This will appear every Monday unless it stops becoming relevant for Tulane. The highest ranked champion out the AAC, Mountain West, Sun Belt, CUSA and MAC will get a guaranteed college football playoff spot. This is how I see the teams stacking up at the moment.
1) Boise State (6-1)
Comment: If the Broncos are going to lose in the regular season, Friday night is the time at UNLV. Although they lead the nation in sacks, I'm still not convinced how good they are outside of Heisman Trophy favorite Ashton Jeanty. But since he's doing things no one since Barry Sanders (36 years ago) has done, it may not matter. That 3-point loss to now No. 1 Oregon is looking better and better.
2) Tulane (5-2)
Comment: Oklahoma likely will finish with a losing record, so that hurts, but Navy can help the Wave's eventual case tremendously by beating Notre Dame this Saturday. The Midshipmen and presumptive AAC title game opponent Army are ranked at the moment and have been utterly dominant and both get Notre Dame on neutral fields. Kansas State may be the best team in the Big 12 and can help Tulane's case by winning out. Of course, all this will be moot if the receivers and o-line do not play better Saturday at North Texas, when the Wave will need to score a lot of points (and should).
3) Navy (6-0)
Comment: I have a theory about Army and Navy, which cannot rely on the transfer portal at all. In my humble opinion, the quality of play in college football has been down this year as teams have to figure out how to play with revamped rosters and lack chemistry. Army, Navy and Clemson, which accepts almost no transfers at the behest of coach Dabo Swinney, have combined for one loss. The other factor, obviously. is tremendous QB play. We will find out if Navy can hang with and even beat Notre Dame this Saturday because the Middies have not faced anyone with a defense anything like the Fighting Irish. I have my doubts, but I would not be shocked by a Navy win.
4) UNLV (6-1)
Comment: I like UNLV to beat Boise State at home. Am I confident about it? Heck no, but I've liked what I've seen from the Rebels in multiple viewings, even in their loss to Syracuse. This team makes winning plays and is better than the sum of it parts. The loss of its starting QB to the transfer portal has had no effect al all. We will learn whether Boise State's defense is for real. If it is, UNLV won't win because it is going to have to score 40 points to get the job done.
5) Army (7-0)
Comment: The analytics give Army a significant edge on Navy, and I'm not sure why, although they may turn out to be right. Army has scored a touchdown on its opening drive in every game, a touchdown on its second drive in every game but one and never has trailed. It also has not played a team with a pulse. Vanquished conference opponents FAU, Rice, Temple, Tulsa, UAB and ECU are a combined 3-17 in league action. As good as AAC offensive player of the week QB Bryson Dailey has been, I want to see him do it against a good team. A trip to North Texas will be interesting because Army can't simulate an air raid offense. A win there would virtually lock up a spot in the AAC title game, but the real test will be Nov. 23 against Notre Dame.
6) Memphis
Comment: Here ends the potential playoff contenders, and I don't really buy into Memphis. First of all, the Tigers will be locked out of the AAC title game if Navy and Army go 8-0. A loss by either, though, would open the door if they run the table (next four games: Charlotte, UTSA, Rice, UAB and beat Tulane on Thanksgiving. Memphis has excellent talent at the skill positions and an experienced QB in Seth Henigan, but the defense gave up more than 600 yards and 32 first downs to North Texas and 566 yards to Navy. Given that sieve-like quality, it is hard to see them winning at Yulman Stadium after losing in their past three visits 40-24 (it wasn't that close), 35-21 and 38-28 (after trailing 35-0 at halftime).
7) Georgia Southern (5-2)
Comment: The Eagles' only two losses were to Boise State when they led 37-36 early in the fourth quarter and 52-13 to Ole Miss. No one in the Sun Belt has a ghost of a chance at making the college football playoff, but Georgia Southern, which beat James Madison 28-14 on Saturday, appears to be the best of an evenly balanced bunch.
8) UL-Lafayette (6-1)
Comment: Quarterback Ben Wooldridge, who was very inconsistent against Tulane, went 27 of 36 for 373 yards and three TDs against Coastal Carolina on Saturday. If he continues to play like that, the Cajuns will will the Sun Belt West and reach the league championship game. This is a pretty good team.
9) Western Kentucky (5-2)
Comment: The Hilltoppers' only two losses were to Alabama (63-0) and Boston College 21-20 when the Golden Eagles rallied for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. I like their chances to win CUSA, possibly beating Liberty twice along the way (on the road Nov. 23 and at home in the championship game). They lost Vincent Murphy to Tulane but had no problem dispatching conference contender Sam Houston 31-14 last week.
10) North Texas (5-2)
Comment: When you do one thing really, really well, you are dangerous even when the rest of your team is bad. North Texas is lights out in the passing game behind a quarterback in Chandler Morris and a coach in Eric Morris whose offense at Incarnate Word was prolific before he had tremendous success as the offensive coordinator at Washington State for one year and then returned to Texas as North Texas coach last year. The Mean Green needed a couple of miraculous plays to turn the Memphis game into a one-score deficit after leading early in the fourth quarter, but they are never out of it with that offense.
