This past week in college football was absolutely bonkers. Our Top 25 from last week was offset by upsets, near-upsets, and only a handful of convincing wins. It looks like this year we may see a 2-loss team in the College Football Playoff, not because that team will have deserved it, but because there will be no one else to invite.
Anyway, the Top 25 is mess and I have no idea how to rank everyone.
1. Alabama Crimson Tide (7-0)
The Top 25 is a mess except at No. 1. Bama is at the top for the foreseeable future, and maybe even the unforseeable future.
2. Georgia Bulldogs (7-0)
I do not feel comfortable at all ranking Georgia this high. But as cursed as Georgia football is, they’re here because they blow out each and every opponent and look like they’re going to take the SEC East easily.
3. Penn State Nittany Lions (6-0)
Considering how hectic this week was, Penn State picked a good week for a bye.
4. Clemson Tigers (6-1)
On the one hand, Clemson just lost to Syracuse and in that loss they risked the career and mental health of quarterback Kelly Bryant after a clear concussion. On the other hand, they still have 3 wins over Top 15 and the Orange might be pretty decent.
5. Wisconsin Badgers (6-0)
Wisconsin doesn’t really look good but they keep Wisconsining their way to victories. They aren’t a Top 5-quality team but there’s no one else to rank here.
6. Miami Hurricanes (5-0)
Miami continues to be the coolest team in the nation and thanks to a miraculous catch, their win streak continues as well.
Miami stayed alive with this crazy #SCtop10 catch.
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 14, 2017
Then the Canes kept going and beat Georgia Tech on a last-second field goal. Wow. pic.twitter.com/4CF0T6CnSh
7. TCU Horned Frogs (6-0)
TCU didn’t look good in their game against Kansas State, but a 20-point win is a 20-point win, and there’s no one else to reasonably rank above them.
8. Oklahoma Sooners (6-1)
In the past two weeks, Oklahoma has lost to Iowa State and barely beat a mediocre Texas team, but my editor will fire me if OU isn’t in the Top 10.
9. Washington Huskies (6-1)
We thought Washington was the best team in the Pac-12 by quite a bit, but they laid an egg on ESPN in a pathetic 13-7 loss to Arizona State. The Sun Devils, by the way, were 11th in our Pac-12 Power Rankings last week — somehow we thought they were worse than the Buffs.
10. Ohio State Buckeyes (6-1)
After getting beat down by Baker Mayfield and the Sooners, Ohio State has quietly calmed the storm and blown out every opponent since, albeit against middling competition. This week’s win was a 56-14 shellacking of Nebraska, which was somehow the Buckeyes’ toughest game since OU.
11. USC Trojans (6-1)
USC hasn’t looked too good this season, save for a blowout win over Stanford, but they’re climbing back in the rankings after surviving another week. This win was the closest of them all as Utah scored what would have been the game-tying touchdown in the final minute, but they went for two instead of the PAT.
12. Oklahoma State Cowboys (5-1)
The Cowboys set a school-record with 747 yards of offense against Baylor, which is exactly what you should do against that defense.
13. Washington State Cougars (6-1)
Wazzu does not deserve this ranking, but I have no idea who else to put here. They were lucky to be 6-0 last week, and then 7 turnovers doomed them in an embarrassing 37-3 loss to California.
14. NC State Wolfpack (6-1)
NC State is here not because of their resume, but because they’re fun. Their defense is electric and Bradley Chubb is a national treasure — if you haven’t seen them terrorize anyone, be sure to enjoy the schadenfreude when they take on Notre Dame in their next game after a bye.
15. Virginia Tech Hokies (5-1)
Virginia Tech hasn’t really done anything to deserve this ranking, but I guess they’re fine here because they looked OK against Clemson. Next week they play North Carolina, which sounds like a good game until you realize the Tar Heels are 1-6 this season.
16. Auburn Tigers (6-1)
Auburn suffered a collapse against the putrid LSU Tigers. How?
Coach O fired himself at halvetime and immedately named himself interem head coach. Only explanation for this turnaround
— PFTCommenter (@PFTCommenter) October 14, 2017
17. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-1)
Sure! Why not? They’re about to get trashed by USC on Saturday, who cares if they’re this high because they’re about to drop.
18. South Florida Bulls (6-0)
USF keeps rolling and with San Diego State’s loss to Boise State, it looks like the Bulls have wrapped up an appearance in a New Year’s 6 bowl game.
19. Stanford Cardinal (5-2)
Not only did Bryce Love trash the Oregon defense like we all expected — he’s now up to 1,387 rushing yards and 11 TDs, lol — but Stanford may have finally found a passing attack as their dual-QB offense combined for 4 passing touchdowns. Or maybe Jim Leavitt’s defense is just that bad.
20. Michigan Wolverines (6-1)
A week after choking against Michigan State, the Wolverines were thisclose to collapsing to Indiana. We’re about to see just how shaky this team is when they take on Penn State next week.
21. West Virginia Mountaineers (4-2)
The Mountaineers are here because they scored 29 straight points to beat a surprisingly good Texas Tech team.
22. Michigan State Spartans (5-1)
Sparty keeps scraping by to a promising 5-1 record, but as their 38-18 loss to Notre Dame showed earlier this season, Michigan State is not a good team and this won’t last.
23. Iowa State Cyclones (4-2)
Why not! They beat Oklahoma last week and then blew out a similar opponent 45-0 on Saturday. The Cyclones don’t deserve a ranking but college football is more fun when teams are losing in Ames.
24. Syracuse Orange (4-3)
Who cares that Syracuse is 4-3 with a loss to Mid Tennessee State? They just beat Clemson in the Carrier Dome and QB Eric Dungey is the front-runner for the People’s Heisman. If and when Mike MacIntyre takes the Tennessee job, I’m here for the Buffs to hire Dino Babers.
25. Arizona Wildcats (4-2)
Colorado discovered last week, and UCLA validated such on Saturday, that Arizona has had the second coming of Michael Vick on their bench all season. Khalil Tate has ran for 557 yards and 6 TDs in the past two games, plus he’s capable of dropping dimes on deep passes. He’s playing Oregon next week, so you know he’s gonna put some similar highlights.
Most quarterbacks would have taken a sack on this play. Khalil Tate is not most quarterbacks. pic.twitter.com/No60HSFWIc
— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) October 15, 2017