Despite a perfect record and a No. 3 ranking, the defending champion Ohio State Buckeyes are one of four college football teams on upset alert in Week 12.
Only two full weeks remain in the 2015 college football regular season, which means the conference championship and College Football Playoff pictures are both coming into focus.
There are several high-profile matchups this weekend, including six games between ranked opponents. What is essentially a four-team Big 12 playoff begins with No. 10 Baylor traveling to Stillwater to take on 10-0 No. 6 Oklahoma State. No. 7 Oklahoma hosts No. 18 TCU. The Baylor-Oklahoma State game is a coin flip, and because the status of TCU start quarterback Trevor Boykin is unknown, there isn’t a current line available for TCU-Oklahoma, which means neither contest fits our criteria for an upset.
Elsewhere, No. 22 Ole Miss hosts No. 15 LSU. The Rebels are still alive in the SEC West race and are a slight favorite over the suddenly slumping Tigers, but an LSU victory wouldn’t be a shock. Neither would a win for No. 24 USC over No. 23 Oregon in Eugene, nor would a victory for No. 20 Northwestern in Madison over No. 25 Wisconsin (even if the Badgers are a ten-point favorite). Therefore, we won’t put any of those teams on upset alert, either.
However, there is one highly ranked and favored team hosting a top-ten opponent that should be on full alert: the Ohio State Buckeyes, who need a victory over No. 9 Michigan State to keep their hopes alive for a spot in the College Football Playoff. Despite a perfect record, Ohio State is ranked No. 3 by the playoff committee this week as the result of a weak schedule and a handful of unimpressive performances. A victory over the Spartans would help the Buckeyes tremendously, but a loss would be deadly.
Who else should be worried this week? Let’s take a look at four college football teams on upset alert in Week 12.
Note: Point spreads referenced in the pages that follow come via VegasInsider.com and are accurate as of Wednesday November 18, 2015. Rankings refer to those released by the College Football Playoff committee Tuesday November 17, 2015.
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