Week 10 was supposed to be one the most anticipated week of action in college football. However, it turned out that a number of big games we were looking forward to proved to be fairly one-sided. That means a number of teams we thought might be contenders turned out to be pretenders. Here’s who tops the list:
No. 2 LSU
LSU was ranked No. 2 in the College Football Playoff selection committee’s initial rankings for good reason since they were the SEC’s lone remaining undefeated team. In the process, they had compiled wins over Mississippi State, Auburn and Florida. However, they hit a brick wall in their biggest game of the year at Alabama as they were absolutely schooled. As a result, they could be eliminated from playoff contention.
The Tigers had no answer on either side of the football. What might be the most shocking part of it is that star running back Leonard Fournette – who was the Heisman Trophy frontrunner – was completely shut down. Meanwhile, their defense had no answer for Alabama’s Derrick Henry in a 30-16 loss to the Crimson Tide on Saturday night. Fournette had averaged 193.1 rushing yards per game before he was held to just 31 yards on 19 carries and LSU finished the loss with only 182 yards of total offense. The Tigers are no longer the SEC’s top team and it won’t get any easier for them as they return home for another physical game against Arkansas on Saturday.
No. 7 Michigan State
The Spartans led Nebraska by 12 points with just over two minutes to play before allowing 13 unanswered points. That was flat-out shocking as they fell for the first time this season in the 39-38 loss. There was certainly some controversy regarding whether or not the game-winning touchdown was caught in bounds or not, but the bottom line is that Michigan State shouldn’t have been in that position in the first place. Nebraska has been a lackluster team all season long and Michigan State was supposed to have one of the best defenses in the country. However, in the final two minutes of the game, they couldn’t get any type of stop.
The Spartans return home to host Maryland this week before travelling to Ohio State for a massive Big Ten showdown. The good news is that if Michigan State can hand the undefeated Buckeyes their first loss of the season, they could be back in the college football playoff picture. For now, they’re a pretender for that embarrassing loss.
No. 13 Memphis
Memphis was considered the top team in the AAC and a dark horse contender to sneak into the College Football Playoff. On College Gameday, all we heard was all of the permutations how Memphis could make life difficult for the CFP. No need to worry, though as Memphis was blown away in a 45-20 loss to Navy. The Tigers were hammered in the lopsided home defeat and the schedule certainly won’t get any easier for them. They’ve got games at Houston and Temple coming up – both of whom are Top 25 material. Memphis can still contend for an AAC title if they win out and get a little help, but they are clearly pretends when it comes to this year’s playoff.
[related_post_one]
No. 18 Ole Miss
The CFP selection committee had Ole Miss ranked No. 18 in their initial release but a 53-52 loss at home to Arkansas made it clear they are a pretender. An upset loss to Memphis earlier in the year was somewhat overlooked because the Tigers were undefeated, but that is no longer the case, and suddenly the Rebels’ two losses are glaring. Ole Miss will wrap up their season with tough games against LSU and Mississippi State. They were flying high earlier in the season when they upset Alabama but they are looking more like a three-loss pretender nowadays.
