NCAA College Football Scores, Week 14

NCAA College Football Scores, Week 14

Playoff hopefuls #8 UCLA and #4 Mississippi State went down to defeat, as did #9 Georgia and #13 Arizona State.

About three or four weeks ago, when Mississippi State was ranked #1 in the nation, I said it didn't matter because they were probably going to lose two of their last three games. That marked perhaps the only time I've ever been correct with a sports prediction.

I also mentioned that #2 Oregon, #5 TCU and #3 FSU had cakewalk schedules and would almost certainly finish their regular seasons with no further defeats. That also proved to be correct, but Oregon and FSU now have to win conference championship games against Arizona and Georgia Tech, respectively - and Oregon lost to Arizona earlier in the year.

TCU is still playing their regular season and will probably demolish a weak Iowa State squad next week, but a win would not guarantee them a conference championship, despite their impressive national ranking. It's complicated. TCU, Kansas State and Baylor are in a three-way tie for the Big 12 lead, and that conference does not hold a championship game, so the conference winner will be determined by the Kansas State game against Baylor. If Baylor wins, they win the conference because they beat TCU face-to-face. If Kansas State wins, TCU is the champion, because they beat Kansas State face-to-face. The only hope for Kansas State is to beat Baylor while TCU loses to Iowa State, since that would leave KSU as the only team with an 8-1 conference record, making their face-to-face performance irrelevant. That scenario is about as likely as me beating Lebron in a game of one-on-one, but the football does bounce funny, so ...

By the way, if Alabama loses their conference championship game, the SEC might get shut out of the national playoffs, because Missouri is pretty far down the list of potential invitees. That would be awkward since 'Bama would be watching the games on TV even though they would probably be favored over any of the invitees by 10 points or more.

Assuming no wild upsets in the conference finals, the national championship playoff will include 'Bama, Oregon and FSU. The fourth spot is up for grabs. If TCU wins their conference, they have a good shot, but Ohio State also has a good shot if they win their conference championship game against Wisconsin. Baylor still might sneak in there as well. If Baylor, Ohio State and TCU all win, there will be some bruised feelings because those three teams will have about an equal claim on a playoff berth. All three will be hoping for decisive, convincing wins next week.

In a sidebar: previously undefeated Marshall lost 67-66. They were down 49-42 at halftime. That came within three points of being the most points ever scored by two FBS teams in a half. The Marshall loss leaves FSU as the only bowl-eligible FBS team with an undefeated record. (Harvard is undefeated, but they do not play post-season football games - although they do go to post-season tournaments in other sports. Silly brainiacs!)