Can we focus on some actual football, please?

Every day, it seems, there’s another off-field controversy.

A deviously underhanded recording and intentionally leaked audio at Ole Miss. A B1G conspiracy/abuse of power directed at Michigan. The Pac-2 actually needing to be told, no, the Playoff committee won’t reward your, um, “champion?” with an automatic berth in the new, expanded 12-team format.

I prefer simpler times, when the only things that irritated me were Danny Kanell’s tweets, Joel Klatt’s B1G agenda and teams that insist “we are back” but clearly aren’t.

Sorry, Tennessee. That was mean.

Those are some of the 10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after Week 11 in and around the SEC.

10. Mizzou’s Cody Schrader is the most underrated player in college football

Doubted and dismissed every step of the way, Mizzou’s undersized underdog somehow has become the most unstoppable offensive force in the SEC (non-Jayden Daniels Division).

None of this makes sense.

Saturday, Schrader, the D2 walk-on, became the first player in Mizzou history to top 100 yards rushing and 100 yards receiving in the same game.

That’s not just a Mizzou thing, haters.

Only 5 other SEC players since 2007 have done it.

But he didn’t stop there.

Schrader finished with 205 yards rushing and 116 yards receiving in Mizzou’s statement 36-7 blowout win over Tennessee.

9. Scoreboard don’t lie

I’ve said all I have to say about the Michigan Mess. The investigation is a joke. Everything about this is a joke. Allow headsets, sign-stealing problem solved. Move the (bleep) on. Seriously, this is the stupidest NCAA investigation since Kelvin Sampson was texting recruits.

The NCAA’s play here is obvious: It wants Jim Harbaugh. The NCAA can’t touch Harbaugh this season, so it helped the B1G step in and overstep its boundaries, all because Ohio State was mad at Michigan. The perfectly executed witch hunt.

I don’t root for teams. I root for stories … and Michigan running the table and beating the hell out of Ohio State without Harbaugh would be the best story.

Until then, Michigan’s manhandling of Penn State in Happy Valley will have to suffice.

Harbaugh watched from the team hotel Saturday — frankly, I would have sneaked in, disguised as a Penn State QB, because nobody has seen one of those in decades.

What did he see? Motivated Michigan beat Penn State worse at Penn State than Ohio State beat Penn State in Columbus.

Keep whining as Michigan just keeps winning.

8. Danny Kanell … PI

Kanell’s tweet reminded me of the scene from My Cousin Vinny, where Vinny sarcastically thanks the lovely and talented Mona Lisa Vito for finding the evidence that cracked the case wide open.

Nice work, Danny.

7. Pac-12, you have nobody to blame but yourself …

On paper, the most entertaining game of the week figured to be USC at Oregon. A high-scoring battle between 2 of the best QBs in America, both Heisman hopefuls, both projected top-10 draft picks.

Was it?

Heck if I know. They kicked it off at 10:30 pm, typically the time I’m putting the finishing touches on Overreactions.

That’s the problem. It doesn’t matter what Bo Nix did at 1:30 am if nobody saw it.

Forget Playoff implications. The Playoff committee watched the game or will rewatch the game. (In theory, anyway. I wonder with the continued disrespect they’ve shown Oregon.)

Heisman voters? There’s a better chance the NCAA gives Michigan the death penalty for alleged sign-stealing than East of Colorado Heisman voters staying up to watch #Pac12AfterDark.

That’s a shame, too. I just checked the box score (4 TDs, 414 yards) and assume that Nix must have played pretty well.

The Big Ten doesn’t do much right, but they do Big Noon right. Every week, they play their biggest game at a time when everybody in the country can see it.

6. Let’s talk Alabama vs. Texas for the final Playoff spot …

First, the only way we get to this point on Selection Sunday is if Texas wins the Big 12 championship to finish 12-1 and Alabama knocks off undefeated Georgia to win the SEC championship and finish 12-1.

But if that happens, there is precedent for Alabama to somehow overcome a double-digit home loss and grab a Playoff spot. But in another sense, jumping Texas also would be historic.

Let’s dig in …

Five teams, in fact, have lost a home game and gone on to make the Playoff that year:

  • 2022: Ohio State lost at home to Michigan by 22.
  • 2014: Ohio State lost at home to Virginia Tech by 14
  • 2014: Oregon lost at home to Arizona by 7
  • 2017: Oklahoma lost at home to Iowa State by 7
  • 2015: Alabama lost at home to Ole Miss by 6

Three things jump out:

1. Only twice has a team lost a home game by double-digits and still made the Playoff. Both times, it was Ohio State. (Re: Brands matter.)

2. Alabama already is 1 of those 5 Playoff teams that lost a home game. (Re: Brands matter.)

3. Two of those 5 teams went on to win the national championship (2014 Ohio State, 2015 Alabama), and 2022 Ohio State pushed Georgia to the absolute brink in last year’s Playoff semifinal. (Re: Eye-test matters.)

