Josh’s College Football Rankings 2023–Week 4

A bunch of great games this week. Oddly enough, they did not really change the rankings too much. Especially the top seven. Since I had certain teams higher than others, it made sense to me to just keep things where they are. Also, I feel more confident about having Penn State at #5 as opposed to the other rankings after that impressive win over Iowa. I know the Hawkeye offense is not good, but they always seem to find a way to bring Penn State down to their level and make it a close, ugly game. Not this year though, the Nittany Lions controlled the game and played their style.

1. Georgia (4-0)–#1–W 49-21 UAB. Does this game tell us anything? The Bulldogs defense gave up 21 to UAB, is Jacob Zeno just that good?
2. Michigan (4-0)–#2–W 31-7 Rutgers. This game felt close for a bit, but the Michigan run game was too much Schiano’s defense.
3. USC (4-0)–#3–W 42-28 Arizona State. The Trojans weak defense is going to get them bumped from the top four.
4. Florida State (4-0)–#4–W 31-24 OT Clemson. If Clemson had a kicker, FSU would be out of the top ten. The Seminoles managed a tough win on the road against Clemson, so they stay in the top four for now.
5. Penn State (4-0)–#5–W 31-0 #25 Iowa. If I remember correctly, the Nittany Lions have the longest 30+ points streak in the country (11 games). Kind of crazy. The defense is just ridiculous, helps set up so many of the scoring opportunities.
6. Texas (4-0)–#6–W 38-6 Baylor. The Longhorns have Kansas next week before they play Oklahoma. Could this be a trap game?
7. Ohio State (4-0)–#7–W 17-14 #8 Notre Dame. Ryan Day screaming about Lou Holtz during a post-game interview. Probably the best highlight of this one.
8. Washington (4-0)–#9–W 59-31 California. Looks like they gave up some garbage time points to Cal. In three weeks they face Oregon, that should be a battle, and it should give us a better idea about these teams.
9. Oregon (4-0)–#10–W 42-6 #20 Colorado. Again, people were premature to start talking about the Buffaloes being a top fifteen team. The Ducks decided to remind everyone what an elite team looks like.
10. Oklahoma (4-0)–#11–W 20-6 Cincinnati. A Sooners team that plays defense and scores 20 points. Must be a multiversal variant.
11. Alabama (3-1)–#12–W 24-10 #13 Ole Miss. Is this the part of the season where Alabama quietly racks up wins and the next thing we know they are 11-1?
12. Utah (4-0)–#14–W 14-7 #23 UCLA. The Utes keep winning without their QB. Impressive.
13. Duke (4-0)–#16–W 41-7 UConn. GameDay is heading to Duke next week. For a football game. Madness!
14. Notre Dame (4-1)–#8–L 17-14 #7 Ohio State. The Irish should have won that game. Tough loss. Unfortunately, they can not wallow in it, they face Duke next week.
15. Washington State (4-0)–#21–W 38-35 #15 Oregon State. I am rooting for the Cougs. I want them to win the Pac-12, and give a big middle finger to all the conference realignment.
16. UNC (4-0)–#17–W 41-24 Pitt. The Tar Heels have a favorable middle of the schedule. Miami is their toughest game until Duke in week 11. They could be undefeated at that point.
17. LSU (3-1)–#18–W 34-31 Arkansas. I still believe the Razorbacks are a good team, so this close win is a notch in the belt for the Tigers.
18. Miami (4-0)–#19–W 41-7 Temple. I am still not ready to scream “Miami is back, baby!”
19. Maryland (4-0)–#22–W 31-9 Michigan State. Can the Terps compete in the East? Probably not, but keep winning the games they should hit nine wins.
20. Ole Miss (3-1)–#13–L 24-10 #12 Alabama. Buck up Rebels, you get LSU next. Wanna prove you are for real, beat the Tigers.
21. Oregon State (3-1)–#15–L 38-35 #21 Washington State
22. Missouri (4-0)–#24–W 34-27 Memphis
23. Kansas (4-0)–NR–W 38-27 BYU. Time to slip the Jayhawks into the rankings. Big test for them next week.
24. Tennessee (3-1)–HM–W 45-14 UTSA
25. Fresno State (4-0)–NR–W 53-10 Kent State. Jeff Tedford’s team has beat Purdue, blanked Arizona State, and demolished a MAC school. Their toughest game was against an FCS opponent. Crazy.

Honorable Mention
Louisville (4-0)–NR–W 56-28 Boston College. The Cardinals gave BC a bit of a beat down. You know, the team that gave FSU a tough time last week. So by the transitive property, Louisville is better than FSU. Right?
Kentucky (4-0)–NR–W 45-28 Vanderbilt. I had Kentucky pegged for a down year, but it feels like they are building something sustainable.
TCU (3-1)–HM–W 34-17 SMU. I thought this would be closer, but the Horned Frogs had no trouble against the Mustangs.
JMU (4-0)–WL–W 45-38 Utah State. The Dukes almost blew a huge lead.
UCLA (3-1)–#23–L 14-7 #14 Utah. The Bruins are a good team, they will be ranked again at some point.

Watch List
Colorado (3-1)–#20–L 42-6 #10 Oregon. So I feel like I Coach Prime and his team ranked accurately. This week they have USC, It should be a high scoring game, since neither team really enjoys the idea of defense. Could be a good time for another upset.
Air Force (4-0)–NR–W 45-20 San Jose State. 400 rushing yards. Military academies are fun to watch.
Kansas State (3-1)–WL–W 44-31 UCF. I wondered how the Wildcats would respond after that loss to Mizzou. Guess they were ready for UCF.
Marshall (3-0)–NR–W 24-17 Virginia Tech. A battle between former James Franklin assistants. Next week Huff takes on ODU, another former PSU coach. The Franklin Coaching Tree is blooming.
Georgia State (4-0)–NR–W 30-17 Coastal Carolina. The Panthers looked good on Thursday against Coastal. Can they keep rolling?

I mentioned it earlier, but the #3 Trojans head to Colorado. USC needs to prove they can stop someone. Colorado needs to prove they were not a fluke. Another Pac-12 game to watch is #12 Utah heading to #21 Oregon State. The Beavers need to rebound after that loss to Washington State, but the Utes defense may be too much for them. And finally, the big game this week is #14 Notre Dame at #13 Duke. There is plenty of hype for this one, will the Blue Devils get caught up in all the hoopla? Or will they show the country they are for real?