Playoff fates of Pac-12, ACC headline college football overreactions for Week 11
College football’s Week 11 results provided plenty of fodder for analysis – not to mention overanalysis, hyperanalysis, psychoanalysis, and any other type of analysis you want to throw in there.
The immediate reactions can be somewhat over the top, so a day or so might be needed to reflect and reassess. That’s the sort of perspective we try to provide in this space.
Speaking of analysis, we’ll use one of our top five in this edition of Overreaction Monday to address a pet peeve that is becoming all too pervasive on broadcasts. We’ll follow with our usual weekly snapshot of the state of affairs in the sport.
The Pac-12 killed its own playoff hopes
Speaking of Oregon, yes, that loss to Washington and UCLA’s even less forgivable loss to Arizona didn’t do the conference any favors. All the Pac-12’s playoff eggs are now in the basket of Southern California, ironically one of the schools with a foot out the door.
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The Trojans, at least, have a path. They must get to 12-1 by winning next week’s head-to-head showdown with UCLA to secure a spot in the conference championship game, pick up another Top 25 win the following week against Notre Dame, then win the league title against most likely the Utah-Oregon winner. It’s a tough closing stretch, and even that wouldn’t guarantee USC a place in the top four, as the Trojans will likely be in a scramble with several other one-loss teams.
The ACC champion can still make the playoff
Clemson or North Carolina would at least be considered, assuming both still have just one loss when they meet for the conference crown. The Tigers would figure to be considered more strongly by the committee, whose early sets of rankings this season belie the claim that results from past seasons have no bearing on the current year’s evaluations. The Tar Heels at 12-1 would have a similar résumé, but whoever prevails in the ACC will probably still need help to crack the top four in the form of the field of one-loss candidates being thinned.
HIGHS AND LOWS:Winners and losers from college football’s Week 11
MISERY INDEX:From Top 10 to 3-7, Texas AM officially hits rock bottom
REPORT CARD:Why Penn State coach did pushups on sideline and more
Analytics are ruining football
It’s become far too predictable. Every time a key coaching decision of whether to go for a fourth-down conversion or attempt a two-point try presents itself, someone in the booth chimes in with some variation of “Well, that’s what the analytics tell you to do there.”