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College Football Roundup: Week 14

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I can’t lie. Everybody thought about last year.” —Alabama linebacker Trey DePriest on his team’s victory over conference rival Auburn. Last season, Alabama lost in the last second of the game when Auburn cornerback Chris Davis returned a missed field goal for a touchdown. This season, Alabama won 55-44.

THINGS TO KNOW

Rivalry weekend didn’t disappoint. Underdogs won to snatch conference championship berths away from their biggest rivals, while other teams stepped up and pulled out wins to keep championship hopes alive. With only a handful of regular-season games left and all conference championship games scheduled for next weekend, let’s take a look at how rivalry week shook up the College Football Playoff picture.

• In the Big Ten

No. 6 Ohio State and No. 14 Wisconsin both won this weekend to secure their places in the Big Ten title game next Saturday, but not without some hiccups.

Ohio State, which lost its first-string quarterback to a season-ending shoulder injury earlier this year, lost its second-string quarterback, J.T. Barrett, to a broken ankle on Saturday, which means the leading contender in the Big Ten will now be forced to play with its third-string quarterback in arguably the team’s biggest game of the season. With a loss, Ohio State would be out of the playoff picture for good.

• In the Pac-12

The Pac-12 was where the real chaos ensued this weekend. Although No. 2 Oregon won handily against unranked rival Oregon State, securing Oregon’s spot atop the Pac-12 North, the team least likely to win the Pac-12 South, Arizona, managed to arrive at the top. No. 11 Arizona not only needed a win against No. 13 Arizona State; they also needed No. 8 UCLA to lose against unranked Stanford. The stars aligned for Arizona – they beat Arizona State 42-35 and received the help they needed from Stanford, who beat UCLA 31-10.

• In the SEC

No. 1 Alabama and No. 17 Missouri did what they had to do to earn a spot in the SEC title game – win. Alabama’s 55-44 win against No. 15 Auburn also kept Alabama in the playoff conversation.

In other news, No. 4 Mississippi State lost to No. 19 Ole Miss, giving Mississippi State their second loss of the season and probably ending the team’s chances of competing in the playoff.

GAME SPEAK

• Postseason

“Postseason” refers to all games falling outside the 12-game regular season. All teams schedule 12 games apiece at the beginning of every season, and they qualify for “postseason” games based on their records during those regular-season games. Conference championship games, playoff games, and national championship games are all considered “postseason” games.

Read up: rivalry weekend, head-to-head, overtime, conference championship, take a knee, shut out, strength of schedule, wildcat, tiebreaker, rushing yards, trap game, pick six, cupcake, conference

GAMES TO WATCH

• Arizona (#11) vs. Oregon (#2): FOX, Friday, Dec. 5,  9 p.m. EST

• Alabama (#1) vs. Missouri (#17): CBS, Saturday, Dec. 6, 4 p.m. EST

• Kansas State (#12) at Baylor (#7): ESPN, Saturday, Dec. 6, 7:45 p.m. EST

• Florida State (#3) vs. Georgia Tech (#16): ABC, Saturday, Dec. 6, 8 p.m. EST

• Wisconsin (#14) at Ohio State (#6): FOX, Saturday, Dec. 6,  8:17 p.m. EST

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