Playoff Pressure: Miami Fights to Stay Alive, While Ohio State, Vanderbilt Face Rivalry Tests
Less than two weeks remain until the College Football Playoff Selection Show on Dec. 7. At this point in the season, almost no programs are likely to make a last-minute showing to allow them into the playoffs.
However, it is rivalry weekend, meaning the stakes have never been higher for teams that don’t want their playoff odds crushed by a late-season upset. Some high-seeded teams, like Georgia and Texas A&M are likely locked into their bracket positions, regardless of how this week’s results play out.
1 Ohio State at 15 Michigan | Noon EST Saturday
Rivalry week doesn’t get any bigger than The Game. Ohio State enters undefeated and sitting atop the playoff rankings. Lucky for the Buckeyes, a loss will not devastate their playoff odds nor their season. For the reigning national champions, this would be a win about pride and coming full circle.
For the Michigan Wolverines, nothing would be sweeter than handing the Buckeyes the first loss of the season and continuing the winning streak. Michigan has won The Game the past four seasons, even when OSU was favored.
In rivalry games, records blur and momentum swings violently. The Wolverines have become more dangerous at home as the season progressed, and Ohio State knows full well how quickly records can be undone in Ann Arbor.
13 Miami at 24 Pitt | Noon
While not traditionally a rivalry game, Miami will enter Pittsburgh fighting to hang on to its playoff spot. In the most recent bracket, the Hurricanes snuck into the No.11 seed. A win, and Miami will likely have done just enough following the mid-season slide to clinch a playoff spot. A loss and the Hurricanes will have to settle for a bowl game.
In the back-half of the season, everything has gone right for Pitt. The Panthers dismantling off the former ACC-champion favorite, Georgia Tech, kept their playoff aspirations alive. A win against Miami is the only pathway forward for the Panthers if they want to take over the No.11 seed in an at large-bid.
Miami’s turnover issues have made close games far more dangerous than they should be. If Carson Beck can avoid the late-game mistakes that have plagued him recently, the Hurricanes have the talent edge. But Pitt thrives on slowing down games and forcing errors.
12 Vanderbilt at 18 Tennessee | 3:30 p.m.
Vanderbilt needs a win against Tennessee to keep any hope alive of reaching the playoffs. Yet a win alone will likely not propel the Commodores into the bracket.
If Alabama, Oklahoma or Notre Dame lose Saturday , and Ole Miss blows out Mississippi State on Friday, then the rankings might just shift enough to open a spot for Vanderbilt. It sounds like too many contingencies, but knowing how unpredictable the Iron Bowl is, a trip to Jordan-Hare might be enough to rankle Alabama right out of the bracket.
Beyond the bracket, Florida fans would like to see Vanderbilt wallop Tennessee after the Volunteers embarrassed the Gators at home. With the chance to keep breaking records this season, Diego Pavia and the Commodores are not likely to let themselves fall to a simple rivalry game.
Category: College Football, SEC
