How We See it After Week 7 in College Football

Another week is in the books in the 2021 College Football season. Week 7 saw two more unbeaten teams lose, leaving 11 that are still unbeaten heading into Week 8. Let’s take a look at the 5 biggest developments that occured this week and then give an update on the conferences and the playoff picture.

No.1: LSU goes up against Florida (an 11.5-point favorite), rallies around their embattled head coach Ed Orgeron, and wins 49-42. Then, came the announcement on Sunday that they had fired him. It is no secret that I’m not a fan of Orgeron, but it is apparent that the players didn’t quit on him. If LSU wanted to fire him, they have the right to do so. But, what would have hurt to wait till the end of the season, especially since they are letting him finish the season as the head coach? And why didn’t Orgeron tell them to stick it where the sun never shines? I would have taken the buyout that they owe me and said GEAUX TO HELL TIGERS!!. I hope LSU loses every game they have left and hire some idiot and fade away into oblivion.

No.2: Well, we have been waiting for Iowa to lose and it happened this week. The Purdue Boilermakers came into Iowa City and knocked off the previously undefeated Hawkeyes, 24-7. I said, take the points (Iowa was a 12 point favorite) and Purdue, but I thought Iowa would win the game. Now, the Hawkeyes have to regroup and win the West division and finish out a great season. It’s probably good that they are idle this week.

No.3: The Oklahoma Sooners offense appears to be back. True Freshman sensation, Caleb Williams, backed up his stellar performance against Texas, and was sensational in the Sooner’s 52-31 win over TCU. It’s premature for comparisons, but he looks like a combination of Baker Mayfield’s charisma, Kyler Murray’s freakish athleticism, and Jalen Hurts’s toughness. There are a lot of guys who would take that.

No.4: Georgia continued on track to run the table with a methodical 30-14 win over a tough Kentucky team (who incidentally gave them a better game than Arkansas or Auburn). The only two games the Bulldogs have left, that might be a problem ,are the rivalry game against Florida in Jacksonville, and a road trip to Tennessee. They should be 12-0 heading into the SEC championship game.

No.5: And finally, we have the redneck fans of the Tennessee Volunteers. Some of these classless idiots decided to throw golf balls, water bottles, and who knows what else, at former coach Lane Kiffin. Kiffin coached one year in Knoxville and abruptly left for USC ,which 99% of the civilized world would call a better job. To my knowledge, he has never said a bad word about his time at Tennessee. He is now the head coach at Mississippi and he brought the Rebels into Knoxville and won 31-26. As the game wound down, a golf ball was hurled from the stands and narrowly missed him. If it had hit him in the head, it could have killed him. When is this maniacal behavior going to end?

UPDATING THE CONFERENCES:

AAC CONFERENCE:

The Big 3: Cincinnati 6-0, SMU 6-0, and Houston 5-1 The Bearcats continued their march to an unbeaten regular season with an easy win over UCF. Meanwhile SMU returns to action after a week off and red-hot Houston also comes back after being idle last Saturday. All three teams should roll this week. Favorite to Win the Conference: Cincinnati

ACC CONFERENCE:

Atlantic Division:

Unbeaten Team: Wake Forest The Demon Deacons are 6-0 and have been the most consistent team in the league to date. Are they the best team in the league? Why not? They are as I write this on October 17th. After a week off they trek to Army this week.

The Main Contenders: NC State and Clemson Both contenders stayed on the heels of Wake Forest with wins this weekend. NC State was very impressive at Boston College and thrashed the Eagles 33-7. Clemson continued to struggle scoring and held on for a 17-14 win Friday night at Syracuse. Favored to Win the Atlantic Division: NC State

The Coastal Division: There are a couple of teams that are emerging in this side of the ACC. The Pittsburgh Panthers have quietly gone to 5-1 with a productive offense. They have Clemson at home this week and if they can beat the Tigers they will become the favorite in this division.

BIG 10 CONFERENCE:

East Division Unbeaten Teams: Michigan State ran their record to 7-0 with a 20-15 win over Indiana and are idle next week before the showdown with Michigan. The Wolverines were idle last week and play Northwestern this week before the battle with the Spartans in East Lansing.

Main Contenders: Waiting in the wings and still in the hunt are once beaten Ohio State and Penn State. They both will play all three contenders down the stretch and will have a lot to say on who represents the division in the Big-10 Championship game. Favored to Win the East: Ohio State

West Division: This division took a huge hit when undefeated Iowa was defeated by Purdue. The Hawkeyes could still win the rest and finish at 11-1, but it is not likely with their anemic offense. They have a legitimate shot at winning this division, but they will have to win tough road games at Wisconsin and Nebraska, and beat an improving Minnesota in Iowa City. Favored to Win the West: Iowa

BIG 12 CONFERENCE:

Unbeaten Teams: Oklahoma and Oklahoma State The two Oklahoma schools had impressive wins this week and continue their unbeaten seasons. Oklahoma State traveled to Texas and came from behind to beat the Longhorns 32-24. They are quietly proving that they are better than most people think. Oklahoma has made a quarterback change and Caleb Williams has breathed new life into the Sooners. They are on a collision course to face each other in Stillwater in the last game of the regular season.

