It's Tuesday in November, which means the Playoff Committee and its buzzwords are back in our lives. Everyone will say they don't care about it, but then Eric's post will log over 200 comments in two hours. (Somebody's lying.)
ICYMI:
- Urban Meyer: J.T. Barrett is the best quarterback for Ohio State's stretch run.
- News and video from Urban Meyer's Monday presser.
- Film Study: Breaking down Vonn Bell's pick-6.
- Former Illini coach Tim Beckman went from bad coach to bad human.
- The man who hired the disgraced Tim Beckman was fired.
AS ODDSMAKERS SEE IT. Ohio State, by and large, jogged its way to a 9-0 record. The Buckeyes, however, are 3-6 vs. spread.
Where does the line stand in regards to Ohio State's trip to Illinois, the school with an interim chancellor, athletic director and football coach? The 5-4 Illini are coming off a big win at Purdue's boisterous Ross-Ade Stadium.
Despite the hot streak, Illinois will be big underdogs on its own turf.
Via OddShark.com:
Point spread: The Buckeyes opened as 16-point favorites, according tosportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark. (Line updates and matchup report)
College football pick, via Odds Shark computer: 41.1-23.9 Buckeyes
[...]
Smart pick: Ohio State has won the last three meetings in this series by an average score of 56-24. Also, the Illini are ripe for a letdown after last week's big road victory. Back the Buckeyes here, the better team playing on the road, where the spread is a little more amenable.
With Ohio State's defense balling like it is, Ohio State's offense could look clunky and the Buckeyes could cover.
The over/under is at 54.5. That will be an 11 a.m. kickoff locally, and there are people who claim you can pay a mortgage by betting the under on college noon games. Plus, Illinois at home always seems to be more annoying than somebody who brings a list into a Chipotle-styled restaurant. The under seems like easy money.
In other odds news: Ohio State is currently a 12.5-point favorite over Michigan State and a 5.5-point favorite over Michigan. (If only Warren G. Harding were alive to parlay those last three wagers.)
And Bama, which corralled Leonard Fournette without really stacking the box, is now the co-betting favorite with Ohio State to win the title.
| TEAM | 11/2 ODDS | 11/9 ODDS |
|---|---|---|
| OHIO STATE | 5/2 | 5/2 |
| ALABAMA | 5/1 | 5/2 |
| CLEMSON | 13/2 | 9/2 |
| BAYLOR | 7/1 | 16/1 |
| FLORIDA | 50/1 | 16/1 |
| NOTRE DAME | 20/1 | 1/6 |
| STANFORD | 10/1 | 16/1 |
| OKLAHOMA | 20/1 | 20/1 |
| OKLAHOMA STATE | 25/1 | 20/1 |
That Bama is so hot right now. Baylor, however, isn't.
From CampusRush.com:
"They haven't played anyone," says the veteran Big 12 assistant coach. "I don't know if they're as good as they were last year. Their secondary is very average. Their field corner (Ryan Reid) is very average, their safeties are not great in space and their linebackers are very average. I'm not trying to say they are bad, but against a Top 5-tier team, that's where they'll struggle."
Corey Coleman is a monster, but it's a lot harder to lean on a wide receiver than it is a running back or quarterback. Like Bovada, I think Baylor "fake good." (Credit to an 11W commenter for dubbing [and correctly diagnosing] Texas Christian as "fake good" last week.)
My predicted playoff field (in no order): Ohio State, Alabama, Clemson, and the winner of the Oklahoma/Oklahoma State game.
As for the little statue trophy:
| PLAYER | POSITION | SCHOOL | 11/2 ODDS | 11/9 ODDS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DERRICK HENRY | RB | ALABAMA | 14/1 | 3/2 |
| LEONARD FOURNETTE | RB | LOUISIANA STATE | 4/9 | 2/1 |
| EZEKIEL ELLIOTT | RB | OHIO STATE | 8/1 | 7/1 |
| COREY COLEMAN | WR | BAYLOR | 40/1 | 8/1 |
| DESHAUN WATSON | QB | CLEMSON | 9/1 | 8/1 |
Unless Fournette goes on a historical tear, voters will hold that Bama game against him. I think it's down to Ezekiel Elliott and Derrick Henry.
