Home Stretch

The 2o21 college football regular season is getting close to it’s finish line, but there are still some hurdles for teams to jump through before making their victory lap.

Remaining Schedule for the top 10.

#1 Georgia – Tennessee, Charleston Southern, and Georgia Tech. Of all the top 10 teams, the dogs probably have the clearest path to the playoff, even if they lose the SEC Championship game, they’re a lock.

#2 Cincinnati– USF, SMU, and ECU. Just keep winning and you will have a seat at the table.

#3 Alabama – New Mexico St, Arkansas, and Auburn. The Tide need to finish strong in November. I haven’t thrown in the towel on Saban’s team but they need to play discipline football from here on out.

#4 Oklahoma– Baylor, Iowa St, and Oklahoma St. The Sooners have a tough November schedule. All three remaining opponents are capable of beating the Sooners. Can coach Riley keep his team focused?

#5 Oregon – Washington St, Utah, and Oregon St. – The Ducks have been a fun team to watch this season. Even with the one asterisk(Stanford loss) they have a nice win against Ohio St in Columbus and that is not easy to do. If Oregon can win out and win the Pac-12, they should be in the dance.

#6 Ohio St.- Perdue, Michigan St, and Michigan. – This might not be the most dominant buckeye team, but they just find ways to win. However, the last three games could spell trouble. I see another loss, possibly to Michigan. Then again, it is Michigan and they seem to rise to the occasion against the Wolverines.

#7 Notre Dame – Virginia, Georgia Tech, and Stanford. – The Irish seem to always find a way in the playoff. Even with one loss, there’s still a chance for them to squeeze in. They just need to win and win decisively.

#8 Michigan St – Maryland, Ohio St, and Penn St. – The Spartans were sitting pretty last week in the first playoff rankings and I think it got to their head because Perdue brought them down to reality. However, they can still make it if they win out.

#9 Michigan – Penn St, Maryland, and Ohio St. – The Wolverines have more than likely lost their chance for the playoff. However, the one possible redemptive outcome left is beating Ohio St and there is a good chance they can.

#10 Oklahoma St.- TCU, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma. One word- Bedlam. The Cowboys should take care of the horn frogs and red raiders. If they can upset the Sooners, man o man, that would create chaos.

The good news for all of these teams is that there is still time to finish strong. The bad news is in the end, only 4 teams are getting into the playoff. With that said, it’s going to be a wild finish. I look at the Iron Bowl, Bedlam, and Ohio St/Michigan during rivalry week- the winner of those games will for almost certainly help them get into their conference championship game. Win that game, and you could be in the playoff.

There’s still a lot of football to be played but the margin of error is very, very slim. Who will come out on top and who is on the outside looking in? Stay tuned!