Dive into the Heart of Mizzou Athletics

Coming off a disheartening loss on the road to Texas A&M, Mizzou has to drop out of the College Football Playoff picture entering Week 7.

The Missouri Tigers come in at No. 21 in the latest AP Top 25 poll following a 41-10 loss to No. 15 Texas A&M, damaging their College Football Playoff hopes.

While a road loss against a ranked Aggies team shouldn’t derail the season, Mizzou was uncompetitive and delivered a no-show in College Station. Even a close loss would have kept the Tigers among the outside of the bubble.

Elsewhere, it was a chaotic Saturday in Week 6 of the College Football season with Alabama, Tennessee, Michigan, and USC all suffering ranked upset losses — causing some major changes in this latest edition of the “Race for the CFP”.

As for now, Missouri is completely out of the picture with still a lot of football left to be played.

Top Four Seeds (Conference Champions):

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1. Texas (Projected Big 12 Champion): The Longhorns come in as the No. 1 team in the country heading into Saturday’s Red River Rivalry game vs Oklahoma.
2. Ohio State (Projected Big Ten Champion): After a convincing 35-7 win over Iowa, the Buckeyes improved to 5-0 on the season heading into Saturday night’s showdown with Oregon in Eugene.
3. Miami (Projected ACC Champion): Cam Ward and the Canes are playing with fire, but they pulled off a massive comeback on the road against Cal in a 39-38 victory.
4. Iowa State (Projected Big Ten Champion): The Cyclones improved to 5-0 on the season with a 43-21 win over Baylor last week and are on the road at West Virginia on Saturday night.

Top Contenders (Hosting Seeds 5-8)

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5. Georgia: After the loss to Alabama, the Bulldogs bounced back and took care of business in a 31-13 win over Auburn. They host Mississippi State on Saturday before their showdown at Texas on October 19th.

6. Penn State: After a 27-11 win over UCLA, the Nittany Lions are 5-0 for the fourth straight season — the only FBS team to do so in that span. They’re at USC on Saturday against the reeling Trojans.

7. Oregon: The Ducks weren’t looking ahead to Ohio State as they took care of business in a 31-10 win over Michigan State on Friday night.

8. Texas A&M: The Aggies delivered a statement 41-10 win over Missouri on Saturday and have won five in a row after their season-opening loss to Notre Dame. The schedule sets up well for A&M the rest of the way as they get LSU and Texas at home.

Bubble Teams (Last Few IN)

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9. BYU: The Cougars are 5-0 with two ranked wins on their schedule (Kansas State and SMU). With only one ranked team left on their schedule (No. 16 Utah on 11/9), BYU is certainly a contender for the Big 12. Up next: vs Arizona on Saturday.

10. Clemson: Dabo Swinney’s Tigers look like a completely different team after their season-opening loss to Georgia. They have now won four in a row to improve to 3-0 in the ACC and their offense is firing on all cylinders led by Cade Klubnik. Up next: at Wake Forest on Saturday.

11. Alabama: After a statement win over Georgia, the Crimson Tide suffered a stunning loss to lowly Vanderbilt (that being said the Commodores are much improved). Still, Bama had no business losing that game.

The Tide are still on the right side of the bubble as the win over Georgia outweighs the Vanderbilt loss — but their margin for error obviously decreases.

Group of Five Team

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12. Boise State: Ashton Jeanty is HIM. In a 62-30 win over Utah State, Jeanty put up another huge performance to boost his Heisman campaign (13 carries, 186 yards, and 3 TDs). The Broncos are now 4-1 and ranked No. 17 in the latest AP Top 25 poll.

Bubble Teams (Last Few OUT):

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Tennessee: While the road win at Oklahoma is nice, coming off a loss at unranked Arkansas certainly doesn’t help their cause. The Vols now have little room for error the rest of the way — but can make up for it with Alabama and Georgia remaining on their schedule.

Indiana: The Hoosiers (6-0) are the only bowl eligible team in the country after a 41-24 road win over Northwestern under first year head coach Curt Cignetti.

Ole Miss/LSU: Ole Miss and LSU meet up in The Magnolia Bowl in Baton Rouge on Saturday night in Death Valley. The loser is likely eliminated from playoff contention.

Notre Dame: The Irish’s season-opening win over Texas A&M is looking better and better, but their loss to Northern Illinois is still holding them back with a weak schedule.

Dark Horses/Sleepers:

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Pittsburgh: Coming off a 34-24 road win over North Carolina, the Panthers are quietly 5-0 and No. 22 in the country.

SMU: The Mustangs are 5-1 and entered the Top 25 at No. 25 after a 34-27 road win over Louisville.

Nebraska: Dylan Raiola and the Huskers bounced back nicely after their loss to Illinois with back-to-back wins over Purdue and Rutgers, but the schedule gets a whole lot tougher after their bye week. Back-to-back road games at Indiana and Ohio State are looming. A big opportunity waits for Matt Rhule’s squad sitting right outside of the Top 25.

Army and Navy: For the first time since 1945, both teams are off to a 5-0 start to the season. How about that? The Army-Navy game at the end of the regular season could potentially have playoff implications as both are on the cusp of the Top 25.

Here is my projected 12-team playoff entering Week 6 of the season:

1. Texas
2. Ohio State
3. Miami
4. Iowa State

5. Georgia vs 12. Boise State

6. Penn State vs 11. Alabama

7. Oregon vs 10. Clemson

8. Texas A&M vs 9. BYU

CFP Final Four: Texas vs Georgia, Penn State vs Ohio State

CFP National Championship: Texas vs Ohio State

National Champion: Texas