In another quiet week at the top of the rankings — all nine College Football Playoff hopefuls survived, with only Oklahoma getting a serious scare — oddities abounded elsewhere around the country.
One team rushed for 789 yards — and lost. Another fell behind 31-0, allowed a go-ahead touchdown with 20 seconds left — and won. A player scored a touchdown and made the shushing gesture — to his own fans.
And four-loss Northwestern, improbably, joined Alabama, Georgia and Clemson as Power Five teams that have clinched division titles and spots in their conference championship games. Here’s a look at where all the Power Five division races stand, including CFP scenarios where applicable:
SEC
West: Alabama clinched a week ago with its victory at LSU. The only mystery surrounding the Crimson Tide — who haven’t been scored on in more than 140 minutes of game time, dating to the third quarter of their Oct. 20 game against Tennessee — is whether they’re a lock for the playoff even with a loss. The consensus seems to be yes … with the possible exception of a scenario in which Clemson, Notre Dame and Michigan all win out.
East: The situation is simple for Georgia, which completed conference play Saturday with a 27-10 victory over Auburn. Win out, including toppling Alabama in the SEC title game, and the Bulldogs are a lock for their second straight playoff berth. One more loss and they’re likely Sugar Bowl bound.
ACC
Atlantic: Clemson clinched its fourth straight division title with a 27-7 win at Boston College. Could the Tigers get into the playoff with a loss? It’s possible, but they would need some turmoil elsewhere — specifically, a loss by Notre Dame and/or a second loss for the champions of the Big Ten, Big 12 or Pac-12. And, like every contender not named Georgia, they’ll be rooting for Alabama to win out.
Coastal: While Clemson and Florida State have combined to win the last 10 Atlantic titles, the Coastal has been a model of parity — or, more accurately, mediocrity, with no ACC champion produced since Virginia Tech in 2010. The Coastal will have its sixth champion in six years, whether it’s Pittsburgh or Virginia. The Panthers need only one win in their final two games at Wake Forest and at Miami to punch their ticket to Charlotte, N.C. If they drop both, the Cavaliers would get in by winning at Georgia Tech and at Virginia Tech.
Big Ten
West: Northwestern certainly defied convention by clinching its division with two weeks left … on the same day it became bowl-eligible. Sadly, the possibility of a 7-6 NU team meeting a 6-7 UCLA squad in the Rose Bowl died when the Bruins lost at Arizona State.
East: Barring a shocking loss by Ohio State this week at Maryland, which would allow Michigan to clinch against Indiana, the winner of the Nov. 24 showdown in Columbus, Ohio, will decide who takes on Northwestern on Dec. 1 in Indianapolis. The big question is could the Big Ten champion get left out of the playoff for a third consecutive year? If it’s the Wildcats, obviously yes. If it’s the fourth-ranked Wolverines, who would have 12 straight wins since a close opening loss at No. 3 Notre Dame, it seems almost impossible … but an Alabama win over Georgia would make them sleep a lot better that night.
And if it’s the Buckeyes? They would need some help after another pedestrian showing in a 26-6 victory at Michigan State. First, they need Alabama to win the SEC. And while beating Michigan and Northwestern probably would vault them ahead of a one-loss Washington State, that’s likely not true of a one-loss Oklahoma or West Virginia that could be coming off a two-game sweep of the other. Buckeyes fans — and Big Ten officials — will be rooting for a split.
Big 12
With no divisions, the top two regular-season finishers will meet Dec. 1 in Arlington, Texas. Oklahoma and West Virginia, tied at 6-1, control their chances, setting up the possibility of their meeting two weeks in a row, starting with a Nov. 23 game in Morgantown, W. Va. But someone will lose that game, potentially opening the door for the winner of this week’s Iowa State-Texas game. The Cyclones hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Mountaineers; the Longhorns have it over the Sooners.
As for the playoff, the Big 12 needs Oklahoma or West Virginia to win out — and then hope for help. Wins by Alabama over Georgia, by Ohio State over Michigan (or even better, by Northwestern over the Buckeyes-Wolverines winner) and by Syracuse or USC over Notre Dame all could benefit the Big 12.
Pac-12
North: Washington State, the conference’s only (slim) hope to avoid missing the playoff for the third time in four years, would clinch the division with an Apple Cup victory over Washington on Nov. 23 in Pullman, Wash., regardless of whether the Cougars beat Arizona on Saturday. Washington takes the North with wins over Oregon State and Washington State.
South: All six teams entered the weekend with a path to the Nov. 30 title game in Santa Clara, Calif. That number was cut in half when USC, Colorado and UCLA lost. Arizona State, under first-year coach Herm Edwards, is in control but must win at Oregon and at Arizona. If the Sun Devils stumble in either, Utah wins the South with a victory Saturday at Colorado. Arizona needs to win at Washington State and versus Arizona State and have the Utes fall in Boulder, Colo.
Heisman watch
Stock down: Tua Tagovailoa
For the first time this season, the Alabama quarterback looked somewhat mortal in a 24-0 victory over Mississippi State — although he still led three first-half touchdown drives against a defense that had allowed only two touchdowns in opponents’ previous 51 possessions. Tagovailoa finished 14 of 21 for 164 yards with one touchdown and one interception and an ESPN QB Rating of 37.9 (his previous season low was 82.4 at LSU). More worrisome is the balky right knee that forced him out again in the second half, though coach Nick Saban said he probably could have re-entered if the score had been closer.
