Teams with 1st Loss Week 6:
Kentucky
Texas
Maryland
Washington State
Missouri
Fresno State
Marshall
Miami (FL)
Teams with 2nd Loss Week 6:
Kansas State
Notre Dame
Texas A&M
Syracuse
Rutgers
Wake Forest
Texas State
Teams with 1st Win Week 6:
Virginia
Connecticut
Percent of Teams with 1st Loss of Season
Week 0/1: 37.6% (50 of 133)
Week 2: 38.6% (32 of 83)
Week 3: 23.5% (12 of 51)
Week 4: 30.8% (12 of 39)
Week 5: 18.5% (5 of 27)
Week 6: 36.4% (8 of 22)
Maximum number of Undefeated Teams at the End of the Regular Season:
9: Nine conference champs (all except the MAC and American) and one more from the ACC.
-No changes this week. We have one chance left at 2 undefeated from the ACC if all three of Florida St, Louisville, and North Carolina win out. I did have the wrong number listed the last two weeks as I was so focused on the ACC that I didn't list the American as out despite it being out.
Week 6 Thoughts:
-It felt a little weird at this point of the season to lose more undefeated teams than one loss teams this week (so that list actually grew). That probably won't happen again until we get very small lists.
-We lost half our remaining winless teams. Virginia beat William and Mary, while UConn went on the road to beat Rice. We are now down to just two teams without wins.
-By my quick count, we have 5 remaining possible games between undefeated teams in the regular season. One of them is this week.
-Several big implication games this past week. Let's start with the SEC which got somewhat less interesting over the weekend. In the east, Georgia beat Kentucky, and Missouri lost. That leaves the bulldogs on their own on top. There are still several scenarios to keep them out of Atlanta, but they look less promising than a week ago. In the west, Alabama beat Texas A&M, leaves the Crimson Tide on top by themselves. Several things can derail things there still as well, but the most likely championship remains the familiar Alabama vs. Georgia. The SEC's best chance at 2 teams in is to have that senario and have Alabama narrowly beat an undefeated Georgia. If you don't want the SEC getting in two, it is better to have Georgia lose one before then (although still make the game).
-Oklahoma narrowly beat Texas in the Red River Shootout. As has usually been the case for the past decade, Oklahoma seems to be in the driver seat in the Big 12. Texas will get a rematch if they win out though (and maybe if they don't). The Big 12's argument for two will be there if Texas and Oklahoma win out and the Sooners lose a close rematch to the Longhorns. For their part, the SEC, oddly, probably does not want that scenario playing out as their own chance for two relies on Alabama beating Georgia. Since Texas beat Alabama, it would be harder for Georgia to get in after losing to Alabama. With Kansas State's loss this past week, the only other ranked Big 12 team for the moment is 1-loss Kansas who would love to shine this year.
-Notre Dame lost to Louisville eliminating their playoff bowl chances. For the ACC, the Louisville win gives them another ranked team. This was somewhat diminished by Miami's surprise loss (in multiple ways) to Georgia Tech, but conference remains in pretty good shape.
-The PAC-12 saw Washington State removed from the ranks of the unbeaten. The USC game was triple overtime, but the Trojans survived. A loss there would have been significant for the PAC-12 playoff bowl hopes.
-Ohio State looked quite flat for the start of the Maryland game, but the Buckeyes came away with the win. Of interest to this thread on lists, the Buckeyes played all undefeated teams in their first 5 games over 6 weeks. That is very unusual (although I am not looking up any stats). The big 3 in the east remain the undefeated in the conference and playoff bowl hopes likely rest on one of them.
Group of 5 Auto-NY6 Bowl:
-Wyoming beat Fresno State in a big game in the Mountain West. Fresno State falls out of the ranking with that, but Wyoming and undefeated Air Force are currently receiving the most votes of teams outside the power conferences. The committee might feel a little differently and a lot can change based on other factors, but I do think one of those two has the edge if they win out from here.
-The only other conference with much change this week was the Sun Belt. Marshall beating North Carolina State would have been big for the conference, but they fell short. The top teams in the American, MAC, and Conference USA haven't altered positions much since last week. I will note though that undefeated Liberty played a relatively close game against winless Sam Houston. That matters more for them than others I believe given the schedule. One week won't make any huge difference, but Liberty likely has to look impressive to take the spot. Same might go for the MAC schools, although they also can hope for Cincinnati and Iowa State to shine the rest of the way to make those wins look better.
