Picks for the College Football Playoff Week 6

Florida did me a favor and made these rankings slightly more clear-cut for the time being, as the Gators fell to Texas A&M in College Station over the weekend. The Gators will be on the outside of the playoff picture for now, but there’s going to be plenty of opportunities for Florida to get back in.

I still can’t get over the play-calling at the end of the game for Florida. The Gator offense is at midfield and driving, tied at 38 and about 25 yards from FG range. Kyle Trask was shredding the Aggie defense all game (23/32 312 yards 9.8 y/a four TD and zero INT), the Gators only punted once, and yet Florida calls a run on 2nd and 10 from their own 48 (not even in FG range) averaging less than four y/c. Malik Davis puts the ball on the ground and A&M recovers, leading to the game-winning FG. I’m just not a fan of taking the ball out of your best player (Trask) hands in the biggest moment

Questionable call by Dan Mullen & co. on the play call, and then again after the game when Mullen insisted that the school should let them “pack the swamp” and allow 90,000 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium for a clash with LSU a week later. Ironically, the Gators are dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak of their own and the game vs LSU will be postponed to a later date. Mullen backtracked on those comments later in the week after the athletic department shot the notion down.

Alright, enough talking about Florida, let’s get to the rankings.

No. 1: Clemson Tigers (4-0) (LW: 42-17 W vs Miami)

I think Clemson is on another level from every other team in the country. We watched them roll against arguably the third-best team in the ACC in Miami. I thought the Hurricanes No. 7 ranking before the game was a little generous given who they have played, but Clemson showed it really didn’t matter. Trevor Lawrence thrashed the Hurricanes through the air (292 yards and 3 TD) and Travis Etienne took care of business on the ground (149 yards and 2 TD). The defense didn’t allow an offensive touchdown until the fourth quarter, and D’Eriq King looked flustered all night. I can’t find a weakness on this team.

No. 2: Alabama Crimson Tide (3-0) (LW: 63-48 W vs Ole Miss)

I was thinking about moving the Crimson Tide down after I watched Matt Corral, Lane Kiffin, and co. shred that defense for four quarters (that was the most points Alabama has surrendered to an unranked team in the AP era), but a historically great offensive performance on the other side of the ball for Saban (the 723 total yards for Alabama was the second-highest total in SEC history) keeps them in the No. 2 spot for this week. Check this out, thanks to Rodger Sherman of The Ringer: the Ole Miss defense only prevented 41 total yards of offense. They forced a punt on their own 40, and a fumble at the 1-yard line. If Alabama gained every possible yard on all 11 of their drives, they would’ve had 764 yards instead of 723. I’m sure it was a rough week on film to look at. Alabama faces Georgia for a delicious matchup this week, get your popcorn ready for Mac Jones, and that offense against the swarming Georgia defense. We don’t know if Saban will be on the sidelines (he tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday), but we know Kirby Smart will be, and he’s never beaten Saban. Speaking of smart…….

No. 3: Georgia Bulldogs (3-0) (LW: 44-21 W vs Tennessee)

The Vols played a really good first half in Athens, but couldn’t withstand the second-half surge from the Bulldogs, who kept the Tennessee offense out of the end zone in three out of the four quarters on Saturday. It’ll be a much tougher task against No. 2 Alabama and a team that Kirby Smart has never beat while at Georgia. I’m not even worried about Georgia matching the talent of Alabama, because they are one of a few teams in the country that can, I’m worried about the coaching decisions on the Bulldogs’ sideline once the second half rolls around. Smart and Georgia have blown double-digit leads in the second half of both the 2017 National Championship and the 2018 SEC title game by going super conservative in the second half and not finishing the game (and what were you doing with this fake punt Kirby? You’ll use Justin Fields on a fake punt but not start him over clearly inferior Jake Fromm?). Saturday should be a doozy.

No. 4: Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3-0) (LW: 42-26 W vs FSU).

I can’t believe I’m writing this, but because of the lack of better options, the Gold Domers will slot in at No. 4 in my playoff rankings. There’s a lot of concern here: I don’t trust Ian Book at all, and Notre Dame’s toughest opponent so far has been maybe Florida State?. I don’t know. We’ll get a better measure of ND when they face Clemson and North Carolina later on this season. I think Florida could be a better team than ND, but I’m not sure and Florida lost this week, so ND gets the nod.

Next few:

North Carolina

Ohio State

Oklahoma State

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-By: TJ Mathewson