Tagovailoa presumably will sit out this week’s game against The Citadel to rest up for the Nov. 24 Iron Bowl against Auburn and Dec. 1 SEC title game against Georgia. He still has a firm grip on the trophy, but it might have slipped ever so slightly.
Stock up: The other guys
All three of Tagovailoa’s chief pursuers — Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray, West Virginia’s Will Grier and Washington State’s Gardner Minshew — put up big numbers in victories. Murray, who had 415 total yards in the game of the day, the Sooners’ 48-47 Bedlam squeaker against Oklahoma State, remains best positioned should Tagovailoa falter. Although you can’t deny the magnetism of the Minshew Mustache, even though coach Mike Leach seemed less enthused to wear one than others in the Palouse.
Hot seat watch
By firing Bobby Petrino on Sunday, Louisville joined Maryland and Kansas as Power Five programs with coaching vacancies to fill in the offseason. Who else might join them? North Carolina’s Larry Fedora seemingly has been dead man walking since a Week 2 loss at East Carolina. Rutgers could pull the plug on Chris Ash after three Big Ten wins in three seasons, though a $9.8 million buyout might save him.
A new name to watch, at a much higher-profile program, is USC’s Clay Helton. The Trojans were up 14-0 on California at home late Saturday and in the red zone late in the first half when freshman receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown lost a fumble. A bad shotgun snap on their first possession of the second half led to a safety, and that wound up the difference when the Golden Bears added two third-quarter touchdowns for a 15-14 victory. Helton took USC to the Rose and Cotton bowls in his first two full seasons, but at 5-5, the Trojans need to split their rivalry games at UCLA and versus Notre Dame to make any bowl this year.
Then there’s Auburn coach Gus Malzahn, who signed a seven-year, $49 million contract extension less than a year ago that includes an incredible $32 million buyout if he’s fired this year. Despite those figures, athletic director Allen Greene felt the need last week to confirm Malzahn is “our coach of the future.” The Tigers then turned in another poor offensive performance Saturday against Georgia, leading some lip readers to wonder if Malzahn was muttering about his job status in this viral clip. (For the record, he more likely was saying, “They better not fine me,” after he had argued with an official.)
The good
Texas stayed alive in the Big 12 title hunt thanks to Sam Ehlinger’s 29-yard touchdown pass to the spectacularly named Lil’Jordan Humphrey with 21 seconds left for a 41-34 victory at Texas Tech. It was hard not to notice the similarity — including the same spot on the field — to Michael Crabtree’s catch to stun the top-ranked Longhorns in 2008.
Shout-out to UAB, which clinched the Conference USA West title with a 26-23 overtime win over Southern Miss. The Blazers are 9-1 (7-0 C-USA) in only their second season since the program resumed after the university’s 2014 decision to shut it down.
Great tribute by Missouri on the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.
The weird
San Diego and Davidson combined for 1,477 yards — one almost all through the air, the other almost all on the ground — in the Toreros’ 56-52 victory.
But that might not even have been the wildest FCS game of the day. Check out Murray State’s 40-38 win over Southeast Missouri State.
Florida quarterback Feleipe Franks — who had drawn boos during the Gators’ home loss to Missouri last week and again early in Saturday’s 35-31 comeback win over South Carolina — provided another rare sight. (He later apologized.)
The ugly
Every Iowa State and Baylor player received an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty for this brawl, and Cyclones star running back David Montgomery could be suspended for the first half of this week’s big game at Texas, pending a Big 12 review.
It has been that kind of season for Arkansas.
If only the Oklahoma and Oklahoma State defenses had this kind of tenacity …
Mike Gundy news conference moment of the week
On whether his Oklahoma State players were on board with the decision to go for two after scoring a potential tying touchdown with 1:03 to play:
Tweet of the week
You had one job, Beavers.
Week 12 games to watch
Notre Dame vs. Syracuse in New York, 1:30 p.m. Saturday, NBC-5
Who would have thought this game, sandwiched between Florida State and USC on the Irish schedule, might be the biggest obstacle to a playoff berth?
West Virginia at Oklahoma State 2:30 p.m. Saturday, ABC-7
In another likely Big 12 shootout, the Mountaineers defense will be tested before the Nov. 23 showdown against Oklahoma.
Cincinnati at Central Florida 7 p.m. Saturday, ABC-7
The American Athletic Conference gets its moment in the national spotlight, with the Knights looking to extend their winning streak to 23 games.
Iowa State at Texas 7 p.m. Saturday, Longhorn Network
The winner keeps its hopes alive for a spot in the Big 12 championship game, depending on what happens with Oklahoma and West Virginia.
Arizona at Washington State 9:30 p.m. Saturday, ESPN
Kevin Sumlin’s Wildcats topped 40 points in wins over Oregon and Colorado after a ragged start to the season. Cougars QB Gardner Minshew will try to add to his Heisman resume.
Twitter @JJoelBoyd
