8 College Football Teams In The Top 25 Most Likely To Lose In The Final Week Of The Regular Season

It’s hard to believe it’s been more than three months since college football returned to our lives, and plenty of teams are gearing up for their year to come to an end as we head into the final week of the regular season.

The stakes are very high for a number of teams in the AP’s Top 25 when you consider we still don’t know which schools are going to earn a spot in the College Football Playoff, and there are a number of games on the slate in Week 14 that could have some major implications on that particular front.

That includes two contests between teams in the Top 25, but there are a number of others where squads with a number next to their name are going to need to take care to avoid the upset.

#3 Texas

There isn’t a single game in Week 14 that stands out more than the rebooted rivalry between Texas and Texas A&M, as the winner will end up facing off against Georgia in the SEC Championship.

The Longhorns are favored to win by 5.5 points against an Aggies team that suffered a huge setback with a loss to Auburn last week.

Texas A&M will have home-field advantage on its side, and their foes from Austin will head into enemy territory to play a team that needs to earn the right to play the Bulldogs and beat them if it wants to have any hopes of making the cut for the College Football Playoff.

Texas is probably the more talented team, but they haven’t faced a hungrier opponent this season.

 

#5 Notre Dame

With the very notable exception of its loss to NIU, Notre Dame has looked very impressive this season and hasn’t really had to break a sweat in any games since playing Louisville at the end of September.

The Fighting Irish are expectedly favored to beat a USC team that’s had a pretty rough year, but the Trojans are only 7.5-point underdogs heading into the battle for the Jeweled Shillelagh.

USC is probably better than its 6-5 record would suggest when you consider every single one of those losses were one-score games. Notre Dame has largely relied on its ground game to get things done, but the Trojans defense has managed to hold its own on that front.

The Fighting Irish do have a bit more to play for compared to a Trojans team whose primary motivation is playing spoiler against their longtime rival, and there’s a reason they’re expected to win by a touchdown.

However, I’m not counting USC out.

 

#12 Clemson

Clemson and South Carolina will be competing in the second game between two teams in the Top 25, and we should be in for an incredibly hard-fought battle when you consider the Tigers are just 2.5-point favorites.

South Carolina has been on an absolute tear since starting the season at 3-3, and while Clemson has won nine of its last ten games since getting blown out by Georgia to open the season, their struggles to prevent explosive running plays have been a pretty big cause for concern.

South Carolina also has a formidable QB in LaNorris Sellers, and while the Tigers should be able to get plenty of pressure on him, any shortcomings on the defensive side of the ball could end up being fatal.

#14 Arizona State

Arizona State quietly emerged as a College Football Playoff contender and certainly has a chance to sneak into the postseason if a few things end up going their way.

Of course, that’s contingent on the Sun Devils coming away with a win over an Arizona team that’s an 8.5-underdog in their rivalry game.

I would admittedly be pretty stunned if the 4-7 Wildcats are able to pull off the upset, although they will be playing in front of a friendly crowd and have some very solid motivators in the form of good, old-fashioned hate and the chance to ensure ASU doesn’t play in the Big 12 Championship or the CFP.

Arizona hasn’t really shown it has the defense to shut down either QB Sam Leavitt or RB Cam Skattebo, but if there’s ever a time for things to come together, it’s this week.

#16 South Carolina

The Clemson and South Carolina defenses are both pretty evenly matched, and the Tigers are no slouch on the other side of the ball with an offense led by QB Cade Klubnik.

As a result, this game has the potential to simultaneously be a QB battle and a defensive battle, and Clemson certainly has the arsenal to win both of them.

#17 Iowa State

Things were going great for Iowa State until they suddenly weren’t, but the Cyclones are still sitting at 9-2 after bouncing back from a two-game skid that essentially extinguished their College Football Playoff aspirations.

ISU is still in the hunt for a spot in the Big 12 championship game but will have its work cut out for it against a Kansas State team that’s a 2.5-point underdog and in a Top 25 thanks to the most recent CFP rankings.

The biggest red flag for the Cyclones is their inability to shut down the run, which is fairly worrying when you consider Kansas State QB Avery Johnson can get things done on the air and in the ground and RB DJ Giddens knows how to pound the ball.

If the Iowa State defense isn’t able to contain Johnson, it’s going to be in for a very long game.

#20 Texas A&M

I don’t really have a ton to say here that I didn’t already say when we opened up this list with Texas.

The Longhorns are simply the better team on paper, and based on how the Aggies looked against Auburn, the talent they need to pull off the upset may just not be there.

#24 Missouri

Missouri headed into the season with pretty high hopes but has been forced to accept it still doesn’t have what it takes to hang with the big boys in the SEC when you consider all three of its losses have been against conference foes who were (and still are) ranked.

Arkansas, on the other hand, sits on a lower tier than the Tigers as far as SEC talent is concerned. However, the Razorbacks are only 2-point underdogs.

The Arkansas defense has been the biggest issue for a team that usually doesn’t have too much of a problem getting it done on the offensive side of the ball.

The former was able to limit Texas to 20 points in a loss where the latter only posted 10, and if it can prevent Missouri from getting things started, the Razorbacks will be in a very solid position to win.