New York Post, Thursday, December 3, 2020
nypost.com
The line
CHRIS
SHAWHOWIE
KUSSOYBRIAN
LEWISZACH
BRAZILLERTED
HOLMLUNDJUSTIN
TERRANOVASTITCHES MARK
HALEAir Force 11.5 (50.5) UTAH ST. (Thu., 9:30, CBSSN) Air Force Air Force ★ Air Force Air Force Utah St. Utah St. ★ Utah St. Utah St.
APP. ST. 2.5 (51.5) La.-Laf (Fri., 8:30, ESPN) App. St. La.-Laf. App. St. La.-Laf. App. St. App. St. App. St. App. St.
TEX. A&M 6 (47.5) Auburn (Sat., noon, ESPN) ★ Tex. A&M Auburn Auburn Texas A&M Texas A&M Texas A&M Auburn ★ Tex. A&M
Ohio St. 21.5 (59.5) MICH. ST. (Noon, ABC)Michigan St. ★ Ohio St. Ohio St. ★ Ohio St. Ohio St. ★ Ohio St. Ohio St. ★ Ohio St.
COASTAL CAR. 11.5 (53.5) Liberty (2:00, ESPNU) Coastal Car. Coastal Car. Liberty Coastal Car. Liberty Liberty Liberty Coastal Car.
N. DAME 33.5 (51.5) Syracuse (2:30, NBC) Syracuse Syracuse ★ N. Dame Notre Dame Notre Dame Notre Dame Syracuse Notre Dame
WISCONSIN 14.5 (45.5) Indiana (3:30, ABC) ★ Wisconsin ★ Indiana Indiana Indiana Indiana ★ Wisconsin Indiana Indiana
Florida 17.5 (61.5) TENNESSEE (3:30, CBS) Tennessee Tennessee Florida Florida ★ Florida Tennessee Tennessee ★ Florida
IOWA ST. 7 (49.5) W. Virginia (3:30, ESPN) Iowa St. W. Virginia W. Virginia ★ Iowa St. Iowa St. ★ Iowa St. W. Virginia Iowa St.
Iowa 13.5 (50.5) ILLINOIS (3:30, FS1) Iowa ★ Iowa ★ Iowa Iowa Illinois Iowa Illinois Iowa
GEORGIA 35.5 (51.5) Vanderbilt (4:00, SECN) Georgia Vanderbilt Vanderbilt Vanderbilt Vanderbilt Georgia Georgia Georgia
Clemson 21.5 (66.5) VA. TECH (7:30, ABC) ★ Clemson Clemson Va. Tech Clemson ★ Clemson Clemson Clemson Va. Tech
Miami 15.5 (60) DUKE (8:00, ACCN) Duke Duke Duke Miami Duke Miami ★ Miami Miami
OKLAHOMA 21.5 (63.5) Baylor (8:00, Fox) Oklahoma Baylor Baylor Oklahoma Baylor Oklahoma ★ Oklahoma Baylor
Alabama 28.5 (67.5) LSU (8:00, CBS) Alabama LSU LSU ★ Alabama ★ Alabama Alabama Alabama LSUHome Team in CAPS ★ Best BetPoSt StandingS
W L T Pct. GB
Kussoy 90 82 2 .523 —
Braziller 87 85 2 .506 2
Lewis 87 85 2 .506 2
Stitches 86 86 2 .500 4
Hale 84 88 2 .489 6
Holmlund 82 90 2 .477 8
Terranova 80 92 2 .466 10
Shaw 77 95 2 .448 13BeSt BetS
W L T Pct. GB
Braziller 19 17 0 .528 —
Holmlund 18 16 2 .528—
Stitches 18 17 1 .514¹/₂
Lewis 18 18 0 .500 1
Hale 17 19 0 .472 2
Terranova 17 19 0 .472 2
Kussoy 15 20 1 .4313¹/₂
Shaw 15 20 1 .4313¹/₂’BURN waRNiNg
Tigers will end undeserving A&M’s playoff hopes
T
HE PROSPECT of two teams
from the same conference ad-
vancing to the same playoff
loomed from the very start of this
era. It was inevitable. Just a couple
years earlier, the SEC monopolized
the national title game. And natu-
rally, the SEC broke through first,
with Alabama and Georgia playing
in the national title game three
years ago.
The possibility of the four spots
being taken by just two conferen-
ces never came to mind. Now, it’s
pretty close to coming to fruition.
It could happen because Notre
Dame entered an awkward, one-
year marriage with the ACC, be-
cause Clemson will be the clear fa-
vorite to win the upcoming rematch
with Trevor Lawrence in action. It
could happen because
no Big 12 team has
fewer than two losses,
because the Pac-12
doesn’t have a team
that’s played more than
three times or is ranked
inside the top 20.
It could happen be-
cause the committee
remains elitist, under-
valuing every undefeated Group of
Five team (Cincinnati, BYU,
Coastal Carolina, Marshall) be-
cause of lesser strength of sched-
ule, largely out of each respective
program’s control.
It could happen because of a tech-
nicality, because of a late Big Ten
start and a COVID-19 outbreak,
which could result in No. 4 Ohio
State playing too few games to be
eligible for its league title game and/
or be considered for the playoff.
