First and 20: Mighty fall, playoff picture clears

Goodbye, Georgia. Thanks for playing, Arizona. Sorry, Ole Miss. Really sorry, Ole Miss.

Three of the top 12 teams in the College Football Playoff selection committee’s rankings lost on Saturday in what will be a weekly whittling down of the contenders through the conference championship games in early December.

Did we say whittling?

This Saturday sets up more as a whacking.

If you don’t like what the committee comes up with when it releases a new Top 25 on Tuesday, just wait until the weekend.

TCU and Kansas State (both 7-1) meet in Fort Worth. Ohio State goes to Michigan State to essentially decide the Big Ten East. Notre Dame heads to Arizona State for a late-season non-conference treat that will leave one team’s title hopes dead in the desert.

And, oh, Baylor is at Oklahoma, Oregon is at Utah and LSU plays host to Alabama at night.

Next weekend will spit out more of the playoff fat and likely will reduce the teams involved in the college football chaos to single digits.

Ole Miss won’t be one of those. The Rebels were the heartbreak kids of the 10th week of the season. They dropped their second game of the season in a 35-31 decision to Auburn and lost their best player — receiver Laquon Treadwell — to a gruesome fractured leg as he was dragged down near the end zone, dropping the ball short of the goal line in the final two minutes. The Tigers recovered for the touchback, coming up with yet another improbable way to win a game (although put this behind last season’s Kick-Six and the Prayer at Jordan-Hare).

“Our guys truly believe they are going to win the game if it is close,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said.

Elsewhere, Florida State, with its Thursday comeback at Louisville, and Mississippi State, surviving Arkansas by a touchdown, remain undefeated. Who else is in good shape for the playoff? These teams have the edge and could box out the competition if it wins the rest of their games:

The winner of Auburn-Alabama, and Oregon or Arizona State.

The inclusion of the Sun Devils might surprise some. They have a lopsided home loss to UCLA on their schedule, but the Bruins have rebounded to make that loss sting a little bit less. Running the table for ASU means a victory over Notre Dame, a win at Arizona and a triumph over Oregon in the Pac-12 title game. That would nicely fill out a 12-1 conference championship resume that the committee could not ignore.

At this stage, the Big Ten winner and the Big 12 champ might need a little help. It could be coming soon. Stay tuned.

Five things we think we learned in week 10

1. The Pac-12 makes sense now. Oregon and quarterback Marcus Mariota dispatched their Stanford demons, finally taking down the Cardinal 45-16 and putting the Pac-12 North in a headlock. In the South, Arizona State leads at 5-1 and will be heavily favored in its next two league games — at Oregon State and vs. Washington State. Oregon and ASU don’t meet in the regular season, but odds are very good they’ll meet in Santa Clara for the title.

2. Will Muschamp bought himself some time. Muschamp, who had been 0-7 in the Florida-Georgia rivalry as a player and coach, earned the right to deliver the line of the weekend as he opened his postgame press conference by saying, “Let me lift this thing off my back.” That particular monkey is gone after a 38-20 upset of the Bulldogs, but it doesn’t completely change the calculation of whether or not he should be fired. Now, at least, he’ll avoid an early axe and could ride into the regular-season-ending game against Florida State with some momentum and hope to be back in 2015.

3. The Heisman race is down to two. Mariota and Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott are having the best seasons at quarterback for highly ranked teams, which is what the Heisman is all about. Prescott has more “Heisman moment” possibilities, still having to face the defenses of Alabama and Ole Miss. Mariota takes on a sack-happy Utah team this Saturday, a firm test that should not go unnoticed.

4. Don’t kick to Pac-12 players. Washington’s Dante Pettis joined the parade with an 87-yard punt return for a touchdown Saturday, the 11th punt return for a touchdown in the Pac-12 this season. The league has 11 of the nation’s 44 scores on punt returns, and seven of the 33 kick return touchdowns. The combined 18 scores are easily the most for any conference.

5. The “flukes” are back. Arizona State in the Pac-12 South. Missouri in the SEC East. Duke in the ACC Coastal. Last season’s surprise division winners don’t look like one-year wonders after all.

Five things we think we hated to see

1. Steve Spurrier’s hurry-up press conference. He held time of possession for less than a minute after a 45-42 home overtime loss to Tennessee, not taking any questions before exiting the stage. We get it. You’re frustrated. You’re upset. You don’t want to take stupid questions. But when your players show up and prove to be mature than you, you’re probably failing the “leader of men” part of the job.

2. Connor Halliday’s season-ending injury. The Washington State senior quarterback suffered a broken fibula that ends his chase for Pac-12 and national records, such as the single-season mark of 5,833, held by B.J. Symons of Texas Tech. The Cougars have fallen off their upward path this season under coach Mike Leach, but Halliday was an unwavering bright spot. File this, along with Ole Miss receiver Laquon Treadwell’s broken leg/fractured ankle, under “U” for unfair.

3. Chris Blewitt missing a late-game kick. Pitt’s kicker missed a 26-yard field at the end of regulation to beat Duke. Being a college kicker is tough enough without that last name.

4. Maryland with the pregame diss. C’mon, Terps. All we ask is a cursory exchange of handshakes before the coin flip. If not shaking hands with Penn State players was your way of getting fired up, find a new way to get fired up.

