CFB: Whacko weekend = Shakeup

Texas Longhorns running back Quintrevion Wisner (26)

After CFB’s Whacko Week 14, we had to expect a shakeup in the AP Top 25 while waiting for the CFP lists heading into Tuesday’s list to determine the first 12-team College Playoffs.

Oregon was the unanimous choice for No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll on Sunday, strengthening its bid for the top spot in the College Football Playoff selection committee’s first rankings of the season.

The Ducks are No. 1 in the AP Top 25 for the third straight week, and unanimous for the first time, following its 28-point home win against Washington.

The rest of the top 5 is different this week as Texas, Penn State, Notre Dame, and Georgia each moved up a spot. The Longhorns reached No. 2 after beating interstate rival Texas A&M, 17-7. Penn State rose to No. 3 after hammering Maryland, 44-7, while Notre Dame elevated to No. 4 after outscoring USC, 49-35. Georgia finds itself at No. 5 after outlasting Georgia Tech in an eight-overtime wild one.

(Below: See thumbnails on all key games and scores, stats on every game plus Week 15 matchups)

The CFP’s expansion to 12 teams this season means losses by top teams to other top teams aren’t a certain disqualifier in the race for the national championship. The CFP’s first rankings of the season will be released Tuesday and updated weekly until the bracket is announced Dec. 8.

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The Ohio State Buckeyes dropped their second game of the season and their fourth straight against the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday. That loss also ended up knocking the Buckeyes out of the Big Ten Championship Game. With all of that, there is concern that Ohio State is no longer a national championship contender.

Because this is the first season of the 12-team College Football Playoff, teams have more room for error to make the field. So, while more information is going to be coming on Tuesday with the latest selection committee rankings, it does seem like the Buckeyes are going to make the field. That gives Ohio State an opportunity to atone for the loss.

Still, Ohio State is still reeling from a shocking 13-10 loss to Michigan in its regular-season finale. There are questions about Ryan Day and his inability to win a rivalry game. But the Buckeyes are 10-2 and have wins over two other teams who will make the Playoff field in Penn State and Indiana. Ohio State is firmly in the CFP.

Tennesseee was once in the cluster of SEC teams trying to get one of the final spots. With a win over Vanderbilt on Saturday and being one of the teams who survived the chaos of the past two weeks, the Volunteers made it to 10 wins. The difference between two-loss and three-loss teams in this race is going to be THE difference. Tennessee is in.

One-loss Indiana could have found itself in a position where it was being compared to two-loss SEC teams with perceived quality wins. But the losses by Ohio State and Miami paved the way for the 11-1 Hoosiers to crack the field. Indiana finished its regular season with a 66-0 win over Purdue on Saturday.

For a while this season, the ACC seemed like a one-bid league. But as the season progressed, it developed in a way that resulted in no two-loss SEC teams being on the bubble. Even if SMU loses to Clemson in the ACC Championship Game on Saturday, it’ll finish as a two-loss team and likely get in.

The betting odds have Alabama as a slight favorite to make the College Football Playoff field. What’s the path, though? The Crimson Tide are sitting here with three losses. Miami, a team with one fewer loss, is also on the bubble and we don’t know where the CFP is going to rank it after a loss to Syracuse. We are conditioned to think Alabama will get the benefit of the doubt, even though its 24-3 whupping at the hands of Oklahoma should stir a debate about whether the Tide is worthy to be among the bubble teams on this list.

Ole Miss finds itself in a similar situation. The Rebels have also beaten Georgia and South Carolina, but they also suffered bad losses to Kentucky and Florida. We cannot be sure that losing to the Gators is as bad as what happened to Alabama at Oklahoma, but the world seems resigned to thinking Alabama is a better choice. The CFP Committee ranked Alabama ahead last week, so that’s what we have to go on.

South Carolina is one of the hottest teams in the country. It may have just added a win over the eventual ACC champ, Clemson, to its resume. But, unfortunately, the Gamecocks lost games against Alabama, LSU, and they were blown out by Ole Miss. South Carolina being in a three-team SEC cluster with two teams it lost to makes this an almost impossible path to the CFP.

