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There’s only a few college football Saturdays left this season, and one of them falls in our laps in just a few hours! I stand and slow clap those who take the long stroll through my mind and read all 50 things I’m wondering about entering Week 12. Enjoy.
- If Les Miles loses his job at LSU while Mark Richt keeps his at Georgia, that might make me wonder about 50 more things.
- How many times did Nick Saban say “aight” in his rant defending Charleston Southern? I counted seven.
- Do you realize that question came after the media member asked, “Just in terms of their quarterback, obviously he has some Division I — or FBS — experience playing at UAB. What have you seen from him?” He was referring to Charleston Southern senior QB Austin Brown. How did that innocent question lead to Saban going ballistic? Funny stuff.
- North Carolina has a chance to clinch a trip to the ACC title game with a win over Virginia Tech this week. How annoying must it be for the Tar Heels that their only loss this season came in Week 1 to the Gamecocks, who currently have the worst overall record in the SEC (3-7)?
- Has the committee sent the Pac-12 a letter in the mail yet to let it know that it won’t be participating in this year’s playoff? Even if it just says “thanks for playing” or something along those lines, some common decency wouldn’t hurt.
- How great would it be if Florida had something consistent in its offense that it could always turn to as the team makes its playoff push? Maybe a guy in the backfield that the Gators could rely on every game? Any thoughts, Kelvin Taylor?
- If your team needed a coach, would you want Alabama’s Kirby Smart, Houston’s Tom Herman or someone else?
- What will the atmosphere be like in Columbia when Missouri hosts Tennessee?
- Does Derrick Henry extend his touchdown streak to 16 games this week against Charleston Southern?
- Does Arkansas extend its winning streak to five at home this week against Mississippi State?
- Does Alex Collins post his fifth straight 100-yard rushing game? He leads the SEC with eight on the season.
- Speaking of Collins, can he match Darren McFadden’s single-season school record of 10 100-yard rushing games?
- How much is a rental tank? That’s what teams may need to get through Alabama’s front seven?
- Ohio State is 30-0 in regular-season conference games since Urban Meyer became the Buckeyes’ coach in 2012. Do the Spartans give him his first such loss this week in Columbus?
- Ole Miss has only given up 5 rushing TDs on the season, tied with Alabama and Boston College for the fewest in the FBS. Does Leonard Fournette get in the end zone at Oxford?
- Baylor WR Corey Coleman had his worst game of the season in last week’s loss to Oklahoma (3 catches, 51 yards). Does he step up this week to crash undefeated Oklahoma State’s playoff chances?
- Can Vanderbilt win back-to-back games for the first time since 2013 this week against Texas A&M?
- Will LSU experience its first three-game losing streak since Les Miles took over as coach in 2005?
- Other than Baylor QB Seth Russell, who was lost for the season due to injury, Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield leads the FBS in QB rating (183.9) and yards per attempt (10.0). According to ESPN’s Heisman Watch poll, he’s now 2nd behind Derrick Henry. Does he have a chance to make a late run for the award with big games against TCU and Oklahoma State to close the season?
- Doesn’t it seem like the playoff committee is taking Iowa more seriously than everyone else in the country is?
- How weird is it that Michigan will be rooting for Ohio State this week? The Wolverines need the Buckeyes to win in order for Michigan to have a chance at reaching the Big Ten Championship Game.
- Will Kentucky end its five-game skid with a win against the Charlotte 49ers? Or will the Wildcats make them look like the San Francisco 49ers?
- Wait, the Niners are not that great this season. Nevermind.
- According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, Tennessee has the best chance of winning out its regular season games (69.6%) with games at Missouri and vs. Vanderbilt. Do the Vols live up to that projection and finish 8-4 while riding a five-game win streak into bowl season?
- What do you think of Notre Dame’s uniforms this week against Boston College?
- Will we be tallying a sixth straight game with at least 100 receiving yards and a TD for Laquon Treadwell this week?
- Does Georgia Southern (7-2) have an upset up its sleeve for Georgia on Saturday?
