College Football Tournament Week 7 - Eyes on the Prize

Week 6 Recap

It was a very good week to be on Bye and watch the excitement as the Tournament field was greatly reduced with victories by top teams and eliminated bottom-feeders alike. We have reached the part of the season where we have to reckon with the possible outcomes ahead – Texas may be all the way back, Notre Dame can cruise to the playoff, etc. However, we will not have to live in a world with an undefeated Kentucky, as Texas A&M survived the elimination opportunity in OT. We found out that perhaps Frog fans should have been happier with the home win against ISU, as the Cyclones went to Stillwater and eliminated Oklahoma State. The MAC and C-USA were officially fully eliminated, as the last hangers-on LA Tech fell to UAB and Akron finally lost a G5 game to Miami Ohio. The other Miami completed a massive comeback against FSU, down 27-7 deep into the 3^rd quarter, to eliminate the Seminoles. The MWC is down to a three-team race as SDSU went to the Smurf Turf and knocked off Boise, leaving Fresno & Utah State as the only remaining competition for the Aztecs. In all, with a reduced slate, Week 6 claimed a staggering 15 victims, leaving under one-third of the field standing into Week 7.

FOW reader picks: Week 6: 2-1; Season: 21-20 (51%)

Week 7

With large elimination counts in the previous weeks and the top teams continuing to speed ahead of the pack, our guaranteed elimination games are dwindling. We are left with just the single matchup in Week 7, but it comes from the mighty SEC, assuring the conference will lose at least one contender. You don’t have to wait for the weekend for the Tournament games this week, as games Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday pose the threat of elimination. Our Frogs are a strong TD favorite over Texas Tech on Thursday night, but given the injuries and history we can expect madness as we try to keep surviving through the Big XII race. The eliminated teams made a big impact last week and get 16 opportunities to play Spoiler in Week 7, but are underdogs by an average of 10.5 points in those games. It’s likely that these Zombies claim a few victims, let’s just hope we fight them off in Fort Worth. This week also features one of the last true hurdles for UCF on their quest for repeat undefeated seasons, as the Knights travel to Memphis. Bye weeks are protecting Stanford, Miss State, Cinci, and Wazzu from facing elimination opportunities this week, giving safe passage into the next round. Who will survive and join them in Week 8?

1. Texas A&M (-2.5) @ South Carolina – South Carolina won an exceedingly weird game to survive and send Mizzou to the brink of elimination, despite there being basically no reason for them to have won that game. The Aggies have been put into its two-loss position by losing to top teams Alabama and Clemson, but now has to go on the road and deal with this odd Gamecocks squad. South Carolina may be without their starting QB and seem to be struggling along, limping to an inevitable average season while Texas A&M has looked impressive in Jimbo Fisher’s debut season, even in defeat. These teams would seem to be headed in opposite directions, but oddsmakers have the Aggies as small favorites, while ESPN FPI leans slightly towards South Carolina.

Where to watch: Saturday 10/13, 2:30 PM, SEC Network