Week 7 Thoughts:
-We have 1 game between undefeated teams this week.
Undefeated Oregon at Undefeated Washington: A top 10 game. The winner here will likely be one of the best positioned (beside maybe USC) to go to the PAC-12 championship game. This will likely be a season ending game starting next year.
Undefeated Liberty at 1-loss Jacksonville State (Tuesday): Liberty is the only Conference USA school in my view still in the NY6 race. They need to win and win convincingly most the rest of the way (or hope lot of losses elsewhere).
1-loss Georgia Southern at undefeated James Madison and 1-loss Marshall at 1-loss Georgia State: These are all 4 of the Sun Belts undefeated/1-loss teams playing against each other. James Madison is not eligible for the Sun Belt Championship Game or a bowl game. The Sun Belt needs one of their 1-loss teams to win out to likely have a chance so better for the conference to have Georgia Southern win that one. The conference will also be rooting for whomever wins the Marshall/Georgia State game.
1-loss Miami (FL) at undefeated North Carolina: This game had a little more luster last week, but still important in the ACC race. Miami is done with another loss. North Carolina is a playoff bowl dark horse if they keep winning.
1-loss Wyoming at Undefeated Air Force: Winner of this game is in the best position of teams outside the power 5 conferences.
1-loss Iowa at 1-loss Wisconsin: The winner is in control of the Big Ten west and most likely to go to Indianapolis.
1-loss Tulane at 1-loss Memphis (Friday): The winner of this game is the one the American will put its NY6 hopes on. They will be one of the favorites to take the spot.
1-loss Missouri at 1-loss Kentucky: Missouri could still make the SEC Championship if they upset Georgia down the line, but need to win out to get in that position.
1-loss UCLA at 1-loss Oregon State: Teams cannot afford many losses and get to the PAC-12 championship. This might be must win for that goal.
Undefeated USC at Notre Dame: The Trojans needed everything they could to get by last week, but remain unbeaten and competing for a playoff spot. Notre Dame is now out of the race, but can still make the NY6 if they win out. Another loss makes that much more difficult. It could help the ACC and Ohio State resumes to have the Irish win this one.
1-loss West Virginia at Houston (Thursday): West Virginia is still unbeaten in the Big 12. They are only a small favorite here, but better for the Big 12 to get some more teams ranked.
Texas A&M at 1-loss Tennessee: Neither of these teams are out of their divisional races (although only Tennessee mostly controls their destiny). With a loss they will mostly be out though.
1-loss Kansas at Oklahoma State: Kansas is the only ranked team in the Big 12 besides departing Oklahoma and Texas. The conference would love them to keep rising up.
Winless Sam Houston at New Mexico State (Wednesday): Sam Houston is still winless, but wasn't bad against Liberty last week and are only a small underdog here.
UNLV at winless Nevada: Nevada is a little less than a 10 point underdog in this rivalry.
Remaining Undefeated Teams: ACC: 3, Big 12: 1, Big Ten: 3, Conference USA: 1, Mountain West: 1, PAC-12: 3, SEC: 1, Sun Belt: 1, total: 14
Florida State
North Carolina
Oklahoma
Louisville
Michigan
Ohio State
Penn State
Air Force
Oregon
Southern California
Washington
Georgia
Liberty
(James Madison)
1-Loss Teams: ACC: 2, American: 2, Big 12: 4, Big Ten: 3, Conference USA: 1, MAC: 3, Mountain West: 3, PAC-12: 4, SEC: 5, Sun Belt: 3, independents: 0, total: 30
Duke
Memphis
Tulane
West Virginia
Kansas
Brigham Young
Wisconsin
Iowa
(Jacksonville State)
Miami (OH)
Ohio U.
Toledo
UNLV
Wyoming
Oregon State
Utah
UCLA
Tennessee
Alabama
Mississippi
Georgia Southern
Georgia State
Kentucky
Texas
Maryland
Washington State
Miami (FL)
Missouri
Fresno State
Marshall
Remaining Winless Teams: ACC: 0, Conference USA: 1, Mountain West: 1, independents: 0, total: 2
(Sam Houston)
Nevada
