On Sunday, we chronicled the Pac-12 South race (perhaps an inappropriate noun) where everybody can win and all are nicked with at least 3 conference losses. Since chaos in college football can be great fun, we are rooting for UCLA to win its last 3, win the division and enter the Pac-12 title game at Levis Stadium with a spiffy 5-7 mark.
We were turned off this week as some national talking heads were bemoaning some potential mismatches in the conference title games. Am I the only one who is suffering from Clemson, Alabama and Ohio State fatigue? And incessant conversations about the playoff?
The way-ahead leader in the Big 10 West: Northwestern. The Wildcats sport absolutely no running game, after the forced retirement of Dylan Larkin, and the most bizarre loss of the year to Akron. At halftime, in their September 15 game against the Zips, Northwestern was cruising over an offensively-challenged Akron team by a 21-3 score. Who knew Akron was going to score 3 non-offensive touchdowns to shock the Cats? While Northwestern is a 10-point underdog at Iowa this week, all the Wildcats have to do is win two of their last 3 (doormats Minnesota and Illinois are also on the docket) to make their initial appearance in Indianapolis. Sure, it would be embarrassing for the Big 10 West winner to be winless in non-conference, but there could be company in the form of……..
Pittsburgh! The Panthers, who were predicted to be also-rans in the ACC’s Coastal Division, are sitting pretty, with a 5-1 Coastal mark. Ironically, their only conference loss is a 38-35 defeat is to cellar dweller North Carolina. Like Northwestern, the rest of their schedule is manageable (Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Miami are all struggling) and the Panthers went winless in their non-conference tilts against FBS teams. In full disclosure, such losses were to excellent teams in Penn State, UCF and Notre Dame. In further full disclosure, the Odyssey attended their game at UCF in a game where Pitt was totally humiliated. A Clemson-Pitt ACC championship game will be generally viewed as some form of mercy killing.
Houston’s pratfall against SMU raises the possibility that either 4-5 SMU or 4-5 Tulane could emerge out of the American’s West division.
The Sun Belt West is too weak for words.
All of which means that there may be some gross mismatches in conference chamionships or there is scope for some great upsets, depending on your general philosophical view.