Clay Travis's Starting 11: Miami, Ole Miss, Texas Tech, LSU and Tennessee Go Down Edition

It all started on Friday night when Miami did what Miami often does — follow up a great September with a middle of the year tank job.

This year it was against Louisville.

Credit to the Cardinals for the win — they managed to return bad Carson Beck from the catacombs where Miami had stored him — and they set off a cavalcade of chaos that would reverberate all the way to late last night when Florida State, the team that started off the season with a double-digit upset win over Alabama, lost its fourth straight game and left most college football fans on the extremes of fandom — you either are holding on for dear life to playoff hopes or you're completely ready to jettison your current coach and take your chances with someone new.

And, by the way, sometimes you feel that exact same emotion DURING THE GAME. In the first quarter, your team is going to be in the playoff. By the fourth quarter, you want your coach and the entire coaching staff gone.

Hurricane Of A Shocker: Louisville Ruins Miami's Perfect Season, Shocks College Football Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

But, even with these wild swings of emotion, at least if you are reading this on Sunday morning, you had the good sense to choose wisely and become a college football fan.

Because otherwise you might have found yourself spending a beautiful fall Saturday at a No Kings Rally.

By the way, do you know how I spent most of my Saturday? Going to a cell phone repair shop because my 15-year-old Alabama fan son dropped his cell phone in the toilet on Friday night. Legit this was my Saturday morning. I get up, do a hit on Fox News on Kayleigh McEnany's show with Buck and then walk back into the house and my wife tells me our 15-year-old's cell phone isn't working and gives me addresses to take him to get the phone repaired.

So we spent the next five hours trying to get his phone repaired.

The phone eventually gets fixed — there's $200 down the drain — and what's the first thing he says to me when we pick him up after he watched the Tennessee-Alabama game with friends?

"Tennessee sucks, dad."

Ah, football.

It's wonderful.

Okay, let's dive in to the Starting 11:

1. Vanderbilt is a very good football team that is a legit playoff contender

For the first time since 1977, Vanderbilt was favored in a top 25 SEC matchup, and for the first time since 1950, the Commodores are 6-1.

Last year when Vandy beat Alabama, it was seen as a generational upset, but now something even more remarkable has occurred — people expect Vandy to win big games against traditional football powerhouses. That's a tremendous credit to the culture Clark Lea has built with the Commodores — his first three years were 2-10, 5-7, and 2-10. But last year's 7-6 still felt a bit like smoke and mirrors. Not this year's 6-1. This Commodore team can line up and play against anyone.

NASHVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 18: Sedrick Alexander #28 of the Vanderbilt Commodores runs with the ball during a college football game against the LSU Tigers on October 18, 2025 at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

(Shout out to my friend Vandy GM Barton Simmons who met his wife Hayley Frank Simmons partly through her being a writer on this site. In fact, many of you longtime OutKick readers have read her work quite a bit on here, including her Christmas gift guide, which helped to assist clueless male holiday shoppers — that's many of you, and me — for years. Barton has worked to build a highly talented roster while also having to manage the top academic standards of the university too. The result? Leave aside football, Vandy now has an undergrad admissions rate of roughly 5% and the yield, which is the percentage of admitted students who enroll, now rivals many of the top Ivy League schools. A couple of generations ago, Georgetown's basketball success helped turn the Hoyas into a truly elite national university. Well, the SEC's rise as a major national brand has made it difficult to get into many schools in the conference, but Vanderbilt, as the best school in the nation's best football conference, now has admissions profiles and student applications that look like Harvard and Yale. It used to be a joke that Vandy wanted to be Harvard from Monday to Friday and Alabama on Saturday. Well, now they kind of are. It's a truly extraordinary story.)

Yes, Diego Pavia struck the Heisman pose in the end zone, but while he deservedly draws a bevy of attention, this Vandy team isn't just about the quarterback. He's the engine that drives the Commodore express, but the offensive and defensive lines have horses and there are playmakers everywhere. The Commodores outplayed LSU in all facets of the game — dominated time of possession, posted 239 yards rushing against a top five defense, and selectively worked in the passing game to take an early 11-point lead in the second half and then hold on to throw the anchor down on the bayou bengals.

