-Originally published 11/12/21-

Under Further Review Week 10

A week that saw only a couple of upsets and sloppy close wins didn’t see much change in the playoff rankings. Georgia is still #1 after clamping down on Missouri 43-6 and #2 Alabama stayed put after escaping LSU 20-14. Oregon shook off Washington, Ohio State survived Nebraska, #6 Cincinnati stopped Tulsa on the goal line six times and Michigan smoked Indiana to move up to 3-6. Michigan State lost at Purdue 40-29 to slide from 3 to 7. Oklahoma stated at #8 on a bye. Notre Dame and Oklahoma State moved up to 9 & 10 and that’s about the line for playoff hopefuls unless things go sideways. Texas A&M is #11 after knocking off Auburn and the top two-loss team. Wake Forest fell to North Carolina and dropped to #12 and took the ACC playoff chances to almost zero. Baylor is #13 after falling to TCU with no permanent coach.

The lower chunk of the rankings saw minor shifting. #14 BYU, #15 Ole Miss, #16 NC State, #17 Auburn, #18 Wisconsin, #20 Iowa, #21 Pittsburgh, & #22 San Diego State. Jumping into the rankings are Purdue all the way up at #19 after another win over a #2 in MSU (& Iowa), Utah and Arkansas are back in at #24 & 25. UTSA is finally in the playoff ranks at #23. Falling out are Mississippi State, Kentucky, Minnesota, and Fresno State.

The AP Poll didn’t include Purdue, Arkansas, San Diego State, or Utah and had Houston (17), Costal Carolina (22), Penn State (23), and Louisiana (24) instead.

Top Watches –Week 10
Weekday Watch: 7:30 – North Carolina @ #21 Pittsburgh – ESPN
Two high powered ACC offenses with Pitt still aiming for the ACC Championship.
Must Watch: Noon – #8 Oklahoma (9-0) @ #13 Baylor (7-2) – FOX
Can Oklahoma win a big game on the road coming out of a bye?
Audible: Noon – Mississippi St (5-4) @ #17 Auburn (6-3) – ESPN
7:30 – #25 Arkansas (6-3) @ LSU (4-5) – SECN
SEC West is full of quality teams. Auburn needs a bounce back from its offense after putting up 3 points against Texas A&M and the Bulldogs defense will be another threat. LSU nearly beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa with several top players out and a lame duck head coach. This time they’ll be host an Arkansas team that did pull off a last second upset last week against Mississippi State.
Check In: 8:00 – TCU (4-5) @ #10 Oklahoma State (8-1) – FOX
TCU dropped Gary Patterson and picked up its biggest win in a couple years with a 30-28 upset over Baylor. Can they do it again in Stillwater?
Underrated: 3:30 – Miami (5-4) @ Florida State (3-6) – ESPN
Disappointing season for both squads but they’re both building for 2022 and this should be fun.
Small Screen: 3:30 – Louisiana (8-1) @ Troy (5-4) – ESPN+
Troy needs help to win the MW East but could upset the applecart for the 6-0 Rajin Cajuns in the West.
Late Night Snack: 10:30 – Nevada (7-2) @ #22 San Diego State (8-1) – CBSSN
The Mountain West is starting to shake out and these are the top two teams right now.

Weekday Slate
Wednesday, November 10^th
7:00 – Toledo (4-5) @ Bowling Green (3-6) – CBSSN
7:00 – Ball State (5-4) @ Northern Illinois (6-3) – ESPN2
8:00 – Kent State (5-4) @ Central Michigan (5-4) – ESPNU

Thursday, November 11^th
7:30 – North Carolina @ #21 Pittsburgh – ESPN

Friday, November 12^th
6:00 – #5 Cincinnati (9-0) @ South Florida (2-7) – ESPN2
9:00 – Wyoming (5-4) @ Boise State (5-4) – FS1

At the time of writing several MAC games will already have finished but the Wednesday slate still have a couple of the best in action. West division leader Northern Illinois hosts Ball State, tied for 2^nd with Central Michigan. The Chips will be in a battle to remain in 2^nd or shift to first while host East leader Kent State. Kent State survived Northern Illinois 52-47 in a penalty filled mess of a first quarter-and-a-half that lead to a penalty filled, zero defense 2-and-a-half final quarters. Pitt is still the leader in the ACC Coastal and hosts a UNC squad that knocked of Wake Forest. Thursday night should be another fun, high scoring affair with preseason Heisman candidate Sam Howell taking on current Heisman contender Kenny Pickett.  Cincinnati managed to move up in the playoff rankings but has to look for “style points” in mashing SF. Wyoming has fallen apart this season and Boise finally seems to be headed up in the right direction.