What will be most interesting this year is that in none of those 5 cases did a team steal a Playoff spot from the team that beat them at home. That’s what Alabama would be trying to do.

But there is precedent for a head-to-head matchup to not matter as much as most believe it should.

Again, it involves Ohio State.

In 2016, Ohio State lost to Penn State by 3 in Happy Valley and finished 11-1. Penn State won the East Division and went on to win the Big Ten championship.

Simple, right? Hardly. Penn State started that year 2-2 (including a 39-point blowout loss at Michigan) before running the table.

The committee obviously believed Penn State’s 2 losses were worse than its head-to-head victory over Ohio State and subsequent 9-game winning streak. They had the Buckeyes firmly in the Playoff spot by the 3rd set of rankings … with Penn State teetering at the back end of the top 10.

It’s important to remember that the Playoff selection committee changes members every year.

Will this one excuse a 10-point home loss? Previous committees have.

Will this one excuse a head-to-head loss? The 2016 committee did.

Will this committee be the first to excuse a 10-point, head-to-head, home loss?

It’s impossible to justify with anything other than the old-fashioned, infallible eye test … but Alabama would win the rematch.

5. 5 most overrated teams in 2023

They started in the Top 25 … but won’t finish there.

USC: The Trojans opened at No. 6 with all the same defensive questions that sabotaged 2022 — and somehow have played even worse. They’re 7-4 after losing to Oregon on Saturday night. At least they held the Ducks under 40. Progress.

Clemson: The Tigers opened at No. 9 and were so bad in a Week 1 loss to Duke that they plummeted to No. 25. They haven’t been ranked since then, either.

TCU: Sure, they reached the national championship game last year, but did anybody really think they could back that up? The Horned Frogs started at No. 17 and will be lucky to make a bowl.

Wisconsin: The Badgers opened at No. 19 and … have lost 4 of 5. Now? They have to beat Nebraska or Minnesota just to make a bowl.

Iowa: The Hawkeyes opened at No. 25 — and have failed to score 25 points in 8 of their 10 games. How bad is the Big Ten West? The impotent Hawkeyes are a near-lock to win the division.

4. The 4 Playoff teams are …

1. Michigan, 2. Alabama, 3. Georgia, 4. Oregon

No, I do not give a damn how badly Ohio State beat Michigan State. The B1G champion is going to the Playoff — and only the B1G champion — and that will be Michigan.

Yes, I realize Texas beat Alabama in Week 2. We’re a long way from that, and Jalen Milroe is playing like a Heisman finalist instead of a QB on training wheels. No, I don’t think Georgia can get in the Playoff without beating Alabama in the SEC championship. As great as Georgia looked in crushing Ole Miss on Saturday — and it was the most epic beatdown of the season — I still believe Alabama beats the Dawgs in the SEC title game. That will open a spot — even though I firmly believe the Dawgs are good enough to win it all. (Ah, God bless the 4-team Playoff. Won’t miss you a bit when you expand to 12 and 4 SEC teams comprise the first Final Four.)

The way FSU continues to play down to its competition, I think the most legitimate argument is 13-0 ACC champ FSU vs. 12-1 Big 12 champ Texas vs. 12-1 SEC runner-up Georgia for the No. 4 seed.

Georgia is better than both … but, politics.

3. Sadly, I don’t think this is an overreaction …

Last week I wondered whether Sam Pittman had somehow saved his job after beating Florida.

This week? I’m back to wondering how he’ll spend the next 5 years: On his lake, in the booth, or on another sideline coaching offensive linemen?

Saturday’s 48-10 home loss to Auburn sealed his fate at Arkansas. The Hogs are 0-3 in SEC home games this season, with Mizzou on deck to close the season, and, in theory, his tenure.

2. GATOR/SMASH = …

Dang, somebody forwarded that play to about half of Florida’s schedule — and definitely LSU.

Jayden Daniels must have run “Gator/Smash” about 37 times Saturday night.

Now, if only somebody could send cheat sheets to help out Tennessee, Arkansas and Vandy’s defense.

1. Add Jayden Daniels to list of ‘Best who didn’t win the Heisman’

Deshaun Watson leads that list — sorry, Peyton, but DW4 actually won a national title and got to another title game.

I loved our guy Connor O’Gara’s idea to give a retroactive Heisman Trophy to a player of the decade who didn’t win. (Peyton, here is your Heisman for the 1990s.)

Watson clearly would have won that award for the 2010s.

Jayden Daniels isn’t going to win the Heisman this year, but that’s only because his team didn’t win enough.

Daniels had his most recent Heisman moment Saturday, when he outran the entire state of Florida for an 85-yard TD. He finished with 372 yards passing, 234 yards rushing. He threw 3 TD passes and ran for 2 more. He had me seriously wondering whether anybody in this sport’s history had ever had a 300/300 night.

He’s the best player in America.

Whoever wins the Heisman will be among the best, playing for a better team.