College Football Playoff 2017: New Year’s Six projections entering Week 11
Teams are starting to fall off and the New Year’s Six and College Football Playoff races are taking shape. Here’s what the field projects to be entering Week 11.
It’s November, things are going to weird and just from the first College Football Playoff rankings. Ohio State, Penn State and Oklahoma State played their way out of playoff spots while Miami Washington and TCU may have played their way back in.
This week we have six matchups involving playoff and/or New Year’s Six projected teams so lord knows what carnage of Week 11 will bring. Before that, let’s see what Week 10 did to our latest projections.
Cotton Bowl Classic
Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic: Michigan State (At-large) vs. Oklahoma (at-large)
Where: AT&T Stadium (Dallas, Texas)
When: Dec. 29 at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
Last week’s projection: Central Florida vs. TCU
As most of the bowls this week, we’re going to see a lot of movement with teams moving in and moving out of different spots. We start with the Cotton Bowl as Oklahoma faces Michigan State, a projection that not many people had or would’ve placed into this bowl at this point in the season.
Michigan State’s win over Penn State places them in the Big Ten eastern division lead as they travel to Columbus for a showdown with the Buckeyes on Saturday. Right now, the Spartans control their destiny in the east so a win and they inch ever closer to playing for a conference title at the start of December.
The Oklahoma Sooners have one loss on the season so every game is a playoff game for them. After beating the Oklahoma State Cowboys last Saturday, the Sooners have another elimination game against a Big 12 foe and this week’s opponent is the TCU Horned Frogs in Norman. Not only do you have two NY6 spots that could possibly change but a TCU throws the Horned Frogs into the spot next week. This is going to be a weird week you guys.
Week 11 outlook: It’s pretty simple for these two teams, you win and you remain in the hunt for a NY6 bowl and even a playoff spot if you’re Oklahoma. It’s clear that the Sooners have the most to lose this weekend but Michigan State also has a lot to play for as well. A win by the Spartans puts them in position to get an at-large spot in a NY6 bowl but a loss will knock them out of the NY6 hunt for good.