FAVORITE TEAMS

NEVADA AND SAN JOSE STATE STILL REMAIN UNDEFEATED MOUNTAIN WEST TEAMS OVERALL

San Jose State stays undefeated since their game with Fresno State was cancelled over COVID. Nevada earned an important win against San Diego State to hold control over the Mountain West standings. There is still key games left, including playing each other in the regular season-finale. As I previously said, if both finish undefeated prior to the meeting, it’s possible they’ll meet again in the conference finals. It would be the first time two teams met back-to-back in the regular season and conference championship since the Mountain West championship’s existence.

OKLAHOMA WON BUT NEEDS HELP FOR CONFERENCE TITLE BID

The Sooners needed this win to stay in the Big 12 title contention, but now must look to Texas and West Virginia to guarantee their way in for the fourth straight season in its return. Texas has both Kansas State and Iowa State to play and has a win over Oklahoma State for the tiebreaker. Oklahoma only has West Virginia but must defeat West Virginia and cap off against Baylor for at least the number two spot. No Sooner fan, including me, wants to root for Texas, but in this situation with OU’s tiebreaker over Texas, it’s the perfect time to root for the Longhorns until the Sooners get to Arlington in mid-December.

BYU, COASTAL CAROLINA, CINCINNATI, AND MARSHALL STAY UNDEFEATED PRIOR TO CFP RANKINGS

It’s a great season for the little guys. BYU and Marshall roll through their schedule while Coastal Carolina and Cincinnati won important and quality games, including wins over Appalachian State and UCF this past weekend. BYU won’t play again until next month against San Diego State unless a Pac-12 team or another Mountain West team chooses to schedule them if their matchup gets cancelled prior to the Aztecs. Coastal Carolina’s remaining game is against Liberty and a conference title rematch with Louisiana. Marshall doesn’t have a key game except a conference title challenger. But Cincinnati has a trap game set at Tulsa for the regular-season finale. Let’s see what the committee has in store for BYU and Cincinnati.

NORTHWESTERN AND OHIO STATE LIKELY MEET IN THE CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP

And it’s likely to happen next month. I’m not 100% sure what Michigan State nor Minnesota could bring to the table, but Northwestern will find themselves in the title game for the second time in three seasons. Their offense is much more improved from last season and their defense was built to challenge most good offenses. Ohio State’s remaining schedule doesn’t seem challenging, so they should be in Indianapolis unless COVID says otherwise.

CAN COLLEGE FOOTBALL MAKE IT TO THE PLAYOFFS???

College football season has averaged 14 postponed/cancelled games due to COVID and less than minimum rosters required in the past three weeks. Clemson vs. Florida State was postponed this past weekend and Trevor Lawrence hasn’t seen the field for a good three weeks. The Pac-12 and the Big Ten popped in at the most inopportune time with the flu season mixed in with COVID with no margin-of-error. Ohio State is still in great position, but the Pac-12 is at risk with only four teams remaining undefeated. USC and Oregon must play through undefeated and have a conference champion for a chance at a playoff spot, if possible. With cases rising again during flu season, the committee spoke about postponing the playoffs if more cancellations/postponements persist in the coming weeks. It’s unclear if it’ll eventually happen but the playoffs will continue as they should.

RESULTS FROM WEEK 12’S TOP GAMES