5 juiciest storylines during Rivalry Week. (Spoiler alert: Iron Bowl is sort of important)
By Chris Wright
Published:
One SEC underdog already upset a ranked rival this week. Then No. 2 Miami fell on Friday.
Will we see a few more upsets? Almost everybody in the Top 10 is playing for its Playoff survival today, headlined obviously by the Iron Bowl.
That tops the five juiciest storylines in Week 13.
Biggest Iron Bowl … Ever
That’s saying something, no? We’ve debated the game and predicted the winner. We’ve explained why Alabama fans hate Auburn … and vice-versa.
Matt Hinton provided the ultimate Iron Bowl preview, which is certainly worth a read if you’re into schemes and want to know the hows and whys behind what you’ll see today.
The Playoff implications are simple and staggering. This game means everything to both teams.
At this point, there’s not much to add, other than this: When both teams are good, these two rarely play a dud. We should all be thankful for that.
Which Playoff contender loses today?
Alabama is No. 1 and Auburn is No. 6, so we’re guaranteed of at least one falling today on The Plains.
No. 2 Miami lost at Pitt on Friday. It certainly didn’t help the cause, but the Hurricanes’ Playoff fate still will be determined next week in the ACC Championship Game against Clemson. It’s difficult to imagine a 1-loss ACC champion not getting an invite.
But that’s assuming No. 3 Clemson wins at No. 24 South Carolina tonight. Clemson has won the past three, but those were in large part because of Deshaun Watson. He’s obviously gone.
The Gamecocks have the home field advantage and the more experienced quarterback. Clemson has the more explosive playmakers on the perimeter and a more punishing defense. Clemson’s style travels. The Tigers don’t turn it over, and they know they’re out of mulligans.
No. 4 Oklahoma vs. West Virginia. This game should have been a wild, 51-48 shootout between two of the best quarterbacks in the nation. But Will Grier is out for the season with a broken finger and Baker Mayfield won’t start because of some bad behavior. With Grier, West Virginia was one of the more fun teams to watch. Without him, they don’t stand a chance today in Norman. If Mayfield rushes for a touchdown, I expect him to walk over and hand the ball to the ref. That’s dangerous, though, trying to tone down who you are to please others.
No. 5 Wisconsin vs. Minnesota (5-6). And you thought Cupcake Week was last week. Fortunately for all of us, we won’t have to worry about Wisconsin much longer. After No. 9 Ohio State dispatches Michigan today in the JV time slot (noon), the Buckeyes get to prove again that “division separation” is not just an SEC thing. The B1G East can’t play with the SEC West, but it most certainly owns the B1G West.
No. 7 Georgia at Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets are at home and need a victory to become bowl eligible. They’re nowhere near as talented as the Dawgs, but they’re the team everybody hates to play.
Play tennis? Tech is that annoying opponent who gets every ball back, never goes for anything, rarely makes a mistake and just waits on you to make an error out of frustration.
Georgia Tech lost to Tennessee and Duke, yet beat Virginia Tech and almost Miami. Clemson didn’t exactly have a field day against the Jackets, either.
The past four games in this rivalry have been one-possession scores, with the road team winning each time. Look for that trend to continue today. The Dawgs will win and keep their Playoff hopes alive, but not by an SEC East margin.
No. 8 Notre Dame is at No. 21 Stanford. The Irish, with two losses and no conference, are out of the Playoff. The only drama here is whether they can derail Bryce Love’s Heisman bid.
No. 10 Penn State at Maryland (4-7). Weren’t we just talking about cupcakes?
Tennessee is crumbling, brick by brick
Whatever materials Butch Jones used to allegedly rebuild the program, they weren’t up to code.
I’ve never seen a championship program fall apart this dramatically. We’ve seen some lose — Nebraska, Notre Dame, Florida, Florida State, Miami — but I don’t recall their players calling their coaches “lying ass bitches.”
It’s toxic in Knoxville. And it’s been that way all season. They’ve already quit. Will they bother to show up today against an in-state rival who started their spiral with an upset last year?
Or will the entire thing collapse as fans scramble for the exits in the third quarter?
How I’d rank chances of SEC coaches getting another P5 job
Coaches get recycled. We know this. But not all of them can rebound quite as comfortably as Will Muschamp did.
Hugh Freeze, Jim McElwain, Butch Jones and Bret Bielema are gone. Kevin Sumlin reportedly will coach his final game at Texas A&M tonight. Of those five, which is the most likely to land another Power 5 gig?
In order:
Sumlin and Bielema likely will find Power 5 jobs this offseason. They’re good, proven and trouble-free. Quality coaches and men. That matters (at some places more than others).
McElwain might be a better fit at a mid-major, but he’d be a candidate at a lower-tier Power 5 program with a losing tradition. All five conferences have at least four programs like this.
Jones is the trickiest to predict, but he’s been successful enough to warrant another chance; it just won’t be in the SEC.
Freeze? The NCAA might very well determine that, but nobody is going to touch him until that mess is resolved. If he avoids a show-cause, will he get a second chance?
Do high-profile boosters high-five after hanging 50 on their rival?
Florida, will you hire a coach already?
Even though I wasn’t convinced it would work, I kept expecting the Gators to roll out Chip Kelly. They wouldn’t have been so public about the pursuit for so long unless they knew they’re eventually going to get him, right?
Well, now it’s on to Plan B …
I've heard from a source that I trust that Scott Frost to Nebraska is a done deal.
— Lars Anderson (@LarsAnderson71) November 25, 2017
This search has gone about as well as Florida’s season: preseason No. 17 to 4-6.
To think this UF-FSU rivalry has gone from determining national champions to … not even being able to send the winner to a bowl game?
Say it ain’t so, Tebow.
Managing Editor
A 30-time APSE award-winning editor with previous stints at the Miami Herald, The Indianapolis Star and News & Observer, Executive Editor Chris Wright oversees editorial operations for Saturday Down South.
