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10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after Rivalry Week in the SEC
By Chris Wright
Published:
If the expanded Playoff gives us half the drama and entertainment of Rivalry Week, we’re in for quite a treat.
From Georgia rallying for an epic 8-OT victory over Georgia Tech to South Carolina’s heart-stopping comeback at Clemson in a Playoff-elimination game, Week 14 was the best to date.
Unless, of course, you were Ryan Day or Mike Elko.
Those are among the 10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after the Rivalry Week in and around the SEC.
10. South Carolina earned its spot in the Playoff
The emphasis is on “earned” — admittedly a unique concept to Playoff talking heads.
The Gamecocks’ strength of schedule is No. 18 — and you could easily argue that they should be 4-2 against the 6 ranked teams they’ve played instead of 3-3.
But why debate details that occurred 2 months ago — even egregious officiating mistakes that robbed the Gamecocks of a victory against then-No. 16 LSU.
You don’t even need to focus on all of November, even though that’s when the Gamecocks got back in the Playoff picture by crushing then-No. 10 Texas A&M by 24 and beating then-No. 23 Mizzou by 4.
Focus on Saturday and the winner-take-all showdown at No. 12 Clemson. It was billed as a Playoff elimination game and lived up to the hype.
In a microcosm of the Gamecocks’ season, they fell down, got up, stumbled and then righted themselves with a run for the ages.
They’re going to talk about LaNorris Sellers’ unscripted, game-winning, 20-yard scramble-drill TD run forever.
LaNorris Sellers for Heisman
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) November 30, 2024
But if that TD ends up sending the Gamecocks to the College Football Playoff — and it should — it might go down as the greatest play in program history.
9. Texas is back! For a day, anyway …
I’ll happily own it. People loved Texas a lot more than I did.
I had Texas atop my Playoff top 4 at various points earlier this season, but I jumped off after Georgia wrangled them in Austin and then just waited for them to lose again after Vandy pushed them to the brink the following week.
Good, not great. That was my take on Texas.
Part of that is, much like I thought Florida would be far more dangerous and better with DJ Lagway than Graham Mertz, I’m not a big believer in Quinn Ewers.
I still think Arch Manning gives the Longhorns a dimension to defend that Ewers doesn’t. And we saw as much Saturday night, where Manning replaced Ewers on a key 4th down and ran 15 yards for the game’s first score.
This isn’t an overreaction to Ewers throwing a pick-6 to get Texas A&M back in the game, either. Or is lost fumble later that prevented Texas from adding to its lead.
It’s just a scouting evaluation and belief that Texas’ ceiling is higher with Manning.
We’ll find out soon enough.
This weekend, let’s just give the Longhorns some credit.
On a day many higher-ranked teams struggled or even lost, Texas beat Texas A&M, at Kyle Field, in a game 13 years in the making.
Next up? A rematch with Georgia in the SEC Championship.
And, no, I don’t think the result is any different than it was in Austin.
8. Indiana is back, too, baby! (Insert laughter here) …
This will be short and sweet. Indiana predictably “fixed” all of its offensive flaws and rolled past Purdue, proving beyond any doubt that the Hoosiers belong in the Playoff.
Did I do that right?
Please, people.
All Indiana’s “high-flying offense” did Saturday was beat up on another patsy after being shut down by the only 2 teams with a pulse it faced.
For the last time, let’s separate fact from fiction, shall we? And we all know how much they hate facts.
Before Indiana's offense suddenly "gets right" vs. Purdue, a reminder of what's real vs. what the Playoff folks want you to believe. So much noise, so little substance. But, hey, the Hoosiers are 10-1 going on 11-1, so … pic.twitter.com/qYAFxkz4Bw
— Saturday Down South (@SatDownSouth) November 29, 2024
Indiana had exactly — and only — 2 chances to impress anybody this season and it set back-to-back season-lows in points and total yards, en route to averaging 17.5 points.
The didn’t fix anything Saturday. They just got back to playing the easiest schedule in the country.
Let me simplify this: IU is the Jake Paul of college football.
7. The 7 Playoff at-large teams should be …
1. SEC title game loser (Texas)
2. B1G title game loser (Penn State)
3. Notre Dame
4. Tennessee
5. Ohio State
6. South Carolina
7. Miami (though SMU has a solid enough resume should it lose the ACC title game)
Next 4 out: Indiana, Ole Miss, Alabama, ACC title game loser.
7b. But … what about the poor title game losers?
