The College Football Anarchist's Guide To Week 4

We've got one rule around here: Saturday games only.  So, even though #5 Auburn had a road game at #20 Kansas State last night, they don't get to be included in the Anarchist's Guide.  Thus, we get a second straight week of Texas A&M.  That's how it goes.  Don't get me wrong: I was cheering for the Wildcats something fierce.  I just refuse to assemble this thing for a Thursday night game when you can never tell what will happen from day to day.  I turn you now to Exhibit A...

#1 Florida State vs #22 Clemson

Time: 7pm, on ABC
Line: Off the board at Bovada.
Chances Of Losing: High
Possible Chaos Level: High

The chances that FSU was going to lose this game were probably always going to get marked as "high" in this post, but it definitely got locked in at "high" when Florida State suspended Jameis Winston for the first half.  From a purely football perspective, this suspension could actually end up costing Florida State a lot, if they were to lose.  This is a divisional game for the Seminoles, and if the Tigers come away with a win, it gives Clemson the tiebreaker if it came down to that as far as deciding who gets to go to the ACC Championship game.  A team from the SEC might be able to survive not making their conference championship game and still make the playoff, but I don't think an ACC team could do the same.

UPDATE: Jameis Winston will not play at all against Clemson, and things may have just gotten completely bananas in terms of possible anarchy.

#2 Oregon at Washington State

Time: 9:30pm, on ESPN
Line: Oregon -23.5
Chances Of Losing: Low
Possible Chaos Level: High

Were people really that impressed with the Cougs hanging 59 on PORTLAND STATE last weekend that they decided that Oregon should be less than a 30 point favorite?  I mean, come on.  Road games in the Pac12 can't mean that much.  Then again, we are talking about a Mike Leach coached team, so odds are that WSU won't be afraid if nothing else.

[looks at last year's result, a 62-38 Ducks win]

Yeah, Oregon's gonna roll.

#3 Alabama vs Florida

Time: 2:30pm, on CBS
Line: Alabama -14
Chances Of Losing: Medium
Possible Chaos Level: High

After it took Florida three overtimes to beat Kentucky, I'm amazed that the line on this game is so low.  SEC bias, I guess?  In any case, Alabama's got two running backs that average more than 5.5 yards per carry, and Amari Cooper averages 13.8 yards per catch for the Tide.  I'm not putting a lot of faith in the Gators to even keep this close, but if "Bill From Gainesville" manages to figure something out, everything in the playoff picture is going to go straight to hell.

#4 Oklahoma at West Virginia

Time: 6:30pm, on Fox
Line: Oklahoma -8
Chances Of Losing: High
Possible Chaos Level: High

As things stand right now, you can pretty much assign those three spots in the playoff to Florida State, Oregon, and Alabama.  Three different conferences, three top teams that look prepared to go all the way.  But down here in the fourth slot, things get whacky.  This is where you can start to make arguments for and against teams.

The Sooners have to go into Morgantown and face the fifth best passing attack in the country on Saturday.  WVU's Clint Trickett has already thrown for over 1200 yards and seven touchdowns, and that includes two games against Power 5 opponents.  Four of those TDs and over 500 of those yards came against Maryland this past weekend, and yeah, okay, it's Maryland, but he still had the Mountaineers within a TD of Alabama with most of the fourth quarter to play.

Oklahoma's got their work cut out for them here.  They've had a relatively easy patch in front of them so far this season, winning by an average margin of 33.7 points.  That is probably not going to happen here.  Oklahoma will have to play their best game of the season to get past the Mountaineers, and if it's a close contest, you might see the Sooners lose their grip on the #4 slot, especially if the next game goes as expected...

#6 Texas A&M at SMU

Time: 2:30pm, on either ESPN2 or ABC
Line: Texas A&M -34
Chances Of Losing: Low
Possible Chaos Level: Low

The Mustangs have been outscored 88-6 in two games and head coach June Jones quit this week.  Forget the FSU game, I'm amazed you can get a line on THIS game.  There's not much of a chance of the Aggies losing this game, and even if they do, they're still probably sitting out the outside of the playoff picture with Alabama and Auburn in front of them from the same conference.  The loss would end the Aggies' chances, sure, but it's not going to send shockwaves full of repercussions, either.