It was a wild day for some of college football's national championship contenders. No. 8 Oklahoma wasn't getting any respect from the College Football Playoff selection committee, and we may have seen why in the Sooners' 27-14 loss to No. 13 Baylor in Waco, Texas. Freshman quarterback Caleb Williams was pulled in favor of opening-day starter and former Heisman Trophy candidate Spencer Rattler, but the veteran could not get the offense going in one of the sloppiest performances of the Lincoln Riley era.
Elsewhere, No. 1 Georgia and No. 2 Alabama cruised to easy wins, No. 4 Ohio State avoided becoming the third top-five team to lose to Purdue this year and No. 11 Texas A&M's title hopes crashed and burned in Oxford against No. 15 Ole Miss.
It's time to hand out some grades to the top national title contenders based on futures odds from Caesars Sportsbook heading into the weekend. If your team isn't listed but should be, it's because its odds were worse than 100-1 heading into the weekend.
College football grades: Week 11 report card
Team | Odds | Grade | Analysis |
---|---|---|---|
91/100 | A- | Tennessee's 17 points are the most that Georgia has given up all year. But Kirby Smart's crew still covered, had no problem with Volunteers after the first quarter and the Bulldogs further solidified themselves as the most complete team in college football. | |
13/4 | A | There's not much to gain from beating New Mexico State like a drum, but that's exactly what Alabama did in the 59-3 win. Let's be honest, this could have been an 80- or 90-point game. | |
5-1 | A+ | The "Spoilermakers" were no match for an Ohio State team that saw quarterback CJ Stroud throw five touchdown passes and put to bed any notion that Purdue could pull off their third top-five win of the season. The Buckeyes are getting hot at the right time but have a big-time matchup with Michigan State looming. | |
14-1 | D- | The loss to Baylor is only the first of the season, but the eighth-ranked Sooners weren't getting any respect from the College Football Playoff selection committee going into Saturday's action. Does one loss eliminate them from contention? No. But the struggles under center against Baylor won't sit well at all and doesn't bode well for the future. | |
25-1 | B- | Oregon pulled away from Washington State in the second half, but it wasn't the cleanest performance of all time. With Ohio State firing on all cylinders, the Ducks might need to monitor how the committee views the two moving forward. There are more quality win opportunities for the Buckeyes, which the committee could value more than the head-to-head result. Either way, if they keep winning, the CFP field should be attainable. Winning it, however, is a different story. | |
50-1 | B+ | The 45-28 win over South Florida wasn't the prettiest, but it's a big improvement from the last couple of weeks for the Bearcats. The combination of the win and the Oklahoma loss makes a College Football Playoff berth a little more attainable. | |
60-1 | B- | It wasn't an incredibly sharp offensive performance in the 21-17 win over Penn State, but the defense was really solid in miserable weather. With that said, the Wolverines are going to have to look much better if they have a shot of winning the CFP. Luckily, a meeting with Ohio State is on the horizon. | |
75-1 | B+ | Kenneth Walker III had 143 yards and two touchdowns in an emphatic 40-21 win over Maryland. The Spartans jumped out to a 27-14 lead at halftime and never looked back. | |
100-1 | B+ | The only knock against No. 9 Notre Dame in its 28-3 win over Virginia is that the Cavaliers didn't have star quarterback Brennan Armstrong available. It really wouldn't have mattered, though. The offense looked solid and put it into neutral early on, while the defense was flying all over the field. | |
100-1 | F | No. 11 Texas A&M fell 29-19 to Ole Miss for its third loss of the season. The Aggies had a very faint chance at making the CFP and winning it all, but that disappeared faster than a bottle of champagne in The Grove. |