Am I concerned about teams falling out of the Playoff because they lost their conference title game and being replaced by teams that watched?
Not in the least. The aforementioned selections have the ACC and Big 12 losers missing the field.
Heck, the Playoff has included plenty of teams that didn’t play for a conference championship. It has left out even more conference champions. And in one case, it selected an idle team over the conference champion, despite the fact the conference champion also beat the idle team.
So if you’re worried about precedent, that ship sailed. It’s impossible to establish precedent when the criteria/teams/schedules/locations, etc., change every year — especially in a selection process as subjective as this one.
It would be different if every team had the same path to said title game. Obviously they don’t. Who you play absolutely matters.
The committee’s job is to pick the 12 best teams, not placate people or worry about establishing any type of perceived precedent.
6. Ole Miss’ 2024 season … complicated
On one hand, Ole Miss has never been in position to scoff at a 9- or 10-win season.
On the other hand? Oh, my, did the Rebels waste what could have been the greatest season in school history.
Give Lane Kiffin credit for building the expectations — and the team.
Ole Miss won’t make the Playoff, but they could win a bowl game and win 10 games for the 3rd time in the past 4 years under Kiffin. That’s remarkable.
But it also was supposed to be the floor for this group, meticulously constructed, piece by piece, to chase a championship under a program legend in Jaxson Dart.
When remembering the 2024 Rebels, the overwhelming sentiment will always be: What could have been.
5. Nobody hates their coach like Ohio State hates Ryan Day
I know, I know. Kentucky fans are beyond done with Mark Stoops, who fell to 18-20 in the 3 years after what felt like a breakthrough 10-3 season in 2021.
FSU fans were over Mike Norvell midway through the 2022 season, before he struck gold with Jordan Travis before reverting to … Mike Norvell.
Alabama fans memorized Kalen DeBoer’s buyout numbers before his first Iron Bowl kicked off.
Still … there isn’t a fan base in America who wants to fire their coach more than Ohio State fans want to fire Ryan Day.
Context is everything. Those who don’t understand will point to Day’s overall record.
Those who know will point to the only record that matters: 1-4 vs. Michigan, 4 losses in a row, including Saturday’s debacle as a 3-TD home favorite.
Saturday was, by far, the worst loss in Day’s tenure, if for no other reason than this Michigan team was the worst version of the Block M that he’s ever going to see.
Some things just don’t work out.
This clearly isn’t working out.
No, he’s not going to become the first coach to get fired before a Playoff game, but if he doesn’t win it all, I don’t think he’ll be back in 2025.
4. The SEC’s 4 Playoff teams are …
1. Georgia, 2. Texas, 3. Tennessee, 4. South Carolina
3. The team I wish were Playoff-bound: Colorado
There isn’t a Joe Burrow-type talent in the Playoff field.
If Miami sneaks in, Cam Ward is as close as it gets to being a guy who can single-handedly make enough plays to steal victory from defeat.
Carson Beck can’t do that. Quinn Ewers can’t do that. Dillon Gabriel, records and all, can’t do that.
One guy who potentially could have done that? Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, with a healthy dose of soon-to-be Heisman winner Travis Hunter, of course.
As wild as this season has been, as great and unpredictable as this first real football tournament is going to be, Colorado could have been the ultimate wild-card because the Buffs have 2 of the best players in America.
It would have been fun to see that play out on the national stage with everything at stake.
2. So, Gus Malzahn is FSU’s coach-in-waiting? Got it …
Probably hoping to divert attention and grab a positive headline, FSU announced Saturday that UCF head coach Gus Malzahn had resigned to become the Seminoles’ offensive coordinator in 2024.
Mike Norvell, in case you were wondering, still is FSU’s head coach. Allegedly, he is the offensive brainchild.
Norvell hiring (or being forced to hire?) Malzahn is different from Sam Pittman hiring Bobby Petrino.
This is more like Jimbo Fisher hiring Bobby Petrino. We know how that ended: Petrino held up his end of the deal, but Fisher was fired and cashed in the largest buyout in college sports history.
If and when FSU nixes Norvell, it will have a proven Power 5 head coach to turn to.
1. Is Georgia just toying with us?
At their best, nobody is more dominant on both sides of the ball than Kirby Smart’s Dawgs. But they’ve hardly ever been at their best this season.
The real season starts next week in Atlanta.
If the Dawgs are ever going to flip the switch to elite, now’s the time.
If they do, they’re winning it all for the 3rd time in 4 years.
An 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.