All Miami had to do was beat Syracuse on Saturday and that would have probably locked the Hurricanes into the CFP. They were up 21-0 on the Orange, but Miami’s poor defense showed up, and the ‘Canes blew the lead and now are on the outs. Miami is a 10-2 team, which means it has one fewer loss than some of the teams ranked ahead of it on the bubble. However, there are no quality wins on the resume, which ultimately makes their case for inclusion pretty grim.

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ICYMI:

Awright, awrigh, awright: Quintrevion Wisner ran for 186 yards to help No. 3 Texas beat No. 20 Texas A&M, 17-7, in College Station, Texas, sending the Longhorns to the SEC title game. Texas (11-1, 7-1 SEC) will face No. 6 Georgia next Saturday in Atlanta for the SEC title, with the winner getting a first-round bye in the 12-team College Football Playoff.

Quinn Ewers, who threw for 218 yards and a TD, turned the ball over in the red zone on consecutive third-quarter possessions to keep the Aggies (8-4, 5-3) in the game. Aggie cornerback Will Lee III returned the first giveaway 93 yards for a TD.

■ No. 1 Oregon 49, Washington 21: At Eugene, Ore., Dillon Gabriel threw for 209 yards and two TDs and ran for a score for the Ducks (12-0, 9-0 Big Ten), who held the Huskies (6-6, 4-5) to 43 yards rushing.

■ No. 4 Penn State 44, Maryland 7: At State College, Pa., Drew Allar and Beau Pribula each had a TD pass and a TD run for the Nittany Lions (11-1, 8-1 Big Ten), who moved to their first Big Ten title game since 2016. The Terrapins (4-8, 1-8) were outgained 412-194 in yards of offense.

■ No. 5 Notre Dame 49, USC 35: At Los Angeles, UNLV transfer Jayden Maiava threw interceptions that cornerback Christian Gray and safety Xavier Watts returned 99 and 100 yards for TDs with 3:39 left and 1:18 to go, respectively, for the Fighting Irish (11-1), who clinched a College Football Playoff berth with their 10th straight win. Maiava passed for 360 yards and three TDs and ran for two TDs in his first loss as a starter for the Trojans (6-6).

■ No. 7 Tennessee 36, Vanderbilt 23: At Nashville, Tenn., Nico Iamaleava passed for 257 yards and four TDs for the Volunteers (10-2, 6-2 SEC), who overcame a 14-0 deficit. Junior Sherrill returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a TD for the Commodores (6-6, 3-5), who were outgained 538-212 in yards of offense.

■ Syracuse 42, No. 8 Miami 38: At Syracuse, N.Y., Kyle McCord threw for 380 yards and three TDs for the Orange (9-3, 5-3 ACC), who overcame a 21-0 deficit and knocked the Hurricanes (10-2, 6-2) out of conference title contention. Cam Ward passed for 349 yards and two TDs for Miami.

■ No. 9 SMU 38, Cal 6: At Dallas, running back Brashard Smith totaled 134 yards of offense and scored twice for the Mustangs (11-1, 8-0 ACC), who overcame 17 penalties for 137 yards in their 17th straight conference win. The Golden Bears (6-6, 2-6) were down 21-0 before they gained a yard on offense.

■ No. 10 Indiana 66, Purdue 0: At Bloomington, Ind., Kurtis Rourke threw for 349 yards and six TDs as the Boilermakers (11-1, 8-1 Big Ten) amassed 582 yards of offense and held the Boilermakers (1-11, 0-9) to 67.

■ No. 16 South Carolina 17, No. 12 Clemson 14: At Clemson, S.C., QB LaNorris Sellers ran for 166 yards and two TDs, including a go-ahead 20-yard score with 1:08 left, for the Gamecocks (9-3, 4-1 SEC) in their sixth straight win. Cade Klubnik drove the Tigers (9-3, 5-2) to the South Carolina 18 with 16 seconds left before being intercepted by linebacker Demetrius Knight.

