Roundtable: Who has the best chance to go undefeated in 2017?
Seven weeks are down with just seven weeks to go in the 2017 season. And there are just eight unbeaten teams remaining in college football.
Alabama 7-0
Central Florida 5-0
Georgia 7-0
Miami 5-0
Penn State 6-0
South Florida 6-0
TCU 6-0
Wisconsin 6-0
We have no idea if Alabama will continue its undefeated run. Though given the Tide’s schedule and the way they’re dominating opponents, Alabama is probably the favorite to run the table.
So with that in consideration, the Tide were ineligible from this week’s roundtable, which asks Pete Thamel, Nick Bromberg and Sam Cooper who they think has the best chance of going undefeated in the 2017 regular season.
PETE
Central Florida or South Florida
I’d say that’s a coin clip between UCF and USF right now, with perhaps both programs entering the end-of-season — so called War On I-4 — match-up at 11-0. Let’s give UCF the edge, as no one has played the Golden Knights within three touchdowns this season.
UCF schedule
Oct. 21 @ Navy
Oct. 28 vs. Austin Peay
Nov. 4 @ SMU
Nov. 11 vs. UConn
Nov. 18 @ Temple
Nov. 24 vs. USF
USF schedule
Oct. 21 @ Tulane
Oct. 28 vs. Houston
Nov. 4 vs. UConn
Nov. 11 vs. Tulsa
Nov. 24 @ UCF
NICK
Georgia
Something tells me the Bulldogs have a really good shot at being undefeated despite a November road trip to Auburn and a season-ending game against Georgia Tech.
Georgia has been one of the surprises of the season. I think we all thought the Bulldogs would be good — but not this good. Especially after freshman quarterback Jake Fromm took over for Jacob Eason after Eason’s knee injury vs. Appalachian State.
I really like Wisconsin’s chances to go undefeated too, but the Badgers haven’t played anyone. I could see a slip-up vs. Michigan coming for them.
Georgia schedule
Oct. 28 vs. Florida (Jacksonville)
Nov. 4 vs. South Carolina
Nov. 11 @ Auburn
Nov. 18 vs. Kentucky
Nov. 25 @ Georgia Tech
SAM
Wisconsin
It has to be Wisconsin. The Badgers are really good, don’t get me wrong, but this is all about strength of schedule. Other then a fairly close game against Northwestern, the fifth-ranked Badgers have coasted to a 6-0 start. The rest of their Big Ten draw is pretty lacking, too. Wisconsin avoids Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan State. The only ranked team it plays is Michigan on Nov. 18 at home.
Indiana and Minnesota won’t be easy, especially on the road, but with the way Wisconsin is playing defense and running the ball with freshman Jonathan Taylor, it will be tough to beat. Frankly, it’d be a surprise if the Badgers were not undefeated entering the Big Ten title game.
Wisconsin schedule
Oct. 21 vs. Maryland
Oct. 28 @ Illinois
Nov. 4 @ Indiana
Nov. 11 vs. Iowa
Nov. 18 vs. Michigan
Nov. 25 @ Minnesota
Reader question
Got a question you want us to answer in the roundtable? Tweet us @YahooDrSaturday.
Which is the better coaching gig, Nebraska or Tennessee?
— Tom Houk (@z4luvr) October 17, 2017
Oh man, this is brutal. There are pros and cons to each job.
Nebraska is in an easier division than Tennessee is. The Vols have Georgia and Florida (and Missouri has won two East titles since joining the league) while Wisconsin — and to a lesser extent, Iowa — is the cream of the crop in the Big Ten West. Tennessee also plays Alabama every year, and as long as Nick Saban is at Alabama, that’s a game that’s more likely to be a loss than not.
Recruiting is harder at Nebraska, or has been harder over the last 20 years even if Tennessee’s peak isn’t that much more recent than the Huskers’. Oh, and both fanbases have expectations that their teams will perform all the time like they did at their peak. Look at how unhappy Husker and Vol fans have been after nine-win seasons.
If we’re forced to pick one, Nebraska is the choice with the assumption that it hires a coach who’s a fantastic recruiter.
1/2 Let’s say TCU loses to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State beats OU. OU would be our because of 2 conf losses, but both OSU and TCU have 1 loss
— Darrett Gavis (@TollRideToll) October 17, 2017
2/2 Who would get in then between OSU and TCU? TCUs loss would have been to OU and OSU’s would be to TCU, but they beat OU unlike TCU.
— Darrett Gavis (@TollRideToll) October 17, 2017
This question is about the College Football Playoff. It operates on the assumption TCU, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State all go undefeated the rest of the way outside of the games mentioned.
In this scenario, TCU is 8-1 in the conference along with Oklahoma State. Oklahoma, thanks to its loss to Iowa State, is 7-2. The Sooners are No. 3 in the conference with TCU winning a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Cowboys for the regular-season title.
And here’s where the newfound Big 12 title game comes in to play. After tying for the regular-season title, the teams would meet again in the conference championship with TCU as the top seed.
The winner would have a pretty good shot at the playoff in this scenario by being a one-loss conference champion. The disaster scenario for the Big 12 is if a two-loss team makes the Big 12 title game and ends up winning it.
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