Many top teams will need to show mettle on road
For many ranked teams, the last chance to influence the College Football Playoff selection committee before its first ranking will come away from home.
Thirteen ranked teams are playing road games this weekend, from No. 2 Clemson to No. 25 Appalachian State. That’s not including No. 3 Notre Dame taking on Navy in San Diego and No. 7 Georgia and No. 9 Florida having their annual meeting in Jacksonville, Fla.
All that travel raises the likelihood of upsets and unexpected results, like last week when Purdue pounced on Ohio State.
The 13-member committee meets this weekend and its first rankings will be unveiled Tuesday. There is a long way to go and history suggests there will be plenty of movement between the first rankings and the final selections Dec. 2. The committee’s first top four has never been the same as its final one.
No. 1 Alabama is off this week. Same goes for No. 4 LSU. The Crimson Tide and Tigers play Nov. 3, ensuring at least some shake-up from Week 1 to Week 2 of the rankings. No. 5 Michigan, No. 10 Central Florida and No. 11 Ohio State are also off.
The picks:
Today
Baylor (plus 14) at No. 13 West Virginia: Bears need two more victories for bowl eligibility and will need to pull off at least one upset to get there … WEST VIRGINIA 35-24.
No. 25 Appalachian State (minus 10½) at Georgia Southern: Former Southern Conference rivals in FCS now battling for first in Sun Belt East … APPALACHIAN STATE 28-21.
Friday
No. 23 Utah (minus 10) at UCLA: How messy is the Pac-12 South? UCLA, 2-5 overall, with a victory this weekend could be tied for first in the division … UTAH 28-16.
Saturday
No. 2 Clemson (minus 16½) at Florida State:
Seminoles have a chance to turn their season around, but face a difficult back end of the schedule, starting with the Tigers … CLEMSON 31-14.
No. 3 Notre Dame (minus 23½) vs. Navy at San Diego: Fighting Irish had an open date to prepare for the triple option … NOTRE DAME 35-17.
No. 6 Texas (minus 3½) at Oklahoma State: Longhorns have lost three straight to the Cowboys, who are pretty much out of the Big 12 race but could play spoiler … OKLAHOMA STATE 24-21, UPSET SPECIAL.
No. 7 Georgia (minus 6½) vs. No. 9 Florida at Jacksonville: First time both teams are ranked in the top 10 since 2008 meeting … GEORGIA 23-17.
Kansas State (minus 24½) at No. 8 Oklahoma: Wildcats are completing 53.5 percent of their passes, last in the Big 12 … OKLAHOMA 49-20.
No. 12 Kentucky (plus 7) at Missouri: Onedimensional Wildcats will need a big defensive effort against QB Drew Lock … MISSOURI 24-21.
No. 14 Washington State (plus 3) at No. 24 Stanford: Can Cougars keep the Pac-12’s fleeting playoff hopes alive? … WASHINGTON STATE 28-24. No. 15 Washington (plus 11½) at California:
Huskies have won eight of nine in the series and still control their Pac-12 title hopes … WASHINGTON 28-14.
No. 16 Texas A&M (plus 2½) at Mississippi State: Bulldogs have passed for 226 yards total in the last three games, not breaking 100 in any of them … TEXAS A&M 24-21.
No. 18 Iowa (plus 6½) at No. 17 Penn State: No Big Ten team is punting less per game (3.25) than the Hawkeyes … PENN STATE 24-23.
No. 19 Oregon (minus 9½) at Arizona: The demise in the play of Wildcats QB Khalil Tate, uncertain with an ankle injury this week, has been one of the sadder stories of this season … OREGON 28-21.
No. 20 Wisconsin (minus 7) at Northwestern: Those 11 a.m. local kickoffs in Evanston, Ill., can induce sleepy performances … WISCONSIN 27-17. No. 21 South Florida (plus 7) at Houston: First big test for the unbeaten Bulls … HOUSTON 34-28.
No. 22 North Carolina State (minus 2½) at Syracuse: Orange has a QB conundrum after Tommy DeVito replaced Eric Dungey last week and led Syracuse to an OT victory … N.C. STATE 27-24.