Saturday, November 13^th – Noon Slate
Fresh Squeezed
Noon – #8 Oklahoma (9-0) @ #13 Baylor (7-2) – FOX
The Bears have to be beside themselves after losing 30-28 on the road to TCU after the resignation of Gary Patterson. Hosting Oklahoma with Kansas State and Texas Tech both favorable games left on the schedule the Bears were set for a massive upset this week to catapult themselves up the playoff rankings. The upset potential is certainly still there but a two loss Big 12 team isn’t going to make the playoff judging by the committees poor positioning of a currently undefeated Sooners team. OU is coming off a bye week ready for a home stretch of @Baylor, Iowa State, @ Oklahoma State to make the Big 12 Championship. It’s become apparent they’ll need good ‘ol “style points” to make the playoffs as well. The game of the week is in Waco with tons of questions. How will Oklahoma look against its toughest opponent yet? Will Caleb Williams continue to improve? Will the defense? If Oklahoma loses how big is the hill for a one-loss Big 12 team to make the playoffs? Does beating Baylor, giving them a 3^rd loss, count as a major win in the playoff committees eyes? Stay tuned and tune in.
Pick: Oklahoma 31-28

Noon – #6 Michigan (8-1) @ Penn State (6-3) – ABC
The Wolverines smothered the Hoosiers 29-7 last week holding the squad to 195 yards of total offense. PSU found itself going into the 4^th quarter up 14-6 on Maryland before pulling away 31-14. Clifford looked healthy putting the ball in the air 47 times for 363 yards and 3 Tds. They held the Terps under 50 yards rushing on 27 carries but threw for 371 yards. Penn has lost three straight to Iowa, Illinois, and Ohio State coming in. Now at full strength, PSU’s passing offense will be a threat while the defense has lost some of its touch. Top-10 in points allowed at 16.7ppg and 6^th in Red zone scoring they still lock up when they need to. The Wolverines allow 16ppg and are 6^th in yards allowed at just a smidge under 300 per game. They rarely worry about red zone defense because no one makes it that far. They’re tied with Georgia (16) for second fewest red zone trips allowed behind Wisconsin (15). A close contest, I’ve got Michigan’s defense traveling.
Pick: Michigan 24-14

Lower Grove
Noon – New Mexico State (1-8) @ #2 Alabama (8-1) – SECN
Noon – Northwestern (3-6) @ #18 Wisconsin (6-3) – ESPN2
Noon – Mississippi St (5-4) @ #17 Auburn (6-3) – ESPN
Noon – UCF (6-3) @ SMU (7-2) – ESPNU
Noon – East Carolina (5-4) @ Memphis (5-4) – ESPN+
Noon – Houston (8-1) @ Temple (3-6) – ESPN+
Noon – Syracuse (5-4) @ Louisville (4-5) – ESPN3
2:00 – #24 Utah (6-3) @ Arizona (1-8)  – Pac12
2:00 – Georgia State (4-5) @ Coastal Carolina (8-1) – ESPN+
2:30 – South Alabama (5-4) @ Appalachian State (7-2) – ESPN+

Alabama gets a tuneup this week. Wisconsin has won 5 straight and Mertz threw 3 Tds on 16 attempts in a semi-decent performance and 52-3 thumping of Rutgers. They should beat NW but the Wildcats made things complicated for Iowa last week so we’ll see. The SEC West is a gift that keeps on giving. This week’s surefire barnburner is Mike Leach’s comedy tour pulling into Jordan-Haire stadium to battle a Tigers team that was smothered by Texas A&M 20-3 last week. Both squads have grabbed big wins and will put on a show. The AAC has several top teams in action. Houston is undefeated in conference play and should finish out the regular season 11-1 and matchup against Cincinnati in the Conference Championship. UCF (4-2), SMU (3-2), and East Carolina (3-2) are pretty much out of the race but will be great matchups. Louisville and Syracuse are both fighting for bowl eligibly. Coastal Carolina will be without star QB Grayson McCall taking on a feisty Georgia State squad. App state is in the race for the Sun Belt and just needs to fend off South Alabama. Utah should win in Tucson but the the Wildcats have been feisty. They won their first game last week and have 5 losses by 8 points or less.

