The School Soccer Playoff image acquired a bit clearer on Saturday.
No. 9 Oklahoma misplaced at Oklahoma State in what could possibly be the ultimate Bedlam sport for fairly a while whereas No. 12 Missouri misplaced at No. 2 Georgia. With the Sooners and Tigers now each at 7-2, it’s secure to imagine that each are out of playoff competition.
Their losses go away us with 11 Energy 5 groups with one loss or fewer getting into the ultimate three weeks of the common season. 5 of these groups are undefeated. And a few groups have much better possibilities of making the four-team playoff than others.
Right here is how we’d rank these 11 groups so as of their possibilities of making the playoff. We just like the possibilities of the Large Ten East getting two groups into the CFP for a second straight season.
Ohio State (9-0)
The Buckeyes haven’t regarded invincible this season however have been at No. 1 within the first School Soccer Playoff rankings on Tuesday evening due to wins over Notre Dame and Penn State. Ohio State trailed Rutgers 9-7 at halftime on Saturday however a pick-six by Jordan Hancock early within the third quarter sparked the simple 35-16 win.
With video games at residence towards Michigan State and Minnesota over the subsequent two weeks earlier than a visit to Michigan, Ohio State could possibly be locked into the playoff at 11-0 earlier than the large rivalry sport to win the Large Ten East for a closing time.
Michigan (9-0)
The Wolverines are barely behind Ohio State due to a sport towards Penn State in Week 11 and the looming chance of self-discipline from the sign-stealing scandal that’s been the discuss of school soccer over the previous two weeks. Michigan rolled once more on Saturday evening towards Purdue and now faces ranked two ranked groups over the subsequent three weeks.
After Penn State, a visit to Maryland looms earlier than taking part in Ohio State. And very like the Buckeyes, Michigan’s most likely within the playoff if it’s 11-0 getting into the ultimate week of the common season.
Georgia (9-0)
The Bulldogs outlasted Missouri for a second straight season in a 30-21 win on Saturday. Georgia wasn’t overwhelming in any side; it merely had the higher crew and it confirmed within the second half. The Bulldogs have received 26 straight video games since dropping to Alabama within the 2021 SEC title sport and have No. 10 Ole Miss in Week 11 earlier than a visit to No. 17 Tennessee. Georgia will probably be favored in each contests earlier than ending the season towards Georgia Tech.
Florida State (9-0)
The Seminoles have an amazing probability of ending the season undefeated. That could possibly be each a blessing and a curse. Florida State had a sluggish begin towards Pitt on Saturday earlier than a simple 24-7 win that clinched a spot within the ACC title sport. FSU hosts Miami in Week 11 earlier than taking part in North Alabama and Florida to finish the season.
Outdoors of a Week 1 win over LSU, a now-unranked Duke crew is the one different ranked opponent Florida State could have performed in 2023 till the ACC title sport. That would work towards the Seminoles if there are three different undefeated groups and an 11-1 Michigan or Ohio State on the finish of the season.
Washington (9-0)
The Huskies shredded USC’s protection in a 52-42 win to maneuver to 9-0 on the season. Washington was fifth among the many 5 undefeated groups within the CFP rankings and is fifth right here merely due to the power of the Pac-12. Washington has video games towards Utah and Oregon State earlier than ending the season towards Washington State.
If Washington runs the desk and beats Oregon (or another person ranked) within the Pac-12 title sport, the Huskies are within the playoff. There isn’t any doubt about that. We simply have doubts that Washington could make it by the Pac-12 unscathed.
Alabama (8-1)
The Crimson Tide are a win over Kentucky away from a spot within the SEC title sport after taking down LSU on Saturday evening. Alabama ought to end the season at 11-1 regardless of highway journeys to Kentucky and Auburn during the last three video games and can possible meet Georgia within the SEC championship sport. If Alabama and Georgia are each at 11-1 (or higher, in Georgia’s case), the winner of that sport shouldn’t be going to get unnoticed of the playoff.
Oregon (8-1)
The Geese continued their post-Washington revenge tour with a 63-19 dismantling of Cal on Saturday. QB Bo Nix had six whole touchdowns and isn’t out of the Heisman combine by any stretch if Oregon retains successful and wins the Pac-12 title.
The Geese have a giant contest towards USC in Week 11 earlier than visiting Arizona State and internet hosting a ranked Oregon State. Oregon will make the Pac-12 title sport at 11-1 total and a win over Washington (or another person) could possibly be sufficient to get the Geese into the playoff for the primary time for the reason that 2014 season.
