Things are definitely heating up for the playoff race. This past week saw the top 7 teams go unchanged in the College Football Playoff’s third-ranking. This is only the fifth time that this has happened in history and if we look back over the years, it could be a very good indication of who is actually going to make it into the playoffs. Statistically speaking, no team ranked lower than ninth at this point in the season has made the playoffs. In fact, most teams have been ranked in the top six with most of those also being top four teams! One thing we can count on is for the race to heat up and the top seven teams to continue to remind everyone why they are there!
Looking across the NCAAF and we can see a number of teams with a 9-1 record which is amazing. However, there is only a handful of teams that are still sitting undefeated and that is the Cincinnati Bearcats, Georgia Bulldogs and the TSA Roadrunners, all of whom have a 10-0 record. Still being undefeated through 10 weeks is a feat that most teams can only dream of and is definitely something to be proud of. Looking at all the college football odds on who will make the playoffs and well, there are a number of teams looking like they could pull it off.
This past week has also seen the Virginia Tech Hokies needing a new coach. As far as we can see, it was a mutual agreement but Justin Fuente is no longer the Head Coach of the Hokies. Fuente had a 43-31 record at his time at Virginia Tech which was spread out over six seasons. While this isn’t the best record out there for the past six years, you can also guarantee it wasn’t the worst. Fuente also had a few seasons of coaching over at Memphis, including this would give him a career record of 69-54. It is reported his buyout from was worth $8.75 million, which if they would have waited until December 15th would have been around $7.5 million. From what we can gather, the Hokies weren’t 100% happy with Fuente and he simply said, if that is the case then it is time for me to move on. It does not seem like there is any animosity on any side, just adults making what they feel are the best decisions for them and their teams, which is something we can all respect.
Washington is also currently without a coach, but for a much different reason. It seems that Jimmy Lake, who won the Pac-12 North in 2020 has been let go. This comes after he has served a 1-game suspension for putting his hands on a player. Shortly after this, Huskies Athletic Direct Jen Cohen pulled the trigger and that was that. The Huskies coaching job is an amazing opportunity and it seems there may already be a couple of people that could land it. Hopefully, they can find the right coach and find themselves again as they have been struggling with their identity a bit for the past few seasons. Whoever they do decide to go with, hopefully, they can help and turn things around.
A blow to the Texas Longhorns has seen their star Running Back, Bijan Robinson suffer a season-ending injury. The RB finishes his season with 1,227 yards and 15 touchdowns! In his last game against Kansas, he suffered a dislocated elbow in the third quarter. The Longhorns lost in OT 57-56 but one can only imagine that it was the least of their worries tonight. While this loss did see them hit their first 5-game losing streak since 1956, the real blow comes from losing an RB like Robinson. Coming into this game, Robinson was currently the number 8 rusher, even after struggling to put up numbers during the Longhorns losing streak.
Down to Florida and it seems yet another team is having some coaching woes. However, the sources close to the Gators have said that there will be no mid-season firing of their Coach, Dan Mullen. There definitely seems to be a lot of coaching issues these days. Is it something the league needs to look into or is it something that will likely pass in the near future? It’s anyone’s guess really but this could also see some of the best coaches around offered a bit more money to either stay or leave their current teams. While loyalty runs deep with a lot of sports personnel, there is no denying that a nice fat check can have anyone thinking twice about where their loyalties lay. The regular season is quickly coming to an end so it will be interesting to see what happens with the coaching pool in the coming months.
