The "Thinning Of The Herd" Post Of Week-October 28th Edition

Oct 28, 2018, 6:53 AM

My weekly reminder that College Football has a way of "thinning the herd"...to help those of you that continue to wallow in wonder of what will happen if more than 4 teams go undefeated (which, by the way, is already officially impossible as only 4 unbeaten remain). From this point forward, I will also focus on the 1 loss teams that have a chance at the CFP as well...a group that is also thinning out very fast as October is poised to turn to November.

Going into last week, we were down to 5 teams that were undefeated as we entered the last week of October. In last week's post, I took a stab that 1 undefeated team would fall on Saturday and I was spot on:
South Florida lost to Houston...putting both teams at 7-1 and 0% chance of making playoffs.

Several 1 loss teams also thinned themselves out of any playoffs hopes:
Texas fell to 6-2 after losing to Oklahoma State
Florida fell to 6-2 after losing to UGA
NC State fell to 6-2 after losing to Syracuse.

We are now down to 4 undefeated teams with title chances (if you grant UCF a chance) and only 8 one-loss teams that have playoff hopes. Only 12 teams total with CFP realistic chances.

Weekend of November 3rd "Thinning Of The Herd":

Guaranteed Thinning Will Take Place:
Georgia (7-1) at Kentucky (7-1)...winner headed to Atlanta, loser out of CFP hopes.
Alabama (8-0) at LSU (7-1)...The other Death Valley should be a great atmosphere.

"Upset Alert”
Central Florida (7-0) hosts Temple (5-3)...Temple is undefeated in American Conference.
West Virginia (6-1) at Texas (6-2)...Longhorns are a tough out in Austin.
Penn State (6-2) at Michigan (7-1)...Wolverines need to find an offense if they want to stay undefeated.
Notre Dame (8-0) at Northwestern (5-3)...Maybe the most "classic" upset set up situation.
Oklahoma (7-1) at Texas Tech (5-3)...Sooners can score, but defense is upset worthy.
California (5-3) at Washington State (7-1)...Will magic carpet ride end for Leach?

Will Keep Winning....For Now
Nebraska (2-6) at Ohio State (7-1)...OSU has issues, but not as many as Nebraska.
Louisville (2-6) at Clemson (8-0)...Last time Clemson will face Bobby Petrino?

Next Saturday will dramatically reshape the playoff landscape, and we are almost guaranteed to have less than 10 teams with a chance to make playoffs. I will step out and say that we will have 5 teams that either lose their 1st game next Saturday or lose their 2nd game and become eliminated from CFP.

Very possible that only 7-8 teams will have CFP hopes after next Saturday night. It is setting up to be the most impactful week of the season.

The college football season has a way of “thinning the herd”....even beyond the land of undefeated!

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The "Thinning Of The Herd" Post Of Week-October 28th Edition

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