5. UCLA’s “L.A. Steel” alternate uniforms. College football has become such a slave to fashion that the Bruins felt the need to take one of the nation’s most recognizable color combos and turn the unis into a gray slate, flecked with gold trim and impossible-to-see numbers. Author John U. Bacon tweeted, “Whatever the hell UCLA is wearing will be in vogue in the post-apocalyptic hell that apparently is our future. The living will envy the dead.”

Five players to watch

1. Shaq Thompson, RB, Washington. He’s your first-team all-purpose All-American. He was a multiple midseason All-American as a linebacker before becoming a full-time spark on offense in the past two weeks. He carried 15 times for 175 yards at Colorado, finishing with more than 200 all-purpose yards.

2. Kevin White, CB, TCU. He and his pals in the Frogs’ secondary shut down his namesake — West Virginia wideout Kevin White — and escaped Morgantown with a victory. TCU’s White will try to lock up Kansas State’s Tyler Lockett this week.

3. Jamison Crowder, WR, Duke. He had nine catches for 165 yards and two touchdowns in a wild overtime victory against Pitt. Crowder is another of those better-than-you-think Blue Devils, who are on track for a repeat ACC title game appearance vs. Florida State.

4. Shane Ray, DE, Missouri. He had two sacks vs. Kentucky to raise his season total to a school-record 12. Ray and the team’s pass rush has kept the Tigers relevant.

5. Kelvin Taylor/Matt Jones, RBs, Florida. Each ran 25 times against Georgia — Taylor for 197 yards and two touchdowns, and Jones for 192 yards and a pair of scores. If the Gators can be that physical against Georgia, why not everyone else?

Five best week 11 games

1. Ohio State at Michigan State, Saturday, 8 p.m. ET (ABC). The Big Ten East is on the line, as are hopes to continue in the playoff discussion. Sparty ended a 24-game Buckeyes’ winning streak last season.

2. Alabama at LSU, Saturday, 8 p.m. ET (CBS). The Tigers have found a winning formula, averaging 254 rushing yards in winning their past three SEC games, including over Ole Miss. The Tide has more flash, but this could be a classic night-game grinder in Baton Rouge.

3. Kansas State at TCU, Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET (FOX). Kansas State is 5-0 in the Big 12, but it will take every ounce of magic Bill Snyder has for the Wildcats to stay undefeated. After this one, K-State still has roadies vs. West Virginia and Baylor.

4. Notre Dame at Arizona State, Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (ABC). Notre Dame tried to cancel this game in the spring of 2013 when it went to a part-time ACC schedule, but ASU held fast to its contract and kept the contest, which is now key for both teams. Winner gets a late-season strength-of-schedule boost in the playoff chase.

5. Baylor at Oklahoma, Saturday, noon ET (FOX Sports 1). The Bears embarrassed the Sooners last season 41-12, but that was in Waco.

Plus one: Oregon at Utah, Saturday, 10 p.m. ET (ESPN). The Utes’ fierce defense stands on the path between the Ducks and the college football playoff.

NFLDraftScout.com: Film Room Review

Analyst Rob Rang’s five prospect takeaways for this week. Players listed including position, school, year (Height, weight and current NFLDraftScout.com overall rating and by position).

1. WR DeVante Parker, Louisville, Sr. (6-3, 209, #42/#7): Parker has made an immediate impact after missing the first seven games of the season with a broken toe. After catching 132 yards worth of passes against N.C. State, he torched FSU for 214 yards on eight catches. He offers an exciting blend of size and athleticism, but it was his mastery of finer points of the position — like gaining the free release, using subtle movements to gain separation and catching passes at their highest point — that most impressed.

2. QB Marcus Mariota, Oregon, rJr. (6-4, 214, #1/#1): Mariota continues to put up numbers worthy of being in the thick of the race for the top overall pick next spring, but questions remain about his ability to translate his skillset to the NFL. Brilliant at times against Stanford, Mariota was also inconsistent, including misfiring on three consecutive passes at one point. Still, he possesses an impressive blend of size, speed and arm strength.

3. TE Jesse James, Penn State, Jr. (6-7, 254, #3 tight end in 2016 class): A weak senior class of tight ends could prompt James to bolt Happy Valley early, especially after performances like Saturday’s in which he showed off a combination of size, agility and acceleration while catching five passes for 48 yards, including an eight-yard touchdowns while lining up out wide and out-jumping a defender for the ball.

4. QB Jameis Winston, Florida State, rSo. (6-4, 232, #3/#2): Winston was intercepted three times, but once again showed his resiliency in leading the come-from-behind victory. Love him or hate him, Winston’s unblemished 21-0 record as a starting quarterback is no fluke. His anticipation, functional mobility and ball-placement — especially at critical moments — are the types of skills that could force an NFL team to overlook his myriad off-field concerns.

5. ILB James Burgess, Louisville, Jr. (5-9, 206, #8 ILB in 2016 class): Burgess showed off his fluidity, instincts and ball-skills by stepping in front of 2013 Mackey Award finalist Nick O’Leary to snare the first of Winston’s interceptions in the second quarter. Burgess nearly intercepted another throw to O’Leary later in the stanza.