A couple teams picked up their second loss of the season on Saturday, putting them into dangerous territory when it comes to making the College Football Playoff. Another won to preserve its chances.
Those teams? Texas topped Vanderbilt, to keep the Longhorns at two losses and drop the Commodores to two losses. The third was Miami, which fell to SMU on Saturday in overtime to pick up its second loss.
ESPN analyst Joey Galloway doesn’t like the chances for any of the three teams. He joined Kevin Negandhi at halftime of the Florida–Georgia game and discussed the trio.
“Texas goes on the road to play Georgia next week,” Galloway said. “I don’t feel great about that. Miami’s lost two of their last three games. And Vandy just looked outclassed by Texas for three and a half quarters. Kevin, I don’t like any of them. Can we add another team?”
ESPN’s playoff predictor showed the various percentages for the three teams to make the College Football Playoff following Saturday’s results. Texas was the most likely to make the field.
According to the playoff predictor, Texas now has a 56% chance to make the playoff field. That’s above Vanderbilt’s 45% chance and well above Miami’s 9% chance.
Texas fans hit Diego Pavia with overrated chant
As the playoff fortunes for both teams shifted considerably on Saturday during Texas’ win over Vanderbilt, the fans were also feeling it. The Longhorns let Commodores quarterback Diego Pavia know how they felt about him.
Pavia scored on a touchdown on a 25-yard run in the fourth quarter against Texas, cutting into their lead late. After the score, Longhorns fans chanted “overrated” to the Vanderbilt quarterback trailing 34-16 to let Pavia know exactly what they think of him.
Things got a little chippy after Pavia entered the end zone. Away from the play, Texas DB Malik Muhammad and Vanderbilt WR Junior Sherrill got into it. At the same time, DB Xavier Filsaime appeared to shoulder check Pavia after entering the end zone. Commodores RB AJ Newberry appeared to say something to Filsaime after the hit.
Two penalties were called on the play, which offset. Vanderbilt would go for a two-point conversion instead of the point-after attempt. It was unsuccessful, and the Longhorns maintained their three-score lead.
Insult to injury for Vanderbilt, which now has considerable work to do to keep its playoff hopes alive. It’ll be interesting to see how the ‘Dores bounce back.