- The Eagles rank 1st in the FBS in rushing yards per game (378.9) and 1st in yards per carry (6.7). That’s about 44 yards better than the next-best team, Navy. Will the Bulldogs be ready?
- Missouri ranks last in the SEC by allowing 26.7 yards per return. Can Evan Berry capitalize and take one back to the house?
- Despite losing six straight after a 3-1 start, Boston College leads the FBS in total defense, allowing 236.5 yards per game. Can they ruin Notre Dame’s playoff chances?
- Virginia Tech has played in 22 straight bowl games, the longest active FBS streak. At 5-5 with games vs. North Carolina and at Virginia, will we see that come to an end?
- How big would a win for Vanderbilt be at home against Texas A&M to put the Commodores at five wins, considering they could then clinch a bowl berth at in-state rival Tennessee in the last game of the season?
- By the way, how scary is it for Vandy’s  remaining opponents that the ‘Dores offense has seemingly found some life under freshman QB Kyle Shurmur?
- Speaking of freshman QBs, can Missouri’s Drew Lock build on the best game of his young career against BYU and carry that over to this week’s game against Tennessee?
- I love Bret Bielema’s “SEC vs. Big Ten Challenge” idea, but will it ever happen?
- Is the Magnolia Bowl the most underrated rivalry in the SEC?
- Is it too late for a follow-up question, coach Saban?
- Auburn struggled against Jacksonville State and San Jose State this season, so you think Gus Malzahn needed to go on a similar tirade to his players about overlooking teams? Probably not.
- Could Mark Richt have said anything more damning than his proclamation that he’d take 10-3 every year? Lots of Georgia fans didn’t like it. I’m actually surprised the national media didn’t make a bigger deal of it. Yeah, 10-3 might be a “glorious” thing for some teams. However, not at a school like Georgia, especially when you’ve been there for 15 years.
- Statistically, the SEC’s top rushing offense (LSU) will square off against the SEC’s top passing offense (Ole Miss). In fact, they comfortably lead the conference in those categories. Which will steal the show on Saturday in Oxford?
- Mississippi State allowed three explosive plays in its 31-6 loss to Alabama last Saturday, all three of which went for touchdowns. Arkansas has recorded 37 this season, one shy of Ole Miss for the most in the SEC. Do the Bulldogs get hurt again by big plays in Fayetteville?
- Will Florida’s offense build any sort of momentum on offense against Florida Atlantic before its rivalry game against Florida State?
- Does Michigan have any reason to overlook Penn State? No. First of all, it’s Happy Valley. Second of all, Michigan’s last two road games were against unranked opponents and both were nail-biters (48-41 at Indiana, 29-26 at Minnesota).
- Who would’ve thought USC and Oregon would each have three losses entering their matchup this week? Nonetheless, the Trojans are in control of the South, and the Ducks still have a shot in the North but needs Stanford to lose to Cal this week.
- Purdue has far and away the worst rushing defense in the Big Ten, also ranking 112th in the FBS by allowing 209.6 yards per game. Iowa enters the matchup coming off a game in which RB LeShun Daniels Jr. became the team’s third different player to run for at least 195 yards this season. To put that into perspective, only four other Big Ten players have even accomplished that. Can we go ahead and say this isn’t a good matchup for the Boilermakers?
- Can Baylor finally win a big road game under Art Briles. The Bears are 0-3 vs. top five opponents since Briles became coach in 2008, getting outscored by an incredible average of 31.3 points in those losses.
- How will Ole Miss fare without LB Denzel Nkemdiche, who leads the team with 53 tackles on the season?
- Can Tennessee get Josh Dobbs involved in the running game against Missouri this week? The Vols offense seems to be at its best when he is.
- Can Kyler Murray finally assert himself in Texas A&M’s QB battle with Kyle Allen? Murray has shown flashes of potential, and he did threw 3 TDs in a win over Western Carolina last week. However, he also threw 2 INTs against a defense that only had 7 INTs all season before that.
- If loving the SEC is wrong, would you want to be right?
Born and raised in Gainesville, Talal joined SDS in 2015 after spending 2 years in Bristol as an ESPN researcher. Previously, Talal worked at The Gainesville Sun.
