I should probably come up with a cool name for my rankings each week. Before I jump into the rankings, let me talk about the Penn State game. I hope Sean Clifford is okay because the backup quarterback situation for the Nittany Lions is less than ideal. I am sure Iowa fans do not want to hear this, but if Clifford plays the entire game, it does not end up close. Hear me out. Even if PSU is held in check offensively, I doubt they would have so many three and outs, particularly pinned inside the five. They would have at least ate some clock up and given the defense a rest at points, which you could see start affecting them by the time the fourth quarter rolled around.
Do not get me wrong, I am not using that as an excuse. Iowa won the game. You should have a backup who can at least look semi-capable in a game with a lead. And at the very least, the backup should be prepared for the noise level and the possibility of going into the game. Roberson looked completely unprepared and that is on the coaching staff (also, not getting someone off the transfer portal is looking more and more like a mistake).
Okay, onto my rankings…
- Georgia (6-0)–the Bulldogs crushed Auburn this week. I looked smart last week calling them the #1 team.
- Iowa (6-0)–they are lucky the Big Ten West is so weak. They should run the table, but they are not nearly as good as people made them out to be.
- Cincinnati (5-0)–crushed Temple. Those are the kind of wins they need against weak conference opponents.
- Oklahoma (6-0)–they keep surviving. I will give them props for that.
- Alabama (5-1)–I struggled with where to put them, allow me to explain why they are here. They lost to Texas A&M on the road and it was an incredibly close game. The Aggies were ranked 6th back before they lost two games (and they lost their starting QB). The backup QB took a few games, but he looked good against the Tide.
- Michigan (6-0)–it is not pretty, but the Wolverines are undefeated. They are doing everything they are supposed to, especially against conference opponents.
- Penn State (5-1)–win out and beat Iowa in the Big Ten Championship, then this loss means nothing.
- Ohio State (5-1)–remember when people thought Maryland was legit, that was a good time. Sorry Buckeyes, beating up on them does not really do much in my opinion. Everyone should beat up on them.
- Kentucky (6-0)–next week they get Georgia, can Levis lead the Wildcats to victory against the best team in the country?
- Michigan State (6-0)–sneaky good Spartans.
- Coastal Carolina (6-0)–they have to destroy opponents or they will be overlooked.
- Oregon (4-1)–the Ducks were off, probably a good week to be off.
- Ole Miss (4-1)–one of the craziest games I have watched in awhile.
- Oklahoma State (5-0)–they are undefeated, but very unproven. They have a test against Texas this week.
- Notre Dame (5-1)–they almost loss to Virginia Tech, they keep dropping because they are not all that good.
- Wake Forest (6-0)–will an ACC team even be ranked by the end of the year? Almost losing to Syracuse is not a good look.
- Arkansas (4-2)–why not kick the extra point and go to OT???
- Arizona State (5-1)–only loss to BYU and the rest of their wins have been pretty big.
- BYU (5-1)–losing to Boise State did not look good for the Cougars.
- NC State (4-1)–can’t lose on a bye week..
- Baylor (5-1)–crushed WVU, so that only loss to the Cowboys is not as awful. The Big 12 is still suspect.
- Texas A&M (4-2)–beating the #1 team in the country and having your backup QB play well helps give a two loss team some respect.
- San Diego State (6-0)–beat two Pac-12 teams and are crushing MWC teams.
- Florida (4-2)–destroyed Vanderbilt and yet I still dropped them a few spots.
- Pitt (4-1)–they drop in my opinion because they lost to Western Michigan, who got crushed by Ball State.
Honorable Mention: Texas, SMU, App State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Auburn, Clemson
Texas should probably be at #25, but I still think Pitt should be ranked. SMU had trouble with Navy, that does not look good to me. Auburn eventually has to beat a ranked team or they will drop out of the HM section.
Why do people get so worked up about the rankings? Obviously I like them so much that I do my own. These rankings do not matter all that much. The only rankings that really matter are the committee rankings. I love when people freak out because a team lost and drops X number of spots and another team only dropped Y number of spots after a loss. It is not an exact science. Trust me, I do my own and it is not easy.
