Week 11 wrap up

Another week down and the postseason options are getting a lot clearer across the board.


In a big week, the biggest story was about things off the field.  Unfortunately, Penn State couldn't even find solace in a win this weekend.  At least they still hold the lead in their division.

Meanwhile, Virginia Tech kicked off the weekend with an excellent game against Georgia Tech on Thursday night.  Although, thumbs down to the GT player that decided to punch Logan Thomas.  Just on a personal level, that's horrible, but that moment was the turning point in the game.  GT had the lead and had just forced a three and out for VT.  But that penalty kept the drive alive, and VT went on to get a touchdown.  GT never scored again.

Boise State finally lost!  Thank you to TCU for making the BCS and National Championship discussions so much easier.  And Boise, you might want to consider recruiting a kicker, especially with your QB leaving at the end of the year, and you might have to rely on the kicking game more.  I except Boise to drop to at least 15.

Oregon beating Stanford wasn't as surprising as the final score was, even considering the same thing happened last year.  But now we're one upset away from making the national championship race a lot more interesting and breaking it open to all of those one loss teams in the top ten.  Keep in mind that most of the one-loss teams in the top ten have losses to other top ten teams.

Oklahoma State -- damn!  Every time I turned around, they had scored a touchdown.  They definitely cemented their status as #2, even if Stanford hadn't lost.

On to conference races and bowl eligiblity.  There are still a number of teams that I probably could eliminate from contention, but it would involve quite a few scenarios.  So I'll leave them in as "maybes".  Most of them will probably get knocked out next week either by losing, or the teams above them winning.

ACC
Atlantic
The Wheel of Destiny has stopped spinning in the Atlantic; Clemson has clenched the division.
Bowl eligible:  Clemson, FSU
Needs a win:  Wake Forest
Needs two wins:  NC State (because they scheduled 2 FCS teams)
No bowl:  Maryland, Boston College

Coastal
The divisional race is down to Virginia Tech and UVA, so I guess the Wheel of Destiny here is a coin.
VT can clench with one win, and one UVA loss.
UVA can clench with two wins.
Bowl eligible:  VT, UVA, GT, UNC
Needs a win:  Miami
No bowl:  Duke

SEC
East
Georgia controls their destiny.  One more win, and they clench the division.
South Carolina is still alive, but only if Georgia loses.
Everyone else is out.
Bowl eligible:  Georgia, SC
Needs a win:  Florida, Vanderbilt
One loss away:  Tennessee, Kentucky

West
LSU and Arkansas control their destiny.
Alabama needs a win and two LSU losses.
But things could get interesting if LSU, Arkansas, and Alabama end up tied with 1 loss a piece.  In that scenario, Arkansas would pick up a win against LSU, causing a round robin of victories.  I'm not as well versed in SEC tie-breaking procedures, so I won't get into that right now, especially since it's very hypothetical at this point.
Mississippi, Miss St, and Auburn are out of contention.
Bowl eligible:  LSU, Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas
Needs a win: Mississippi State
No bowl:  Mississippi

Big Ten
Legends
Michigan State controls their destiny, and will clench with a win.
Nebraska and Michigan play each other next week.  The winner of that game will then need to win out and hope for a Michigan State loss.  Nebraska has a better shot, since they beat Michigan State already.  Michigan lost to MS.
Iowa has an outside shot, but it involves a lot of "what if". 
Minnesota and Northwestern are out.
Bowl eligible:  Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska
No bowl:  Minnesota, Northwestern

Leaders
Even with a loss, Penn State still controls their destiny.  But, that PSU loss gives Wisconsin control of their destiny, with only two conference losses and a season ending game against Penn State.  I believe Ohio State might still have a chance.  While they have 3 losses, they have beaten Wisconsin and yet to play Penn State.  Ohio State needs to win out, and needs Wisconsin to lose next week, but win against Penn State.
Based on the number of losses, Purdue appears to still have a chance.  But there's so much that would have to happen, I'm not going to get into it.
Illinois and Indiana are out.
Bowl eligible: Wisconsin, Illinois, Penn State, Ohio State
Needs a win: Purdue
No bowl: Indiana


Pac-12
North
Oregon has control.  They clench with one more win.
Stanford needs Oregon to lose both of its remaining conference games.
The rest of the division is out.
Bowl eligible: Oregon, Stanford, Washington
Needs a win: California
One loss away:  Washington State
No bowl: Oregon State
South
UCLA has taken control of the division.  Two wins, or a win and a Az. State loss would clench it.
Az State can clench with two wins and a UCLA loss.  (UCLA has the head to head tiebreaker.)
Utah needs to win out and get some help.  They already beat UCLA, but lost to Az State.
Bowl eligible:  Arizona State, Utah
Needs a win: UCLA
No bowl:  Arizona, Colorado, USC (banned)

Big 12
Oklahoma State and Oklahoma are still in control.  So, their rivalry game will be the de facto Big 12 championship game.  By the numbers, Kansas State looks like they have a chance, but both of their losses came from the Oklahoma schools.  So, even if they end up in a three way tie with two losses, Kansas State ends up on the bottom.
Bowl eligible: Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Kansas State, Baylor
Needs a win: Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Iowa State, Missouri
No bowl: Kansas

Big East
West Virginia kept hope alive for Syracuse and South Florida by beating Cincy.  Other than that, there's nothing that can be determined in the conference.  There should be at least one team eliminated next week.
Bowl eligible: West Virginia, Cincinnati, Rutgers
Needs a win: Pittsburgh, South Florida, Syracuse, Louisville
Two wins or two losses away:  Connecticut
No bowl: surprisingly, no one's been knocked out of a bowl from this conference.  Then again, that's what happens when you only have 8 teams in the conference.

Onward to week 12!