Josh’s College Football Rankings–Week 14

Championship games are over, and naturally things went as everyone expected. There will be no controversies, and fanbases are not freaking out over the top four spots. Just kidding, we have pure chaos (okay, maybe not pure chaos, but a decent amount of chaos). Alabama defeated Georgia, while Florida State managed to beat Louisville with their third-string QB. Texas destroyed Oklahoma State, which means that there is a chance the SEC could be excluded from the playoffs. 

So here are my rankings before the bowl games. I will probably do a ranking after the bowl games and national championship, but so many of those games are meaningless with players opting out, and whatnot.

1. Michigan (13-0)–#2–W 26-0 #19 Iowa. The Wolverines won in the most Michigan way possible: strong defense, and doing just enough on offense. Granted, Iowa has a very good defense, so they made it tough on Michigan. Naturally there was some controversy, since there was a weird fumble that led to a Michigan touchdown, that definitely did not look like a fumble. Oh well, Iowa fans can cry about it.
2. Washington (13-0)–#3–W 34-31 #6 Oregon. The Huskies came in as a big underdog, and they shut everyone up about them being on a downturn.
3. Florida State (13-0)–#4–W 16-6 #16 Louisville. The Seminoles went undefeated. They beat LSU and Florida on the road. They beat a good Cardinal team, that had a top 15 defense, with their third-string quarterback. This team has a fantastic defense, and they can compete in the playoffs.
4. Texas (12-1)–#7–W 49-21 #23 Oklahoma State. The Longhorns crushed the Cowboys and won the Big XII. They beat Alabama.
5. Alabama (12-1)–#8–W 27-24 #1 Georgia. The SEC champ has never been excluded from the CFP, but I cannot see how you justify jumping them over Texas. I could understand if Quinn Ewers was injured, or if the Longhorns struggled with OSU, but that is not the case. Yeah, the Crimson Tide are playing great at the moment, but there is no reason to put them above Texas, unless head-to-head does not matter.
6. Georgia (12-1)–#1–L 27-24 #8 Alabama. I joked to my friend James that the committee should just expand to six teams for this season. Give Michigan and Washington a bye.
7. Ohio State (11-1)–#5–OFF
8. Oregon (11-2)–#6–L 34-31 #3 Washington. The Ducks were the hottest team, and now they are not. I would like to see them and Ohio State play.
9. Missouri (10-2)–#9–OFF
10. Penn State (10-2)–#10–OFF
11. Ole Miss (10-2)–#11–OFF
12. Oklahoma (10-2)–#12–OFF
13. LSU (9-3)–#14–OFF
14. Arizona (9-3)–#15–OFF
15. Louisville (10-3)–#16–L 16-6 #4 Florida State. Hard to drop them below Notre Dame, and they played well against Florida State. This feels right for them.
16. Notre Dame (9-3)–#17–OFF
17. Oregon State (8-4)–#18–OFF
18. NC State (9-3)–#20–OFF
19. Liberty (12-0)–#22–W 49-35 New Mexico State. Maybe play a P5 school in order to be taken a little more seriously.
20. JMU (11-1)–#24–OFF
21. Troy (11-2)–HM–W 49-23 Appalachian State. Second straight Sun Belt Championship! Granted, they lost earlier in the year to JMU…
22. Iowa (10-3)–#19–L 26-0 #2 Michigan. The Hawkeyes defense is good. The offense…awful. They were shutout twice this year.
23. Oklahoma State (9-4)–#23–L 49-21 #7 Texas
24. SMU (11-2)–HM–W 26-14 #13 Tulane. Congrats on their first AAC championship!
25. Clemson (8-4)–#25–OFF

Honorable Mention
Kansas State (8-4)–HM–OFF
Tulane (11-2)–#13–L 26-14 SMU. A big fall for Tulane, but it felt like SMU dominated the game. 
Tennessee (8-4)–HM–OFF
Utah (8-4)–HM–OFF
Kansas (8-4)–WL–OFF

Watch List
WVU (8-4)–WL–OFF
Northwestern (7-5)–WL–OFF
California (6-6)–WL–OFF
Boise State (8-5)–NR–W 44-20 UNLV. The Broncos absolutely crushed the Rebels en route to a MWC championship.
Miami OH (11-2)–NR–W 23-14 #21 Toledo. I did not expect this result. Congrats RedHawks!

Only one game next week: Army/Navy at Gillette Stadium. Support the service academies by watching a game with probably three total passes.