Played in/Played out: Overlooked Kansas State, Georgia emerge
Paste BN Sports is keeping careful tabs on how each week's wins and losses impact the eventual makeup of the inaugural College Football Playoff. If the season ended today, here are three teams moving into the championship picture and three moving out.
Teams that played their way in:
Kansas State. The preseason dialogue in the Big 12 Conference centered on Baylor and Oklahoma. As recently as two weeks ago, the conversation widened to include TCU. Today, after a season-changing win against the Sooners, the conference race — and perhaps a Playoff berth — centers on a single team: Kansas State. The Wildcats knocked off the Sooners with some help, true, but the victory carries a substantial postseason impact. Baylor has a conference loss. TCU has a loss. West Virginia has a loss. OU has two losses. How many teams are undefeated in Big 12 play? Just one: Kansas State.
Georgia. Georgia is a botched red-zone possession away from an unbeaten regular season. Let's give some credit to Mark Richt for leading the Bulldogs beyond that disappointment and into a spot as the clear leader in the Southeastern Conference East Division as we reach the final weekend of October. Better yet, let's remember that Georgia has excelled — dismantling both Missouri and Arkansas — without running back Todd Gurley, whose shoes have been filled ably and commendably by true freshman Nick Chubb. The Bulldogs may run the table until the conference title game.
Arizona State. Like Georgia, the Sun Devils have been dealing with attrition — injured quarterback Taylor Kelly has missed ASU's last three games. In addition, Todd Graham and his staff are working with a very young and inexperienced defense, though the unit seems to improve on a weekly basis. The bottom line: After beating Stanford, the Sun Devils begin the home stretch with just one loss, a bad one to UCLA, and has successfully earned a spot in the Playoff conversation in a very competitive Pac-12 Conference.
Teams that played their way out:
Baylor. It's not just about the loss to West Virginia, though it did raise major questions about the Bears' defense and penchant for stretches of sloppy play. Where this loss hurts is in the Playoff's big picture: Baylor simply didn't schedule the sort of nonconference slate needed to overcome a defeat during conference play. Though that win against TCU will remain impressive, Baylor might be viewed as a one-loss team that needs help from other teams to work back into the Playoff mix.
Notre Dame. It's not over for Notre Dame — not quite. Yeah, beating Florida State would have been a feather in the Irish's cap; it would have been the résumé maker this team needed to keep pace with the SEC. That the loss came by only four points is also something the selection committee might consider as the group goes through its paces. The problem: Notre Dame doesn't have a win against a ranked team, thanks to Stanford's swoon. The Irish needed this one, basically, and came up short by a single play.
Oklahoma. Well, it's over. Two losses? Done. Finished. Over. Oklahoma has no shot of playing for the national title in 2014. That has to be dreadfully disappointing for a team and fan base propelled into the offseason by January's bowl win against Alabama. So much for the Big 12, let alone the Playoff. The Sooners might lose four games during the regular season.