With five games to go, Vanderbilt probably needs to go 4-1 to punch a playoff ticket. Missouri comes to Nashville this coming weekend, then Vandy goes to Texas — a game that looks winnable right now — and then Auburn and Kentucky come to Nashville before an end-of-season trip to Tennessee.

Put it this way, if Vandy beats Missouri this coming weekend, I don't think it's crazy for a split in the UT games to propel Vandy — Vandy — into the college football playoff.

As for LSU, I hope Brian Kelly doesn't check the message boards or the social media feeds.

NASHVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 18: Louisiana State Tigers head coach Brian Kelly discusses a penalty call with a game official during a game between the Vanderbilt Commodores and Louisiana State Tigers, October 18, 2025, at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Matthew Maxey/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

This is year four at LSU and Kelly isn't likely to make the playoff or the SEC title game.

In fact, Kelly better beat Texas A&M next weekend or things will get nasty for him in the bye week before the Alabama game.

Kelly was brought in to win national championships. Instead, the team he left, Notre Dame, has actually played for a national championship and his former defensive coordinator at Notre Dame, Clark Lea, just beat him head-to-head in a major SEC battle.

I get that many teams are unhappy with their head coaches, but if Kelly finishes somewhere around 8-4, who else is out there for them to hire that would have a better resume than Kelly?

Not many coaches. (I'll talk about this a bit more below.)

The most delectable result here would be LSU offering Nick Saban a billion dollars a year to come back and coach them at LSU again.

Seriously, can you imagine?

I need this to happen just to make college football even crazier.

Fun fact to contemplate, purely from a money-making perspective, Clark Lea might be better off going 9-3 and missing the playoff. Why? Because then he'd be the top target of many of the top jobs in the country. I'm not sure he'd leave Vandy — it's his alma mater and Vandy has the institutional money to match anything offered by anyone else — and think about it, how much is a top football team helping Vandy admissions right now? Immensely. But some coaches having great years actually might become, paradoxically, more desirable if they barely miss the playoff.)  

2. Miami's loss scrambles the playoff board quite a bit

Last night I was watching games at a local sports bar on 30a with my family and I went to the bathroom and ended up standing next to a waiter during the final moments of the Missouri-Auburn game.

He was a Miami fan, and he said, "Man, we're the Dallas Cowboys of college football. Every year they get us all fired up in the offseason and then we win games in September and they get us all excited even more and then boom, Louisville happens."

And, yes, Louisville did happen.  

Credit to the Cardinals, but this was really about bad Carson Beck, the one we saw last year at Georgia, rearing his ugly head.

Four interceptions were the difference.

MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 17: Carson Beck #11 of Miami Hurricanes is pictured during warmups before the game against Louisville at Hard Rock Stadium on October 17, 2025 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Michael Pimentel/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images)

And now we have to really question if the Hurricanes are going to spiral like they have in prior Mario Cristobal seasons.

There aren't any top 25 teams left on this schedule, but does it matter? The way Miami played against Louisville, they could certainly stack another loss.

And what happens if Miami doesn't even make the ACC title game? Right now, Georgia Tech, Virginia, and SMU are all undefeated in conference. Heck, Miami is at ninth! in the conference having only played two conference games. But this is where these mega conferences become such a challenge. Miami doesn't play Georgia Tech or Virginia and Louisville now has the tiebreak over them.

Credit to Brent Key's Georgia Tech team, by the way. They won at Duke and are 7-0. The Yellow Jackets will be favored in every game and have a decent chance of being 11-0 when Georgia comes to town.

This is probably the best case scenario for the ACC now — have Georgia Tech be 11-1, or 12-0, with a one-loss opponent in the ACC title game. Then there's a strong argument for two teams to make the playoff.

There's even a scenario, as I laid out above, where 11-1 Miami doesn't make the ACC title game at all, but still gets in the playoff too.

