Week 7 offered up even more separation in the college football world. With AP #4-6 having byes this week, there was a chance for some schools to move up, while others didn’t particularly impress. Some teams survived, and some thrived. Here’s our Top 10…
1. Alabama
Beating a Top 10 team is one thing. Thrashing a Top 10 team on the road 49-10 while outgaining them 594 yds to 163, including 438 rushing yards to only 32… well, that’s just on another level.
Tennessee talked trash this week, and the Crimson Tide handled the Vols easily. There was no comeback in this one. It was a beatdown of epic proportions. This weekend looms even larger, now that Alabama and Texas A&M will both be coming in as undefeated Top 6 teams. Bama opened as a 17 pt favorite already.
Next up: Texas A&M (Sat, Oct 22)
2. Michigan
Harbaugh’s bunch had a bye on a really good week, as Ohio St and Clemson both had to survive games in overtime to stay undefeated. Better to not even be playing on a crazy weekend like this. Michigan dominated Wisconsin on the stat line much moreso than Ohio St did, and that’s the only really good competition either has played, so that’s why we’ve put a more dominant Michigan team over Ohio St in this spot.
Next up: Illinois (Sat, Oct 22)
3. Washington
The Huskies, like Michigan, took this week off after destroying Stanford and Oregon in the past 2 weeks. Again, good time for a break, as they’ve beaten to death every team they’ve played so far, sans the Pac-12-after-dark matchup at Arizona 3 weeks ago that went to overtime.
Next up: Oregon St (Sat, Oct 22)
4. Ohio St.
J.T. Barrett willed his team to a night game overtime win inside Camp Randall Saturday night, which both proved how good the Buckeyes are this year, and also showed that their not invincible. The bad thing is, their schedule is kinda crap until the last game of the regular season when they host Michigan. They travel to Penn St, host Northwestern, host Nebraska (who is in our Top 10, by default), play at Maryland, at a terrible Michigan St team, and then finally host Michigan. Til then, I doubt we’ll really know what this team is like in any other adverse situations.
Next up: at Penn St (Sat, Oct 22)
5. Texas A&M
Texas A&M also had a week off – which makes 3 of our Top 5 that didn’t even play this week. The Aggies got a chance to rest up, while also seeing their next opponent demolish the same Tennessee team that took them to double overtime inside their own Kyle Field a week earlier. A&M is clearly the 2nd best team in the SEC… but do they have the tools to beat this year’s Alabama team? Saturday is going to be huge for the SEC and National landscape.
Next up: at Alabama (Sat, Oct 22)
6. Clemson
Clemson should have been beaten this weekend. And honestly, they should have probably lost a couple of times this year, if not more. This team has just not been very impressive, but they’ve done enough to beat teams and stay undefeated. Now, sitting at 7-0, if they can muster up a good enough performance to win at Florida St in 2 weeks (they have a bye this week), there’s not another team for the rest of the year that will be able to matchup with them, talent-wise. Get to 8-0 and the Tigers are almost guaranteed a 12-0 season before an appearance in the ACC Championship game against either UNC, VaTech, or Miami.
Next up: at Florida St (Sat, Oct 29)
7. West Virginia
Dana Holgorsen was somewhat on the hot seat before this season started, but they’ve got themselves a good QB, a really good stout defense, and a running game that’s taking the air out of other teams. They know how to win close games, and they’ve got a light schedule the rest of the season. Nobody has talked much about this team, but sitting at 5-0, they’ve proven they can win all kinds of games already, and there’s nobody left on the schedule that are unwinnable. Oklahoma and Baylor both come to Morgantown, and those look to be the most difficult games. Now, like with all Big 12 teams, every game is also lose-able. I don’t expect them to go undefeated… but would it really surprise anybody either. Still a lot to learn about this team, but going to Lubbock for a noon game and holding that Red Raider offense to 17 points was damn impressive.
Next up: TCU (Sat, Oct 22)
8. Nebraska
After jumping out to a 17-0 lead at Indiana this past weekend, the Huskers had to hold on for dear life to sneak out of Bloomington with a 27-22 win. That puts Nebraska at 6-0 on the year, and they continue rolling. Just like Ohio St and Michigan, the schedule isn’t exactly daunting the rest of the way, sans a couple of big matchups at Wisconsin and at Ohio St. I haven’t seen anything that leads me to believe they can win those games, but this is a legit top 15 team this season. Mike Riley has done a good job with this bunch in only his 2nd season in Lincoln.
Next up: Purdue (Sat, Oct 22)
9. Louisville
Petrino’s bunch laid an egg at home against Duke, winning 24-14 in a sloppy, ugly game, that was actually a lot closer than the score indicated, since Louisville was lined up to kick a field goal to make it 20-14, and Duke roughed the kicker, giving the Cardinals a chance to put the game away. This was very very very close, and not what we expected to see out of Louisville after the way they opened up the season on fire. Lamar Jackson was pedestrian through the air, and couldn’t find a way to get into the endzone as often as he has. He’s still the Heisman favorite, but this took a little shine off of him for now.
Next up: NC State (Sat, Oct 22)
10. Baylor
Baylor hasn’t beaten any teams really worth anything, but there’s something to be said for remaining undefeated through 6 games of the season. Even after losing their head coach and several star players, the Bears just keep on rolling. Their opponents’ combined record is 8-29, and the only team with a winning record was Oklahoma St, who had to travel to Waco. Baylor gets a bye this week before getting to the bulk of their schedule, which plays out at Texas, hosting TCU, at Oklahoma, hosting Kansas St, at Texas Tech, and at West Virginia. Pretty daunting. In the meantime, this team is undefeated, and is in the Top 10 by default. I’m still expecting this to fall apart sooner than later.
Next up: at Texas (Sat, Oct 29)
