th on third down. Michigan is number one in the country which is not a bad thing to have. Can’t win if you can’t score. Michigan have turned around their season since that first loss to Notre Dame in week 1. Michigan may be playing their best football at the moment as they have beaten Penn State 42-7 and Rutgers by the same score. They have Indiana this week then the final kryptonite game against Ohio State. Maybe 2018 will finally be the year they can clinch the spot with a win over Ohio State. Georgia makes sense as they should be the next team to get in but they will have their chance against Alabama in the SEC championship game. LSU may have caught Georgia on the right week as they were their real first test because Georgia as sure put that loss behind them. Beating #17 Kentucky to clinch the SEC East, but also in the previous beat #13 Florida by double digits as well. Georgia seems to be rolling again if one of the top 4 slips they will be right there to take that final spot. Oklahoma is the only team we question still being in the 6. We don’t think LSU should not be right behind them at 7 due to the fact they do have two losses. Some will argue that one is Alabama so they really shouldn’t be penalized for that but it seems that the rankings after Bama at 1 is always who has the best shot at beating them. LSU clearly doesn’t have that big of one losing 24-0. You wouldn’t want to watch an MMA fight for a second time when the first one was a beat down. Oklahoma we have a problem with them being tested by teams like Oklahoma State. The offense led by Kyle Murray can score on any defense but the problem is anyone can score on their defense. If teams like Oklahoma State and Army can do it teams like Michigan, Alabama, Georgia, Notre Dame, and Clemson can. Those teams also have a better shot at stopping them. We know we sound like a broken record with saying Ohio State is being slept on but it’s because they are. Their quarterback Dwayne Haskins is third in yards with also 33 touchdowns and only 6 interceptions. Ohio State offense might not be one like Oklahoma but it is seven which is not to shabby. OSU defense also ranks better than Oklahoma by 25 spots. The only argument that can be made is if you stop Oklahoma passing game they can beat you with running and vice versa. OSU will have their moment with Michigan and maybe erase that loss to Purdue. College Football is in its final stretch go get your popcorn.

By

Matthew Doherty