Welcome to Glass Slipper! If Tim Hardaway Jr. can make the NBA, I like my chances; please enjoy the show.

- Jacob Rhee

Here are my 10 biggest takeaways from Week 14 of the college football season.

1. An inexcusable showing.

The Buckeyes can blame the cheating scandal all they want for 2021, 2022, and 2023. There’s absolutely no running from this one. You just let a five-loss Michigan team - missing two of its three best players - stride into your stadium and humiliate you for the whole world to see. Will Howard unraveled on another big stage. Chip Kelly called the worst game of his career. Ryan Day melted down both strategically and emotionally. That was the single most embarrassing Ohio State loss of my lifetime. The Wolverines own this program, plain and simple. Why are you getting mad at those guys for trying to plant their flag? Columbus belongs to them. Let’s talk some more about our head coach…

2. Is he safe?

If Day would have been fired while he was walking out of Ohio Stadium, what would your reaction have been? I’ve defended the guy for a while, but I honestly think I would have shrugged. Oh well. Can’t argue with it. He blasted Michigan in Year 1 with Urban Meyer’s players, got sassy after a 2020 conference call with a vow to destroy his rival, and has since gone 0-4.

Everyone knows that the Buckeyes have three objectives each season. Beat the Wolverines, win the conference, and hoist the national championship trophy. Ryan is a very nice guy; he’s also going to head into Selection Sunday with a 3-of-16 mark on those goals. That’s unacceptable. The only way I’ll actively advocate for Day to keep his job next year is if he goes out and wins it all on January 20th.

3. A closing thought on The Game.

The Shoe is weak. It’s not loud in there anymore, quite frankly. There is nothing intimidating about coming into that environment. In other words, us fans deserve criticism just like the players and coaches do.

4. Bubble ‘Canes.

A 10-2 record in a bad conference, with the same amount of ranked victories as my 2007 first-grade flag football squad. Is that really enough for the committee?

I like Mario Cristobal, but he has an unhealthy infatuation with catastrophic defeats. He was 9-0, with Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, and Syracuse remaining on the schedule. Win two of three, and secure a program-altering CFP berth. Instead, Miami folks will be staring at the TV with linked arms in six days.

5. You’re still ignoring SMU?

I’d love to hear Dan Orlovsky name three players on the Mustangs. Seriously. I’ll keep praising this school until the media follows suit. Four wins away from a national title.

6. Peaking at the right time.

Both South Carolina and Arizona State are like the 4-seed in March Madness that just won its conference tournament; each squad is ripping-hot, and operating with dangerous confidence. Sun Devils quarterback Sam Leavitt doesn’t scare me, and I’m not totally convinced by the Gamecocks’ defense. Still, momentum is quite a powerful thing.

7. A return to glory?

I would not be stunned if Florida is in Atlanta for the SEC championship game in 2025. It’s extremely early to be thinking about that, but just look around. Carson Beck, Jalen Milroe, and Jaxson Dart are all out. If the Gators pick up a bowl victory, they’ll move to 6-0 in contests that DJ Lagway both started and finished. Billy Napier is in position to secure his third consecutive top-13 recruiting class, as well. There’s suddenly some real juice down in Gainesville.

8. Historic Ducks.

Let’s say Oregon goes 16-0 and grabs the national title. We’ll need to start a new discussion about the greatest college football squads of the 21st century.

Dan Lanning’s crew would have six triumphs over teams ranked inside the top 20; that’s a résumé right up there with the one that LSU threw together in 2019.

9. My updated Heisman ladder.

1) Travis Hunter, Colorado WR/CB

2) Ashton Jeanty, Boise State RB

3) Cam Ward, Miami (FL) QB

4) Tyler Warren, Penn State TE

5) Cam Skattebo, Arizona State RB

6) Dillon Gabriel, Oregon QB

7) Caleb Downs, Ohio State S

8) Kurtis Rourke, Indiana QB

9) Antwaun Powell-Ryland, Virginia Tech EDGE

10) Bryson Daily, Army QB

10. Time to peek ahead.

Travis Hunter made an incredibly strong closing Heisman argument, and it’ll be Ashton Jeanty’s turn on Friday night. Boise State could steal a first-round bye with a convincing victory over UNLV.

Saturday will be awesome. First, it’s Iowa State and Arizona State; the winner is in, and the loser is gone. We then get a Texas-Georgia rematch, in the Dawgs’ backyard. Penn State and Oregon clash in Indianapolis, while Clemson and SMU battle for the ACC crown. Let’s hand out some hardware.

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