■ No. 13 Alabama 28, Auburn 14: At Tuscaloosa, Ala., Jalen Milroe passed for 256 yards and ran for 104 yards and three TDs for the Crimson Tide (9-3, 5-3 SEC) in their fifth straight win over the Tigers (5- 7, 2-6). Milroe lost two fumbles and threw an interception, accounting for three of Alabama’s four turnovers.

■ No. 14 Arizona State 49, Arizona 7: At Tucson, Ariz., Cam Skattebo ran for 117 yards and three TDs for the Sun Devils (10-2, 7-2 Big 12), who held a 643-210 edge in yards of offense. The Wildcats (4-8, 2-7) trailed 35-0 at halftime.

■ No. 17 Iowa State 29, Kansas State 21: At Ames, Iowa, Rocco Becht threw for two TDs and ran for a score for the Cyclones (10-2, 7-2 Big 12), who never trailed. The Wildcats (8-4, 5-4) held a 364-324 edge in yards of offense.

■ No. 22 Illinois 38, Northwestern 28: At Chicago, Aidan Laughery ran for 172 yards and three TDs for the Illini (9-3, 6-3 Big Ten), who led 28-10 in the third quarter. Safety Devin Turner returned one of his two interceptions 13 yards for a TD for the Wildcats (4-8, 2-7), who ran 90 plays to Illinois’ 53.

■ No. 24 Missouri 28, Arkansas 21: At Columbia, Mo., Brady Cook had a go-ahead 30-yard TD run with 1:53 left for the Tigers (9-3, 5-3 SEC) in their 10th straight home win. Ja’Quinden Jackson rushed for 87 yards and three TDs for the Razorbacks (6-6, 3-5).

■ No. 25 Army 29, UTSA 24: At West Point, N.Y., Bryson Daily threw for 190 yards and a TD and ran for 147 yards and two TDs for the Black Knights (10- 1, 8-0 AAC), who will host the league title game Friday. Linebacker Casey Larkin ended the final drive by the Roadrunners (6-6, 4-4) with an interception at the Army 10 with 1:14 left.

Mountain West

■ UCLA 20, Fresno State 13: At Pasadena, Calif., tight end Moliki Matavao had eight catches for 120 yards for the Bruins (5-7), who went ahead to stay in the third quarter and held Mikey Keene, the Mountain West passing leader for the Bulldogs (6-6), to 219 yards passing.

■ Wyoming 15, Washington State 14: At Pullman, Wash., tight end John Michael Gyllenborg caught a go-ahead 18- yard TD pass from Evan Svoboda with 24 seconds left for the Cowboys (3-9), who trailed 14-3 in the second quarter. The Cougars (8-4) were 5-0 at home.

Week 15 — Championship Weekend

See scores and stats from Week 14 below

Friday, Dec. 6

Saturday, Dec. 7

Week 14: All Scores, Stats

Tuesday, Nov. 26

Akron 21, Toledo 14 (OT)
Buffalo 43, Kent State 7

Thursday, Nov. 28

Alabama State 34, Tuskegee 6
Memphis 34, No. 17 Tulane 24

Friday, Nov. 29

No. 11 Boise State 34, Oregon State
No. 25 Colorado 52, Oklahoma State
Minnesota 24, Wisconsin 7
Miami (Ohio) 28, Bowling Green 12
Navy 34, East Carolina 20
Ohio 42, Ball State 21
No. 14 Ole Miss 26, Mississippi State 14
Sam Houston 20, Liberty 18
Colorado State 42, Utah State 37
Texas State 45, South Alabama 38
San Jose State 34, Stanford 31
Florida A&M 28, Alabama A&M 20

Iowa 13, Nebraska 10

Utah 28, UCF 14
No. 7 Georgia 44, Georgia Tech 42 (F/8OT)

Saturday, Nov. 30

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