After an atrocious ranking of the College Football Top-25, I think Week 11 gave us a great array of clarity. This ranges from what teams in conferences such as the ACC, Big Ten, and SEC should truly lie. On another note, we had a lot of great performances by top-10 teams that prove why or why not they should be there. I think Week 12 will in all actuality give us better shaping of which bowl games some of the lesser conference teams belong in. Lets get into what is on the radar for Week 12:
Group-of-5 Respect
Finally, the “national champions” have College Gameday visiting their hometown of Orlando. Yes, we are talking about #11 UCF, not Alabama. The Knights get a chance to show up during primetime and show the CFB world why we should give them respect. UCF will be hosting #24 Cincinnati and will most likely decide the AAC East. I am sure that UCF will be looking for a “statement win” for their schedule to help their playoff resume. On the other hand, Cincinnati will be looking for the upset to hopefully land a NY6 bowl game. It will all be on the line Saturday night for Cincinnati and UCF, let us see who gets it done.
Take me out to the Ball Game
No, not baseball, but football. #3 Notre Dame and #12 Syracuse will meet up in Yankee Stadium and duke it out. Notre Dame is coming off a dominant win over Florida State, where they ruled over all aspects of the game over the Seminoles. Then we have Syraucse, who is on a 4-game winning streak with an increase of margin each time. This has the potential to be one of the best games all year with two great offenses going at it. And to add onto that, we might get a cliche “quarterback battle” between Eric Dungey (Syraucse) and Ian Book (Notre Dame). No matter how this game goes, it will surely be a treat for anybody who tuned in to see it.
Almost had it
Last week, Oklahoma State almost pulled off another upset in the Big 12, but this time over Oklahoma. With a last minute touchdown, the Cowboys were poised to tie it and take it to overtime. However, Mike Gundy wanted to risk it all and went for two. The Cowboys couldn’t execute and lost by one in the final minute. Oklahoma State now looks to erase that last game with a potential upset over Big 12 foe, West Virginia. Unfortunately for Oklahoma State, this West Virginia team has been putting away teams that can’t run with them offensively. This is sure to be an absolute battle for these teams as they strive to climb the rankings.
Are they backing down?
As soon as we thought Texas was back, they left again. After a last minute loss to West Virginia securing the Longhorns third loss on the season, Texas has looked to finish strong. Cracks have already shown from that loss to West Virginia though, especially with a 7-point win over Texas Tech where their defense just couldn’t step up. If Texas wants to get on the board and get back, they need to improve on the defensive side and get a win this weekend on Iowa State. On the other hand, we have a whole different story. Iowa State is on a 5-game winning streak with two upsets thrown into mix over West Virginia and Oklahoma State. The Cyclones are looking to potentially swap positions with Texas on the Big 12 board. I think everyone should tune in for this one to see what Big 12 team is on the rise at the end of the season.
No sympathy for the Devils
Clemson is looking like a sure thing for the playoff this year, but could a late season spark from Duke change that? Duke is (7-3) and will most likely try to put on an upset special for the Clemson Tigers on the road. The most questionable aspect of Clemson is if they can do well against above-good quarterbacks. We saw the Tigers struggle this year with quarterbacks such as Eric Dungey and Kellen Mond. Now they get a fresh face with Daniel Jones, who to some can match Trevor Lawrence in the passing aspect. Jones, also, poses a rushing threat for the Tigers as he will try to spread out the defense and shoot for it. I am not saying it will be an upset Saturday but don’t be surprised if it is closer than normal for the Tigers.
Blaze ’em
Only two years after a program halt, UAB has secured their first division win in school history. Now with that good news on the table, the Blazers want to add more with a hopeful upset of Texas A&M. With the line sitting at (-17), favoring the Aggies, it isn’t looking good for UAB. However, UAB boasts a better point average for both sides of the ball against a struggling Texas A&M team. Texas A&M has been weak on the rushing side of things this year, so it won’t be outrageous to see a ground-and-pound game from UAB. However, don’t let the difference in stats take away that UAB does play in the Conference USA, not the SEC. I do think we will get a UAB team ready to play Saturday that wants to erase the ugly past it has.
Photo Credits: https://bleacherreport.com/iowa-state-football