A conference championship isn’t
a prerequisite for a playoff berth —
Ohio State and Alabama have both
bucked that notion in the past —
and avoiding a title game can actu-
ally be advantageous. While No. 6
Florida is likely to see its hopes die
against No. 1 Alabama in the SECChampionship, No. 5 Texas A&M
will avoid that landmine, sit at
home and count on being handed a
controversial gift.
The groundwork was laid Tues-
day night, as committee chair Gary
Barta revealed Texas A&M was
considered for the No. 4 ranking.
“At the end of the day,
the committee decided
that Ohio State was a
better team,” Barta said.
Ohio State is the bet-
ter team. Cincinnati is a
more deserving team.
Even BYU would prob-
ably take down the un-
derwhelming Aggies,
who’ve beaten just one
ranked team and rarely looked
worthy of a playoff berth.
Despite a soft closing schedule,
Texas A&M could still slip up.
Don’t be surprised if AUBURN
(+6) simplifies the situation by tak-
ing down the Aggies, just as
they’ve done the past three years.
Air Force (-11.5) over UTAH
STATE: The Falcons do one thing,
but do it better than any other
team in the nation, rushing for
336.5 yards per game. The Aggies
do many things, but none of them
well, with their 122nd-ranked de-
fense surrendering 5.1 yards per
carry and 35.2 points per game.
Last year, Air Force piled up 448
yards rushing in a 24-point win.
Louisiana-Lafayette (+2.5)
over APPALACHIAN STATE:The Cajuns will be particularly
Ragin’ against the Mountaineers,
who’ve won all eight meetings
since 2014, including back-to-back
Sun Belt title games. A last-second
field-goal loss to undefeated
Coastal Carolina is all that sepa-
rates the Cajuns from perfection.
Ohio State (-21.5) over MI-
CHIGAN STATE: The Buckeyes
have won the past three meetings
by an average of 29.7 points and
need a dominant showing even
more this year, given their sud-
denly shaky playoff standing.
COASTAL CAROLINA (-11.5)
over Liberty: Incredibly, this was
set to be the most entertaining
game of the week. Unfortunately,
multiple reports state that Liberty
star quarterback Malik Willis tested
positive for COVID-19 and could
miss the game, likely forcing the
Flames to turn to Chris Ferguson,
who threw as many touchdowns as
interceptions at Maine last year.
Syracuse (+33.5) over NOTRE
DAME: Even in this historically
bad season — which includes trips
to Clemson and North Carolina —
the Orange have not suffered a
beating of more than 30 points.
The Irish may be the No. 2 team in
the country, but they’re also the
team that struggled to find interest
against Duke, Florida State, Louis-
ville and Georgia Tech.
Indiana (+14.5) over WISCON-
SIN: Michael Penix Jr.’s season-
ending injury lowers Indiana’s of-fensive ceiling, but the Hoosiers de-
fense — recording a nation-best 2.7
interceptions per game — could
end the program’s 10-game losing
streak to the Badgers. If Indiana
could fluster Heisman contender
Justin Fields, Wisconsin freshman
Graham Mertz is in trouble.
TENNESSEE (+17.5) over Flor-
ida: The Vols have lost five
straight, failing to cover the spread
each time. The Gators have won
five straight games by an average
of 22.6 points and have won their
past two meetings with Tennessee
by a total of 57 points. Contrarian-
ism isn’t always attractive.
West Virginia (+7) over IOWA
STATE: More than half of the Cy-
clones’ games have been decided
by seven points or less. The under-
rated Mountaineers and their sev-
enth-ranked defense will make
Iowa State sweat again, having cov-
ered five of their past six games.
Iowa (-13.5) over ILLINOIS: In
the shadow of Northwestern and
Indiana’s surprise seasons, the
Hawkeyes have quietly won four
straight games by an average of 24
points.
Vanderbilt (+35.5) over GEOR-
GIA: And put me down for some
side action: Sarah Fuller will score
at least two points.
Clemson (-21.5) over VIR-
GINIA TECH: Of course Trevor
Lawrence threw for 403 yards in
his first game in more than a
month. The country’s best playerwill make the most of his time left
at college. The fun stops next year
in Florham Park.
DUKE (+15.5) over Miami: The
ACC decided to scrap Clemson and
Notre Dame’s respective postponed
games rescheduled for next week,
giving the Irish a spot in the confer-
ence title game. The one-loss Hur-
ricanes — who haven’t won a game
by double-digits since Oct. 17 —
have virtually no hope of getting to
the ACC Championship, needing
Clemson to fall to Virginia Tech.
Baylor (+21.5) over OKLA-
HOMA: The Bears have taken a
predictable step back from last
year’s surprise 11-win season, but
former LSU defensive coordinator
Dave Aranda has the 2-5 team play-
ing hard. Despite meetings with
Iowa State and Texas, Baylor has
yet to lose a game by more than 11
points this season.
LSU (+28.5) over Alabama:
Since 2003, only one game in the ri-
valry has been decided by more than
24 points. Strangely, it came just two
years ago, when the Crimson Tide
shut out Joe Burrow in a 29-0 win.
One year later, he ended LSU’s eight-
year losing streak to Alabama and
completed one of the greatest sea-
sons in the sport’s history.
Best bets: Ohio State, Iowa, In-
diana
This season (best bets): 90-
82-2 (15-20-1)
2014-19 record: 772-756-13
[email protected]COLLEGE BETTOR’S GUIDE
ACTIONACTIONPIGSKIN
PROFIT
By Howie Kussoy