Lots of shakeups in the rankings. Well not in the top seven, but from there things get a little wild. We are getting to that point in the year when things become muddled. For example, Louisville beat Notre Dame, then lost to Pitt, but Notre Dame beat Duke and USC. The 12-20 are all at the same level, and it is tough to distinguish between who is better or worse.
- Georgia (7-0)–#1–W 37-20 Vanderbilt. This team is not as good as it was the previous two years, but I am not ready to put anyone above them.
- Michigan (7-0)–#2–W 52-7 Indiana. The Wolverines look like the most complete team. It is tough to imagine someone beating them at this point.
- Florida State (6-0)–#3–W 41-3 Syracuse. I thought Syracuse might provide some kind of challenge, but it was not even a game.
- Ohio State (6-0)–#4–W 41-7 Purdue. Revenge for the upset from a few years ago.
- Penn State (6-0)–#5–W 63-0 UMass. Basically a bye week, but you have to love seeing a shutout, even against a bad team.
- Oklahoma (6-0)–#6–BYE
- Washington (6-0)–#7–W 36-33 #8 Oregon. Incredibly close game, and I cannot justify moving them up in the rankings because I think they were perfectly placed at 7 & 8.
- Texas (5-1)–#9–BYE
- Alabama (6-1)–#10–W 24-21 Arkansas. Remember what I said about this team…
- Oregon (5-1)–#8–L 36-33 #7 Washington. Stupid coaching decision to go for that 4th down instead of punting. Not saying they would have won, but make it harder on the Huskies next time. Make them go 80+ yards in less than two minutes with no timeouts.
- UNC (6-0)–#12–W 41-31 Miami. The Tar Heels are for real. They have an easy few weeks coming up, and a favorable schedule to end the year (Duke, Clemson, and NC State). They are on the path to challenging FSU for the ACC Championship.
- Ole Miss (5-1)–#14–BYE
- Tennessee (5-1)–#17–W 20-13 Texas A&M. Keep racking up wins and moving up the rankings.
- Utah (5-1)–#18–W 34-14. At least their defense can hold Cal to under forty.
- Oregon State (6-1)–#20–W 36-24 #15 UCLA. I know, Utah lost to the Beavers, but I just think the Utes are slightly better. I cannot trust this team.
- Duke (5-1)–#16–W 24-3 NC State. No Riley Leonard, no problem. Rest him up for next week.
- Notre Dame (6-2)–#22–W 48-20 #11 USC. Damn, I had a feeling the Irish would win, but not in such a dominant manner.
- LSU (5-2)–#23–W 48-18 Auburn. Does destroying Auburn mean much anymore?
- Louisville (6-1)–#13–L 38-21 Pitt. Of course Pitt would knock them off. Happy to see Christian Veilleux get the win.
- USC (6-1)–#11–L 47-20 #22 Notre Dame. Played with fire all year, and guess what? They got burned big time. Defense is important, the Trojans should try it.
- Missouri (6-1)–#25–W 38-21 Kentucky. I received some criticism for ranking Mizzou and not Kentucky. Yeah, I knew which team was better.
- JMU (6-0)–HM–W 41-13 Georgia Southern. I thought this would be a good game, but the Dukes were not messing around. Time to take them seriously and put them into the rankings.
- Air Force (6-0)–HM–W 34-27 Wyoming. They can run the ball. Not a team I would take lightly.
- Tulane (5-1)–HM–W 31-21 Memphis. I was never high on Tulane this year, but they are rolling along, and maybe I need to pay attention to them.
- UCLA (4-2)–#15–L 36-24 #20 Oregon State. The Bruins need to start winning some of these games against their ranked Pac-12 brethren.
Honorable Mention
Iowa (6-1)–NR–W 15-6 Wisconsin. Ewww, the Hawkeyes keep winning. Gross.
Liberty (6-0)–NR–W 31-13 Jacksonville State. Do the Flames play anyone at all?
Florida (5-2)–NR–W 41-39 South Carolina. I feel like the Gators lost more than two, but I guess not.
UNLV (5-1)–NR–W 45-27 Nevada. Nice to see the turnaround this team has made. Since 2004 they have only won more than 5 games one time. Their only loss this year was to Michigan, 35-7.
Toledo (6-1)–NR–W 13-6 Ball State. Give a little respect to the MAC.
Watch List
Maryland (5-2)–#24–L 27-24 Illinois. Ugh, way to make me look bad Terps.
Rutgers (5-2)–NR–W 27-24 Michigan State. Rutgers are not great, but they are interesting.
Kentucky (5-2)–WL–L 38-21 #25 Missouri. Watch this team lose out and not get a bowl bid. They have: Tennessee, Mississippi State, Alabama, South Carolina, and Louisville. Two weeks ago it was “Kentucky is building a sustainable, winning program!” and now they will be lucky to finish .500.
Nevada (0-6)–WL–L 45-27 UNLV
Sam Houston State (0-6)–WL–L 27-13 New Mexico State. If I had to bet money, I would bet that Sam Houston State picks up a win before Nevada. They still play Kennesaw State, their FCS opponent. Kennesaw State is 1-5, so hopefully SHSU can win that one.
A decent slate of games next week. Before we get to my big three though, I want to highlight a few games that should be intriguing. On Thursday we have #22 James Madison heading to Marshall. This should be a test for JMU because Marshall loves to ruin a season. Last year they beat JMU, and Notre Dame (I suppose that is the bigger win). We also have Clemson at Miami. Both teams need a win to stay relevant in the ACC, or at least in the Josh’s Rankings. Whoever wins will probably jump into the honorable mentions. Maybe. Then we have Washington State at #10 Oregon. The Cougs got destroyed by Arizona, but the Ducks could be poised for an upset after that loss to Washington. I could see this either being a win for Wazzu, or a blowout for Oregon. And finally, #14 Utah at #20 USC. The Utes seem to beat the ranked teams in the Pac-12, especially the top tier ones, but then lose to the lesser teams. USC will want to prove they are not one of those lesser teams. Should be a good one.
Now the big games!
#13 Tennessee at #9 Alabama. Remember when the Vols upset ‘Bama last year? You know Nick Saban wants some revenge. I can see this game getting ugly and the Crimson Tide just running it up.
#16 Duke at #3 Florida State. The Seminoles need another high quality win to stay in the playoff hunt. It would also help if this ends up being lopsided.
#5 Penn State at #4 Ohio State. For Penn State fans this game has been circled on the calendar since last season. Can the Nittany Lions finally win against Ohio State? Is the defense as elite as we all think it is??? Will the prime time lights of Columbus be too much? Oh wait, this game is at noon. Smart decision. Anyway, from the other perspective, the Buckeyes need this win to really cement themselves in the top four. They beat Notre Dame, but another top ten win would really make that resume pop.
