How do the Seminoles Recoup?
Well that was not fun. As most of my readership knows, the Florida State Seminoles did not have a good time last weekend regarding the game against the University of Louisville Cardinals. It was the greatest margin of loss under Jimbo Fisher.
ESPN outright said the Seminoles did not lose, "they gave up." It was very true. There were problems everywhere. Quarterback Deondre Francois did not have any time in the pocket and running back Dalvin Cook could not run due to a mistake ridden offensive line. Francois was hit on more plays than he did against Ole Miss, and he took a pounding in that game.
On the other side, the defense was getting confused by almost every play. They got to Louisville QB Lamar Jackson a handful of times, but he still escaped. Defensive end DeMarcus Walker took it the hardest out of any of the players. If you have yet to see his post-game interview, click the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhHnDZptBY0
Based on Walker's tone and leadership on defense, the Seminoles will look very different next weekend when they visit the University of South Florida Bulls.
So now let's address the question on everyone's mind: how can the Seminoles get back into the playoff and ACC Championship picture? Well due to the loss, FSU's fate is not in its own hands. They need some help. This includes teams from outside of the ACC. A special thanks to Ryan Quigley for helping me with this post.
1. Win Out
No question about this one. Florida State must win the remaining nine games of their schedule in order to have a chance of going to the ACC Championship or College Football Playoff. The Seminoles only have one last road test against Miami, who has not looked good the past three weeks.
Quarterback Brad Kaaya has 50 completions for just under 700 yards against three inferior teams: Florida A&M, FAU, and Appalachian State. They have their bye week this week and then travel to Georgia Tech before they see the Seminoles in Miami Gardens. The Canes will most likely be undefeated by the time the Seminoles see them.
After that, FSU is lucky enough to have Clemson and Florida at home on the back end of the schedule. With the way Clemson has been playing against FBS opponents and Florida's weak out-of-conference schedule, the Seminoles have a great shot to go undefeated through the rest of the year.
So where do they need help?
2. Clemson MUST beat Louisville
Louisville needs to have a loss in the ACC and it must be to Clemson. If FSU beats Clemson, and Clemson beats Louisville, it creates a three-way tie for the ACC Atlantic (if Clemson goes 11-1). After that....
3. Louisville MUST lose one more game
The Cardinals need to fall to one more opponent. Outside of Clemson, there is really only one team that has a shot: Houston. While it may pain Seminole fans to root for the team that beat them in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl last year, the Cougars need to win that game. This will cause Louisville to lose the tie-breaker between the three ACC teams and FSU would go on to represent the ACC Atlantic in the ACC Championship.
But what if that isn't enough? What about the other conferences? What about the teams in front of Florida State? While what needs to happen in the ACC could be all Florida State needs, the following can help cement the Seminoles' place in the playoff; possibly getting into the playoff without winning the ACC.
SEC: Florida gets highly ranked, Alabama runs the West, and Ole Miss plays well
We play Florida at the end of the year and the Noles need to get another great ranked win. The Gators sit at No. 19 and will face No. 14 Tennessee on the road this week. They also play No. 17 Arkansas, No. 18 LSU, and No. 12 Georgia. If UF can go 2-2 in those games, they will be ranked by the time the Nole's get them on rivalry weekend.
Alabama clearly looked like the number one team running USC out of the building in week one. They need to keep that head of steam now. The SEC West is still one of the top divisions in college football and the Tide must roll in order to take out No. 10 Texas A&M and keep the other teams like LSU and Arkansas off of the Noles' tail.
Ole Miss now sits at No. 23 after a 1-2 start. Sorry Rebels, but it does not get easier. This will not be the a deal breaker for the Seminoles, but it would be good if Ole Miss could win out. The Rebels play Georgia this week at the Grove, but that's their only ranked game at home. Ole Miss goes on the road to play Arkansas, LSU, and Texas A&M. Honestly Ole Miss, good luck. You're going to need it.
Big 10: OSU, MSU, and UM beat Wisconsin, one of them beats the the other two, but that team loses Big 10 Title
No. 2 Ohio State, No. 4 Michigan, and No. 8 Michigan State all have a shot to walk away with as the Big 10 East Champ. Wisconsin is still hanging around at No. 11 in the West. The Badgers will have a big test in their next three games against the Big 3 of the East. All three teams would have to beat the Badgers. Then Wisconsin has to win out.
After that, one of the three must beat the other two. My money is on Ohio State. So let's say Ohio State beats both Michigan schools. After that, Ohio State will go on to face the Big 10 West Champ which will be either Nebraska or Wisconsin. The West Champ must beat the East. Better Wisconsin than Nebraska though.
This would take the Big 10 Champion out of the mix for the playoff.
Big 12: Baylor loses one time
This is easy to ask for. Baylor currently sits at No. 16 on the AP Poll and is the highest ranked Big 12 team. The other two are a one loss No. 21 Texas and a two loss No. 25 Oklahoma. Neither of these teams have a chance at this point to make it to the playoff. Baylor does though. Only problem is that Baylor has a recently unranked Oklahoma State this week and then has a three game stretch at Texas, TCU, and at Oklahoma. Baylor will ultimately lose one of these.
Why does this matter? Because at this point, Baylor is the only team that could win the Big 12 Championship and go to the playoff. The problem for the Bears is that they are ranked so low right now, one loss to anyone and it would be over for them. It would be best in the Seminole's interest if they lost to an unranked team or Oklahoma.
PAC-12: Stanford decimates Washington, but Notre Dame beats Stanford
No. 7 Stanford and No. 9 Washington are two of three teams ranked teams from the PAC-12 (No. 24 Utah). With Christian McCaffrey at the helm, there is not much that can stop the Cardinal in the PAC-12. They will face a vastly overranked Washington on Sept. 30. The Huskies are 3-0 against Rutgers, Idaho, and Portland State. Not the greatest of competition. Stanford will more than likely win this game.
As for the Cardinal outside of that game, they must face UCLA this weekend. UCLA is still a very talented team that has a solid shot of beating Stanford. Stanford must also go to South Bend to face DeShone Kizer and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish along with a game at Oregon. These games are the traps for McCaffrey and company.
Non-Conference: Houston MUST lose one game other than Louisville
The Cougars are tearing up the competition this year. They beat Oklahoma in week one. Blew out Lamar is week two. But they showed signs of struggle against Cincinnati last week. The Bearcats may have lost by 24, but Houston did not get that lead until late in the 4th quarter.
Houston is in the AAC, therefore, it has very little competition. They do play No. 3 Louisville in week 12, but that is it. There is caution for the Cougars because they have a target on their back. They are the only, real competition any of the AAC teams will face this year. Therefore, they are playing in every team's Super Bowl every week. If the Cougars let teams hang around like Cincinnati did, they may just slip and fall in the rankings.
