College Football

Rivalry Weekend’s top 25 impact, quickly summarized

Keeping track of the Playoff, New Year’s Six, and bowl season fallout from Week 13 as each top-25 game goes final.

Updated Nov 26, 2017, 7:09 AM UTC

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

How’s this for a second-to-last weekend before bowl season: No. 1, No. 2, and No. 8 lost upsets. That’s a nice bit of mayhem to add onto the college football stretch run. Let’s catch up on the postseason picture.

Below, let’s keep track of Week 13’s ranked games from the Playoff committee’s perspective, which means it’s not only about who you beat, but how it relates to the full picture. Win projections are via S&P+. Final scores are in bold.

SUPER important

The weekend’s only game between two Playoff contenders:

No. 6 Auburn (10-2) 26, No. 1 Alabama (11-1) 14: Auburn gets a virtual Playoff quarterfinal against Georgia for the SEC title. The Tide could still make it in at 11-1, something we’re about to spend the next two weeks arguing about. Wheeee!

Important!

Games between teams that could finish in the committee’s final top 25 and/or games with other major postseason stakes.

No. 3 Clemson (11-1) 34, No. 24 South Carolina (8-4) 10: The committee loves the Tigers’ deep schedule, but a loss against Miami in the ACC Championship would put Clemson in a group hoping for the No. 4 spot.
Pitt (5-7) 24, No. 2 Miami (10-1) 14: The ACC’s gonna get a team in. Yes, it will.
No. 5 Wisconsin (12-0) 31, Minnesota (5-7) 0: UW’s strength of schedule has improved, but remains a sticking point. Doesn’t matter now. Win and in.
No. 4 Oklahoma (11-1) 59, West Virginia (7-5) 31: OU would’ve just become the first team to clinch a 2017 Playoff spot, just as it was in 2015 ... if not for the reanimated Big 12 Championship rematch against TCU.

No. 21 Stanford (9-3) 38, No. 8 Notre Dame (9-3) 20: The Irish just opened a New Year’s Six spot, and Stanford hits the Pac-12 Championship around the top 15.
No. 7 Georgia (11-1) 38, Georgia Tech (5-6) 7: The Dawgs needed to stay a one-loss team, for maximum Playoff chances. SEC title game next week.
No. 9 Ohio State (10-2) 31, Michigan (8-4) 20: For the fourth year in a row, the Buckeyes are angling to be one of the committee’s hardest calls (2014: in by jumping two teams; 2015: out as a one-loss; 2016: in as a non-champ). Can a team that got its ass kicked twice, once by an unranked team, make the field? Many were wrong to give up on OSU’s chances in 2014 and 2016, so we’ll see. One factor: QB J.T. Barrett was replaced by capable redshirt freshman backup Dwayne Haskins, due to injury.
No. 17 Washington (10-2) 41, No. 13 Washington State (9-3) 14: Clinches the Pac-12 North for ... Stanford.
Ole Miss (6-6) 31, No. 14 Mississippi State (8-4) 28: The Bulldogs had been ranked really loftily for a couple weeks, but the Egg Bowl takes care of that. Probably ends MSU’s chances of reaching the Citrus Bowl.
No. 15 UCF (11-0) 49, USF (9-2) 42: Knights host Memphis for the AAC title (in some conferences, the higher-ranked team hosts) and a trip to a New Year’s Six bowl after winning THE BEST GAME OF 2017 SO FAR.

Should have some impact

Games between teams that’ll finish .500-plus, meaning the winner gains a solid W and/or games with considerable postseason stakes.

No. 10 Penn State (10-2) 66, Maryland (4-8) 3: Only up here because Penn State basically assured itself of an NY6 bid by avoiding the loss.
No. 12 TCU (10-2) 45, Baylor (1-11) 22: Frogs clinch a Big 12 Championship bid.
No. 18 LSU (9-3) 45, Texas A&M (7-5) 21: The Tigers finish No. 15 or so in Year 1 for Ed Orgeron. Meanwhile, Kevin Sumlin’s reportedly being fired, as is tradition for this game.
No. 20 Memphis (10-1) 70, East Carolina (3-9) 13: The AAC title game is officially for the NY6 bid.
Fresno State (9-3) 28, No. 23 Boise State (9-3) 17: A rematch in the Mountain West title game follows seven days later.
No. 25 Virginia Tech (9-3) 10, Virginia (6-6) 0: Could affect non-NY6 bowl positioning somewhat.