Colorado
College Football Mailbag: SEC’s Two-Loss Chaos Looms Ahead Of New CFP Rankings; Colorado, Indiana Eye Spots
Alright, another weekend of college football has passed, and we certainly have more questions than answers right now regarding the playoffs.
After a few upsets this past Saturday, with Georgia Tech throttling Miami, and Ole Miss beating Georgia , we are headed towards a chaotic few weeks of playoff rankings.
As for the rest of college football, conference standings continue to be a hot topic. The Big 12 has gone crazy, the ACC is in the hands of SMU, while the SEC looks like a traffic jam at the top. Who knows what happens down the stretch with the Big Ten, but I don’t expect Oregon to lose a regular season game, so it comes down to who they will play in the conference title game.
Let’s get to your questions, as I chose a few that stood out this week.
Are we headed towards total chaos in the SEC with all these teams potentially finishing with 2 losses? Thanks man.
—Anthony, Atlanta
Well, Anthony, I think the log-jam at the top of the SEC is fascinating, and this is what happens when you don’t play a nine-game conference schedule. But, here we are, and there are a number of teams fighting for a postseason berth. Again, I’m not just talking about the conference title game, I’m looking at the college football playoff. As it currently stands, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Texas sit atop the SEC standings with just one conference loss. But I don’t know how long that will stand, especially with the Vols traveling to Georgia this weekend.
Think about it this way. Georgia, Alabama, Ole Miss, LSU and Missouri all have two losses right now, and the tiebreaker scenario will be fascinating to watch unfold. If Tennessee goes to Athens and beats the Bulldogs, then the conversation shifts, dramatically. The same can be said for the Aggies, if they were to win out, which includes a game against Texas.
I think the bigger decision comes down to the playoff committee, and how many SEC teams they decide to put into the postseason. But yes, we could be headed towards a chaotic ending, and I’m all for the madness that’s ensuing.
Is Mike Norvel firing his assistant coaches actually going to solve the problem for my Seminoles?
—Thomas, Pensacola, Fla.
I mean, Norvell fired his OC, DC and WR coach because he needed a new lease of life in Tallahassee. This team took a massive step back this season, getting destroyed by Notre Dame on Saturday, and currently sitting at 1-9 on the year. I’ll be honest, Florida State is going to have to rearrange things inside the football offices, and I’m not just talking about the coaching staff.
After all the momentum from last season, and the controversy regarding the playoffs, FSU did nothing to build off 2023, and it’s come back to bite them in a bad way. This team needs a quarterback, and to find that spark along the defensive line again. But right now, the future looks bleak, and Mike Norvell certainly made some changes so that it would give him a new lease on life at Florida State.
The Seminoles have a massive rebuild on their hands. So, I’d practice some meditation.
Appreciate your honesty about Colorado, especially after the Nebraska loss. So, do you think we can actually make the playoffs?
—Mike, Broomfield, Colo.
I’ll be the first one to admit that I did not see this coming after the Nebraska loss, Mike. I thought this team lacked weapons that would be needed to put an opponent away. Boy, was I wrong, and I’m really enjoying what Deion Sanders has done with this football team. Luckily for Colorado, the Big 12 has decided to go full-blown crazy, thanks to losses by Iowa State and Kansas State.
Now, all Colorado needs to do is win its remaining regular season games, which is certainly possible. If they do, the Buffaloes will be playing in the Big 12 title game, with a chance at securing a spot in the College Football Playoff. So, to answer your question, I absolutely believe this team can make the postseason, but they need to stop playing from behind at times.
Also, Travis Hunter is going to New York City for the Heisman Trophy ceremony, and I think he deserves the award at this moment.
Can Indiana afford a loss to Ohio State in two weeks, and still make the playoff? I’m a little concerned about strength of our schedule.
—Adam, Indiana
Yea, I’ve thought about this a lot over the last few weeks. The Hoosiers have certainly beaten up on their opponents during this 10-0 run, but I do wonder how the committee will look at them towards the end of the season. Right now, they are ranked 8th in the standings, beating a bad Michigan team 20-15 this past Saturday.
If they lose to Ohio State by a touchdown, or 10 points, then I can see the committee keeping them in the Top-12. But, if they were to let this one get away, I don’t know how the voters will react to Indiana’s schedule. Let’s be honest, their biggest win is I guess Washington, maybe Michigan. This team has the ability to beat Ohio State, and I think there’s a good shot they leave Columbus with the win.
But that schedule isn’t that helpful if the committee is looking at that part down the stretch. Either way, the Big Ten race is wild, and there are a number of scenarios where I see the Hoosiers playing in the postseason, including a potential win next week.