Also considered: UL-Monroe, Liberty, Toledo
1) Boise State (6-1)
Comment: If the Broncos are going to lose in the regular season, Friday night is the time at UNLV. Although they lead the nation in sacks, I'm still not convinced how good they are outside of Heisman Trophy favorite Ashton Jeanty. But since he's doing things no one since Barry Sanders (36 years ago) has done, it may not matter. That 3-point loss to now No. 1 Oregon is looking better and better.
2) Tulane (5-2)
Comment: Oklahoma likely will finish with a losing record, so that hurts, but Navy can help the Wave's eventual case tremendously by beating Notre Dame this Saturday. The Midshipmen and presumptive AAC title game opponent Army are ranked at the moment and have been utterly dominant and both get Notre Dame on neutral fields. Kansas State may be the best team in the Big 12 and can help Tulane's case by winning out. Of course, all this will be moot if the receivers and o-line do not play better Saturday at North Texas, when the Wave will need to score a lot of points (and should).
3) Navy (6-0)
Comment: I have a theory about Army and Navy, which cannot rely on the transfer portal at all. In my humble opinion, the quality of play in college football has been down this year as teams have to figure out how to play with revamped rosters and lack chemistry. Army, Navy and Clemson, which accepts almost no transfers at the behest of coach Dabo Swinney, have combined for one loss. The other factor, obviously. is tremendous QB play. We will find out if Navy can hang with and even beat Notre Dame this Saturday because the Middies have not faced anyone with a defense anything like the Fighting Irish. I have my doubts, but I would not be shocked by a Navy win.
4) UNLV (6-1)
Comment: I like UNLV to beat Boise State at home. Am I confident about it? Heck no, but I've liked what I've seen from the Rebels in multiple viewings, even in their loss to Syracuse. This team makes winning plays and is better than the sum of it parts. The loss of its starting QB to the transfer portal has had no effect al all. We will learn whether Boise State's defense is for real. If it is, UNLV won't win because it is going to have to score 40 points to get the job done.
5) Army (7-0)
Comment: The analytics give Army a significant edge on Navy, and I'm not sure why, although they may turn out to be right. Army has scored a touchdown on its opening drive in every game, a touchdown on its second drive in every game but one and never has trailed. It also has not played a team with a pulse. Vanquished conference opponents FAU, Rice, Temple, Tulsa, UAB and ECU are a combined 3-17 in league action. As good as AAC offensive player of the week QB Bryson Dailey has been, I want to see him do it against a good team. A trip to North Texas will be interesting because Army can't simulate an air raid offense. A win there would virtually lock up a spot in the AAC title game, but the real test will be Nov. 23 against Notre Dame.
6) Memphis
Comment: Here ends the potential playoff contenders, and I don't really buy into Memphis. First of all, the Tigers will be locked out of the AAC title game if Navy and Army go 8-0. A loss by either, though, would open the door if they run the table (next four games: Charlotte, UTSA, Rice, UAB and beat Tulane on Thanksgiving. Memphis has excellent talent at the skill positions and an experienced QB in Seth Henigan, but the defense gave up more than 600 yards and 32 first downs to North Texas and 566 yards to Navy. Given that sieve-like quality, it is hard to see them winning at Yulman Stadium after losing in their past three visits 40-24 (it wasn't that close), 35-21 and 38-28 (after trailing 35-0 at halftime).
7) Georgia Southern (5-2)
Comment: The Eagles' only two losses were to Boise State when they led 37-36 early in the fourth quarter and 52-13 to Ole Miss. No one in the Sun Belt has a ghost of a chance at making the college football playoff, but Georgia Southern, which beat James Madison 28-14 on Saturday, appears to be the best of an evenly balanced bunch.
8) UL-Lafayette (6-1)
Comment: Quarterback Ben Wooldridge, who was very inconsistent against Tulane, went 27 of 36 for 373 yards and three TDs against Coastal Carolina on Saturday. If he continues to play like that, the Cajuns will will the Sun Belt West and reach the league championship game. This is a pretty good team.
9) Western Kentucky (5-2)
Comment: The Hilltoppers' only two losses were to Alabama (63-0) and Boston College 21-20 when the Golden Eagles rallied for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. I like their chances to win CUSA, possibly beating Liberty twice along the way (on the road Nov. 23 and at home in the championship game). They lost Vincent Murphy to Tulane but had no problem dispatching conference contender Sam Houston 31-14 last week.
10) North Texas (5-2)
Comment: When you do one thing really, really well, you are dangerous even when the rest of your team is bad. North Texas is lights out in the passing game behind a quarterback in Chandler Morris and a coach in Eric Morris whose offense at Incarnate Word was prolific before he had tremendous success as the offensive coordinator at Washington State for one year and then returned to Texas as North Texas coach last year. The Mean Green needed a couple of miraculous plays to turn the Memphis game into a one-score deficit after leading early in the fourth quarter, but they are never out of it with that offense.
Also considered: UL-Monroe, Liberty, Toledo
