Christian’s Picks: College Football Playoff’s first version set to be revealed

BY CHRISTIAN PHILLIPS

Week 11 is upon us and the race for the college football playoff is in full swing. Championship November will separate the dogs from the cats, as heated rivals will start looking to knock each other out of contention. In light of the first Playoff rankings, a highly anticipated matchup between Alabama and LSU awaits us. We can assume that the college football playoff committee will have LSU and Alabama in the top four of the rankings, but which program will claim the number one seed? That will go unanswered until 9 pm eastern time on ESPN where they will break down the rankings. 

In previous predictions, I had Ohio State, LSU, Penn State, and Alabama rounding out the top four. That was followed by Oklahoma and Clemson at the number five and six spots. But, week nine of the college football season caused a lot of chaos. Oklahoma was stunned in Manhattan with a 48-41 loss to Kansas State. At one point the Sooners were down by 25 points in the third quarter, but their late push in the fourth served them better than you would expect, despite still coming up short. We need to ask ourselves, is Oklahoma still in good standing on making the playoffs this season? 

Well, Oklahoma fans will have to pray for a miracle. The defensive performance against the Wildcats was as bad as previous seasons with Mike Stoops in control, but they still have a lot to lose. Most of the top ten teams are going head to head later in the season, so Oklahoma can climb the ladder as teams start to suffer one or more losses. What Oklahoma can’t do is lose or have very tight games against teams that they should put away early. This week Oklahoma is going into Ames to play a savvy Iowa State team, which beat the Sooners two years ago in Norman. 

Penn State continues to impress on both sides of the ball, despite being inexperienced on both sides. The Nittany Lions travel to Minnesota to play the undefeated Gophers, who are also looking to make a statement. Minnesota is by far the biggest surprise to most college football fans, and they are outscoring opponents by 18 points. 

The Clemson Tigers continue to cruise past their schedule with ease. Clemson has some concerns at quarterback, even though Trevor Lawrence is a highly coveted prospect for the NFL. The only remaining opponent that is left on their schedule that is worthy of recognition will be 7-1 Wake Forest. Clemson will first have to dial in on NC State, who frankly has nothing to lose, so look for a potential trap game for the Tigers this week. 

Ohio State is still in a different league than everyone else, as no team has been able to stay within striking distance. Wisconsin had their shot at the Buckeyes, but a huge let down on the Badgers end, concluded a 38-7 win for Jason Day and his Ohio State team. The Maryland Terrapins have the potential of making it a game with the Buckeyes, but their four-game skid has been fueled by stagnant offensive performances.   

LSU will need to lean heavily on Joe Burrow and his ability to make plays in the air in order to knock off the Alabama Crimson Tide this Saturday. It’s still a game-time decision whether or not Tua Tagovailoa will be playing due to his ankle injury that he suffered a few weeks ago.  You can watch this game at 2:30 pm on the CBS Network. 

My Top 25 Rankings: 

  1. Ohio State
  2. LSU  
  3. Alabama   
  4. Penn State 
  5. Clemson 
  6. Georgia 
  7. Oregon 
  8. Oklahoma 
  9. Utah 
  10. Baylor 
  11. Minnesota 
  12. Florida 
  13. Auburn 
  14. Notre Dame 
  15. Cincinnati 
  16. Kansas State  
  17. Wake Forest
  18. Michigan 
  19. Iowa 
  20. Memphis 
  21. Boise State 
  22. Navy 
  23. Wisconsin 
  24. San Diego State 
  25. SMU 
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