LUBBOCK, TX – OCTOBER 15: Skyler Howard #3 of the West Virginia Mountaineers looks to pass during the first half of the game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders on October 15, 2016 at AT&T Jones Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)

Monday is judgment day for the Big 12. Will they or won’t they expand? We’ll all find out in a matter of hours, officially, which leaves us with a little time still to try and wrap our heads around what we witnessed this past weekend around the world of college football.

Where else to start but right in the Big 12?

Can West Virginia make a run to represent the Big 12 in the playoff?

Here in mid-October, it seems most would agree that the Big 12 has a very small chance of placing a team in the College Football Playoff. That is largely based on last year’s playoff representative and preseason Big 12 favorite Oklahoma already dropping two games in non-conference play and the mere thought of Baylor getting in the playoff simply disgusts some people for non-football reasons. That’s not entirely fair when discussing Baylor as a playoff contender, but it is a reality of public perception. Flying under the radar may be West Virginia, with the Mountaineers off to a 5-0 start and a handful of key games still to play in the Big 12.

Dana Holgorsen may be known for his offensive mindset, but it is the defense that has been key to West Virginia’s success so far. The Mountaineers are one of two teams in the conference allowing fewer than 20 points per game (Baylor is the other), and they have allowed just 11 touchdowns. They haven’t exactly done it against a cupcake schedule either. West Virginia opened the season with a 15-point victory over Missouri and has picked up wins against BYU and Kansas State as well. This weekend, the Mountaineers beat Texas Tech in Lubbock, and it was anything but a shootout against Patrick Mahomes (who has been generating some outside Heisman talk lately) and the Red Raiders. West Virginia sacked Mahomes four times and picked off a pass while allowing him just one touchdown pass in a 48-17 road victory.

This week, West Virginia continued its climb in the polls: WVU moved up eight spots to No. 12 in the AP poll and up five spots to No. 13 in the coaches poll. So are you ready to buy into West Virginia as a playoff contender? It may be best to reserve that enthusiasm for later, as the biggest games for the program will come later in the season. I still find it difficult to trust any team in the Big 12 will run the table, including West Virginia and Baylor.

Can anyone beat Alabama?

Probably not.

But who has the best chance? My money would be on Ohio State. The Buckeyes have gone on the road to two tough environments and returned home with wins against Oklahoma and Wisconsin. But before you get to thinking about another round of Nick Saban vs. Urban Meyer in the College Football Playoff, consider Ohio State still has two games against teams currently ranked in the Top 10 in the back half of the season (Nebraska and Michigan) and goes on the road to play Penn State this weekend and later at Michigan State. Penn State came close to upsetting the Buckeyes in State College two years ago and even though Michigan State looks like a wreck, they should not be overlooked. No team knows that better than Ohio State.

Now go watch Texas A&M pull a stunner in Tuscaloosa to discredit this entire conversation…

Box Score of the Week: Northwestern 54, Michigan State 40

For the second straight week, our featured box score comes from the Big Ten. It was not a pretty week for the Spartans, who lost yet again at home in East Lansing. They did so by failing on defense like we haven’t seen from the Spartans in years. Northwestern piled up 10 third down conversions, 26 first downs, ran for 209 yards and held the football for over 35 minutes. Oh yeah, and the Wildcats put 54 points on the Spartans.

Screen shot via ESPN.com.
Screenshot via ESPN.com.

This was the fourth straight loss for the defending Big Ten champions, and none of them have been very close except for a road loss at Indiana. Michigan State has lost their last three home games by a combined score of 115-60. The lone home win has come against Furman, and even that was a less-than-inspiring performance.

Michigan State is now 2-4 at the midway point of their season, which means the Spartans need to win four of their six remaining game sin order to become bowl-eligible. The good news? They still get to play Maryland, Illinois and Rutgers. The bad news? They still have to play Michigan and Ohio State. Michigan State’s bowl-eligibility could very well come down to the final game of the regular season, on the road against Penn State.

Reminder: Darrell Hazell has won a Big Ten game more recently than Mark Dantonio.

Group of Five Situation: Boise State hangs on to stay on top

Boise State still has the top spot in my weekly Group of Five power rankings over on College Football Talk, but they had to hang on by a thin margin to stay there. Boise State has a huge game this week at home against BYU on Thursday night. Although it is a non-conference game that will have no impact on Boise State’s pursuit of the Mountain West Conference title, it could be enough to knock Boise State out of the running for the automatic spot in the New Years Six for the highest-ranked Group of Five conference champion. Navy, or whoever else may come out on top of the American Athletic Conference would seem to benefit the most from a Boise State stumble, but it may be time to start giving more respect to Western Michigan too.

P.J. Fleck’s program has moved its way into the Top 25 polls by obliterating everyone in its way. Western Michigan has won four straight games with at least 40 points scored in each and has won their last six games by an average of 31 points per game. It is no wonder P.J. Fleck is going to be coaching LSU, USC, Purdue and Texas next year, while also solving the national debt problem and spreading the word for saving the worldwide bee population.

My Top Four

If the College Football Playoff started today, here is who I would have in:

  1. Alabama
  2. Ohio State
  3. Washington
  4. Michigan

The College Football Playoff doesn’t start today. Here is how I am currently projecting the top four to look at the end of the season:

  1. Alabama
  2. Ohio State
  3. Clemson
  4. Washington

Next in line? Michigan and Louisville.

Question of the Week: Aside from the obvious, who are some top coaching candidates?

When the Purdue job opened up on Sunday, there were a few names that jumped right out at me. P.J. Fleck of Western Michigan was the first. Matt Rhule of Temple and Willie Taggart of South Florida were the others.

Of course, a school like Purdue should absolutely make a call to Tom Herman and even Les Miles, but I feel the program is in need of a young coach who can bring accountability and energy to the program. Rhule and Taggart are two options who I think could do just that, given what they have done at their current positions. Plus, you could do worse than have a guy like Rhule representing your program…

One other name that should be thrown out there is Jeff Brohm of Western Kentucky. For Purdue, he would be a perfect and natural fit given his years as an assistant at Louisville, his alma mater. He has also dabbled in some Big Ten coaching as a former Illinois assistant. He is going to be a coach making a move sometime soon. I also would not be shocked to see Purdue consider UCF head coach Scott Frost, although Frost is not even done with his first full season as a head coach. Given how the Hazell experience played out, Purdue may be hesitant to jump on an unproven coach so quickly.

Of course, there is also the Lane Kiffin scenario. The time is coming for Kiffin to get back into the role of a head coach, and it’s going to happen somewhere pretty soon. It might not be Purdue, but Kiffin has been at Alabama as an offensive coordinator for two and a half years now and has learned from Nick Saban. As he has grown older, the hope is he has matured as a coach and will now be better equipped to handle the duties and pressures that come with running a program. I still think Kiffin has something in him that can do some good things at a program, under the right conditions.

Submit your questions in the comment section below and I’ll attempt to satisfy you with my answer in next week’s column, or send you into a fit of rage. You can also tweet your questions to me on Twitter (@KevinOnCFB).

About Kevin McGuire

Contributor to Athlon Sports and The Comeback. Previously contributed to NBCSports.com. Host of the Locked On Nittany Lions Podcast. FWAA member and Philadelphia-area resident.