HUNTINGTON, W.Va.—The second College Football Playoff Committee rankings will be out later tonight, and despite No. 23 East Carolina falling to Temple over the weekend, I believe it is still unlikely that we will see the Thundering Herd crack the top 25 this week.
The committee was not impressed with Marshall’s first eight games and with this past weekend off, there’s nothing to suggest its opinion has changed. There’s a chance that Marshall replaces East Carolina or one of the other teams who could fall out of the top 25 but don’t hold your breath.
The formula to get Marshall in the top is simple. Win the last four games of the season and win impressively.
Conference Champs
Keep in mind that the access bowl bid goes to the highest ranked conference champ. That little requirement could work out in the Herd’s favor in the end. Colorado State’s one loss is to Boise State. So, if Boise State and Colorado State both win out, the Broncos would win the head-to-head tie-breaker to play for the Mountain West title. By the way, Boise State already has two losses on the season.
Bowl projections
I’ve received several questions/comments on current bowl projections. The predictions range from Marshall playing in the Fiesta Bowl to the Bahamas Bowl. Just remember, those are based on how things stand right now. Remember, at this time last week East Carolina was in line for the access bowl bid. Things could look very different by the end of the season.
See… it wasn’t that bad
Rakeem Cato did an outstanding job during his appearance on ESPN’s “College GameDay” in Morgantown on Saturday. Despite the social media reaction to the news earlier in the week, the crowd booed, as you would expect, but nothing got out of hand. Cato even disarmed the crowd when he complimented the WVU fan base for the passion.
Cato has come a long way since he arrived on campus and was thrust into being Marshall’s starting quarterback. He has become a great ambassador for the football program and university.