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What an incredible weekend of college football.
The two longest home winning streaks in the country were snapped, and Friday night treated fans to two ranked teams getting knocked off on the road against unranked teams. This week’s top 10 was difficult for me. I’m getting to the delicate balance point of the season where I’m looking at results and power rankings. And my interpretation of those probably will not please folks.
So without further adieu, here’s this week’s top 10.
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It was close for a while, as Washington was doing everything right, outside of the scoring a touchdown part. The Ohio State defense ultimately imposed its will and despite not having a single 20-yard play, the Buckeyes’ offense put together a few long scoring drives to seal the deal. If you put Oregon or Miami here, I wouldn’t argue with you. Ryan Day’s squad is a massive favorite over Minnesota this week before a trip to Illinois next week.
It really would have been criminal if the Ducks lost that game on Saturday night. Oregon was clearly the better team for 50 minutes until the Penn State offense finally made some plays. Oregon will now be favored to finish 12-0 and Dante Moore is the Heisman favorite, albeit a tepid one. Very few teams in the country can match up with Dan Lanning’s team in the trenches. They’ll have a welcome idle week before the lone remaining ranked opponent on the schedule, a home game with Indiana.
The Canes have a trip to Tallahassee this week to face what will surely be an angry bunch of Seminoles after their loss at Virginia. An off week was perfectly timed after a physical win over Florida, and if Miami can get a win over the lone ranked opponent remaining on its schedule here, like Oregon, they could be looking at a 12-0 regular season.
Here’s where the fun begins. Do I simply go with who I think is the fourth best team in the country? Or do I look more at the win-loss record? Well I did both, and landed on A&M at four. Putting up a ton or points at Notre Dame has to count for something, as does statistically dominating Auburn Saturday—although that Auburn offense has a ton of issues.
The team that I think is the best squad in terms of power rankings and has that as its claim to No. 5 is Alabama. Yes, the Tide got tripped up in the opener at Florida State, but that might prove to be a one-off in what was Ty Simpson’s first start, along with a bunch of injuries, especially at running back. What we’ve seen the last couple weeks, including the win at Georgia, is completely different from what we saw week one. Bama has five ranked opponents left on its schedule, but four are at home.
This is the team I’m struggling with the most in terms of slotting in the rankings. I can’t get the Arkansas game out of my mind,where the Hogs put up 526 yards and were going in for the winning score when they fumbled deep in Ole Miss territory.
And I think the nation is coming around on LSU not being the team we thought they might be after a win at Clemson. All of that said, Trinidad Chambliss has come in and is now generating some buzz in the Heisman market—and a look at the schedule shows this should be a 10-2 team at worst, as they will be decent favorites in every game outside of the trips to Athens and Norman.
The next two weeks will tell us a lot about the Longhorns. The only Power 4 team Texas has played completely shut down the Longhorn offense. San Jose State, UTEP and Sam Houston State do nothing for me. If Florida hasn’t licked the stamp on the season, that defense will be a big test for Texas.
I’ll slide them down for now, solely because of the injury to John Mateer, but I do think it’s fair to also slide them down some because of the fashion (and SEC admitted mistake) in the Auburn win. They have to find a running game against an SEC opponent. I don’t care about going nuts against Temple and Kent State. They have six ranked opponents left on the schedule, including the final five games of the season.
The Bulldogs fell behind vs. Bama, came roaring back behind a powerful ground game and improved defensive effort in the second half, but a fourth down faux pas, Frazier fumble deep in his own territory and a huge drop did the Bulldogs in—and snapped the nations’ longest home winning streak. All is not lost though. UGA has Ole Miss and Texas at home, Georgia Tech at Mercedes Benz and a trip to Auburn doesn’t look as concerning as it once was. That overtime win at Tennessee could wind up being the difference in UGA making or missing the playoff.
Yet another game which furthered the same narrative for Penn State. The Nittany Lions dropped another one against a top 10 team and Drew Allar confirmed that he is what he’s shown he is. A solid, but not special college quarterback. The offense did nothing for 50 minutes, and credit the defense for keeping them in the game. Suddenly, a home game vs. Indiana, who I strongly considered putting here, looks far from a sure thing. That game comes a week after a trip to Ohio State, and what belief is there now that Penn State can go there and win against that defense? It’s not impossible to think Penn State could be on the outside looking in on the playoff.
Chris “The Bear” Fallica has covered sports for nearly three decades. While college football has been his focus, he also enjoys the NFL, Soccer, Golf, Tennis, MLB, NHL and Horse Racing, with an “occasional” wager on such events. Chris recently won the inaugural Circa Football Invitational and finished in the Top 10 of the Golden Nugget Football Contest. He’s a multiple-time qualifier for the NHC Handicapping Championship. Remember, “The less you bet, the more you lose when you win!” Follow him on Twitter @chrisfallica.
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