3. Alabama's 99-yard pick six on the final play of the first half ended the game against Tennessee

I'm still angry about this play call because it was just lamebrained coaching.

So let's dive in and explain how, in my opinion, this single play ended up deciding the game. (The stats here were pretty much identical other than this play).

Okay, so Tennessee runs to the Alabama two for a first down with nine seconds left. Tennessee still has two timeouts at this point in time. They take a timeout here even though the clock stopped for the first down, and they could have clocked it. (I'm okay with this choice because in theory you'd rather have the down than the timeout. Although some might disagree. And you can argue Tennessee should have taken a timeout after the run to the Alabama five too, but we won't deconstruct every aspect here.)

Regardless, let me set the scenario here. You have 13 seconds left and a first and goal at the two and a timeout.

Absolute worst-case scenario as a coach, you should be kicking a field goal to end the half and go into the locker room down 16-10. Best case scenario, you score a touchdown to make it 16-14.

Okay, what's your play call on first down? YOU THROW THE FOOTBALL ON A QUICK HIT TO THE END ZONE!

TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA - OCTOBER 18: Defensive back Zabien Brown #2 of the Alabama Crimson Tide intercepts a pass intended for tight end Miles Kitselman #87 of the Tennessee Volunteers during the first half of play at Bryant-Denny Stadium on October 18, 2025 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  (Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images)

You still have a timeout so if you get sacked you call the timeout and kick the field goal. You have three pretty big stud receivers. If you catch the ball, touchdown, if you don't, you still have the option to run or pass and there are probably nine seconds left, and you still have a timeout. So, on second down, you've preserved your run pass option. And then you can run another play on second down, which should be another quick pass play, and then on third down you can try and run it and still have your timeout.

Now maybe you only get two plays to score.

Either way, what you don't want to do is show your hand and try the run on first down, because if you get stopped then you have to call a timeout and everyone knows you have to pass. And then, with no timeout left, you actually risk getting sacked and getting no points.  

I know this, anyone with a logical brain knows this, but instead, Tennessee runs on first down and gets stopped at the one. So they have to take their timeout.

Now Alabama knows you have to pass on second down.

But you come out in a formation looking like you're going to run only everyone knows you aren't going to run. Which leads to Alabama taking a timeout. To tell their guys that Tennessee has to throw because otherwise the clock runs out if they get stopped.  

And then you come out AND RUN THE SAME PLAY!

No wide receivers or skill guys are really on the field at all. The throw is outside and bad and the pick six happens and the game is over.

This end of half scenario effectively ended the game. And it was 100% coaching malpractice.

This is my issue with Josh Heupel. I think in calling the plays he sometimes misses the larger picture of game management and, as a result, he has been horrible at managing the clock in late-game situations all year.

Would Tennessee have won if they simply kick a field goal there?

Maybe.

Again, the stats were even — the Vols had more first downs and more passing and rushing yards — and Tennessee's early third quarter touchdown would have given them the lead if we hadn't seen a pick six there.

I just think that play was the game. And Josh Heupel didn't put his team in the best position to succeed, which is the only real job a coach on a gameday.

And that's troubling regardless of how the rest of the season goes.

I said after the missed field goal against Georgia that I felt like that missed field goal would probably be the difference between Tennessee making or missing the playoffs, and I still do, but that end of half scenario was coaching malpractice for Heupel.

So was, by the way, the end of the game scenario.

Sure, Alabama's up 17, but you need three scores. Why are you not kicking the field goal on 4th and 11?

It's never a good sign when my 11-year-old walks up from throwing football by the sports bar, looks at the game situation, and says, "Why isn't he kicking the field goal?" during the 4th and 11 scenario.  

As for Alabama, I'm sticking with my position, I think the Tide are good, but not great, which is the theme of the modern NIL era. There are lots of good teams, no great ones.  

The Tide running game is average, the pass protection held up very well in this game, but hasn't been great for much of the year and the defense is more bend-but-don't-break than dominant.

TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA - OCTOBER 18:  Ty Simpson #15 of the Alabama Crimson Tide reacts after passing for a touchdown against the Tennessee Volunteers during the second quarter at Bryant-Denny Stadium on October 18, 2025 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

But Ty Simpson has become a huge difference maker at quarterback. He's pinpoint accurate on his throws, sees the field well, and can push the ball downfield and get explosives as a result. Beat South Carolina in Columbia, and the Gamecocks are an offensive mess and can't block for LaNorris Sellers, and LSU and Oklahoma come to Tuscaloosa. That game at Auburn still looms large — speaking of messes — but Alabama should be in the SEC title game and in the playoff this year barring a collapse.

Most of this game was even, but Kalen DeBoer didn't screw up in a massive way and Josh Heupel did and that was all the diference.    

4. Georgia outlasted Ole Miss

Kirby Smart's Bulldogs took over the fourth quarter and hit their final bye week of the season in a great spot to be 10-1 with a road game against Georgia Tech to finish the year.

Gunner Stockton played great and the Georgia offense bludgeoned Ole Miss in the running game, rolling up 221 yards rushing to Ole Miss's 88.

If I had to bet right now, a Georgia-Alabama SEC title game rematch is the most likely outcome of the SEC season.

As for Ole Miss, the Rebels travel to Oklahoma in an absolute dogfight at 11 am central in Norman this coming Saturday.

If Ole Miss wins at Oklahoma, they punch their playoff ticket. If the Rebels lose, they finish with South Carolina, The Citadel and Florida in Oxford and then have the Egg Bowl in Starkville on the Friday after Thanksgiving. I know what happened last year in Gainesville, trust me, Rebel fans, but I think you have to put Ole Miss still in good shape to make the playoff even with this loss.

And if the Rebels could get the win at Oklahoma, a long-sought trip to Atlanta for the SEC title game — Ole Miss has never been — could be in play as well.  

5. BYU is the only undefeated team left in the Big 12 as Arizona State took down Texas Tech

Congrats to BYU on the win in the holy war, one of the most underrated rivalries in all of sports, which propelled BYU to the top of the Big 12 standings.

PROVO, UT - OCTOBER 18: Brigham Young Cougars tight end Carsen Ryan (20) during a game between the Utah Utes and BYU Cougars on October 18, 2025, at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah. (Photo by Boyd Ivey/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Cougars still have a gauntlet of road games to run, however, with games at Iowa State, Texas Tech, and Cincinnati, plus home games against TCU and UCF. I don't think BYU will run the table here, which means two one loss, or more, teams are likely to meet in the Big 12 title game.  

With the last second Arizona State win over Texas Tech, the Big 12 now has five teams with one or fewer losses, which means the playoff race is going to be an absolute donnybrook down the stretch.

6. Indiana, Ohio State and Oregon all look good for the playoff in the Big Ten

But who is the fourth team in the mix, if at all, for the playoff from the Big Ten?

After the USC loss to Notre Dame — which we will discuss below — I just don't see an additional playoff contender although Michigan would probably be the best bet. If the Wolverines win out they would be in the playoff. Maybe Iowa too. But neither fan base remotely expects that to happen.  

While Indiana and Ohio State continue to cruise through the season without a single top 25 opponent left on the regular season schedule, Oregon still has some tough matchups — at Iowa, USC and at Washington could be danger zone games. 

I think the Big Ten will be a three-playoff team league this year.

Which opens up several intriguing scenarios we will discuss below.

7. The SEC still has ten playoff teams alive, but some of those playoff dreams are on life support

Ten SEC teams have two or fewer losses.

All of these team fanbaes can squint and see paths to the playoffs.

Yes, even you Texas, Tennessee, and LSU fans. (Most of you weren't watching, but Texas only put up 179 total yards — they were outgained 395 to 179 by Kentucky! — and survived in overtime in Lexington. Arch was 12-of-27 for 132 yards, but the Longhorn run game is the bigger issue — 28 carries for 47 yards.)

