Rivals national recruiting analyst Clint Cosgrove looks at Kenny Minchey's decommitment from Pitt, Brian Kelly's first 10 games at LSU and the CFB Playoff picture in today's Three-Point Stance.
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MORE THREE-POINT STANCE: TCU, five-star revisions, mess at Texas A&M
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1. TWO BIG QUESTIONS ABOUT KENNY MINCHEY
Three-star quarterback Kenny Minchey had been committed to Pitt since April but in a major change of events he decided to re-open his recruitment Monday afternoon and will be visiting Notre Dame this weekend.
There are two major questions surrounding Minchey. First, which program will land his signature? Second, will Minchey finish the 2023 cycle ranked as a four-star prospect? The talent is there as Minchey was more than impressive in the off-season and has all of the tools to be listed among college football's elite 2023 quarterback recruits. But, at the same time, Minchey hasn't been able to play for much of this season and questions linger as to how much of his potential will be realized at the next level.
Will Notre Dame take a commitment from a prospect who has unfortunately been unable to show his true value on the field this season? I highly doubt the talented QB from Tennessee would decommit from Pitt without a committable offer from Notre Dame in hand, but as things stand today Minchey could create a ton of movement in this recruiting cycle should he not end up Notre Dame's quarterback in the 2023 recruiting cycle.
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2. HINDSIGHT IS 20/20
I mostly avoided weighing in on Brian Kelly's hire at LSU. I knew Kelly was a phenomenal coach from his stints at Cincinnati and Notre Dame, but the timing of his hire seemed off. I questioned if being a high-caliber head coach in itself was enough to win over the LSU fan base and recruits alike.
Fast forward 10 games into Kelly's tenure as LSU's head coach and not only are the Tigers making headlines this season, there is reason to believe that this is only the beginning for the new-look LSU program. The Tigers are 8-2 on the season, 6-1 in conference play, ranked No. 6 in the latest AP Top 25 and have already won the SEC West. Furthermore, LSU currently also sits at No. 6 in the 2023 team recruiting rankings proving that the future is bright in Baton Rouge.
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3. THE PLAYOFF PICTURE
While there are few certainties as to who the best team is at this point in the season, the one definite about the current College Football Playoff system is that there is typically little question as to who the champion should be when the season is complete. Georgia is probably the cream of the crop as things stand today, but nothing is for certain until it actually happens.
What we do know as of today is there are only four FBS teams that remain undefeated. Georgia from the SEC, Ohio State and Michigan in the Big Ten and TCU from the Big 12.
I feel very confident that the SEC and Big Ten will be represented in the playoff, but am not nearly as certain about the Big 12. Georgia is the undisputed No. 1 until proven otherwise and, even with a loss to LSU in the SEC title game, the Bulldogs will likely make the top four. Ohio State and Michigan control their own destiny in the Big Ten with the winner of their regular season finale likely headed to the playoff. TCU also controls its own destiny as winning out will likely put the Horned Frogs in the top four come season's end but a loss almost certainly puts them out of the picture.
Likely is the key word in all of this and even though it seems safe to assume that the Big Ten and SEC will be represented in the playoff, the picture is far from complete with the season winding down.
