Gut reactions to College Football Week 11: Huge win for Vandy, Bama is still Bama

Vanderbilt ended a historic losing streak in the SEC and LSU also took a big step towards making sure Alabama isn’t back in the College Football Playoff.

College football is never dull and even though there aren’t as many marquee games on the schedule this week, as we have said before, the sport never disappoints.

Vanderbilt pulled off a shocking upset and LSU got a nice win that every college football fan (not Alabama) can be happy about. The Tide will look to bounce back and tonight, we’ll see TCU tested again by Texas.

With that in mind, here are gut reactions to College Football Week 11.

College Football Week 11 Gut Reactions

Vandy winning is good for the SEC

The most interesting result so far on Saturday was Vanderbilt’s win over Kentucky, which snapped a 26-game losing streak with a 24-21 over 24th-ranked Kentucky.

Vanderbilt is always the joke of the SEC and it’s hard to argue when you go years without winning a league game. But to beat Mark Stoops, Will Levis, and Kentucky in Lexington is a legit win and you have to tip your cap to Clark Lea. Vanderbilt is now 4-6 and has an outside hope of a bowl game.

That’s not likely with Tennessee remaining on the schedule but it’s still incredible progress. Vanderbilt put together a stellar defensive outing, holding Levis without a touchdown, intercepting him once, and keeping him to just 109 yards throwing, although Kentucky got 200 on the ground.

Mike Wright accounted for over 300 total yards and had 126 on the ground in just a massive, massive win for Vanderbilt. It would also be good for the SEC in general if the Commodores could be competitive. It’s never good to have one team that’s miles behind everyone else.

Vanderbilt was close to ending this losing streak two weeks ago and for Commodore fans, this is a sign of progress that can’t be denied. It’s also something to get excited about along with Lea’s recruiting efforts, which make the future actually feel (gulp) bright.

LSU’s win all but ends Alabama’s playoff hopes

The Tigers survived Arkansas by a field goal (13-10). It wasn’t pretty but they won and took a big step toward reaching the SEC championship game. If Alabama beats Ole Miss, that will be it because even in a three-way tie, LSU would get it thanks to wins over both teams.

I know everyone said Alabama was out of the playoff race last week but if LSU lost to Arkansas and A&M and the Tide snuck into the SEC title game against Georgia as a two-loss team, just like LSU, Alabama would probably make it in with a win.

Now, that’s not going to happen. The best Alabama can hope for is a 10-win season and a New Years Six Bowl game.

The Big Ten West is a mess

Illinois looked in the Big Ten West driver’s seat after beating Nebraska and improving to 7-1 two weeks ago. But after losing to Michigan State and Purdue in back-to-back weeks, the Big Ten West is in disarray. Purdue and Illinois are both 4-3. The winner of Wisconsin and Iowa will be 4-3 and Minnesota can also get to 4-3 with a win over Northwestern.

Good luck with the tiebreaker scenarios.

Maybe it’s time for the Big Ten to re-evaluate its divisions too but it’s anyone’s guess how this will play out and there is no balance of power between the Big Ten West and Big Ten East. Keep in mind Illinois is at Michigan next week, so this thing is wide open.

Alabama is still Alabama

The Crimson Tide won’t repeat as SEC champions and they shouldn’t be part of the College Football Playoff although they are still too close to the top four for my taste.

However, the folks saying that Alabama’s run of success is over are being ridiculous. Alabama is a couple of plays away from being undefeated and the pipeline of talent isn’t running dry soon.

Have other programs in the SEC West started to catch up? Yes — Ole Miss, LSU, Arkansas, and even Mississippi State all look competitive. Ole Miss was right there and led by 10 points twice. The Rebels even led by seven in the second half.

But they couldn’t seal the deal and their playoff hopes are officially dead too.

So far so good for College Football Playoff Contenders

Ohio State, Michigan, Tennessee, LSU, and USC all won their games with ease. TCU has a big test at Texas and Georgia is also in action tonight. Oregon also plays Washington is another resume-building opportunity.

We’ll see if there are any games that wind up shaking up the race, but so far in College Football Week 11, outside of Vandy and also NC State going down to Boston College, it’s been mostly chalk.

Purdue also had a key upset but nothing in terms of the playoff chase. We’ll see if that changes tonight.

Oregon is out, TCU is for real

The lessons we learned in the night games of College Football Week 11 were pretty easy to see. TCU clinched a spot in the Big 12 title game with a 17-10 win over Texas and once again proved they are legitimate. TCU is a real contender and people need to quit dismissing them.

On the other hand, Oregon was getting hyped on College Gameday and many thought the Ducks controlled their playoff destiny. Now, they will be lucky to reach the Pac-12 title game and their playoff hopes are done.