Ducks Crash The Final Four

The latest College Football Playoff Rankings have been released and we have a new team in the Top 4, the Oregon Ducks. Fresh off their 45-16 rout of Stanford, coupled with Auburn’s narrow defeat of last week’s fourth-ranked team, Ole Miss, Oregon slid into the fourth spot and it’s expected that they control their own destiny going forward.

“It was very close, and I think it’s the product of Oregon’s other wins they have,” Arkansas athletic director and selection committee chairman Jeff Long said. “They have the Michigan State win, but they also, again, went on the road against UCLA and won, and a couple of wins that made their body of work, put them a step ahead of (Alabama) at this point.”

Alabama fans shouldn’t worry as their team is clearly in position to crack the Top 4 as they have games with LSU, top-ranked Mississippi State and third-ranked Auburn remaining.

Another team who could crash the party is TCU. The Horned Frogs have impressive wins over Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, as well as a road victory over West Virginia. TCU’s toughest remaining test comes this Saturday as they take on seventh-ranked Kansas State. The only blemish on their schedule is a late meltdown against then fifth-ranked Baylor where the Bears ripped off 24 unanswered points in the final 10:39 to beat TCU, 61-58.

Loaded Primetime Schedule

This Saturday appears to have the most attractive slate of college football games this season, and if you could pick one day of the college football year to avoid your family and park yourself in front of the television this would be it.

12:00 EST/9 PST

The day gets kicked off with a non-playoff bearing, but sure to be entertaining game between Baylor and Oklahoma at noon eastern. Baylor is still technically alive for the playoff as their only loss came on the road at West Virginia. Baylor needs more quality wins and they’ll have the opportunity with Saturday’s game at Oklahoma, followed by home dates against Oklahoma State and Kansas State remaining.

3:30 EST/12:30 PST

Featured at 3:30 est. is a college football playoff elimination game as Notre Dame travels west to take on Arizona State. The Irish have no signature victories and most of the credit for their ranking comes from a close loss at Florida State. The Sun Devils likely control their own destiny as they are currently ranked ninth with road victories at USC and Utah, along with a win over Stanford. They still have a game at Arizona remaining before a potential Pac 12 title game matchup with Oregon.

7:30 EST/4:30 PST

At 7:30 eastern, seventh-ranked Kansas State takes on sixth-ranked TCU in what figures to be another playoff elimination game. K-State’s only loss to this point was against third-ranked Auburn in a game that they controlled. The Wildcats still have trips to Morgantown and Waco remaining (against West Virginia and Baylor).

8:00 EST/5:00 PST

While you’re watching K-State-TCU, you can flip over to a pair of great matchups that kickoff at 8:00 eastern. The game of the year in the Big Ten features a pair of one-loss teams when Ohio State travels to East Lansing to take on Michigan State. This is certainly an elimination game if the Big Ten is going to get a team into the playoff it would likely benefit from a Spartans victory. Although neither team has a signature victory, Michigan State’s loss at Oregon was excusable. Ohio State has no quality victories and their loss at home to Virginia Tech was brutal.

If SEC football is more of your preference, the annual blood-bath between Alabama and LSU kicks off in Death Valley. With blowout losses to Auburn and Mississippi State, LSU has a long hill to climb to get into playoff consideration but it isn’t completely out of the question so long as they run the table. There’s nothing the Tigers would like to do more than end Alabama’s playoff aspirations with a victory. Alabama clearly controls their own destiny as they have dates with Mississippi State and Auburn remaining.

10:00 EST/7:00 PST

For those who want a college football nightcap, the fourth-ranked Oregon Ducks travel to take on the 17th ranked Utah Utes. Oregon has played fantastic football and they are the best hope for the Pac 12 to get a team in the playoff. Utah is certainly capable of pulling an upset as they are 6-2 with their only losses coming by a total of four points, one of which in overtime at Arizona State.