Tag: playoff

Notre Dame’s strength of wins trail only one program in 2021

Should Notre Dame be ranked higher than ninth in the CFP rankings?

Has Notre Dame actually beaten any good teams?

That seems to be the question and the reasoning behind the Irish checking in ninth in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, as they don’t have a marquee win to their name.

They do however have wins over No. 18 Wisconsin and No. 19 Purdue, which combines to be more wins over currently ranked opponents than plenty of teams currently ranked ahead of the Irish can say.

Wisconsin and Purdue each have six wins over FBS teams this year while Notre Dame teams Notre Dame has beaten have combined to win 32 games over FBS opponents.  According to Phil Steele that’s the second-most such victories nationally this year.

The good with this for Notre Dame’s case is the obvious, that literally only top-ranked Georgia can claim to have done what the Irish have done in this specific regard.  The issue however would likely be going forward where Notre Dame plays Virginia (5), Georgia Tech (2), and Stanford (3) who would currently combine to give the Irish just 10 additional victories in the strength of wins department.

Whatever the case, at least next time a friend of yours bashes Notre Dame’s schedule and claims the Irish haven’t beaten anyone, you can come back with this.

Related:

Notre Dame-Virginia: Staff Predictions

Detailing Notre Dame’s map to a CFP appearance

ESPN FPI projects Notre Dame’s final three games of 2021

Notre Dame-Virginia: Seven prop bets for Saturday night

Projecting this week’s College Football Playoff Rankings

Who will see the biggest jump and biggest falls in this week’s CFP rankings?

10 weeks of college football have come and gone in 2021 and although plenty of the preseason favorites have played at or close enough to their preseason expectations to be in the thick of the race (looking at you Georgia, Alabama, Oregon, and Ohio State) for the College Football Playoff, several have not (what’s up Clemson, Florida, Iowa State, and plenty of others?)

What will the second week of the College Football Playoff rankings look like after eight ranked teams fell this past weekend?

Kirk Herbstreit shared his new top-six on Sunday and despite ESPN’s College Gameday being at Cincinnati this past weekend for their homecoming game, Herbstreit dropped them from his top-six after he ranked them fifth a week ago.

That’s only one man’s opinion but it seems like Cincinnati was one of the biggest losers of the weekend despite being victorious.  With all of that in mind here is my best guess at what the next set of rankings will look like when they’re revealed on Tuesday night:

 

Kirk Herbstreit’s updated top six after Michigan State upset

Is he missing a certain unbeaten or no?

Kirk Herbstreit weighed in Sunday with his new top-six teams in college football.  He posted these following a day that saw previously No. 3 Michigan State fall at Purdue which one just one of eight ranked teams to fall this week.

How much did Herbstreit’s rankings change after the upset of Michigan State?

And is there an unbeaten team he’s forgetting?

Here are his latest top-six:

Notre Dame-Navy: Five plays that loomed large

Notre Dame-Navy: 5 stars – best and worst of Irish victory

Watch: Another week, another incredible Kyren Williams touchdown

Watch: ND freshman Logan Diggs finds endzone to cap win vs. Navy

Outlining Notre Dame’s unlikely CFP path

Notre Dame fans should be singing ‘Jump Around’ from now through the first weekend of December

Chances are probably pretty strong that if you’re a Notre Dame fan that you haven’t paid a lot of attention to the happenings of Wisconsin since the Irish took down the Badgers in late-September.  Notre Dame fans need to be singing “Jump Around” for the next month, however, and FiveThirtyEight’s College Football Playoff (CFP) projection shares why.

How can Notre Dame go from 10th in the initial CFP rankings to the actual CFP?

College Football Playoff Rankings Predictions

Three questions: Who will be 2-4 tonight? Where does Cincinnati come in? And where does Notre Dame check in?

The first set of College Football Playoff rankings comes out tonight and the college football world will be keeping an eye on what they say.  Although I have no inside information as to what has been said by the committee leading up to this, I do have history and common sense to form an educated guess as to how these will look tonight.

With that in mind here is my guess at what the first set of College Football Playoff Rankings look like this evening.  I’m doing these as how I think the committee will think, not how I would actually rank the teams and I want to make that clear.

CBS Sports makes CFP projections after Alabama loss

CFP projections — see who CBS Sports has Georgia playing in the semifinal

Following Alabama’s upset loss to the Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday, America has a new, unquestioned No. 1 team.

The Georgia Bulldogs are 6-0, have beaten back-to-back ranked programs by a combined score of 71-10 and have another ranked meeting this weekend with the Kentucky Wildcats.

Then-ranked No. 4 Penn State fell to Iowa Hawkeyes last weekend. Alabama’s loss allowed Iowa to move up to No. 2 in the nation. Oklahoma and Cincinnati, though neither had terribly impressive victories, climbed one spot as well to No. 3 and 4.

