This analysis is brought to you by TeamRankings.com, the only site that uses advanced analytics and game theory to optimize picks for football office pools. To see their recommended picks for every game, customized for your bowl pool’s size and scoring system, check out their 2021 college bowl pool picks. MORE TEAMRANKINGS: Five value picks for pick ’em pools College Bowl Picks: How To Win A College Bowl Picks Pool Identify The Bowl Favorites – Objectively Picking the team you think is likely to win every bowl game is usually not the best strategy to win your pool....

Only two kickers averaged double figures last season in fantasy points per game (FPPG): Andre Szmyt of Syracuse and Dominik Eberle of Utah State. As is expected, kicker is typically one of the last positions drafted in all college fantasy football leagues. While no one would argue in favor of reaching for a kicker, getting a good one is important. If your league provides bonuses for length of field goals, that will certainly boost a big-legged kicker a bit in the rankings, but it’s still unlikely to make drafting a kicker into any sort of priority....

Ohio State, LSU and Clemson are locks after finishing off conference championship seasons with 13-0 records. Oklahoma should join the field as the lone Power 5 conference champion with one loss. There shouldn’t be much drama other than the seeding, which will determine who goes to the College Football Playoff semifinals at the Peach Bowl and Fiesta Bowl. MORE: Joe Burrow is Playoff’s most dangerous quarterback Sporting News’ breaks down the College Football Playoff picture for you here:...

Undefeated Alabama and Miami went down on Rivalry Week. Two-loss Auburn and Ohio State could win conference championships. Wisconsin is the lone Power 5 unbeaten. There’s a lot to sort out, and no team is a lock to make the College Football Playoff. Isn’t that what it’s all about? MORE: Auburn’s tried, true formula works on Bama again Sporting News will break down the College Football Playoff picture each week....

Since then, chaos has reigned over the course of Rivalry Week and conference championship weekend, bringing into question whether the Crimson Tide can become the first two-loss team to make the Playoff. Losses by No. 4 USC and No. 3 TCU have made it a talking point, at least. Now, the question is whether Alabama, which entered the final week of play ranked No. 6, can jump into the top four with losses by the Trojans and Horned Frogs....

Ohio State, LSU, Clemson and Georgia occupied the four playoff spots a week ago and are expected to do so this week, after recording dominant wins in Rivalry Week. The Buckeyes ended the regular season with a perfect 12-0 record after thrashing Michigan 56-27, while LSU slaughtered Texas A&M 50-7. Clemson finished unbeaten in the regular season for the consecutive year after a 38-3 win over South Carolina, while Georgia buried Georgia Tech 52-7....

Television ratings for Thursday’s College Football Playoff semifinals were down dramatically from last year’s numbers, with the games’ shift to the biggest party night of the year bearing the blame. ESPN said Friday that No. 1 Clemson’s Orange Bowl win over No. 4 Oklahoma drew a 9.7 overnight rating and No. 2 Alabama’s rout of No. 3 Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl earned a 9.9. MORE: Cotton Bowl photos | National title starts at QB | What to watch in national title game...

No. 1 Alabama (9-0), No. 2 Notre Dame (10-0), No. 3 Clemson (9-1) and No. 4 Ohio State (5-0) have not changed through the entire process, and the most likely scenario if the chalk holds is those four teams matching up in the College Football Playoff semifinals. This year, those will be the Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowl on Jan. 1. In a season that has been riddled with cancellations — the latest “The Game” between Ohio State and Michigan — that wouldn’t be the worst thing....

Is that too many bowl games? Given the outbreak of COVID-19 could threaten the season, we’re going to say absolutely not. The bowl season concludes with the College Football Playoff championship game on Jan. 11 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. This year’s semifinals are on Jan. 1 at the Rose Bowl Game and Sugar Bowl. Sporting News’ Playoff picks are a reflection of the top-heavy state of college football: Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma and Ohio State have combined for 17 of 24 total appearances....

That said, there’s still a lot to find out about several top-25 college football teams this week, some of which started their season with a loss (like Michigan and Washington) or narrowly avoided defeat (like Penn State and Michigan State). MORE: SN Power Rankings The Week 2 slate of games includes a top-25 matchup between USC and Stanford, a pivotal SEC East matchup between Georgia and South Carolina and a cross-conference reunion between Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher....

Sporting News breaks down each of those matchups with dates, times, TV schedule and what’s at stake in each game. MORE: Watch college football live and on-demand with fuboTV ACC Clemson (11-1) vs. Miami (11-1) TV: ABC When: 8 p.m., Saturday Where: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, N.C. What’s at stake: A playoff berth. The winner is in here. The Tigers are going for three straight ACC championships, while the Hurricanes can win their first ACC championship....

The Bulldogs remained at No.4 in the latest set of CFP rankings on Tuesday and are currently both the highest-ranked one-loss team and the only one-loss team in the top four. Georgia clinched a third consecutive SEC East title with a 21-14 road win over No. 15 Auburn last week and defeating Texas A&M—which rank 24th in the Associated Press Top 25 poll—would give the Bulldogs four wins against ranked programs....

Washington was a 13.5-point dog (Dawg?) when it went into Autzen Stadium and ended No. 6 Oregon’s Playoff hopes. Vanderbilt and Boston College were 17.5-half point underdogs against Kentucky and N.C. State, but both schools showed they are still working despite disappointing seasons and pulled upsets. And Arizona orchestrated a Pac-12 After Dark special, knocking off UCLA as a 19.5-point underdog. Are there still more big underdogs ready to rise up as we near the finish line?...

Illinois proved to be the biggest dog to get the win last week. In 54 games, there were 16 upsets, including three of 20-point spreads or more. In addition to Illinois, Rice was a 24-point dog to UAB and won, and New Mexico pulled off a win against Wyoming as a 20-point underdog. Here at the Underdog Challenge, we are charged with the difficult task of spotting those upsets before they happen....

Florida’s matchup at home against LSU was postponed (maybe canceled), and FSU’s game at Miami could be dealing with damage after the storm passes South Florida. Hurricane aside, the Heisman hype continues to grow around ACC quarterbacks Lamar Jackson, Deshaun Watson … and Mitch Trubisky? MORE: Week 6 TV schedule Here are five story lines to watch for this weekend: 1. Hurricane Matthew doesn’t care about your football game. Teams playing in the Southeast will need to have a backup plan in case Matthew ravages Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina....

Bright Sheng is an accomplished composer and professor at the university’s School of Music, Theatre & Dance in Ann Arbor, Michigan but has now stepped down from teaching the course in question following significant criticism. The composition course was to focus on the works of William Shakespeare and on September 10 Sheng showed a film version of the classic play Othello. The eponymous main character is described as a “Moor” and has frequently been depicted as a Black man....

College will always convey a certain image: Gothic buildings filled with postadolescents listening to tweed-clad professors. But the Internet is blurring that picture, and State U is quietly morphing into College.com. To be sure, a virtual university is no place for Felicity or her just-out-of-high-school friends; they want the full campus package, kegs and all. But “typical” college students–18 to 22 years old, living in dorms, studying full time–make up only 16 percent of enrollments today, says Arthur Levine, president of Teachers College at Columbia University....

Texas, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Arizona, Mississippi State, Stanford, NC State and Virginia will all be in Omaha, Nebraska, fighting to be the next champion of college baseball. The College World Series is unlike other prominent NCAA championships like March Madness and the College Football Playoff. The eight teams will start off in two brackets with two teams emerging to face off against one another in the finals matchup. Below, we’re breaking down the format for the College World Series, from how the initial brackets work to how teams reach College World Series....