College football Week 11: ‘Bama-LSU, Georgia-Mississippi carry high stakes for SEC and playoff races

The first College Football Playoff rankings are out, and now the jockeying for position begins in earnest.

The Week 11 spotlight shines on the Southeastern Conference, where two teams just outside the top 12 can enhance their chances of appearing on the bracket.

Mississippi, No. 16 in The Associated Press poll and CFP rankings, hosts No. 2 Georgia (No. 3 CFP) in a matchup of quarterbacks trending in opposite directions.

No. 14 LSU (No. 15) and No. 11 Alabama (No. 11) play in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, resuming a rivalry that heated up over their three-plus decades together in the old SEC West.

Mississippi’s Jaxson Dart enters his game on a roll, having set school records with 515 yards passing and 562 yards of total offense, to go with six touchdowns, against Arkansas. Dart and the two-loss Rebels will face a much more formidable defense in what amounts to a must-win game for their playoff hopes.

SEC co-leader Georgia will have to be sharper than it was last week to win in its first trip to Oxford since 2016. The Bulldogs knocked off then-No. 1 Texas on the road Oct. 19, had an open date and then had to overcome Carson Beck’s three interceptions to beat Florida last week. Beck has thrown eight interceptions over the last three games and 11 over the last five.

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The top three teams in the Big 12 have challenging games. No. 9 BYU (No. 9 CFP), alone in first place, visits Utah for a rivalry game. No. 17 Iowa State (No. 17 CFP) plays Kansas at Arrowhead Stadium, and No. 21 Colorado (No. 20 CFP) visits Texas Tech, which upset the Cyclones on the road last week.

No. 4 Miami (No. 4 CFP) will try to stay unbeaten in ACC play when it visits Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets have won three of the last five meetings. No. 13 SMU (No. 13 CFP), tied with Miami for first, is idle.

Unbeaten Big Ten co-leaders Oregon and Indiana are double-digit favorites in their games. The No. 1 Ducks (No. 1 CFP) host Maryland and the No. 8 Hoosiers (No. 8 CFP) are at home against Michigan.

Best game

Alabama (6-2, 3-2 SEC) at LSU (6-2, 3-1), Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET (ABC)

The Crimson Tide and Tigers combined for 22 of 32 SEC West titles, and this game often determined the winner. The divisions have gone away, but the game carries high stakes.

Jalen Milroe outdueled eventual Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels last year to keep Alabama on track for one of the four playoff spots with a 42-28 win. Two years ago, LSU made it to the SEC championship game by virtue of its 32-31 overtime win at home.

BetMGM Sportsbook lists Alabama as a 3-point favorite.

Heisman watch

Colorado two-way star Travis Hunter appeared on the ESPN and Fox pregame shows last week to campaign for the Heisman, and on Wednesday he was the favorite at 7-to-4 odds at BetMGM Sportsbook.

“Nobody has ever done what I’ve been doing,” he told Fox. “So it’s pretty much that simple for me. I steal the game on defense. I steal the game on offense. Nobody has ever done that before, and it’s just pretty much easy for me.”

Hunter and the Buffaloes get a big stage at Texas Tech with a Fox national broadcast. Hunter has caught 60 passes for 757 yards and eight touchdowns and has had five 100-yard games. On the other side of the ball he has 21 tackles, seven pass breakups, two interceptions and a forced fumble. He averages 110 snaps per game.

Numbers to know

2 — Touchdowns needed by Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel to break the NCAA career record of 178 total touchdowns set by Houston’s Case Keenum (2007-11).

7 — Yards needed by Devin Neal to pass June Henley (3,841 from 1993-96) as Kansas’ career rushing leader.

55 — Days between UConn’s most recent road game (Sept. 14) and its visit to UAB on Saturday.

1955 — Prior to this season, the last time Vanderbilt beat Alabama and Auburn in the same season.

281 — Consecutive extra points made by N.C. State over 84 games since its last miss, the longest active FBS streak.

Under the radar

Iowa (6-3, 4-2 Big Ten) at UCLA (3-5, 2-4), Friday, 9 p.m. ET (Fox)

The Hawkeyes have scored 40-plus points in three straight games and in four overall, and their average of 30.8 per game ranks fourth in the Big Ten. That’s double last season’s average. They’ll head to the Rose Bowl stadium to face an improving UCLA team coming off road wins over Rutgers and Nebraska. The Bruins scored a total of 87 points in the first six games; they’ve totaled 62 in the last two. This is a good measuring-stick game for UCLA first-year coach DeShaun Foster.

Hot seat

Third-year Temple coach Stan Drayton is 8-24, and BetMGM Sportsbook lists his team as a 26 1/2-point underdog in Saturday’s game at American Athletic Conference heavyweight Tulane. The Owls went 3-9 each of Drayton’s first two seasons. Their two wins this year are against Utah State and Tulsa, teams that are a combined 5-12. Drayton is earning $1.9 million this year, according to the USA Today salary database, and it’s a tough ask to bring him back for a fourth season given the program’s trendline.

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