The College Football Playoff rankings are not officially released until November 2, but we are starting to get a pretty clear picture of how things should look when the initial rankings are revealed.

CBS Sports released its bowl projections following a crazy Week 6 and the outlet has the Bulldogs ranked No. 1, meaning it will take on the No. 4 team in the playoff semifinal from the Orange Bowl.

Here’s how CBS Sports projects the playoff to look…

ORANGE BOWL – College Football Playoff semifinal – December 31 – #1 vs #4 

No. 1 Georgia vs No. 4 Cincinnati

This would be a dream scenario for Georgia. Nothing against Cincinnati, but talk about a free ride to the national championship game.

COTTON BOWL – College Football Playoff semifinal – December 31 – #2 vs #3

No. 2 Iowa vs No. 3 Oklahoma

This one would be interesting. Oklahoma has not looked worthy all season of its high ranking, yet the Sooners still have a 0 in the loss column. Iowa has looked good, but has never been here before.

Either way, I don’t see any of these teams being able to hang with Georgia.

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An AP writer sees an all-time great 2021 season for the Wisconsin Badgers

An AP writer sees an all-time great 2021 season for the Wisconsin Badgers

Associated Press writer Ralph Russo recently predicted the outcome of every FBS conference and explained who would make the College Football Playoff in that scenario.

Russo is one of the only national writers to come to a conclusion that Badger fans should like: Wisconsin finally defeating Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship game.

Here’s what he had to say about the matchup:

“Wisconsin over Ohio State. The Buckeyes have yet to lose a Big Ten game under third-year coach Ryan Day. Has to happen at some point, right? A more explosive Badgers’ offense with QB Graham Mertz breaks the Ohio State grip on the Big Ten after four straight titles.”

Russo’s CFB, then, includes No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 4 Wisconsin and No. 2 Clemson vs. No. 3 Oklahoma.

It’s safe to say that scenario is one Badger fans would get behind.

Contact/Follow us @TheBadgersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin news, notes, opinion and analysis.

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Saints allowed fewest yards, first downs, and points in team playoff history vs. Bears

The New Orleans Saints defense allowed the fewest total yards, first downs, and points scored in team playoff history to the Chicago Bears.

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What a day it was for the New Orleans Saints defense. They yielded the fewest total yards (239), first downs (11), and points (9) in the team’s playoff history during their Wild-Card Round win over the Chicago Bears, setting a high bar for themselves in the postseason tournament.

Their previous-bests included 250 total yards and 14 points allowed to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2019, and just 14 first downs to the Seattle Seahawks in 2014. The Saints offense came through with a win over the Eagles that year, while the Seahawks managed to stay ahead.

Several standout performances paved the way for New Orleans against Chicago, like a team-leading 8 combined tackles (6 solo) from safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson and several quarterback pressures by defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, whose third quarter sack of Mitchell Trubisky pushed the Bears out of field goal range while down 7-3.

But consistency is key for the Saints defense, and they proved that again by squashing the Chicago run game and forcing Trubisky into more pass attempts than Bears fans are probably comfortable watching. Let’s see if they can keep up the pressure next week with Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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NFL Playoffs: How to watch, wager, and stream Saints vs. Bears

The New Orleans Saints and Chicago Bears are preparing for their playoff game during the Wild-Card Round at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

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It’s another New Orleans Saints game day! The Saints are set to kick off their Wild-Card Round matchup with the Chicago Bears on Sunday afternoon. Here’s how you can tune in to the game on Sunday:

When:

Sunday, Jan. 10 at 3:40 p.m. CT

Where:

Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, La.

Television:

  • CBS: Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, Jay Feely & Tracy Wolfson
  • Nickelodeon: Noah Eagle, Nate Burleson, Gabrielle Nevaeh Green & Lex Lumpkin
  • Amazon Prime: Hannah Storm, Andrea Kremer

Live stream:

fuboTV (try it free)

Radio:

WWL 870 AM and local affiliate stations

Referee:

Alex Kemp

Odds:

Saints by 11 (BetMGM)

Game Preview:

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services.  Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

Washington announces no fans will be allowed at playoff game against Bucs

Washington announced on Monday that there won’t be any fans in attendance on Saturday at the team’s first playoff game since 2015.

It doesn’t come as much surprise, but the Washington Football Team announced on Monday night that they will not be able to allow any fans at Fed Ex Field for the playoff game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday night due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Washington will be hosting a wild-card game, kicking off at 8:15 p.m. ET with a chance to continue their season, but there won’t be any fans in attendance, although it’s the first playoff game Washington will be involved in since 2015.

“Our entire team, especially our players, will miss having our passionate fans in the stadium as we take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,” Washington said in a statement. “We are grateful for all of the support from our community and encourage everyone to stay safe.”

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