Highlights, Lowlights, and Results - Plus the New Playoff Rankings From College Football Week #13

As the season is on approach to the conference finals, all eyes shift to those important qualifying results, and things are confounding. The ACC might be the most clear. SMU has secured its spot, and if Miami wins out, it will face the Mustangs; otherwise, Clemson will be cleared to make the appearance. Elsewhere, it is toss-up central.

The SEC has Texas with one loss, but two-loss Georgia has locked a final berth; who they will play is decided Saturday. Texas has one loss and plays Texas A&M this week, and if they lose, the Aggies make the final. Apart from that, three disregarded programs — Florida, Auburn, and Oklahoma — all had upset wins Saturday, throwing the conference into upheaval as to who else can make the playoffs, with 13 teams in the conference that are bowl-eligible.

Meanwhile, the Big 12 has a true logjam, as a surging and all-but-forgotten Arizona State (picked to be in last place) can make it a four-way tie of two-loss schools in the end, with tie-breakers deciding who goes to the finals.

A few of the upstarts have dropped out of consideration (BYU, Army, and Indiana have come back to Earth), and Colorado is now dependent on a conference win to make the final slate of 12. We are far from settled is the summation from this week.

In its upset of Coach Prime’s Buffaloes, Kansas became the first school to beat three consecutive ranked teams while sporting a losing record.
The Jayhawks played a little too well to the liking of Damon Greaves. Like many teams, Kansas has an Australian footballer as their punter, and Greaves flew his family over from his homeland for Saturday’s game – and they promptly played a full game without ever needing to punt.
Georgia Tech finally finds itself ranked, as the team has gone undefeated at home in a season for the first time in 25 years.
Illinois has had a year of wild finishes. This week, trailing by a point with 14 seconds to play and unable to stop the clock, they seemingly missed on a 58-yard desperation field goal – but Rutgers' head coach called a timeout. This gave the Illini time for a passing play to get closer and spike the ball…except their receiver was cleared and got the winning touchdown with four seconds left.
Miami’s QB Cam Ward set a new school record for passing, breaking Vinny Tesyaverde’s mark in the 1980s.
Two one-time powerhouse schools, Nebraska and Wisconsin, squared off with 5-5 records to play in the “Bowl Eligible Bowl,” with the Cornhuskers punching their ticket.
On their sideline, Ole Miss has had a portable basketball hoop for the defense to celebrate turnovers. After the upset in The Swamp, Florida players plastered a Gators logo on the backboard and dunked on the net with abandon.

SLAM DUNK CONTEST IN GAINESVILLE 😱

(via @talia_baia)pic.twitter.com/7d9xMpvnFi
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) November 23, 2024

Ohio State 38 – Indiana 15

This was set to be the big game of the weekend — when we found out if Indiana was a true contender or a pretender. It looks more like the latter. After an early sign of competitiveness, the Buckeyes took command and just ran over the Hoosiers. Indiana managed just 151 yards of total offense, and almost half of that was on the opening 70-yard drive. Will Howard passed for 20 of 26, for 201 yards and two scores, setting an Ohio State record with his fourth game in a season with over 80 percent in completions.

Auburn 43 – Texas A&M 41

Just when it looks like the Aggies are a true contender, they prove things otherwise. After going down 21-0, they decided to start playing and managed to get to a 3-point lead with four minutes to play, but the Tigers managed a field goal with seconds remaining. It was in the 4th OT — when teams only run a 2-point conversion — that a dropped pass in the end zone sealed the win for Auburn.

Penn State 26 – Minnesota 25

In a game that was closer than expected, the Gophers got a field goal with just under six minutes to play to pull within one point. The Nittany Lions adopted the game plan of not giving the ball back. In the final drive of the game, Penn State converted three fourth-downs, including a fake punt, in order to burn out the clock and seal their 10th win for the third straight year. The win took them to 5-0 on the road for the first time since 1985.

Oklahoma 24 – Alabama 3

The once-dead Sooners have turned things around enough to earn a bowl berth behind a Jackson Arnold performance where he went only 9-11 passing but gobbled up 131 yards running. Alabama finished the first half with under 100 yards, gaining only 15 in the entire 2nd quarter, since Oklahoma held possession for over 11 minutes. The Crimson Tide was held to just three points for the first time since 2011.

Arizona State 28 – BYU 23

The surprising Sun Devils are no longer in mere upset mode but have played their way into contention for the Big 12 title game, building a 9-2 record. Cam Skattebo ran for 147 yards and three touchdowns, while Sam Leavitt had a solid 247 yards and a touchdown behind center. The fans stormed the field and brought down a goal post before the refs reviewed the tape and decided there was one second remaining on the clock, giving the Cougars a chance at a Hail Mary. After clearing the field, fans had to prop up the fallen metal for the final play.

THE PLAYOFF COMMITTEE BRACKET

Automatic Seeds with a Bye