My College Football Playoff projections took a blow in week four.
Just last week, I replaced Utah with Kansas State as the winner of the Big 12. That was the first time this season that I made that move.
BYU – 38
Kansas State – 9
So … it’s back into the 4-seed for Utah.
Then I put Memphis into the 12-seed and they promptly went on the road and lost.
Navy – 56
Memphis – 44
To be fair, nobody goes into Annapolis and leaves town with a win. NOBODY!
So why not? Let’s put the currently undefeated Navy Midshipmen into the college football playoffs as a 12-seed!
Go Navy!
Do I really think Navy will run the table, win the American Athletic Conference and be the G5 representative in the CFP? No, not really. But I have been putting a different G-5 team in that 12-seed every week this year just for fun. Plus … Go Navy!
The real struggle I had with my projections this week was with the 11-seed.
I’ve had Missouri slotted into that spot for a couple of weeks. Then the Tigers went out and needed overtime to beat Vanderbilt.
The Tigers haven’t looked great this season but they are still undefeated and their schedule is hardly daunting.
@ Texas A&M (3-1)
@ Massachusetts (1-3)
vs. Auburn (2-2)
@ Alabama (3-0)
vs. Oklahoma (3-1)
@ South Carolina (3-1)
@ Mississippi State (1-3)
vs. Arkansas (3-1)
You have to chalk up Bama as a loss right now but every other game is very winnable. A 10-2 season in the SEC may be good enough to sneak in as an 11 seed.
Still, Mizzou has looked suspect so 9-3 looks very possible too and that won’t be good enough.
Conversely, the Clemson Tigers have rebounded from their week one drubbing against Georgia. Now, granted, they haven’t played anybody with a pulse (Appalachian State and NC State who were both projected to be good this year but are not).
Clemson’s schedule looks pretty cake-cuppy as well.
vs. Stanford (2-1)
@ Florida State (1-3)
@ Wake Forest (1-2)
vs. Virginia (3-1)
vs. Louisville (3-0)
@ Virginia Tech (2-2)
@ Pitt (4-0)
vs. The Citadel (2-2)
vs. South Carolina (3-1)
Louisville is the biggest hurdle there and the Cardinals may end up being a playoff team themselves.
Pitt is also playing some good football right now with Eli Holstein looking like the kind of quarterback who was good enough to sign with Alabama out of high school.
In the end, I think I have a little more faith in Clemson … although that faith may very well prove to be unfounded. Even as I type this, I can’t help but think that when all other things are equal, it’s generally smarter to go with the best quarterback … and I still believe that Brady Cook is a better college quarterback than Cade Klubnick.
Who knows?
Still, it should be fun to watch it all play out.
One final note …
GO NAVY! BEAT ARMY!
