The potential College Football Playoff field was narrowed down a bit in Week 10 as two highly-ranked Big Ten teams, Ohio State and Penn State, were upset on the road to see their chance at a spot in the national semifinals all but vanish.
Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com
There are two games in Week 11 that clearly stand out from a playoff perspective: Georgia at Auburn, and Notre Dame at Miami.
The Bulldogs are No. 1 in the CFP rankings and are one of five unbeatens along with Alabama, Miami, Wisconsin and UCF. Georgia is a 3-point favorite this week at Auburn, and you could excuse SEC officials if they are privately rooting for the Bulldogs there.
Why? Should Georgia and Alabama both win the rest of their regular-season games and meet in the SEC title tilt – Georgia already has clinched the SEC East – it’s possible that the SEC could be the first conference to get two schools into the semifinals. That’s if the Georgia-Alabama game is close.
Then again, Auburn (No. 10 in the CFP rankings) could win the SEC West over the Tide. The Tigers have just one conference loss and get Alabama at home in the Iron Bowl on November 25. Going by the Associated Press Top 25, this will be the first Auburn-Georgia game to feature two Top 10 teams since 2004. The Bulldogs have won the past three in the Deep South’s oldest rivalry, and they are taking a heavy early lean at the books. The favorite is 6-1 ATS in the past seven meetings.
Elsewhere, Notre Dame (No. 3) visits Miami (No. 7) with the Hurricanes as 3.5-point home dogs in a huge matchup. The Fighting Irish should get into the College Football Playoff if they win out, but a second defeat would end their chances.
Miami is being punished a bit by the books because while it’s unbeaten it has just one win over a ranked foe: 28-10 vs. Virginia Tech this past Saturday. That put UM in the driver’s seat to play in the ACC Championship Game for the first time. Early action is heavy on the Fighting Irish, but there may be no more public team in sports than Notre Dame football.
The Hurricanes have won a national-best 13 games in a row; their last loss was 30-27 at South Bend in 2016. Both starting quarterbacks from that game are now in the NFL.
There’s also an important game in the Big 12 with TCU (No. 6) visiting Oklahoma (No. 5) – the Frogs and Sooners could play again in the Big 12 Championship Game. Each already has a loss, so a defeat will ruin any College Football Playoff hopes. The Sooners are 7-point favorites but are 1-4 ATS in their past five at home in the series.
