Outside of a couple of games on Thursday night, college football is officially over in October. There are just a handful of weeks left in the regular season, so let’s check out some of the top headlines as we head into November.
Swap Meet
Alabama and LSU are a little more than 10 days away from playing one another as the No. 1 and 2 teams in the country. However, for once, it looks like it will be LSU at No. 1 and Alabama at No. 2. The Tigers have jumped over the Crimson Tide in the latest poll following their win over Auburn, giving them three wins over teams ranked in the top 10 at the time.
Of course, by the time they meet, the College Football Playoff committee will have released its first rankings of the season. LSU figures to be a lock for the top spot given its resume, although the committee could conceivably place Ohio State, Penn State, or even Clemson ahead of Alabama based on strength of schedule.
Talking About Practice
Speaking of Alabama, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is expected to return to practice on Wednesday after suffering a high-ankle sprain during the Crimson Tide’s win over Tennessee 10 days ago. Alabama was fine without him in its blowout of Arkansas over the weekend, but it will surely want him to play against LSU.
Despite Tagovailoa being ready to practice, coach Nick Saban is trying to manage expectations, saying: “We’re not making any predictions.” Saban says that Tagovailoa will be evaluated on his performance and mobility in practice ahead of the LSU game to determine if he’ll be able to play. Of course, when that decision will be made remains to be seen.
On the West Coast
While the SEC and Big Ten are getting most of the attention nationally, we can’t overlook the situation in the Pac-12 and the possibility that a West Coast team could crash the CFP. With No. 7 Oregon and No. 9 Utah, the Pac-12 has two top-10 teams that both have just one loss. If both teams finish the regular season with one loss and then meet in the Pac-12 Championship Game, the winner will have a strong argument for a top-four spot.
The caveat is that Utah needs to win out and have USC lose another league game to win the Pac-12 South. Coincidentally, USC hosts Oregon this week, so the Ducks could help Utah in setting up a conference title game against the Utes.
Enough Is Enough
Elsewhere in the Pac-12, Arizona made a change on its coaching staff following Saturday’s loss to Stanford, firing defensive coordinator Marcel Yates. Chuck Cecil, who had been working as a defensive analyst for the Wildcats, has been named the new defensive coordinator.
The Wildcats have been dreadful on defense all season, giving up 45 points to Hawaii in their season opener and 41 points to FCS foe Northern Arizona the following week. Things have gotten worse during the team’s current three-game losing streak, giving up 51 points to Washington and 41 points each to both USC and Stanford.
The good news is that Arizona only needs two wins from its final four games to reach a bowl game. The bad news is two of its games are against Oregon and Utah, leaving little margin for error.
