Following the results from a loaded Week 10 college football slate, most teams who’ve managed to work their way into the upper echelons of the US LBM Coaches Poll can seemingly feel pretty good about their chances of reaching the College Football Playoff. Then there are the less fortunate teams with multiple losses that are most likely on the outside. But some of those in the latter category can still be dangerous, able to play with the proverbial freedom of one with nothing left to lose.
This week, our overreaction exercise will examine five teams with the most potential to be agents of chaos over the final three weeks of the regular season. Most of them likely won't play their own way back into the 12-team field, but they could have an impact
on who could.
Southern California
Remaining schedule: at Indiana, vs. Maryland, at UCLA.
The Trojans, contrary to that last sentence above, might actually have the best chance from this group to help themselves. Their most recent trip east to Wisconsin did not go well, but they stayed relevant a week later by handing Ohio State the first of its two Big Ten losses. A split of their games with the Hoosiers and Bruins might not be enough to get them into the top 12, but a sweep would have to earn them serious consideration.
LSU
Remaining schedule: vs. Texas, at Tennessee, at Arkansas.
LSU’s bad result against Alabama was a likely eliminator. But when you’re already a three-loss SEC team, the best way to stay relevant is to create more three-loss SEC teams. The Tigers have two chances to do just that. The Longhorns and Volunteers, of course, will have no desire to give the committee another loss to consider, and the Bayou Bengals will need to win both games as underdogs to get back in the picture. But that’s what agents of chaos do, right?
Missouri
Remaining schedule: at Georgia, vs. Kentucky, vs. Oklahoma.
Like the other Tigers from Baton Rouge, these Mizzou Tigers also came up short in the game they had to have on their home field against Texas. Even if they run the table, their resume might not stack up well against other SEC squads with similar records, but an upset of either the Bulldogs or the Wildcats would shuffle the deck.
SMU
Remaining schedule: vs. Wake Forest, at Notre Dame, at Stanford.
The three-loss Mustangs have a couple of opportunities to upend the applecart. Despite their recent setback at Syracuse they’re still very much mathematically alive in the race for the ACC championship game, though that option is off the table should they lose to the Demon Deacons. But a week later at Notre Dame, SMU will have a chance to throw a monkey wrench into the at-large pool.
Duke
Remaining schedule: at Miami, vs. Clemson, at Wake Forest.
The Blue Devils are playing as well as anyone in the ACC right now, but unfortunately they have a bad loss to Georgia Tech that has them on the outs with the conference and College Football Playoff race. The stretch run is difficult. However, a sweep of three finishing games as difficult as this one could making things interesting. It's asking a lot to be much more than a spoiler for others.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who are the CFP chaos agents? College football Week 10 overreactions give anwsers
