Buy or Sell: Are These Surprising Programs True College Football Playoff Contenders? - Sports Illustrated
By Google News Sports ·
’Tis the season for fan angst and hand-wringing over committee decisions in college football. That’s right: November has arrived and that means it’s time for the College Football Playoff committee to get together and begin carving out the CFP rankings on a weekly basis until the final bracket is revealed on Dec. 6.
There are plenty of teams, such as Miami and Georgia, who prognosticators expected to be in the mix. But, in a season filled with chaos and carnage, there are equally as many teams, like UCLA, who many didn’t expect to be very much in the CFP conversation this late in the season.
There are five teams in particular who stick out as surprising CFP contenders. Let’s assess each team’s mettle, resume and remaining path in an attempt to buy or sell their CFP stock.
The Bruins don’t have the strongest résumé—a sloppy, 17–15 win over then-No. 13 Oregon back in October constitutes the program’s biggest win of the year—but they make up for it in two distinct ways. They win and possess one of the nation’s most repeatable formulas for doing so. The 8–0 Bruins, one of three undefeated teams left in the FBS, boast the nation’s 12th-best rushing attack, rank fifth in opponent points per game and are tied for first in the country in total takeaways.
There’s the potential for a Florida State-esque snub here if the Bruins stumble, given that fill-in quarterback Ty Dieffenbach, while effective in his three starts, is largely unproven at the FBS level. But first-year coach Bob Chesney is hellbent on helping his team avoid such a letdown performance, and it’s hard to imagine one coming given the Bruins’ current level of play. Potential wins against Minnesota, who pushed the defending champion Indiana Hoosiers to the brink, and USC, who just defeated Ohio State, would give…
Originally published by Google News Sports