Other Contender: Iowa State. The Cyclones are gaining momentum and still play both Oklahoma schools. They have the Cowboys this week in Ames and play at Oklahoma later in the season.

Favored to Win the Conference: Oklahoma

PAC 12 CONFERENCE:

North Division: Oregon is the best team in this division of the PAC-12. They will have to have a total collapse not to win it. However, they aren’t playing well enough to win the rest of their games. Their main challengers are Washington and Oregon State and they should be able to beat both of those teams. Favored to Win the North: Oregon

South Division: Going into last Saturday, Arizona State had emerged as the team to beat in the South division and, arguably, the entire conference. But, Utah has burst onto the scene after there 35-21 win over the Sun Devils last Saturday. The Utes have bounced back from two early season non-conference losses and are the only PAC-12 team without a conference loss. UCLA and Arizona State have each lost one game and are the likely teams to win the division if Utah stumbles. Favored to Win the South: Utah

Favored to Win the Conference: Oregon

SEC CONFERENCE:

SEC East Unbeaten Team: Georgia The Bulldogs knocked Kentucky from the unbeaten ranks with a 30-14 win Saturday in Athens. They will take this week off before returning for the last 5 games, seemingly, after playing the tougher part of their schedule. Kentucky is the only other division team with a chance and they would have to win the rest of their conference games and Georgia would have to lose twice. Favored to Win the SEC East: Georgia

SEC West Division: Alabama is still in the driver’s seat in the West and if they win the rest of their conference games they will make it to the SEC Conference Championship game.

Main Contenders to Alabama: There are two teams that also have one loss in the SEC West. Auburn has the best chance to overtake the Crimson Tide because they still have to play each other and, if each teams finished with one loss, the Tigers would have the tie-breaker. Ole Miss, also has one loss but it was against Alabama, so because of the tiebreaker, the Crimson Tide would have to lose again and the Rebels would have to win out. Both LSU and Texas A&M have two losses and are still alive. Texas A&M beat Alabama head-to-head, so if they win out and Alabama loses they would get the crown. LSU would have to win the rest of their conference games (which includes Alabama) and hope Auburn loses also. Favored to Win the SEC West: Alabama

BEST OF THE REST:

Undefeated Teams: San Diego State, Coastal Carolina, and UTSA Can any of these teams run the table and finish undefeated? Let’s look at their schedules.

San Diego State: The Aztecs are 6-0 and the Mountain West is a tough conference. They are fortunate that the three main contenders in the Mountain West (Fresno State, Nevada, and Boise State), all have to come to San Diego. They have road games at Air Force, Hawaii, and UNLV. Very unlikely they can go unbeaten, but their chances are improving each week. They have a showdown at 6-1 Air Force this week.

Coastal Carolina: This bunch has their biggest hurdle tomorrow night as they journey to Boone, NC to take on Appalachian State. If they win this one they should win the rest of their games and win the East Division and go into the Sun Belt Championship 12-0.

UTSA: The Roadrunners ran their record to 7-0 in Conference USA. They have home games against Southern Miss, and UAB. Their three road games are at Louisiana Tech, UTEP, and North Texas. Since most of us don’t follow Conference USA, their toughest tests will be at La Tech and UTEP, and UAB at home. They have a legitimate chance to win, not only their division, but also the Conference USA Championship game and finish the regular season at 13-0.

One More to Watch: Notre Dame The Irish have lost one game and they could still sneak into the playoff picture if they run the table and they can do it. They have home games with USC, North Carolina, Navy, and Georgia Tech. They have to play at Virginia and Stanford. There is no doubt they can win all of those.

BEST BETS TO MAKE THE 4-TEAM PLAYOFFS AND THEIR CHANCES:

Georgia 75%
Cincinnati 65%
Oklahoma 50%
Alabama 40%
Ohio State 35%
Notre Dame 30%
Michigan 25%
Oklahoma State 22%
Michigan State 15%
Penn State, Iowa, and Oregon 5%
San Diego State and SMU 2%
Coastal Carolina, UTSA, and Wake Forest 0%

This is where we see the playoff picture after 7 weeks of the season. There are certain to be many changes from today till the first week in December in this crazy, unpredictable sport.