Thanks to everyone for the questions, and you can continue reaching out to me at Trey.Wallace@OutKick.com and I’ll get back to you. Enjoy the week, with another Saturday of college football approaching.
Colorado
Residents rally to save Colorado Springs library on brink of closure
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – Hundreds of Colorado Springs residents showed up at the Pikes Peak Library District Board of Trustees meeting Wednesday night in a last-ditch effort to save the Rockrimmon Library.
The library is set to close December 1. This comes after the board voted to not renew the library’s lease due to financial issues.
In a statement posted on their website on November 8, the board called the decision to close Rockrimmon a difficult one.
“A library provides access to resources and materials to everyone in the community, so considering a closure goes against the grain of our hopes for PPLD. However, our District provides access to nearly 700,000 people across El Paso County. We must make decisions that sustain the entire District.”
More than 250 community members showed up to Wednesday’s board meeting to show their support for keeping the Rockrimmon location open with another 119 tuning in virtually.
Former Rockrimmon Library manager Steve Abbott said he was glad to see the turnout.
“It shows that the community will not give up and they are going to fight to keep this library open,” he said.
For most of the almost five-hour meeting, 43 speakers took turns pleading with board members to postpone the library’s closure, extend the lease another year, and reconsider their decision to close the library in the first place.
One of those who spoke before the board, Abbott said closing the library will leave a massive gap for the 30,000 people who live in the area.
“It leaves a big library desert in the Rockrimmon area,” he said. “For a child to use a library now, they’ll have to go over I-25, under I-25, over Academy, under Academy to get to a library, and it’s six miles away from where Rockrimmon was.”
Speaker and Rockrimmon resident Jennifer Walker said closing the library would also deprive the area of a much-needed community center.
“There is no YMCA, there’s nothing else,” she said. “This is where we meet other moms when we’re desperate to talk to another human being that’s not a toddler, this is where we go to work when we need a quiet space, this is where the elderly come to use the computer or to check out books.”
The fate of the Rockrimmon Library was not on the board’s agenda and those who left the meeting tell 11 News the meeting ended with no resolution.
Walker said residents are still exploring their legal options.
Copyright 2024 KKTV. All rights reserved.
Colorado
What’s the latest on the Colorado River negotiations?
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation released a breakdown Wednesday of five potential paths forward for the fragile state-to-state negotiations surrounding Colorado River operating guidelines that must be updated by 2026.
The Colorado River, which is Southern Nevada’s primary source of water, holds a precarious future as the basin experiences historic drought and state leaders disagree on how to deal with shortages. The range of alternatives is possibly the last major announcement about negotiations to come from the Bureau of Reclamation under the Biden-Harris administration.
“We have worked tirelessly over the past several years to bring Colorado River Basin stakeholders together for a transparent and inclusive post-2026 process,” Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton said in a statement. “Today, we show our collective work. These alternatives represent a responsible range from which to build the best and most robust path forward for the Basin.”
What to know heading into 2025
The breakdown between two coalitions of states, the Upper and Lower Basins, centers around whether the Upper Basin — Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming — should be required to take cuts to its water allocation past what’s known as the river’s “structural deficit,” or the 1.5 million acre-feet lost to evaporation and transport. The Upper Basin has argued that it takes too many cuts already because of its reliance on snowpack instead of big reservoirs.
The Lower Basin also has called for smaller reservoirs in the Upper Basin states to be included in discussions about cuts in water usage across the system.
Notably, one of the five alternatives is based on proposals from Native American tribes, calling for the government to account for undeveloped tribal water.
The acknowledgement of the ongoing duel between the Upper and Lower Basins is the “Basin Hybrid” alternative, which appears to fall somewhere down the middle of the two coalition’s proposals.
In a statement, Upper Basin Commissioner and Colorado negotiator Becky Mitchell said it’s too early to speak directly about the five alternatives from the Bureau of Reclamation.
“Colorado continues to stand firmly behind the Upper Division States’ Alternative, which performs best according to Reclamation’s own modeling and directly meets the purpose and need of this federal action,” she said.
The Lower Basin states of Nevada, California and Arizona didn’t immediately release a statement when the announcement was released at 1 p.m.
All seven state negotiators will convene in Las Vegas in early December at the Colorado River Water Users Association conference, where experts and officials will discuss what’s to come from negotiations under President-elect Donald Trump.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Contact Alan Halaly at ahalaly@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlanHalaly on X.
Colorado
Warming and dry trend kicks off across Colorado
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