Texas (8-1)
Texas flirted with a monumental collapse in a 33-30 extra time win over Kansas State on Saturday. The Longhorns have been up 27-7 within the third quarter earlier than Kansas State scored 20 straight factors and UT wanted a fourth-down cease in OT for the win.
The Longhorns’ playoff probabilities hinge totally on the well being of Quinn Ewers and Texas’ vulnerability with out him was on show towards Kansas State. The Longhorns needs to be OK towards TCU subsequent week, however a visit to Iowa State in two weeks could possibly be tough with or with out Ewers.
Ole Miss (8-1)
Might Ole Miss make the playoff with out successful the SEC West? The trail is there, although the Rebels may have some assist from different groups. The primary precedence can be upsetting Georgia in Athens after which beating Louisiana-Monroe and Mississippi State to finish the season. That will put Ole Miss at 11-1 and probably out of SEC title competition if Alabama wins the division.
Would an 11-1 Ole Miss have a comparable resume to that of an 11-1 Ohio State or Michigan? We predict so.
Penn State (8-1)
Like Ole Miss, Penn State’s path to the playoff disappears with a loss as an underdog in Week 11. The Nittany Lions labored out some frustrations towards Maryland in a 51-15 win that featured a 27-point outburst within the fourth quarter. Penn State must beat Michigan and have the Wolverines beat the Buckeyes to have an opportunity to win the Large Ten East. If that occurs and Penn State wins the Large Ten with a 12-1 file, put PSU within the playoff.
Louisville (8-1)
The Cardinals quashed any hope Virginia Tech had of being a sensible contender within the ACC in a convincing 34-3 win on Saturday. Louisville’s hopes of creating the playoff are extraordinarily slim, however they exist. And that’s much more than you may say about some other crew in school soccer not on this record. To get to the playoff, Louisville must beat Virginia, Miami and Kentucky and in addition knock off Florida State within the ACC title sport, whereas hoping there are another upsets over the subsequent 4 weeks too.
Listed below are the winners and losers of Week 10:
Winners
Oklahoma State: Oklahoma State acquired to destroy the nationwide championship hopes of its largest rival within the closing version of Bedlam earlier than Oklahoma departs for the SEC. The Cowboys beat the Sooners 27-24 in entrance of a raucous crowd in Stillwater. Ollie Gordon rushed for 137 yards and two touchdowns whereas Alan Bowman had 334 passing yards within the win. The Cowboys have received 5 consecutive video games and now are tied atop the Large 12 standings with Texas. The trail to the Large 12 title sport may be very viable.
Clemson: It’s been a brutal season for Clemson, so Dabo Swinney’s squad deserves some reward for upsetting No. 15 Notre Dame at residence on Saturday. On the heels of dropping back-to-back common season video games for the primary time since 2011, the Tigers jumped on the Irish early and have been capable of dangle on for a 31-23 win. Clemson had a 24-6 lead halfway by the second quarter and acquired an enormous efficiency from Phil Mafah. With Will Shipley out, Mafah had a heavy workload — 36 rushes, 186 yards and two TDs. He accounted for 65.2% of Clemson’s yardage. Shoutout to Tyler from Spartanburg for the inspiration.
Penn State: After a number of shaky performances, Penn State’s offensive show in Saturday’s win over Maryland was very encouraging with the showdown vs. Michigan coming subsequent week. The Nittany Lions hadn’t topped 400 yards of offense vs. a Energy 5 opponent for the reason that season-opening win over West Virginia however had 404 yards within the 51-15 win over the Terps. And that occurred at the same time as PSU had its backups in for many of the fourth quarter. Drew Allar threw for 240 yards and 4 TDs, Kaytron Allen rushed for 91 yards and a rating and the protection compelled 4 Maryland turnovers. PSU’s Large Ten and CFP hopes are nonetheless alive.
Kansas: There was no hangover impact for Kansas after the large win over Oklahoma. The Jayhawks have been in a troublesome spot touring to Ames to face an Iowa State crew on a three-game successful streak on the heels of such an emotional win. However Lance Leipold didn’t let his crew lose focus as KU pulled out a 28-21 highway win. Kansas had a 21-3 lead within the third quarter and withstood a comeback try from the Cyclones to enhance to 7-2 on the yr. It’s the primary time KU has gotten to seven wins since 2008.