Afternoon Slate
Fresh Squeezed
3:30 – #1 Georgia (9-0) @ Tennessee (5-4) – CBS
We all know about Georgia’s defense and the run game racking up 190ypg behind Zamir White and complements James Cook and Kendall Milton all averaging 4.9ypc or better. The passing game is a question mark with mobile QB  Stentson Bennett holding a 14-4 Td-Int ratio and completing 66.7% of his passes but often banged up JT Daniels looking over his shoulder. The Vols could be a surprise team to challenge. Hendon Hooker is a very very good QB (21-2 Td-Int, 69.4%, 1, 894 pass/yds, 457 rush/yds, 4 rush/tds) and one of the best in the country under pressure. He’ll need to be with his questionable offensive line giving up over 3 sacks per game and going up against the best interior offensive lineman in the country in Jordan Davis. The Vols defense has been tore up by Kentucky, Alabama and Ole Miss in recent weeks but this is an intriguing challenge for the Bulldogs.
Pick: Georgia 31-17

3:30 – #19 Purdue (6-3) @ #4 Ohio State (8-1) – ABC
Purdue has knocked off #2 Iowa & #2 MSU and finds themselves all the way up at #19 in the rankings. The Boilermakers have an explosive playmaker in David Bell (64 rec, 1,003 yrds, 5 Td) averaging over 15.7 yards-per reception that’s played a major part in their big games. The defense is able to generate pressure and make stops. They’re only allowed 13 touchdowns on 29 red zone trips. OSU is hammering bad teams but going to the win against decent competition.  The Boilermakers has enough talent to stress OSU out on both sides of the ball.
Pick: Ohio State 31-24

3:30 – Minnesota (6-3) @ #20 Iowa (7-2) – BTN
Minnesota took a tumble against Illinois 14-6 while Iowa survived the mighty Northwestern Wildcats 17-12 last week. Two ugly games involving four offensively stunted teams. A running theme in the Big 10. The Gophers and Illinois combined for 554 yards of offense and 8-25 on 3^rd downs. Iowa lost QB Spencer Petras and plugged in Alex Padilla. They still needed 3 turnovers in a game where NW converted more 3^rd downs, had more 1^st downs, committed more penalties and two more yards of offense. All that to say, both teams are in a bad place but Iowa with a backup QB at home should still be the better team….maybe?
Pick: Iowa 24-10

Lower Grove
3:30 – Southern Miss (1-8) @ #23 UTSA (9-0) – ESPN+
3:30 – Florida Atlantic (5-4) @ Old Dominion (3-6) – ESPN+
3:30 – UAB (6-3) @ Marshall (6-3) – CBSSN
3:30 – Miami (5-4) @ Florida State (3-6) – ESPN
3:30 – Iowa State (6-3) @ Texas Tech (5-4) – ESPN2
3:30 – Louisiana (8-1) @ Troy (5-4) – ESPN+
4:00 – Maryland (5-4) @ #7 Michigan State (8-1) – FOX

UTSA should move to 10-0 and stay in 1^st place of the C-USA West. Marshall is in 1^st place in the C-USA East division hosting UAB 2^nd in the East. FAU still has skin in the game tied for 3^rd in the East. The Miami/FSU game this season won’t be as exciting with both squads not hitting their ceiling but it should still be a close game with both teams looking better than earlier in the year. Iowa State isn’t out of the running for the Big 12 Championship and TT won’t be an easy game on the road. Louisiana plays a tough Troy team on the road in Sun Belt play. MSU tries to bounce back against a Maryland team capable of moving the ball behind QB Tagovailoa who has 5 games of 330+ yards this season against Sparty’s iffy secondary.