Okay, if I'm right above on my playoff analysis, the Big 12 feels likely to get one team. The ACC we will put down for two teams, but one is also very possible. You've got three from the Big Ten, one from outside the power four, and Notre Dame is in the mix too.

That would mean the SEC has four or five playoff spots in play for these ten teams.

And I still feel like 10-2 will get you in the playoff from the SEC.

So that remains the goal.

And, remember, much of this will clear up because these teams will play each other down the stretch. I think the odds of there being more than five SEC teams that finishing 10-2 is virtually zero.

8. Notre Dame gets the win as the Lincoln Riley experiment at USC continues to flounder

The Fighting Irish at 10-2 are likely in the playoff, but their resume took a bit of a hit with the Miami loss.

If Texas A&M were to collapse — you know it's possible, Aggie fans, you just gave up 42 points to Arkansas — and missed the playoff and Miami did too, would 10-2 Notre Dame really deserve a bid? That's a tough one.

SOUTH BEND, IN - OCTOBER 18: Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Jeremiyah Love (4) runs the ball against Southern California Trojans safety Christian Pierce (24) and Southern California Trojans cornerback Marcelles Williams (25) during the game between Southern California Trojans Southern California Trojans and Notre Dame Fighting Irish on October 18, 2025 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, IN. (Photo by Joseph Weiser/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

But for now Notre Dame continues to run the table and with games left against Boston College, Navy, Pitt, Syracuse and Stanford, the Irish are in decent position to finish 10-2.

But, man, Lincoln Riley hasn't worked out, at least so far, for USC.

The first season was a great one, but 8-5, 7-6 and now 5-2 just haven't cut it and the playcalling in this game was so bad even Snoop Dogg took to Instagram to question it.

8-4 feels likely and that's going to make Riley's seat super hot as we enter November.

So add USC to the upset fan base mix.

9. Who are all these teams firing their coaches going to hire?

I know we've entered fire-the-coach season — and as I write this on Sunday morning I keep glancing over at my phone to see if anyone is going to get fired while I'm writing this — but who are the top candidates available?

Penn State, UCLA, Arkansas, Oklahoma State, and Virginia Tech are all solid jobs with openings. You may have Florida, Florida State, Auburn. Who knows what other jobs are coming open as well?

So who the heck is out there to get fanbases excited?

Not many guys, honestly.

That's especially the case as I mentioned above when you're talking about many of the top coaches making the playoffs.

Let's say, for instance, that Florida wants Lane Kiffin, and he's willing to take that job.

Does that happen if Ole Miss is in the playoffs and he's not able to leave until after Christmas?

Is Matt Rhule, who just lost to Minnesota and is now 2-22 in top 25 games, really a better hire than James Franklin at Penn State?

Heck, is it possible that James Franklin is the best coach on the market come late November? I think that's likely going to be true.

And none of this even considers, by the way, what happens when, or if, some coaches leave good jobs for other good jobs.

Anyway, Clark Lea can't pull a Marco Rubio and take every job.

Bottom line, there just aren't that many proven head coaches who are going to be on the market for all these jobs. Many of these schools may end up hiring guys with inferior resumes to the guys they fired.

10. My Outkick National Top Ten

Okay, as always, remember I only rank teams based on games that have actually been played, not on what we expected to see on the field, but what we have actually seen.

1. Indiana
2. Ohio State
3. Alabama
4. Georgia
5. Texas A&M
6. Vanderbilt
7. BYU
8. Georgia Tech
9. Ole Miss
10. Miami

11. SEC Power Rankings 1-16

As I said above, ten teams still have a playoff heartbeat. But some of those heartbeats are getting awfully faint!

1. Alabama
2. Georgia
3. Texas A&M
4. Vanderbilt
5. Ole Miss
6. Oklahoma
7. Missouri
8. LSU
9. Tennessee
10. Florida
11. Texas
12. Mississippi State
13. South Carolina
14. Auburn
15. Arkansas
16. Kentucky