College football playoff rankings come at perfect time
It's weird how the college football schedule works, like magic sometimes. Three days before the first ranking of the College Football Playoff selection committee is released on Tuesday night, seven of the nation's nine remaining undefeated teams will be in action - all on the road.
It's weird how the college football schedule works, like magic sometimes.
Three days before the first ranking of the College Football Playoff selection committee is released on Tuesday night, seven of the nation's nine remaining undefeated teams will be in action - all on the road.
The season debut of the ranking is a good show for ESPN, which has spent oodles of money on the playoff, but the only poll that matters is the sixth and final one, on Sunday, Dec. 4. The first four teams in that one will compete in semifinals Dec. 31 at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta and the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz., with the winners meeting for the national championship Jan. 9 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
The consensus first four teams in this week's polls are Alabama (off Saturday), Michigan, Clemson and Washington. With the last three teams in this group away from home (see Games of the Week below), there could be some scrambling of positions before the selection committee meets in a suburban Dallas hotel.
The final rankings also will be used to help set up the New Year's Six bowl games.
Fans tend to get a little excited at the first poll, but it's wise to know that the top four early isn't usually the same as the top four late. Last year, Clemson and Alabama were the only teams in the initial rankings that wound up in the semifinals. Just one team - Florida State - made the Final Four after being ranked in the first survey of 2014.
The next six Saturdays should be a fun ride.
Seat at the big table
The Big 12 wants to get a team in the playoffs for the second straight year and thinks it has two logical candidates in No. 8 Baylor and No. 10 West Virginia, both undefeated. The two teams play on Dec. 3, one day before the final rankings determine the four playoff participants, but it's going to be an uphill climb with the committee. The Bears' nonconference opponents currently are a combined 5-16, quite unappealing to the panel. The Mountaineers, unlike most conference teams, have been playing some defense but no one in the preseason expected them to be a playoff contender. Oklahoma carried the Big 12 flag last season but, with two losses this season, it's unlikely to make a return trip.
I'm retired, I'm back
Two games into the season, Utah running back Joe Williams, a senior from Allentown, retired from the sport saying he wasn't sure if his body could take any more pounding. He told his parents he was happy with the decision he made.
But on Oct. 11, with the Utes down three running backs due to injuries, Williams returned and has emerged as one of the best in the nation. In the two games since his "unretirement," he has rushed for 511 yards, including an FBS season-best 332 yards last week against UCLA.
Williams, who began his college career at Connecticut and also played at ASA College in Brooklyn before attending Utah, said he followed his heart and came back out of loyalty to his teammates.
"Calling it retirement, I put quotation marks around that word," Williams said on CBSSports.com. "It just fuels my play now just being more angry and having more attitude in my style."
Reminder of sadness
When Nebraska visits Wisconsin, it should be an emotional return to the state for Cornhuskers kicker Drew Brown. His friend and teammate, punter Sam Foltz, was killed in a one-car accident last July 23 while both were working at a kicking camp there. Former Michigan State punter Mike Sadler also died when the car carrying Foltz skidded on a wet road about 30 miles west of Milwaukee. Brown rode in a separate vehicle among a group of camp instructors traveling to a residence where they would spend the night. "It'll be tough," Brown said in an Associated Press story. "Just the general feeling of being back in Wisconsin since that happened, it's going to be hard for me."
Familiar feeling
The head coaches for this year's edition of the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, a.k.a. Florida vs. Georgia, know each other very well. The Gators' Jim McElwain and the Bulldogs' Kirby Smart worked together as Alabama's offensive and defensive coordinators, respectively, from 2008 through 2011, going 48-6 with two national championships. Neither one feels they have an advantage, or as Smart says, "I think you can overthink these things," but both need a win - Florida to keep its hold on first place in the SEC East and Georgia, which has lost three of its last four, to salvage its season.
Expatriate of the Week
Linebacker Shayne Lawless, a redshirt sophomore who starred at Moorestown High School, is one of the top tacklers for Stony Brook. The 6-foot-1, 220-pound Lawless is No. 2 on the Seawolves in both total tackles with 54 and in unassisted tackles with 35, and also has six tackles for loss. Stony Brook, coached by former Penn offensive coordinator Chuck Priore, is tied for first place in the CAA with a 4-0 mark.
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