SEC ROOTING GUIDE

In which we tell you which teams you should root against in the upcoming week.

It’s never too early to be thinking about the College Football Playoff.

Just don’t celebrate too hard if a top team in another conference loses early.

Many SEC fans, and some media members, learned that lesson in 2014 as Ohio State lost to Virginia Tech early in the season during an embarrassing first two weeks for the Big Ten. Not many were laughing when Indiana later upset East Division champ Missouri, Wisconsin beat Auburn in a bowl game and the Buckeyes won out, knocking Alabama from the College Football Playoff before winning a national title.

Winning 11 consecutive games to close a season — and then a conference championship game — is a stroke of luck even for the best teams, as competitive and lucrative as college football is within the upper echelon. So while a loss won’t end the title quest for any of these teams, it will cripple them.

Here are the Week 1 teams that SEC fans should root against.

TCU at Minnesota (9 p.m. ET, Thursday): The Horned Frogs are a 16.5-point favorite. QB Trevone Boykin is the Heisman Trophy favorite entering the season, and his offense returns 10 starters from a group that averaged more than 6 touchdowns per game in 2014. Minnesota, though, gave Ohio State an impressive mid-November scare in a 31-24 loss to the Buckeyes, also at TCF Bank Stadium. If TCU turns the ball over at the wrong times, this one could be a game.

Washington at Boise State (10:15 p.m. ET, Friday): It’s highly unlikely that even a two-loss SEC champion would have to worry about competition from Boise State when the College Football Playoff committee meets for the final time this year. But the Broncos, a fringe Top 25 team entering the year, could finish the regular season 12-0 if they get past this one. Games at BYU and at Virginia are the biggest remaining obstacles. This one features Washington coach Chris Petersen against his former program, which is out to prove it didn’t really need him after all. Win this one and Boise State fans — and the rest of the little guys — already will be crying about the unfair, exclusionary system. And who in the SEC has time for that nonsense?

Texas at Notre Dame (7:30 p.m. ET, Saturday): Many of those who have followed Charlie Strong’s career since he left Florida to become head coach at Louisville would like to see him do well. At least well enough to keep his job at Texas for quite some time, right? Oh, and there’s Notre Dame. Does anyone really believe the Fighting Irish — which donated quarterback Everett Golson to Florida State — are a borderline Top 10 team in the country and a bona fide national title contender? With a typically challenging schedule, all that talk will disappear if the Longhorns can pull the upset on the road.

Ohio State at Virginia Tech (8 p.m. ET, Monday): It happened last year and it could happen again. Right? All-American defensive linemen is one of several Buckeyes players suspended for his opener. A near-unanimous No. 1 team, this is a much different Ohio State program than the one that entered last season a little shell-shocked after the sudden loss of then-starting QB Braxton Miller for the season. J.T. Barrett was just 9-of-29 with three interceptions in that game. The rest of the year he threw 33 touchdowns against 7 interceptions. Most likely he’ll get a chance at revenge. But even if the Hokies defense can pull off back-to-back shockers, Ohio State can almost glide through the rest of their soft regular-season schedule with the exception of a Nov. 21 game against Michigan State.