There are a bunch of teams who are fairly good, but have lost a bunch of close games. I think if you flip those losses to wins, these rankings would look totally different. Well okay, not totally, but there would be some different teams ranked.
- Georgia (8-0)–#1–W 43-20 Florida. I had Florida as an honorable mention last week, and I thought the Gators could give the Bulldogs a game. Yeah, I was wrong. Georgia comes to play against the better teams.
- Michigan (8-0)–#2–BYE
- Ohio State (8-0)–#3–W 24-10 Wisconsin. The Buckeyes ground out a tough win at Camp Randall.
- Florida State (8-0)–#4–W 41-16 Wake Forest. The Seminoles just rolled over the Demon Deacons. This team is clicking and will be tough to beat the rest of the way.
- Washington (8-0)–#6–W 42-33 Stanford. The Huskies survived against Stanford. I hope Washington stays undefeated and makes the playoffs, I want to see if they are as good as we think they are, or if the PAC-12 was just a bunch of good teams.
- Texas (7-1)–#7–W 35-6 BYU. No Ewers, no problem for the Longhorns.
- Alabama (7-1)–#8–BYE
- Oregon (7-1)–#9–W 35-6 #12 Utah. The Ducks went to Salt Lake City, and gave the Utes a beatdown.
- Ole Miss (7-1)–#11–W 33-7 Vanderbilt. The Rebels just keep racking up wins.
- Louisville (7-1)–#16–W 23-0 #20 Duke. I thought Riley Leonard must have been out, but nope, the Cardinals defense was just that good. High quality wins helps jump them into the top ten.
- Penn State (7-1)–#10–W 33-24 Indiana. I am frustrated by this team. The offense needs to figure things out before I am willing to put them into the top ten.
- Notre Dame (7-2)–#14–W 58-7 Pitt. 58 points against the Panthers, and Sam Hartman threw zero touchdowns??? Insane.
- Missouri (7-1)–#17–BYE
- Oklahoma (7-1)–#5–L 38-33 Kansas. I feel like the Sooners lose a game like this every year.
- LSU (6-2)–#15–BYE
- Tennessee (6-2)–#19–W 33-27 Kentucky. A good victory for the Vols on the road.
- UCLA (6-2)–#24–W 28-16 Colorado. The Bruins defense held the Buffs to under 250 total yards, and just 25 rushing yards. Impressive.
- Tulane (7-1)–#23–W 30-28. My respect for Tulane is going up each week. That only loss to Ole Miss looks pretty good right now.
- Air Force (8-0)–#22–W 30-13 Colorado State
- Kansas (6-2)–NR–W 38-33 #5 Oklahoma. The Jayhawks love to bounce in and out of the rankings. They will probably get crushed in their next game.
- JMU (8-0)–#21–W 30-27 Old Dominion. Fun fact: Curt Cignetti is the head coach for JMU, his dad was the head coach at WVU and his brother is the OC at Pitt. Cignetti was the coach who turned things around for IUP.
- Oregon State (6-2)–#13–L 27-24 Arizona. The Beavers are generally good for one loss like this each year.
- Utah (6-2)–#12–L 35-6 #9 Oregon. Yeah, not a good loss for the Utes.
- USC (7-2)–#25–W 50-49 California
- UNC (6-2)–#18–L 46-42 Georgia Tech. Can we please have a USC/UNC Bowl Game? There would be zero defense played, and at least 120 points scored.
Honorable Mention
Liberty (8-0)–HM–W 42-29 Western Kentucky
Oklahoma State (6-2)–WL–W 45-13 Cincinnati
Toledo (7-1)–HM–BYE
Rutgers (6-2)–WL–BYE
Miami (6-2)–WL–W 29-26 OT Virginia
Watch List
Kansas State (6-2)–NR–W 41-0 Houston
Troy (6-2)–NR–W 31-13 Texas State
Arizona (5-3)–NR–W 27-24 #13 Oregon State. One of those teams that has lost a few games by one possession. Keep an eye on the Wildcats.
Duke (5-3)–#20–L 23-0 #16 Louisville. How do they respond to these losses?
Sam Houston State (0-8)–L 37-34 UTEP. Thought they might get that first win. They finally have their FCS opponent next week, so maybe they can get that first win against Kennesaw State.
We have some MACtion this week! Tuesday night we have Buffalo at Toledo. Those early week games in the MAC usually end up being fun. Do some trick-or-treating, then flip on this game. Also, some interesting games that could be rife for upsets:
Kansas State at #6 Texas–this feels like the typical Texas upset game.
Texas A&M at #9 Ole Miss–The Rebels thinking about Georgia the next week.
Jacksonville State at South Carolina–not an upset, but South Carolina is 2-6, while Jacksonville State is 7-2. This could be a huge win for Conference USA. Also, funny because they are both the Gamecocks.
#12 Notre Dame at Clemson–imagine if the Tigers upset the Irish, that probably calms down some Clemson fans, but what if Dabo gets blown out…his seat would become very hot.
#4 Florida State at Pitt–The Panthers get destroyed by Notre Dame, but have this weird thing where they play well against top five teams. Maybe toss a buck on them to pull off the upset.
#14 Oklahoma at Oklahoma State–Bedlam Bedlam Bedlam…blah blah blah. We will hear that word at least five hundred times this week. I think the Cowboys could put an end to the Sooners Big XII Championship hopes.
California at #8 Oregon–the Ducks better not sleep on Cal, they can put up points.
Now to my three big games. First off we have #5 Washington at #24 USC. Listen, the Trojans can still win out, and just ruin the rest of the PAC-12’s playoff hopes. But I think the Huskies are going to be too much for them. Next up we have #15 LSU at #7 Alabama. The Tigers need an upset to stay in the hunt for the SEC Championship. Bama seems to have things figured out, and should win in an ugly game. And finally we have the big game: #13 Missouri at #1 Georgia. I think Mizzou is for real this year, but Georgia just keeps crushing their ranked opponents (or nearly ranked). I have a feeling this will end up like that Kentucky game.