Ezekiel Elliott's father, by the way, has a question:
#Heisman is given out before post season preformance! Why doesn't post season performance count towards the #Heisman the following year?
— Ambassador Elliott (@stacy_elliott) November 8, 2015
Folks, I think I know where the Ambassador would vote if he could.
RAEKWON ROASTS A MARSHMALLOW. We believe in deep dive investigations here at the Skull Session. When my intern, Gary, told me Raekwon McMillan hadn't roasted a marshmallow until 2015, I didn't believe him.
Surely kids weren't going without basic rites of passages like roasting a marshmallow and eating a s'more? Sadly, it appears we've failed as a society.
Here's a clip from the upcoming BTN Journey (Wednesday, 10:30 p.m.):
"Take a video - send it to his mom." We got this - OSU LB eats his first S'more. Watch @BTNJourney Wed @ 10:30p ET. https://t.co/05lcgg9V9Q
— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) November 9, 2015
Fickell's coaching is the Ohio State difference.
I'd also like to "confess" I've never eaten Red Lobster. The only time you'll find me in a Red Lobster is if I'm committing an arson or my family held my wake there as a final troll before laying my rickety corpse to rest.
ONLY 18 MORE SUNRISES TO GO. Sometimes readers chide me for looking ahead on Ohio State's schedule, but I'm not going to lie: I'd hit the simulate button within a second if it meant Ohio State played Michigan tomorrow.
Illinois is boring, and Michigan State was never as good as most B1G fans thought.
We knew The Game, after about a decade of hibernation, was back. But now there's a real chance Michigan could be playing for a Big Ten East title:
From SBNation.com:
Had Michigan State not lost to Nebraska, Michigan wouldn't be able to claim the division just by winning out. A Sparty loss to the Buckeyes would make just one league loss - same as Michigan - with MSU holding the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Michigan and Ohio State are not the best of friends in any year, but this year, they could both have everything on the line: a conference championship berth for either, and an almost certain shot at the College Football Playoff for the Buckeyes. Even Michigan, with wins over undefeated Ohio State and potentially an undefeated Iowa, would have a non-zero chance at the Playoff.
This year's Buckeyes-Wolverines clash is extra juicy from a pure football standpoint, too.
Jim Harbaugh, in his first year, winning a Big Ten East title and derailing Urban Meyer's undefeated season would send Columbus into nuclear winter. Skull Sessions would be written from a monastery in Bangladesh.
Thankfully, Urban Meyer coaches Ohio State.
Meyer's teams thrive on juice. Michigan State will still be a big game, but Ohio State is more talented and that game is in Columbus. There will be more juice to The Game, and that's where we'll begin to see the final form of the 2015 team. Given the ascension of J.T. Barrett's game, Ohio State is going to be a tough riddle to crack for any team.
FAIR PLAY TO FOURNETTE. The NCAA tried its best to be awful when LSU RB Leonard Fournette asked to auction his game-worn jersey for South Carolinian flood relief.
Cooler heads prevailed, and now a cool $101,000 is going to disaster victims.
See, what happens when you don't turn a win-win into an obtuse L, NCAA? (Why am I giving advice to the NCAA again? Let's move on.)
WE MISS YOU OLD FRIEND. Legendary Ohioan Brady Hoke is gone from Michigan, but it's a pet project of mine to make sure he's never forgotten.
Seriously, this man competed directly with Urban Meyer:
De'Veon Smith remembering Brady Hoke's recruiting trip to his house. He loved Hoke. "He came over and fell asleep on my couch."
— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) November 10, 2015
Sure, Brady Hoke played Urban Meyer about as tough as anyone in the Big Ten, but the idea of Urban Meyer taking a nap during a recruiting visit is more comical than the reality of Hoke succumbing to the Itis.
These tactics may have won De'Veon Smith, but it helps understand why Urban Meyer is winning championships and Brady Hoke is taking potshots at his former employer from a SiriusXM booth.
THOSE WMDs. Join the 11W Movember team... Stabbed hero dies after more than 20 people stroll by him... Abandon New York City... Man circles Statue of Liberty in a jetpack... Powerful new technology allows us to manipulate DNA like never before... Living and dying on Airbnb.
