We have reached Week 11 of the 2014 College Football season, with a slightly different looking First Four in the College Football Playoff rankings. Mississippi State, Florida State and Auburn remain at the top, with Oregon replacing Ole Miss at No. 4. Plenty of games this week will impact what the standings look like next, including a few potential elimination games for a few power conferences.
Depending on which conference you value as the best, many people will have differing opinions as to which Week 11 game offers the most in terms of the College Football Playoff rankings. If you favor the SEC, then the biggest game on tap has to be Alabama vs. LSU. The No. 5 Crimson Tide will look to keep their playoff hopes alive against the No. 16 Tigers in Death Valley. A second loss would all but eliminate Alabama from title contention, while LSU is already out of the conversation.
In the Pac-12, No. 4 Oregon will look to keep its title hopes alive when they take on the No. 17 Utah Utes on the road. A win would ensure that the Ducks would not face another ranked opponent until potentially in the conference championship game, and would give them a great chance at remaining in the First Four discussion right through the end of the season.
In the Big 10, while many do not feel that any team will be able to crack the top four, the biggest game of the season takes place on Saturday night. The No. 8 Michigan State Spartans will host the No. 14 Ohio State Buckeyes. The losing team can forget about holding out any hope to reach the four-team playoff, while the winner will still need to win out and get some help from teams facing any squad ahead of them.
In the Big 12, the biggest game is clearly the No. 7 Kansas State Wildcats traveling to take on the No. 6 TCU Horned Frogs. The winner will have a clear path to the championship, while the loser will be out of the picture.
Other games will have conference and bowl implications, but the only other game with playoff implications appears to be a non-conference tilt between the No. 9 Arizona State Sun Devils and No. 10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Both teams will struggle to crack the top four, even for whichever one wins this game. The Irish look to have the more difficult remaining schedule, which would give them an edge, but, without playing in a conference and having the possibility of playing one more huge game in a conference championship contest, the Golden Domers are facing an uphill battle.
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