The Week 12 Watch
The Big 12 and Pac-12 races should be settled and a few long shot playoff teams are making their final bids.
It’s the final “SEC bye week” for some of the Southeastern conference this Saturday. The “SEC bye” is a week late in the season where every team in the conference schedules an opponent such as Austin Peay (Alabama’s foe) so they can rest up any injured starters and get a light week in while preparing for the final game(s) on the schedule. It’s a clever strategy.
There isn’t a particular week it falls on, but it’s there for a few teams this week and has reduced some of the slate for this week. We’re mostly getting big games in the Pac-12 this week. The SEC, Big 10, and Big 12 title pictures are pretty clear or otherwise won’t really be impacted until the last game of the season.
TCU has clinched in the Big 12 and if Kansas State can avoid catching a loss in West Virginia and against “rival” Kansas at home, they’ll be in as well. If they do take a loss then the door is open for OSU or Texas to sneak in should they win out.
The Big 10 is going to send one of Ohio State or Michigan to destroy an overmatched West division team. There’s not much drama in the Midwest save for whether the losing team in “the game” still might have a case for playoff inclusion.
The SEC is going to be Georgia vs LSU barring something unexpected in the final weeks. Only the Pac-12 has any real intrigue left and there’s still an outside shot of USC coming out of it with a playoff resume.
Here are some of the most interesting watches of the week.
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