Odds and Ends 10/22/25

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Welcome Back!


We are 1/2 of the way through the season for most teams, and there is a lot more interesting info, as we are now starting to see trends. However, OOC games are just about done, so that goes on the back burner until the end of the year. We do have some Wednesday games this week, so I'll start with those.


Wednesday, October 22

Middle Tennessee @ Delaware- The Fightin' Blue Hens have won both prior meetings by a combined score of 113-10, but those were played in 1977 and 1978. Delaware has had a successful debut in the FBS so far, with a record of 3-3/1-2 at the midpoint of their season. The Blue Raiders have been awful this year at 1-5/0-3, somehow winning at Nevada after losing to an FCS team in their opener. There's gonna be a lot of blue on the field and in the stands for this game! Hens peck their way to victory.

Missouri State @ New Mexico State- Both teams come into this game with 3-3 overall records, but the Bears are 1-1 in CUSA while the Aggies are 1-2. Like Delaware, Mo State is having a nice debut season in the FBS, but NMSU will win this 1st time meeting.


Interconference results


Now that we are deep into conference play, there are only a few non-conference games each week. I will revisit this at the end of the season.


Intraconference results

The Sun Belt East now leads the West 4-3.


Undefeated/Winless teams

The following teams are undefeated with a 7-0 record (unless otherwise indicated):

BYU 
Georgia Tech 
Indiana 
Navy (6-0)
Ohio State 
Texas A&M 

5 teams suffered their 1st loss this past weekend, so we are down to 6 out of 136 teams (4.4%) that remain undefeated. 

Here is how many from each conference are still undefeated:

Big Ten    2 out of 18/.111
American    1-14/.071
SEC     1-16/.063
Big 12    1-16/.063
ACC    1-17/.059
Pac 12    0-2/.000
Independents 0-2/.000
CUSA    0-10/.000
MWC    0-12/.000
MAC    0-13/.000
SBC    0-14/.000


The following teams have yet to win a game (0-7 unless otherwise indicated):

Sam Houston 
UMass 

One team earned their 1st win of the season, so we now down to only 2 teams that remain winless (1.5%).

This is how many from each conference are still winless:

MAC    1 out of 13 teams
CUSA    1-10
Pac 12    0-2
Ind     0-2
MWC    0-12
SBC    0-14
American    0-14
SEC    0-16
Big 12    0-16
ACC     0-17
Big Ten     0-18


The following teams have a win, but no FBS wins:

Boston College
Charlotte
Georgia State
Nevada
Northern Illinois
Oklahoma State
Oregon State
South Alabama

8 teams (6.6%) do not have an FBS win, including 2 P4 teams.

This is how many teams from each conference fall into this category:

SBC-2
MWC-1
MAC-1
American-1
Big 12-1
ACC-1
Pac 12-1
CUSA-0
SEC-0
Big Ten-0
Ind- 0


Bowl eligible/eliminated

The following teams have reached 6 wins, and thus are bowl eligible. There are 35 bowl games, so 70 teams will be needed. If you add in the 12 teams for the CFP (using some of the bowls not previously counted), then 82 teams are needed. So far 24 teams are eligible, so we need 58 more. 

Alabama
BYU 
Cincinnati
Georgia
Georgia Tech 
Hawaii
Houston
Indiana 
James Madison
Memphis 
Missouri
Navy 
North Texas
Ohio State 
Oklahoma
Ole Miss 
Oregon
Texas A&M 
Texas Tech
Tulane
UNLV 
USF
Vanderbilt
Virginia

As teams reach 7 losses, they become ineligible for a bowl, unless there are an insufficient amount of teams to fill all the bowl slots. In that case, teams that are 5-7 may be invited in the order of their Academic Progress Rate scores. Akron is ineligible for a bowl regardless of their record due to academics. Delaware and Missouri State may only go to a bowl if there are not enough eligible teams, so I will be listing all 3 of those teams here for now. We currently have 6 teams ineligible.

Akron
Delaware
Missouri State
Oregon State
Sam Houston
UMass


Paul's Playoff Picks

Most of my picks are still in play, but more and more teams are being eliminated each week.

As a refresher, here is the setup for the CFP:

5 slots are reserved for the 5 highest ranked conference champions; 7 slots are at-large (any team)
The top 4 seeds get a bye for the 1st round. This year, there are no allowances made for conference champions beyond being accepted into the field. The next 4 seeds get a home game for the 1st round, and the 9-12 seeds travel to play 4-8 (4 vs 12, 5 vs 11, etc.). Teams are not reseeded after the 1st round. After the 1st round, it plays out like any tournament- quarterfinals, semifinals, then finals, all at neutral sites (which I hope will change in future years).

Here is who I think makes it into this year's 12-team CFP, presented in no particular order:

Georgia- looking good at 6-1
Ohio State- still undefeated
Clemson- ELIMINATED
Kansas State- ELIMINATED
Notre Dame- 2 losses already, but little remaining challenges
Boise State- ELIMINATED
Texas- barely hanging in there
Alabama- back in the race
Oregon- in excellent shape at 6-1
Penn State- ELIMINATED
Georgia Tech- still undefeated
LSU- 2 losses puts them on the verge of elimination

NOTE: Eliminated only means from an at-large spot. These teams could still win their respective conferences. 


Here is the list of the next most likely teams to get in:


Oklahoma- 6-1 so far
Ole Miss- lost to UGA, but still in the race
Tennessee- 2 losses almost pushes them out
Michigan- losses to Oklahoma and USC
Iowa- losses to Iowa State and Indiana
Illinois- 4-2 after loss to Ohio State
Indiana- still undefeated
USC- 5-2 after loss to Notre Dame
Miami, Fl- upset loss to Louisville hurts
SMU- 2 losses already
Louisville- 5-1, still a long way to go
BYU- still undefeated
Arizona State- 2 losses but still in the chase
Iowa State- needs to win out after their bye week
Utah- 2 losses has them on the edge of being eliminated
Tulane- routed by Ole Miss
Memphis- loss to woeful UAB hurts
UNLV- still can't get by Boise State
James Madison- lost at Louisville by only 14

I am 99.9% sure that I will be wrong about much of this, but I would be happy if I get at least 6 of the 12 teams right, and if all 12 come from these 2 lists.


I'll update how my picks are doing each Wednesday throughout the season.




Feel free to leave a comment. Come back tomorrow for Paul's Picks! 

Until next time, may you and your loved ones be blessed!    

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