College Football Top 25 Power Rankings, Week 6: Georgia makes case for No. 1

I’m not as high on Virginia Tech through two games as some experts, but the Hokies were without 23 players in their opener against NC State and still won by 21 points. They came back in the second game to beat Duke on the road by a touchdown, but until Virginia Tech beats a team with a pulse like, let’s say, North Carolina in Week 6, it’s going to stay down here.

I’m firmly on the Iowa State bandwagon and have been for years since Matt Campbell took over. The Cyclones are one of the best teams in the Big 12 and just because they lost a shocker in the opener to Louisiana (which is ranked No. 23 in the AP Top 25, by the way) doesn’t mean they aren’t worthy of being a top-20 squad. The Cyclones weren’t ready for Louisiana, but have since bounced back to beat a tough TCU team and now Oklahoma. Breece Hall is legit and Brock Purdy is starting to round back into form.

Whenever the defending national champs lose, it’s a big deal. When they lose in the home opener against an unranked conference foe with a new head coach at the helm, it’s even bigger. It’s clear that the loss of Joe Burrow, Joe Brady, Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Dave Aranda are going to hurt, but Ed Orgeron can still work his magic. One loss to begin the year isn’t the end of a playoff run as a bounce-back win over Vanderbilt might get momentum swinging in the right direction.

Ever since the Ragin’ Cajuns took down Iowa State in the season opener, they have been struggling a bit. I have them this high because that win over Iowa State is looking better by the week and until Louisiana loses, there’s no reason to drop it.

Honestly, a team that was ranked in the AP’s top 10 last week dropping about 10 spots in my power rankings seems extreme after a road loss to the No. 3 team in the country, no? I’d say that Auburn looked as pedestrian as can be against the Bulldogs, putting up just six points in an ugly loss and therefore I can’t justify them being ranked in the top 15.