Teams with 1st loss Week 7:
Georgia
Florida
Wake Forest
Memphis
Teams with 2nd loss Week 7:
Texas
Iowa
Toledo
Louisiana-Lafayette
Virginia
Hawaii
Arizona
Wyoming
Teams with 1st win Week 7:
none
Maximum number of Undefeated Teams at the End of the Regular Season:
7: All conference champs except the champs of the MAC, PAC-12, and Conference USA. That is no changes this week from last.
Teams with 1st loss:
Week 0 and 1: 35.38% (46 of 130)
Week 2: 38.01% (32 of 84)
Week 3: 32.69% (17 of 52)
Week 4: 34.29% (12 of 35)
Week 5: 21.74% (5 of 23)
Week 6: 11.11% (2 of 18)
Week 7: 25% (4 of 16)
Week 7 Thoughts:
-Within a bit into the season, the top 6 for the national championship seemed to be Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and Clemson. We can add a couple other to that list now, but we finally had our first loss from that group with Georgia surprisingly losing at home to South Carolina.
-The SEC East in general had a tough week at the top with Florida losing too. Both Florida and Georgia do still control their own destiny for a national championship, but no longer have any margin for error. Winning out the rest and losing the SEC Championship likely won't be enough.
-Oklahoma winning the Red River Shootout was a big deal. It keeps only them and Baylor alive for a CFP bowl.
-The MAC is the first conference to be permanently deleted from the 1-loss category.
-For the Group of 5 bid, we had a few important things. Memphis had their first loss in a game at Temple. This leaves just SMU undefeated in the American (although there five 1-loss teams). In important games, both Boise State (vs. Hawaii) and Appalachian State (vs. Louisiana-Lafayette) won. San Diego State meanwhile won the battle of 1-loss teams vs. Wyoming in the Mountain West. It will reveal a lot when the committee comes out with rankings. Several questions here like: 1. Who will be higher if both are still undefeated SMU or Boise State? 2. If still undefeated, how does Appalachian State compare to the 1-loss teams in the American and Mountain West? 3. How will the committee view the top 1-loss team in the American?
Week 8 Thoughts:
We have no games between undefeated teams this week. Our undefeateds play in the followings games: undefeated Ohio State @ Northwestern (Friday), undefeated LSU @ Mississippi State, undefeated Minnesota @ Rutgers, undefeated Clemson @ Louisville, West Virginia @ undefeated Oklahoma, undefeated Wisconsin @ Illinois, 1-loss Temple @ undefeated SMU, Louisiana-Monroe @ undefeated Appalachian State, undefeated Baylor @ Oklahoma State, 1-loss Michigan @ undefeated Penn State, Tennessee @ undefeated Alabama, and undefeated Boise State @ BYU.
Our winless teams are in the following games: Buffalo at winless Akron and winless Rice @ UTSA. New Mexico State is off.
1-loss Michigan @ undefeated Penn State: Both teams just beat Iowa by fairly similar margins (although Michigan was at home and Penn State away). Win this and the narrative around Michigan this year starts to change. If Penn State wins, it leaves them and Ohio State the two dominant teams in the division at this point and Penn State will have the better wins so far (Ohio State's biggest games so far look like less than they did at the time).
Undefeated Clemson @ Louisville: Louisville will be a huge underdog, but did just defeated the only other undefeated ACC team in Wake Forest.
1-loss Temple @ Undefeated SMU: Temple just beat the next to last undefeated from the American in the form of Memphis. Win this and Temple will be a very legitimate NY6 contender. On the SMU side, they might control their destiny (depending on if committee likes them or Boise State better). Lose this and they won't.
Undefeated Baylor @ Oklahoma State: Bears might be underdogs here this week, but they keep winning.
Undefeated Boise State @ BYU: Doubt BYU could pull this off, but at their best they did beat USC this year.
1-loss Oregon @ Washington: Oregon is the PAC-12's best hope. With 2 losses Washington is likely out of CFP bowl race, but very much in the PAC-12 championship/Rose Bowl race. Winner here will be favored to win division.
1-loss Arizona State @ 1-loss Utah: Winner of this will be the only possible remaining 1-loss team in conference after this week beside Oregon. While a long, long way to go, they would be only other small hope for a CFP bowl spot. Otherwise could still be big for division at least.
1-loss Tulane @ 1-loss Memphis: Two of the 1-loss teams in the American. Can Memphis recover from last week?
Remaining Undefeated Teams: ACC: 1, American Athletic: 1, Big 12: 2, Big Ten: 4, Mountain West: 1, SEC: 2, Sun Belt: 1, total: 12
Clemson
Baylor
Oklahoma
Minnesota
Ohio State
Penn State
Wisconsin
Southern Methodist
Alabama
Louisiana State
Boise State
Appalachian State
1-loss Teams: ACC: 1, American: 5, Big 12: 0, Big Ten: 1, Conference USA: 2, MAC: 0, Mountain West: 1, PAC-12: 3, SEC: 4, Sun Belt: 0, independents: 1, total: 18
Cincinnati
Temple
Tulane
Michigan
Louisiana Tech
San Diego State
Oregon
Utah
Arizona State
Missouri
Notre Dame
Navy
UAB
Auburn
Georgia
Florida
Wake Forest
Memphis
Remaining Winless Teams: Conference USA: 1, MAC: 1, independents: 1, total: 3
Rice
Akron
New Mexico State