SKSergiokosco: CFB Week 11 Preview

By: Tre Bailey

SKSergioKosco Blogger

There is a huge weekend ahead of us coming up, playoff hopes can be retained or lost this weekend which excites me. This is why I love college football, this is why everyone should love college football. Just a reminder; we are still running our Sergiokosco tank top give away. The first to comment Don’t Blink will receive a tank of their choosing.

Weekly Recap

What an exciting weekend of college football ahead of us. The playoff dream ended for some teams, and others managed to stay alive. While there is one team who did loose who is still in the running for the playoff spot. LSU unfortunately lost to Alabama for another consecutive year, which angered possibly the whole nation outside of Alabama. The crimson tide managed to hold Leonard Fournette to a season low of rushing yards. While Derrick Henry shined, and carried the Bama offense on his back. See LSU had one Job and that was to beat Alabama, now the biased Playoff voting committee has even more of a reason to rank the tide higher of where they should be. Hopefully Miss St. can hand Bama that second loss of the season knocking them out of playoff contention. Now that being said if LSU remains goes on to win out of the conference they can still find themselves in the conference title game. Hopefully Alabama can take another loss, I’m sick and tired of all of the biased voters keeping them alive.

Another upset occurred this last weekend. While I don’t personally believe it was an upset, a lot of people may have counter Oklahoma State out. If you go back to some of my past articles you may see that I said Ok State would be the dark horse of the conference. And a huge win against TCU proved just that. Tied with Baylor for #1 in the conference the teams are just one week away from playing the biggest games of their season. Oklahoma State plays a flat Iowa State team while Baylor has a huge matchup against Oklahoma. At this point of the season both teams are playing for the respect of the voters, and possibly the 4^th and final playoff spot. Baylor’s remaining schedule is Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, and Texas while Oklahoma State has Iowa State, Baylor, and Oklahoma to close the season out. Expect to see a lot of passionate football being played the next 3-4 weeks from both teams. Personally whichever team finds a way to remain undefeated more than deserves to be in the playoff picture over any one loss team that is considered without a doubt in my mind.

Along side of the TCU upset, Michigan faced one of their own over a controversial call to end the game. Many say the Nebraska receiver stepped out of bounds on his own. The refs say he was forced out. whatever the case may be i am a happy fan seeing Michigan State lose, and them being knocked out of playoff contention.

Some of you may ask why I have so much animosity towards Alabama, well for one they are a great program and I will never take anything away from them in that aspect. But the deal is the SEC is overrated compared to previous seasons. And with the new playoff voting system true favoritism shows within the SEC. Alabama is a one loss team, but ranked second in the nation. There are plenty of undefeated teams worthy of being ranked in the top 4 above BOTH Notre Dame and Alabama both of which have lost a game. The playoff system shows absolutely no respect for the BIG 12, a conference in which has been playing exceptional football this year, The Pac-12 which is the most competitive conference in the nation. The BIG 10 which has some of the most underrated teams out there. There is absolutely no reason Baylor shouldn’t be ranked in the top 4 with the nation’s number one offense, Oklahoma State who just came off of a huge win against TCU, Iowa who has one of the better defenses out there right now and is playing lights out football. There is so much wrong with the new system that it’s almost painful to watch a lot of these teams get out right disrespected because some committee thinks Alabama is just the end all be all of college football.

The current CFP top 10 look a little something like this:

1)      Clemson 9-0

2)      Alabama 8-1

3)      Ohio State 9-0

4)      Notre Dame 8-1

5)      Iowa 9-0

6)      Baylor 8-0

7)      Stanford 8-1

8)      OkState 9-0

9)      Lsu 7-1

10)  Utah 8-1

My top CFP top 10 is similar with but I feel more accurate after close consideration:

1)      Ohio State 9-0

2)      Clemson 9-0

3)      Baylor 8-0

4)      Iowa 9-0

5)      OkState 9-0

6)      Alabama 8-1

7)      Stanford 8-1

8)      Notre Dame 8-1

9)      Lsu 7-1

10)   Florida 8-1

Memphis in Review

I am so so so disappointed at the tigers and the way they performed against Navy last weekend. Ultimately they held their own destiny in the palm of their hands. With this loss it completely eliminates them from playoff contention. But do not fret my friends, the tigers can still land themselves in a truly respectable bowl game if they can bounce back and win out the remainder of the season. They face a tough challenge going into Houston this weekend. Followed by Temple next weekend. Closing with SMU as the season finale. While the tigers have a tough road schedule ahead of them they still have tons of hope.

Heisman Watch

A Small update to my Heisman standings. Based off of performance as an individual and overall team success.

1)      Corey Coleman- I had the opportunity to play against him in high school and his playmaking ability is surreal. It has only gotten better during his career at Baylor.

2)      Derrick Henry- The dynamic playmaker for the crimson tide. Always reliable, and the reason Alabama still has a chance.

3)      Leanord Fournette- The current leading rusher and heart and soul of the LSU offense. For obvious reasons finding his way to the top of my list

4)      Ezekiel Elliot- The second best running back in the NCAA and probably one of the most versatile. A threat in the pass and ground game he is definitely a candidate.

5)      Christian McCaffrey- An absolute sleeper and playmaker for Stanford. Great ball carrying ability and deceptive speed.

6)      Trevone Boykin- The most dynamic quarterback in one of the most dynamic offenses. If TCU finishes undefeated he will definitely be in the race.

Game of the week

 Oklahoma vs Baylor: This game has huge playoff implications on the line. specifically for Baylor. OU will be looking to ruin the Bears season with a victory, and possibly create a 4 way tie for the conference champion. On the other hand Baylor seeks its 3rd consecutive title and potentially its first playoff birth. This game will be more than exciting with two very good offenses and defenses facing off against one another. 

Recruiting Spotlight

Nick Bosa: Sr, Fort Lauderdale, FL Saint Thomas Aquinas High School

Some of you may know his older brother Joey Bosa who currently plays for Ohio State, and is one of the best defensive ends in the nation. Little brother looks to follow his brother’s footsteps continuing his career at Ohio State as well. This play maker has tremendous strength and the ability to set the edge. He has great pass rushing ability, and is a natural for the game of football. Unfortunately he suffered a season ending ACL injury, but is on pace to join the buckeyes over the summer for freshman camp. 

News Updates

I recently caught news that Leonard Fournette’s family is currently under investigation for possible NCAA violations. While this can just be a formality, keep your eyes out for a developing story in the near future. We most likely won’t hear anything until the season is over oddly enough but it is worth looking out for.

 JT Barrett’s arrest 2 weeks ago caught the national spotlight as he just regained his role as the Buckeyes starter. While he has been punished properly, and the situation has seemed to have died down TMZ a site famous for releasing embarrassing videos managed to get their grimy hands on a copy of the dash cam from when Barrett was arrested. Just goes to show that when things seem to be getting better something comes back to bite you 

Lastly there are currently 10 Schools in need of a new head coach. The updated list can be found here. USC, Miami,  Virginia Tech, South Carolina, Maryland, Central Florida, Minnesota, Illinois, North Texas, and Hawaii

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