I had fun posting my rankings last week, thanks to all who checked it out and discussed. I figured I'd better get this next one out now before the "committee" tonight.
A couple notes/thoughts that got baked in this week:
- Probably don't need to tell anyone reading this here, but Ohio St and Indiana are a clear 1 & 2 above the rest of the country and I do feel there's a "by default" factor built in to the rest of the teams positions (for example I don't really think of Oregon as a "top 5 team" or Louisville as a "top 10 team" but that's where they are partly because there's just not 10 "top 10" teams in my opinion.) And I do think the Buckeyes would be favored by at least 7.5 over the Hoosiers right now as well.
- SEC has lots of teams ranked but I really don't think any come close to OSU/IU right now. Biggest difference I see is coaching and execution. SEC always has talent but there's been a lot of chaos and bad QB play honestly. To get to watch our Buckeyes operate like they're playing a video game on easy mode is a real treat and one we shouldn't be taking for granted!
- I've still got Bama ahead of A&M; both were off last week so I decided to keep that way for now. For me, Texas A&M is looking really good but also really haven't played a good SEC team yet. Oddly enough, 4 of their 5 SEC wins have come against teams that have fired their coach (Aub, Fla, Ark, LSU). This week both play a "common opponent" so this will be re-evaluated for sure.
- Moved Oregon ahead of UGA. Another close one, neither are particularly impressive but I'm also just a bit annoyed with the Dawgs.
- Vandy's loss to Texas was BAD despite the final score. Love the fight they put up and hopefully they'll learn a bit from the bad start, but they got so far behind that even a furious comeback against a team that kinda tried to give it away still came up short. There's a path for them to still finish in a playoff spot, I'll be rooting for them.
- Texas I really don't think is as good as where they ended up for me this week, but their big wins (Ok & Vandy) kind of forced me to slot it out that way. I do think that Sark is figuring the right scheme to win with Arch, so perhaps they are headed in a good direction.
- I took some heat for putting Pitt in my rankings, but I really do think they're a good team. I honestly can't believe they're still not even in the AP 25 but I guess that's why I'm doing my own thing here. They're putting together some good wins and playing as well as anybody in the ACC right now (lol). In each of their 2 early losses (WV & #10 Lou) they had double digit leads in the 2nd half before dropping it. That's not a good stat but since then they've ripped off 5 straight wins and have outscored opponents by at least a TD in the 2nd half each game.
- I expanded my rankings to 25. Had 20 at first just to make it "quicker" for me but now as things are working themselves out I actually found it easier to fill out 25 and give myself some wiggle room especially with several G5 teams that are hard to separate right now.
- Lastly, screw Disney. I know it's first world problems, but to take away a college football Saturday from the American people is not something I'll forgive. We only get a few Fall Saturdays each year and even thought it's all about money anymore, those Saturdays are still really special to a lot of people for reasons well beyond money.
| Team | Rec | Next up | Notes | |
| 1 | Ohio St | 8-0 | @ PU | |
| 2 | Indiana | 9-0 | @ PSU | |
| 3 | Alabama | 7-1 | v LSU | |
| 4 | Texas A&M | 8-0 | @ Miz | |
| 5 | Oregon | 7-1 | @ Iowa | |
| 6 | Georgia | 7-1 | @ Miss St | |
| 7 | Ole Miss | 8-1 | v Citadel | |
| 8 | Texas Tech | 8-1 | v BYU | Big game ahead |
| 9 | BYU | 8-0 | @ TxTech | |
| 10 | Louisville | 7-1 | v Cal | |
| 11 | Notre Dame | 6-2 | v Navy | |
| 12 | Texas | 7-2 | -- | |
| 13 | Vandy | 7-2 | v Aub | |
| 14 | Oklahoma | 7-2 | -- | |
| 15 | GA Tech | 8-1 | -- | |
| 16 | Pitt | 7-2 | -- | |
| 17 | Utah | 7-2 | -- | |
| 18 | Virginia | 8-1 | v WF | I really don't think they're all that good but can't deny the record at this point despite the easy schedule. |
| 19 | Iowa | 6-2 | v Oregon | Only 6pt underdogs right now... |
| 20 | USC | 6-2 | This feels like where USC is just going to exist. Finish 9-3/8-4 and be right about here. | |
| 21 | JMU | 7-1 | @ Marsh | G5 Gang - Sun Belt rep |
| 22 | SDSU | 7-1 | @ Haw | G5 Gang - Mtn West rep |
| 23 | Memphis | 8-1 | v Tulane | G5 Gang - AAC rep |
| 24 | Miami | 6-2 | @ Syr | 'Canes doing 'Canes things. |
| 25 | michigan | 7-2 | -- | Time to acknowledge the bastards. But 21-16 at home against PU and they were playing "Dancing Queen" by ABBA at the 2-min warning. Tough as nails. |