I think LSU and Ohio State are in, regardless of how they do in the Conference Championship games.
Clemson should have no trouble with UVa, but if they stumble then they could be out if Utah and OU win.
UGa needs to be beat LSU to get in. If Utah, OU and UGa lose, then probably Baylor.
I would think OU gets in before Utah but it could come down to an "eye test" of how they look in the championship games.
SoCal
Sage Grouse
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'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013
"Amazing what a minute can do."
Sage Grouse
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'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013
Florida quarterback Felipe Franks has announced that he will not return to UF for his final season, but instead will either enter the NFL draft or take the graduate transfer route to finish his collegiate career at another program.
https://www.cbssports.com/college-fo...es-his-future/
Franks was a 4-star recruit who exhibited outstanding skills both passing and running the ball against SEC-caliber competition before an unfortunate injury sidelined him early this season, resulting in Kyle Trask taking over as the starting QB for the Gators. The main criticisms directed at Franks were that he sometimes had difficulty reading defenses quickly enough to make the right decisions with the ball, and occasionally allowed his emotions to spill over -- in short, he sometimes showed a lack of good judgment on the field. On the other hand, his teammates really liked him, and he was capable of elite-level play when he was focused and in rhythm.
I'll be curious to see whether there is any mutual interest between Franks and Duke, because I think Coach Cutcliffe could provide the kind of tutoring that would help Felipe remedy his weaknesses as a QB, and his skills and experience would seem to be of benefit to the Duke football team.
I don't like Baylor, but based on how both they and TCU were passed over when they were playoff candidates in favor of state schools, I would put money on Utah. Baylor is definitely not "better known" (or a bigger name) than Utah. The main thing the Bears would have going for them is beating the team that gave them their sole loss, something Utah can't achieve.
I'm going to disagree on the second point. Baylor is definitely better known than Utah, and has been in a P5 conference for about 14 years longer (Utah being a relative newcomer). I mean, people are familiar with the name/word "Utah" because it is also a state, but name recognition for the school/athletic programs...not so much. Utah is not a state school the same way that Texas, Alabama, etc. are state schools.
Agreed...between RG3, Brile's success, then Brile's controversy, and now the new coach getting it going, Baylor does have higher profile than Utah at present. That said, I think Utah is better team.
Perhaps our friend Austin Devil doesn't realize how high a profile Baylor has outside of Texas, where EVERYTHING is about Texas and A and M....
I'm aware that they are known. They've been in their share of big bowls, and made noise in basketball too. (No need to get into the myriad negative reasons people have heard of them, too, but I will go as far as saying having a high profile doesn't count for a lot when a significant chunk of your image is coddling rapists.)
I'm also not saying Utah is somehow Ohio State in terms of state-school stature, but I continue to suspect they have more pull than BU does if it comes down to the two of them winning the PAC 12 and the Big XII-IV+II. Style points may matter too.
By the way, everything in-state here is not nearly all about UT and the Aggies as it used to be, because Texas has been down(-ish) for so long and while people are impressed with A&M being in the SEC, Texans don't know anything at all about SEC schools not named LSU or Alabama and A&M has been down(-ish) for a while, too.
So, Utah at 5 and OU at 6 in this week’s CFP rankings, meaning the Sooners would have to leapfrog the Utes. A second win over Baylor is the tipping point?
"Amazing what a minute can do."
I realize it's his shtick, but does anyone have worse/more annoying college football takes than Paul Finebaum?