Evening Slate
Fresh Squeezed
7:00 – #11 Texas A&M (7-2) @ #15 Ole Miss (7-2) – ESPN
The Aggies are currently the highest ranked two lost team in the playoff rankings. I don’t believe a two  loss team has a real shot to make it, but either of these squads could be playing well enough to be considered a top four team by seasons end. The Aggies defense made a home stand against a surging Auburn last week shutting the Tigers down and scoring 14 in the 4^th to pull away 20-3. Ole Miss pulled ahead 24-0 against Liberty at half and sputtered to a 27-14 win. Both teams need the offense to bounce back here. The Aggies D is much better and should help keep them in the game against a Matt Corral lead Rebel offense that’s been cooler as of late.
Pick: Texas A&M 33-30

7:30 – #9 Notre Dame (8-1) @ Virginia (6-3) – ABC
The Cavaliers are #1 in total offense at 545.2 yards per game with 401 coming the through the air from QB Brennan Armstrong #2 nationally in passing yardage. Armstrong’s 27-8 Td-Int ratio and 7 rushing Tds has established him as an explosive threat. The Irish knocked off Navy 34-6 and are still in play for the playoffs. Kyren Williams (160 att, 802 yds, 9 Tds) is a steady hand in the backfield averaging 5 ypc and the offense averages 32.8 ppg. ND is rightfully favored here on the road but Virginia’s offense could pull the upset.
Pick: Virginia 38-31

7:30 – #16 NC State (7-2) @ #12 Wake Forest (8-1) – ACCN
A battle for the ACC Atlantic division. WF has scored 35+ in every game this season and looked like they were moving to 9-0 last season before North Carolina flipped a switch and outscored them 24-7 in the 4^th to pull a 58-55 upset. The defense has given up 34+ points in 4 of the last 5 games. The Wolfpack is scoring 31.1ppg and capable of exploiting WF’s defense. This is a tale of two QB’s, Devin Leary (2,475 yds, 25-3 Td-Int, 62.5%) for Wake and Sam Hartman (2,873 yds, 27-5 Td-Int, 66%) for NC State are two of the underrated slingers in the country in a fair fight.
Pick: Wake Forest 49-42

Lower Grove
7:00 – Arizona State (6-3) @ Washington (4-5) – FS1
7:00 – Air Force (6-3) @ Colorado State (3-6)
7:00 – New Mexico (3-6) @ Fresno State (7-3)
7:30 – #25 Arkansas (6-3) @ LSU (4-5) – SECN
7:30 – Kansas (1-8) @ Texas (4-5) – ESPNU
8:00 – TCU (4-5) @ #10 Oklahoma State (8-1) – FOX

Arizona State has too much talent to struggle but so do the Huskies. In Mountain West action neither Air Force nor Fresno State are in control to win their divisions but both are enjoyable watches. LSU nearly punched out Alabama but wasn’t quite up to the task. They’ll have a shot more big game prey Arkansas coming to town after rallying to Mississippi State. The Big 12 will see Texas righting for bowl eligibility against Kansas and TCU trying to pull another upset against OSU after taking down Baylor last week.

Late Night Slate
9:00 – Colorado (3-6) @ UCLA (5-4) – Pac12
10:30 – Washington State (5-4) @ #3 Oregon (8-1) – ESPN
10:30 – Nevada (7-2) @ #22 San Diego State (8-1) – CBSSN
10:30 – Utah State (7-2) @ San Jose State (5-5) – FS1

In Pac 12 play, the Bruins are coming off a bye after getting thumped by Utah and losing to Oregon by a field goal. A 5-2 start now holds zero victories over teams with a winning record. Colorado is 2-2 in their last four and Brendon Lewis has a 6-0 Td-Int ratio the past couple games. The Buffaloes could make a game of it. In a strange twist Washington State can move into 1^st place in the Pac-12 North two weeks after firing its coaching staff if they can knock off Oregon in Eugene. Cal should have a month ago but shot themselves in the foot. The Ducks have finally won the past couple weeks by more than a possession but WSU has now won 4 of 5 with the lone loss 21-19 to BYU. This is a very dangerous spot for the Ducks. The Mountain West features a monster game between the top two clubs in the West division in (4-1) Nevada and SDSU. Both clubs lost to 3^rd place Fresno State (4-2) showing the strength of the division. Utah State is 1^st place in the East and battles a SJS team that’s 2-2 in its last 4 with those two losses coming to….Nevada and SDSU by a combined 9 points.