Utah: Utah rebounded from its loss to Oregon in emphatic trend. The Utes destroyed Arizona State, 55-3. After Trenton Bourguet, ASU’s beginning QB, was knocked out early within the sport, the Solar Devils had no probability. Backup Jacob Conover was held to 5-of-22 for 41 yards by the Utah protection. In all, Utah outgained ASU 513 yards to 83. Sure, ASU had solely 83 yards of offense. With the win, Utah improved to 7-2 (4-2 Pac-12) on the yr.
Liberty and James Madison: There are seven undefeated groups remaining in school soccer and two of them are Liberty and James Madison. Liberty improved to 9-0 with a 56-30 win over Louisiana Tech whereas JMU can be 9-0 after a 42-14 highway win over Georgia State.
Texas State: How about Texas State? The Bobcats are bowl eligible after beating Georgia Southern 45-24 on Saturday. Since transferring as much as the FBS in 2012, Texas State has only one successful season and has by no means performed in a bowl sport. Now 6-3 in Yr 1 below coach G.J. Kinne, the Bobcats are on the verge of engaging in each.
Losers
Air Power: Air Power is not undefeated after a shocking loss to Military. The Falcons have been 8-0 and No. 25 within the first CFP rankings, however might have value themselves the possibility for a New Yr’s Six bowl look and probably the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy with the 23-3 loss to the Black Knights. Within the loss, Air Power had six turnovers and twice failed on fourth down. Air Power remains to be unbeaten in Mountain West play, however this was a disappointing end result for Troy Calhoun’s crew.
Florida: Florida might have blown its greatest probability to realize bowl eligibility. The Gators went 5-2 to open the season earlier than falling final week to top-ranked Georgia. With LSU, Missouri and Florida State video games on the horizon, the Gators actually wanted to handle enterprise towards Arkansas at residence on Saturday to get that sixth win. They couldn’t do it. Arkansas, which entered the weekend on a six-game dropping streak, went into Gainesville and upset Florida 39-36 in extra time. It’s the primary time Arkansas has ever received within the Swamp. The Razorbacks entered the weekend at No. 122 nationally in whole offense, averaging 305.9 yards per sport. Following a coordinator change and a bye week, Arkansas put up 481 yards on the UF protection.
Wisconsin: Wisconsin is basically banged up, however that’s no excuse for going into Bloomington and dropping to Indiana. The Hoosiers had received simply certainly one of their earlier 13 Large Ten video games, however they upset the Badgers 20-14 on Saturday. Wisconsin was behind 17-14 for almost all of the second half, however simply couldn’t recover from the hump. The Badgers’ closing 5 drives resulted in two punts, two fumbles and a turnover on downs. UW, now 5-4 on the yr, has fallen effectively under expectations in Yr 1 below Luke Fickell.
TCU: It’s not a shock that TCU took a steep step again in comparison with final yr’s magical run to the nationwide title sport. However now the Horned Frogs are at risk of lacking a bowl sport after dropping to Texas Tech on Thursday evening. TCU is now 4-5 total and 2-4 in Large 12 play with three video games remaining — vs. Texas, vs. Baylor and a visit to Oklahoma. The Horned Frogs have to win two of three simply to get to 6 wins. That’s a big step again for this system.
Syracuse: Syracuse is in free fall once more. Final yr, the Orange began 6-0 after which misplaced 5 straight earlier than closing the common season with a win. A loss within the bowl sport adopted, leading to a 7-6 season. This yr, the slide began earlier. Syracuse opened the season with 4 wins, however has since misplaced 5 straight and all however a type of losses have come by a double-digit margin. On Friday evening, the Orange had 4 turnovers in a 17-10 residence loss to Boston School. A bowl sport is wanting very unrealistic.
Baylor: Baylor has misplaced eight consecutive residence video games vs. FBS opponents. Not together with the Week 3 win over FCS Lengthy Island, the Bears haven’t overwhelmed an FBS crew in Waco in over a yr. The final one was on Oct. 22, 2022, when BU beat Kansas, 35-23. The streak practically ended on Saturday, however Houston received 25-24 with a two-point conversion in extra time. The Bears at the moment are 4-5 and at risk of lacking a bowl sport.
Cincinnati: Cincinnati is the one Large 12 crew and not using a convention win. The transition to the Energy 5 has been a tough one because the Bearcats fell to 2-7 total and 0-6 in convention play in Yr 1 below Scott Satterfield with a 28-26 residence loss to UCF. Transferring right into a harder convention amid a training transition was by no means going to be straightforward, but it surely’s secure to say the Bearcats have been even worse than anticipated. UC misplaced regardless of placing up 515 yards of offense on Saturday and now will miss a bowl sport for the primary time since 2017.