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Winners and Losers: Who are college football's best remaining unbeaten teams?
Yahoo Sports Staff
Dr. Saturday<meta content="https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/HEMh6SDkWltdztS2BEfk7w--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9ODQ7aD04NDtpbD1wbGFuZQ--/https://media.zenfs.com/creatr-images/GLB/2016-10-25/739cd970-9aeb-11e6-80fd-69805362d1bc_sports-sociallogo.png.cf.jpg" abp="1075" data-reactid="13" itemprop="logo"><time class="date Fz(11px) Mb(4px) D(ib)" abp="1076" data-reactid="14" itemprop="datePublished" datetime="2017-10-22T04:36:23.000Z">Oct 22, 2017 12:36 AM
https://sports.yahoo.com/winners-lo...-best-remaining-unbeaten-teams-043623884.html
After a wacky Week 7, Week 8 was pretty straightforward. No top-10 teams lost and all of the teams who entered the weekend undefeated made it through unscathed.
Since we had no major upsets, we figured this week was a good time to assess each of the remaining unbeaten teams. Who are the legitimate contenders for the College Football Playoff? Which teams have gotten by because of an easy schedule? Who?s at a disadvantage because of the conference they play in?
We?ll attempt to answer those questions and more.
No. 1 Alabama (8-0): Let?s be up front. Alabama hasn?t played anyone. Florida State is sputtering and is underachieving even without quarterback Deondre Francois. The best team the Tide have played is Texas A&M. And while the Aggies are good, they aren?t ranked either.
But that eight-point win has been Alabama?s closest of the season. Every other game has been decided by 17 points or more including a 45-7 shellacking of Tennessee on Saturday. That win against the Vols could have been a shutout too if it wasn?t for a pick-six.
Alabama is legitimately the best team in the country and has a clear path to the playoff even if it loses a game.
No. 2. Penn State (7-0): Just how close are the Nittany Lions to the Crimson Tide? It?s fair to wonder if the gap is smaller than we realized after Penn State?s shellacking of Michigan on Saturday night. Penn State boasts the Heisman Trophy favorite in RB Saquon Barkley and has given up fewer than 20 points in every game this season. This is a well-rounded team.
Next week?s matchup vs. Ohio State is the Big Ten?s game of the year and a potential College Football Playoff elimination game. We can?t wait.
No. 3 Georgia (7-0): The Bulldogs were off in Week 8 and a case can be made that Georgia is one of the biggest surprises of the season. A lot of people expected Georgia to be good ? but this good?
Freshman quarterback Jake Fromm has played with poise and improved on a near-weekly basis. Meanwhile, the team?s rushing attack is one of the best in the country with RBs Nick Chubb, Sony Michel and D?Andre Swift. A Nov. 4 matchup with Auburn is the toughest game Georgia has left on its schedule and like we said last week, it?s not out of the question that Alabama and Georgia meet in the SEC Championship Game undefeated.
No. 4 TCU (7-0): The Horned Frogs are a bigger surprise than the Bulldogs. A team that was picked around fourth in the Big 12 is now suddenly No. 4 in the country. TCU cruised Saturday night against Kansas, a team that has surprisingly given the Horned Frogs fits. KU had just 21 yards of total offense.
TCU?s defense has allowed just 61 points through four Big 12 games and suddenly next week?s matchup at Iowa State looks pivotal as the Cyclones have just one conference loss. TCU has to get through the Cyclones, Texas and Oklahoma in the next three weeks, but the Horned Frogs are still the clear favorite in the Big 12 until proven otherwise.
No. 5 Wisconsin (7-0): The Badgers have methodically marched through the first seven games of the season. But who is Wisconsin?s best win? Is it a Northwestern team that got its second conference win of the season Saturday vs. Iowa? A Purdue team that lost to Rutgers on Saturday? A Maryland team that started its third-string quarterback against the Badgers?
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Yahoo Sports Staff
Dr. Saturday<meta content="https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/HEMh6SDkWltdztS2BEfk7w--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9ODQ7aD04NDtpbD1wbGFuZQ--/https://media.zenfs.com/creatr-images/GLB/2016-10-25/739cd970-9aeb-11e6-80fd-69805362d1bc_sports-sociallogo.png.cf.jpg" abp="1075" data-reactid="13" itemprop="logo"><time class="date Fz(11px) Mb(4px) D(ib)" abp="1076" data-reactid="14" itemprop="datePublished" datetime="2017-10-22T04:36:23.000Z">Oct 22, 2017 12:36 AM
https://sports.yahoo.com/winners-lo...-best-remaining-unbeaten-teams-043623884.html
After a wacky Week 7, Week 8 was pretty straightforward. No top-10 teams lost and all of the teams who entered the weekend undefeated made it through unscathed.
Since we had no major upsets, we figured this week was a good time to assess each of the remaining unbeaten teams. Who are the legitimate contenders for the College Football Playoff? Which teams have gotten by because of an easy schedule? Who?s at a disadvantage because of the conference they play in?
We?ll attempt to answer those questions and more.
No. 1 Alabama (8-0): Let?s be up front. Alabama hasn?t played anyone. Florida State is sputtering and is underachieving even without quarterback Deondre Francois. The best team the Tide have played is Texas A&M. And while the Aggies are good, they aren?t ranked either.
But that eight-point win has been Alabama?s closest of the season. Every other game has been decided by 17 points or more including a 45-7 shellacking of Tennessee on Saturday. That win against the Vols could have been a shutout too if it wasn?t for a pick-six.
Alabama is legitimately the best team in the country and has a clear path to the playoff even if it loses a game.
No. 2. Penn State (7-0): Just how close are the Nittany Lions to the Crimson Tide? It?s fair to wonder if the gap is smaller than we realized after Penn State?s shellacking of Michigan on Saturday night. Penn State boasts the Heisman Trophy favorite in RB Saquon Barkley and has given up fewer than 20 points in every game this season. This is a well-rounded team.
Next week?s matchup vs. Ohio State is the Big Ten?s game of the year and a potential College Football Playoff elimination game. We can?t wait.
No. 3 Georgia (7-0): The Bulldogs were off in Week 8 and a case can be made that Georgia is one of the biggest surprises of the season. A lot of people expected Georgia to be good ? but this good?
Freshman quarterback Jake Fromm has played with poise and improved on a near-weekly basis. Meanwhile, the team?s rushing attack is one of the best in the country with RBs Nick Chubb, Sony Michel and D?Andre Swift. A Nov. 4 matchup with Auburn is the toughest game Georgia has left on its schedule and like we said last week, it?s not out of the question that Alabama and Georgia meet in the SEC Championship Game undefeated.
No. 4 TCU (7-0): The Horned Frogs are a bigger surprise than the Bulldogs. A team that was picked around fourth in the Big 12 is now suddenly No. 4 in the country. TCU cruised Saturday night against Kansas, a team that has surprisingly given the Horned Frogs fits. KU had just 21 yards of total offense.
TCU?s defense has allowed just 61 points through four Big 12 games and suddenly next week?s matchup at Iowa State looks pivotal as the Cyclones have just one conference loss. TCU has to get through the Cyclones, Texas and Oklahoma in the next three weeks, but the Horned Frogs are still the clear favorite in the Big 12 until proven otherwise.
No. 5 Wisconsin (7-0): The Badgers have methodically marched through the first seven games of the season. But who is Wisconsin?s best win? Is it a Northwestern team that got its second conference win of the season Saturday vs. Iowa? A Purdue team that lost to Rutgers on Saturday? A Maryland team that started its third-string quarterback against the Badgers?
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