Teams You Don't Want to See

By Derek Lee

Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle

We have reached week 14 of the college football season. Playoff projections are in full swing. Some teams have essentially punched their ticket already. Others still have work to do, and some need help or even miracles to get in. It’s only appropriate that we begin looking at teams you do or do not want your team to see matched up with when the final bracket drops on December 7th. 

Oklahoma has played a very tough schedule, and they have some big wins including Ohio State, Michigan, Missouri and Tennessee. But they also have some major issues on the offensive side of the football. Mateer is very inconsistent and is turnover prone. One drive he can look like a Heisman candidate, the next drive he is seeing ghosts. Their defense is one of the best in the country, but not invincible. Ole Miss was able to put up 34 points and 431 yards on them in Norman. Granted, Ole Miss is an exceptional offense, and a playoff team. But they are the caliber of playoff team that the Sooners will run into early in the playoff. If your team can force Mateer into a couple reckless plays and take advantage of the short fields that they’ll lead to, you have a good chance getting past the Sooners. 

For some unknown reason the committee loves Notre Dame. Let’s just be honest, it’s brand and recency bias and complete incompetence by the people who determine who makes the playoff. Notre Dame has not played a playoff caliber team since October 18th, and calling USC a playoff caliber team is a stretch. They do not have the experience playing close, meaningful games against elite teams. This could really come back to bite them come playoff time. The 2 playoff teams they have played, Miami and Texas A&M, they’ve lost to. Why would it be any different the next time around?

Texas A&M plays in the SEC, the toughest conference in college football. So naturally, since they’re 11-0 they’ve beaten some of the best teams in college football right? Wrong. Texas A&M has not played a ranked team since the beat Notre Dame (a team already on this list) by 1 in early September. They have played close games and have had to battle back from big deficits, sure. But they haven’t had to do it against elite level teams. They just happened to luck into a schedule where they missed Alabama, Oklahoma, Georgia, Tennessee and Ole Miss. They play Texas this weekend, but it’s not like they’re an elite level team either. We have still yet to see them play, let alone beat, a true national championship contender. Will we ever?

Sure, Oregon’s schedule hasn’t been the toughest. But they also haven’t been healthy all year. Evan Stewart has missed the entire season, but rumors are that he may be good to go come playoff time. WRs Dakorien Moore and Gary Bryant Jr. have missed time as well. They were down to their 4th and 5th tackles against USC and still had no problem moving the ball. If they get back to fully healthy, imagine what this team could look like. Will Stein has been very creative in the running game and Dante Moore continues to look the part. Watch out for the Ducks when December rolls around.

4 weeks ago, Georgia would have been on the other side of this chart. But the Bulldogs have looked just as formidable as years past over the past few weeks. They played with their food a little against Florida, but rivalry games are always hard to judge. Gunner Stockton has thrown for 13 touchdowns over his past 5 games. Georgia is experienced, battle tested and playing very well. Kirby and Co. have been to the playoff and excelled in the playoff. Although this Georgia team is built a bit different than previous years, I expect them to make a run at a national title again this year. 

Ohio State has absolutely mauled teams all season long. But they also have not been seriously tested yet. They will finish the season against Michigan and Indiana which will really show where they are at. But if the results from the first 11 games this season are any indication, Ohio State is the national championship favorite. Julian Sayin is a true Heisman contender and they have a dynamic duo at receiver in Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate (even though they are injured at this moment). They also may have the best defense in the country, they haven’t given up more than 16 points in a game all year. The mix of their dynamic passing attack and shut down defense will make them a tough out this postseason.