Thanks to Caleb Williams, the latest greatest howdhedothat QB ever in the history of college football, I avoided an ofer.

Ole Miss lost. Lane Kiffin is staying. And, no, I’m not going to give myself two Ls for missing that captain not jumping ship. Ohio State had Buckeye fans jumping off those dorm towers nearby into the Olentangy. Clemson continued its slide back to the pack in the ACC. And Kentucky beat U of L fair and square.

The good news after a 1-4 weekend: I’m still 41-30 for the campaign. Meaning an ofer title week, and I’m still over .500 for the year.

This week’s winners:

Utah vs. Southern California. I really like me some beehivin’ Utes. Generally speaking. Kyle Whittingham’s a good coach. His teams seem to overachieve. Not to mention they’ve spoiled more than a few hopes in recent years. The Trojans have never been a favorite here, kinda imperious that private school. But Caleb Williams is indeed special. And I do not want to see either THE Ohio State University or Roll Tide in the Final Four. So not only do I believe USC will prevail, but will be rooting for them. At least, kinda, sorta, half heartedly. But will be cheering on, without reservation . . .

Kansas State vs. Texas Christian. . . . the Fort Worth Horned Frogs. Who have a true toughie against their similarly purple foe, the Wildcats from the Other Manhattan. Sonny Dykes’ gang won the regular season matchup. Which, duh, you should know since they are, like, undefeated. By ten. As stalwart as Chris Kleiman’s Cats are, I can’t get out of my mind the focus, precision, energy and execution of TCU, when I think of that winning FG at the buzzer scenario they pulled off. Besides their win here will shut the door on those two You Know Whoms mentioned above.

Louisiana State vs. Georgia. No amount of faux Cajun twang and boudin infusion is going to help the Bayou Bengals in this one.

Central Florida vs. Tulane. Ah, but that other team from Louisiana and from my favorite city, the vaunted Green Wave of Tulane, that’s something else entirely. They get to play on their home gridiron. Not that Yulman Stadium is especially noted for its inhospitality or anything like that. But Willie Fritz’s Greeenies went from 2-10 last year to 10-2 this. A mirror image reversal if you will. One of those Ls was to these Malzahns. Let’s just say the guys on St. Charles will have the last laugh after Saturday. NY 6, here come the Wave.

Purdue vs. Michigan. Those Wolverines sure had fun last weekend while on holiday south in Columbus. They haven’t lost all year. The Boilermakers slithered into this title battle somehow, with a smidge better W/L than its other mediocre division foes, two of which it lost to. One with no offense. One with no coach. The Brohms will make it interesting, but not enough.

Clemson vs. North Carolina. Talk about your seriously meh league title game, welcome to that of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Cabos are 10-2, 8-0 in the league, but, using the word of the paragraph, meh. The Tar Heels even more so, coming into this trophy game off two Ls, to the Ramblin’ Wreck (an ouch even considering GT’s uptick) and rival Wolfpack. The Baby Blues have been underwhelming under Mack Brown II, after a hopeful start to his regime redux in Chapel Hill. His guys also like Black and Gold above make it interesting, but not enough. Orange.

That’s right, I picked all the favorites. Deal with it.

— c d kaplan