AP Top 25 Takeaways: Tide out; Fab frosh; Underdog uprising
No reason to hedge anymore: Alabama is out of the College Football Playoff race.
The 10th-ranked Crimson Tide beat No. 11 Mississippi, but all that did was clinch the SEC West for No. 7 LSU, which beat Arkansas earlier Saturday to eliminate Alabama.
Without a path to the Southeastern Conference championship game, the slim chance Alabama had to reach the CFP for the eighth time in its nine-year history is now none.
The only other time the Tide missed the CFP was 2019, when a loaded Alabama with Tua Tagovailoa lost to Joe Burrow and an LSU team that went on to win a national title.
Alabama remained in the playoff hunt that year until losing the Iron Bowl to Auburn after Tagovailoa had been lost to injury.
The last time the Tide entered the home stretch of a season truly eliminated from the national championship race was 2010, when Nick Saban's defending national champions lost three regular-season games, including an Iron Bowl thriller against Cam Newton and Auburn.
The Tide could still find its way into a good bowl game. Maybe the Sugar or Cotton? But Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young, who threw three touchdown passes against Ole Miss, is going to finish his Alabama career on college football's side stage.
It's fair to wonder if Young, linebacker Will Anderson Jr. and some of the other Alabama stars will even play in the postseason with the first round of the next NFL draft calling.
Which brings up an interesting point to ponder as the days of the four-team College Football Playoff wane.
As soon as 2024, and no later than 2026, a 12-team format could be in place.
With a 12-teamer, Alabama would still be very much in the hunt and college football could look forward to at least one more meaningful postseason for Young and Anderson.
The downside of a 12-teamer, at least for some, is the likes of Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State - both of which missed the CFP last season - would seem to be a shoe-in for the playoff every year, even making it in their 'œdown'ť seasons.
HAL OF A GAME
LSU freshman Harold Perkins caught the attention of the nation last week when the linebacker helped the Tigers upset Alabama, chasing down Young all over the field.
Against Arkansas on Saturday, Perkins was even better with four sacks and two forced fumbles.
Perkins was a huge recruiting win for Brian Kelly after he took over as LSU's coach last December. The five-star from Texas was expected to be part of Texas A&M's No. 1 class but flipped to the Tigers.
He has not only been one of the best freshmen in the country, but he's been one of the SEC's best defensive players.
Kelly said after the game that Perkins was sick with the flu and vomiting before kickoff. Kelly said he told Perkins that Michael Jordan played his best game when he was sick, referring to MJ's famous flu game in an NBA Finals.
Perkins response? 'œWho's MJ?'ť Kelly said.
UNDERDOG UPRISING
For a span of about 15 minutes early in the day, Vanderbilt and Connecticut were the talk of college football.
The Commodores snapped a 26-game SEC losing streak, scoring a late touchdown to knock off Kentucky.
Second-year Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea inherited the streak and won a total of five games in his first two seasons. The Commodores (4-6) are taking baby steps under the former Vandy fullback.
'œWe're building a program, and building a program's hard," Lea said.
UConn hit rock bottom as a program in recent years. The Huskies left the American Athletic Conference to make a go of it as an independent after the 2019 season. They didn't play the pandemic season and then went 1-11 last year.
The hiring of former UCLA coach Jim Mora Jr. didn't inspire a ton of hope for a turnaround, but that's exactly what has happened.
To reach six wins and bowl eligibility, UConn (6-5) beat No. 19 Liberty, which just a week ago won at Arkansas.
'œThis is everything we wanted to bring this program back to,'ť quarterback Zion Turner said. 'œJust to have the fans have pride in this program once again, it's a great feeling.'ť
The last time UConn beat a ranked team was in 2015 when the Huskies defeated Houston.
One thing to keep in mind: Without a conference affiliation, UConn is not guaranteed a bowl bid.
AROUND THE COUNTRY
A ghastly season for Virginia and first-year coach Tony Elliott found a new low when the Cavaliers' Brennan Armstrong threw Pick-6s on the first two plays from scrimmage against Pittsburgh. It didn't get much better from there. Armstrong was one of the most productive quarterbacks in the country over the last two seasons, but this season has been a disaster. He could be a candidate to take his extra COVID-19 year of eligibility and try again at a new school in 2023. ... Another hyped ACC quarterback who has had a lost season is Miami's Tyler Van Dyke. The Hurricanes turned to freshman Jacurri Brown to beat Georgia Tech. Van Dyke would seem to be a prime candidate to jump into the portal and try to recapture his 2021 form with another school. ... No. 21 Illinois' second straight home loss, this time to Purdue, has thrown open the door to the Big Ten West title to its rivals. The Illini are at No. 3 Michigan next week. Saturday ended with Illinois, Purdue, Minnesota and Iowa all tied for first at 4-3 after the Hawkeyes beat Wisconsin with 146 yards of offense. If you dig into the schedules and tiebreaker possibilities, Iowa is probably the favorite to get to Indianapolis with two weeks left. ... No. 22 UCF is pointed toward a return to the New Year's Six. The Knights beat No. 16 Tulane and are looking good to host the American Athletic Conference championship with games remaining against Navy and USF. UCF likely will face the winner of the regular-season finale between Cincinnati and Tulane.
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