Unlike the past two weeks that saw a couple of wild results in the NCAA Football odds and a couple of key changes in the 2015-16 College Football Playoff race, Week 9 proved to be a favorable one for most top-ranked teams, with the majority of them winning games and a couple other resting it out in their respective byes. As a result, the top echelon of the rankings remained largely unchanged. Here-below is a sweeping look how things stand in regards to the online sports betting odds to reach this year’s college football playoff, as the Playoff selection committee prepares its first rankings this week.
Lets Review the College Football Playoff Odds Watch Entering Week 10
College Football Playoff Top 5: Ohio State, Baylor, Clemson, LSU and TCU
Despite the suspension of QB J.T. Barrett for this week’s game against Minnesota after being cited for drunk driving over the weekend, the Buckeyes (who were on a bye in Week 9) maintain their position atop the national rankings. The suspension will, however, not be a big issue, as QB Cardale Jones (or even WR/QB Braxton) are be good enough to take care of business against the Gophers at home.
The Baylor Bears, who also had a bye in Week 9, remain strongly rooted atop the rankings as the second-best team in the country. Thursday’s trip to Kansas State could change things, as QB Seth Russell is out of the year, meaning backup QB Jarrett Stidham will make his first start as a Bear. In relief duty, he has looked solid, going 24-of-28 for 331 yards and 6 TDs with zero interceptions, but it remains to be seen if he will be able to handle the road pressure against a talented K-State team.
At No. 3, the Clemson Tigers continued to solidify their case as the best team in the ACC, outlasting NC State in a thrilling 56-41 win on Saturday. Unfortunately for them, their schedule is not going to get easier, starting with a home date against the No. 17 Florida State Seminoles this weekend. Can Deshaun Watson and Tigers survive the onslaught? Be sure to check with us in the NCAAF betting section for a comprehensive analysis of that game.
The LSU Tigers, at No. 4, had the week off, preparing for the biggest game of the year, their Week 10 showdown against the Alabama Crimson Tide, who also had a bye. By the end of the week, we will be able to confirm whether or not the Tigers are worth their salt up the rankings, depending on how their game against Tide goes.
At No. 5, though with a résumé that deserves a top four ranking, we have the Horned Frogs, who are coming off a big win over the West Virginia Mountaineers. TCU Quarterback and Heisman favorite Trevone Boykin was the star of the show AGAIN, as he totaled 472 yards of offense (388 passing) and four touchdowns to condemn the Mountaineers to a 40-10 home loss.
So good was Boykin that, at some point in the game after making an impressive scramble, Mountaineers coach Dana Holgorsen gave him a high five. Boykin and the Frogs have their biggest test of the season so far, the first of a tough Big 10 run in the course of this month, when they take on the undefeated 12th-ranked Oklahoma State at the Boone Pickens Stadium in Oklahoma this week. If they can win that game, no doubt TCU will climb into the top-4 of the rankings.
Which Teams Are The Best of the Rest?
Michigan State Spartans
Despite beating the Michigan Wolverines in spectacular fashion a couple of weeks back, the unbeaten Spartans haven’t been getting much love in the 2015-16 college football playoff odds, mainly because they are in the same division and conference with the defending champs, Ohio State. A tricky, but manageable, test against Nebraska awaits them this week after they were on a Week 9 bye. On paper, the Spartans should be good for the win here. But then again, they Spartans have been playing too many close results, so it would not be a big surprise if Nebraska ruined their unbeaten this week.
Alabama
Coming off a Week 9 bye, which was preceded by a non-convincing win over the Tennessee Volunteers, the Crimson Tide are well-aware that a loss to LSU would totally end their playoff hopes. Having stopped star running back Nick Chubb and the Georgia Bulldogs (ON THE ROAD) a couple of weeks back, there is hope that coach Nick Saban and the Tide may be able to run-stuff Heisman front-runner RB Leonard Fournette and the Tigers at home. Still, going by the way Fournette has gone beast mode on every team he’s faced so far, I would be wary of placing my bet on that.
Stanford
Thanks to the missed 43-yard field goal attempt by Washington’s Erik Powell, which was coincidentally his only miss of 6 attempts on the day, the Cardinal survived an upset scare last week, eking out a narrow 30-28 win over the Cougars. Given that Stanford is unbeaten in Pac-12 play (though with one non-conference loss against Northwestern at the start of the season), it wouldn’t be far-fetched to see the Cardinal climb up this playoff ladder over the next couple of weeks. That will, however, greatly depend on their ability to see out the regular season with a flawless Pac-12 mark by overcoming their remaining fixtures, including Oregon, California and the eighth-ranked Notre Dame (7-1).
