November hasn't been kind to Texas A&M in recent memory. Since 2013, the Aggies are 4-5 in the month of November, and 1-2 against ranked opponents. Last week, the playoff committee sent shockwaves through the rankings by ranking the Texas A&M as final team in the playoff.
Then Mississippi State happened.
November's crazy, right? Well, it's about to get crazier.
The selection of Texas A&M infuriated Washington fans. The Huskies were left out of the first playoff rankings, even though Washington maintained an undefeated record.
You remember the saying: "history repeats itself?"
Fans of Washington, brace yourselves. It's going to happen again. Again, a one-loss team will leapfrog the Huskies.
That team is Ohio State. With an absolute dismantling of Nebraska, the Buckeyes certainly made a statement to the committee with 62-3 victory.
With that being said, let's check out the first four teams that are on the outside looking in.
8. Oklahoma Sooners
This could be the year that we see a two-loss team make the playoff. The case for Oklahoma is an interesting one. A 1-2 start for the Sooners included losses to Houston and Ohio State, but a strong finish and a conference championship coupled with some other key teams being upset could lead for the Sooners jumping in to a second-straight playoff appearance.
7. Auburn Tigers
It was shaky. It was tough. It was a win. Auburn managed to survive and advance over a pesky Vanderbilt team that hanged with the Tigers throughout the entire contest. Auburn breathed a sigh of relief seeing both Florida and Texas A&M losing to Arkansas and Mississippi State, respectively. If the Tigers can defeat Georgia in Athens this weekend, the Iron Bowl becomes a play-in game for Atlanta.
6. Louisville Cardinals
The Cardinals' hopes were really diminished when Clemson defeated Florida State in Tallahassee. The only thing Louisville can do is continue to win. With remaining games against Wake Forest, Houston and Kentucky, the Cardinals would need to win out to jump into the final spot. Louisville would also need some outside help, and the Cardinals have got to be the biggest Southern Cal fans in the country this weekend. If Washington drops this weekend's game against the Trojans, you'd have to assume that the Cardinals would slide right into the fourth-spot.
5. Washington Huskies
The Huskies are undefeated, yet Washington still remains on the outside looking in my opinion. The Huskies' strongest win is against Stanford Oct. 1. The game originally looked like a strong case for the Huskies, but the Cardinal now sits outside the top 25. The next-best win for Washington was against Utah. Two wins against two ranked teams: the reason we see Washington not be one of the top four teams Tuesday.
4. Ohio State Buckeyes
I get that the Buckeyes have a loss to Penn State, but a HUGE (and I literally mean HUGE) win for Ohio State over Nebraska makes "The Game" a potential play-in game for the playoff. The Buckeyes will be on the road for the next two weeks against Michigan State and Maryland before hosting Michigan. The original college football playoff winner will get the love tomorrow for this fourth spot.
3. Michigan Wolverines
Michigan is still just a step behind Clemson because the Wolverines have played less big games. The Wolverines will be able to cruise through Iowa and Indiana going into a business trip to Columbus. The Wolverines only have one win over a top 10 teams but have convincing victories over both Colorado and Penn State from earlier in the season. Michigan has made being 9-0 look easy, and that's why the Wolverines will continue to be in the third spot. Hey, you only have to make the top four, right?
2. Clemson Tigers
I foreshadowed my pick for number two a bit when I talked about Michigan. The Tigers can expose defenses in so many ways, and you could argue that Clemson has the most weapons on offense in the country. There's so many threats that opposing defensive coordinators have to scheme for. If DeShaun Watson can lead this offense and play turnover-free football, the Tigers could get back to the National Championship.
1. Alabama Crimson Tide
The Alabama defense is going to go down as one of the best defenses in the history of college football. It's a bold statement, but it's a true statement. Jonathan Allen and Tim Williams lead a unit that I'd take against any team in the country at the moment. The Tide finished a gauntlet of games in the SEC, and this weekend's matchup against Mississippi State will be fun to watch Alabama go after Nick Fitzgerald. Oh, did I forget to mention that Alabama has a true freshman quarterback that's creeping up the Heisman Trophy rankings?
I know you're going to be mad at the rankings from the committee again this weekend, Washington fans, but you have to exercise some patience because the Huskies will crack the top four as long as the winning continues. A loss from Washington opens the door wide open for a plethora of teams. So the question remains the same: Who's in?
As always, thanks for reading! Be sure to follow me on Twitter @griffaldo.twitter.com/griffaldo Also, be sure to check back for my reaction to the committee's rankings tomorrow night.
The schedule remains the same this week. Wednesday Justin Hall and I break down week 10's action and preview the upcoming week's games. We also talk about the committee's playoff rankings and the Heisman Trophy race.
Myself, Keister and Godsey preview this week's games and make our picks later in the week. Be sure to check back for the SEC+3: Week 11 Picks.
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