Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
More chaos at the top
Auburn scrambles the playoff picture with another upset
1 Auburn relishes the role of spoiler: Once again, Auburn has stunned the college football world by beating the No. 1 team in the country. The Tigers knocked off No. 1 Georgia on Nov. 11 and did it again Saturday, beating No. 1 Alabama to earn a spot in the SEC championship game and a rematch with the Bulldogs. The winner is a virtual lock for a spot in the College Football Playoff. 2 Chaotic weekend spells trouble for playoff committee: For the first time since the creation of the playoff in 2013, two teams ranked in the top four lost heading into championship week. That means the selection committee could face one of its most challenging — and controversial — decisions when the final rankings come out on Sunday.
3 Clemson and Oklahoma make cases
for top spot: There will be a new No. 1 when the playoff rankings are released Tuesday night. That’s good news for Clemson and Oklahoma, which dominated their tune-ups before championship week.
4 Miami’s margin of error is razor thin:
Miami had a lot to be thankful for after surviving a handful of close games this season, but the Hurricanes’ luck ran out Friday against Pitt. The loss means the ACC championship game most likely becomes a play-in game for a playoff spot. 5 Ohio State continues to own Michigan: Backup quarterback Dwayne Haskins stepped in for injured J.T. Barrett midway through the third quarter and led an offensive rally. The Buckeyes made it six straight wins over the rival Wolverines, who fell to 1-7 against top-10 teams under coach Jim Harbaugh and 0-3 against the Buckeyes.
6 Pac-12’s playoff hopes have been
put to rest: The Pac-12 has clung to the belief that it still had a chance to earn a playoff spot. But losses by Alabama and Miami coupled with a three-loss Stanford earning a spot in the title game effectively ended those hopes.
7 UCF-USF gave us one of the most entertaining games
of the season: The teams combined for close to 1,200 yards and scored four touchdowns in the final 7:33. It ended with a 95yard kickoff return for a touchdown that gave UCF the 49-42 win. 8 Coaching carousel spins out of control: During the last two weeks, eight FBS coaches were fired and several more jobs are expected to open up. The majority of the coaching vacancies involve jobs in Power Five conferences, including five in the SEC.
9 UCLA just put the Pac-12 on notice:
The Bruins surprised a lot of people when they announced the hiring of Chip Kelly on Saturday morning. The move comes less than a week after the school fired Jim Mora and involved some serious courting to convince the former Oregon coach to pass on Florida.
10 5-7 teams are out of luck:
People who cried foul when a handful of 5-7 teams earned spots in bowl games last season can rest easy thanks to slew of 6-6 teams qualifying for the postseason over the weekend. The 78 bowl spots will be filled with no 5-7 teams in the mix.