By Jay Berry
A Football team generally doesn’t help or hurt their standing during a bye week, but this weekend it happened twice.
Colorado
Colorado was not in action, but they moved up to third place in the Big 12 because Kansas State was upset by Houston.
The Buffaloes find themselves behind undefeated BYU and one-loss Iowa State. They still need some help to make it to the Big 12 championship game, which could happen the final week of the season when Iowa State hosts Kansas State. If Colorado wins out and Iowa State drops one more conference games, the Buffs would play for the Big 12 championship.
Notre Dame
Another team affected by bye week events was the Fighting Irish. Unfortunately, Notre Dame didn’t experience the same success as Colorado. Their path to the playoffs depends on what appears to be their best performance of the season: a double-digit win against Texas A&M.
The Aggies were blown out by South Carolina 44–20 on Saturday. They are now in second place in the SEC in a tight race coming down to the final weeks. The Aggies have three games left, including a big tilt against Texas in the final week of the season. If they win out, that may help negate Notre Dame’s home loss against Northern Illinois. The Aggies still have a path to the SEC championship game. If Mike Elko’s team loses more games, things could get dicey for the Irish.
Here's a health Carolina.
FOREVER TO THEE! pic.twitter.com/MG4f0P9kkX
— South Carolina Football (@GamecockFB) November 3, 2024
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SMU
SMU is one of the teams having success after conference realignment.
In the late 80s and early 90s, the SMU football program was on NCAA’s death row after being given the death penalty for multiple violations.
SMU had its most significant moment in decades on Saturday night — a win against previously unbeaten conference opponent Pitt.
The Mustangs won 48–25 and are three wins away from playing for the ACC championship. The only team ahead of them in the conference is unbeaten Miami.
Nebraska
Matt Rhule has had the team doing full tilt 1-on-1s during pregame. Maybe they should save that energy for the actual games. The Cornhuskers entered a home Big Ten matchup against 2-5 UCLA. After back-to-back road game losses against Indiana and Ohio State, fans expected a stellar performance by Rhule’s Huskers.
Unfortunately, that was not the case. They fell behind early by double digits. They were down 27–14 in the fourth quarter and would lose 27–20.
Nebraska’s record is now 5-4 with three games left. They play Wisconsin, Iowa, and USC. They need one more win to be bowl-eligible and two more wins to have a winning record. At the moment, both of those things appear to be very, very challenging for the program to accomplish.
They still need help on the offensive line, offensive playmakers, and speed on defense.
USC
Lincoln Riley’s Trojans are now 4-5 after a 26-21 loss at Washington. They finish the season against Nebraska, UCLA and Notre Dame. A .500 season is very likely for the Trojans, but at this point a losing record would not be a surprise.
Riley has been high-priced mediocrity since taking over the Trojans. A single appearance in the Pac 12 championship game – a loss – is the highlight of his time in Hollywood.
Final. pic.twitter.com/Ti5v9vGqlL
— USC Football ✌️ (@uscfb) November 3, 2024
Some people thought the 12-team playoff would diminish the regular season, but I feel that’s been the opposite. We’ve had some awesome regular-season matchups and have seen quite a bit of parody in college football so far this season.
Buckle up – It will be a wild ending to the regular season.
