Georgia is the best team in college football plus other Week 10 gut reactions

College football Week 10 is off and running. Here are some gut reactions to the early games on Saturday that saw TCU and Ohio State survive scares. 

The later we get into the college football season, the fewer style points matter. However, the College Football Playoff committee takes the “eye test” into consideration as well as other things like game control.

Maybe that’s why TCU football isn’t ranked as high as many of us think it should be. The Horned Frogs had some struggles with Texas Tech in Week 10 and led just 17-13 in the second half before pulling away for a 34-24 win.

Ohio State struggled mightily with a 1-7 Northwestern team and was down most of the first half. Part of it had to do with the high wind but C.J. Stroud completed just 10-of-26 passes for 76 yards. He did run for 79 yards and had a 44-yard run that help Ohio State escape with a 21-7 win.

Yet, it wasn’t an impressive performance. North Carolina also barely survived Virginia, winning 31-28. The Tar Heels are 8-1 now but are ranked 17th and they didn’t do anything on Saturday to change their perception.

Georgia didn’t have those issues. The Bulldogs dominated and put to bed any questions about who the best team in college football is. Georgia beat No. 1 (CFP Rankings) Tennessee 27-13 and controlled the game by a wider margin than that.

There were also a number of upsets in the afternoon slate of college football as Kansas knocked off Oklahoma State, while Michigan State beat Illinois, and Pittsburgh knocked off Syracuse.

With a good chunk of games in the books, here are our gut reactions to College Football Week 10. (will be updated after night games)

Alabama and Bryce Young are done, and so is Clemson

In terms of what we learned on Saturday night, well Brian Kelly was worth what LSU paid for him and the Tigers might actually have a path to the playoff if they keep winning. They should head to Atlanta for the SEC West title game but there is still the matter of Ole Miss. They have one loss but the Rebels lose to Alabama, all the Tigers need to do is beat A&M or Arkansas. As of now, if they beat both they will win the SEC West.

Just wild.

It also means that Alabama is done in the national title race. We’ll also have a new Heisman Trophy winner in 2022. Also, Clemson is out too. Their embarrassing loss at Notre Dame should be a final wake-up call to the committee, which looked like it was clueless after the first week of rankings.

Georgia is the best team in college football

There’s no doubt about who is going to be the No. 1 team on Tuesday. It’s Georgia and it’s not close. The Bulldogs now have two top-10 wins and both came in dominant fashion. Stetson Bennett threw for 257 yards and tossed two touchdowns as well as running for another.

Hendon Hooker threw for less than 200 yards and didn’t have a touchdown pass either in a performance that is really going to damage his Heisman Trophy hopes.

Georgia’s defense also ended any talk of Tennessee’s offense being comparable to LSU in 2019. The Vols sort of stunk it up which is easy to do against the Bulldogs.

Tennessee has slim College Football Playoff hopes

Now that Tennessee isn’t going to the SEC championship game, it’s hard to see them making the playoff unless a ton of chaos happens. Tennessee will still be ranked in the top 5-6 but if Alabama eventually makes the SEC title game and beats Georiga, it would be Alabama and UGA going.

If Alabama doesn’t win, the win for the Vols isn’t as impressive and I don’t see Tennessee getting picked over any undefeated champion or even some one-loss conference champions since they would be a one-loss team with a conference title.

You never know with the committee but the Vols’ chances obviously took a big hit.

Illinois is out

This might seem like a footnote but Illinois came into the week 7-1 and if the Fighting Illini won out, with wins over Michigan and Ohio State in the Big Ten title game, it would have had a strong case for a playoff spot. Now, the Big Ten West and getting to Indianapolis for the Big Ten title game is the goal after being upset by Michigan State.

C.J Stroud’s Heisman hopes could take a hit

It might be a temporary loss of momentum in the long run but the fact that Stroud threw for under 100 yards and only has one touchdown pass in two weeks isn’t ideal. Stroud made some key plays and stepped up by doing some things with his legs.

However, he also missed some throws, and Ohio State didn’t look like a top-four team against Northwestern. Will that matter in the end?

In terms of the Buckeyes’ playoff hopes and Stroud’s Heisman chances, probably not. It’s still all about the Michigan game.

A close loss by TCU won’t matter

It seems like the College Football Playoff selection committee is penalizing TCU for winning a bunch of close games and they could again after a 10-point win over a 4-5 team.

TCU was at home and Texas Tech took the lead into the fourth quarter. That shouldn’t matter and it probably wouldn’t if we were talking about Alabama or Georgia but perception matters.

Ultimately, if the Horned Frogs end up 13-0, they are probably headed to the College Football Playoff. At the same time, after throwing for under 200 yards and two touchdowns, Max Duggan’s Heisman campaign took a step in the wrong direction.

Tulane keeps rolling

One of the best stories of this college football season is Tulane and the Green Wave took another step towards a New Years Six bowl game with a 27-13 win over Tulsa. It was close throughout but the Green Wave put together a solid win and at this point, it’s clear that if they win out, they will earn a spot in a major bowl game.

What’s also really interesting is that under the projected 12-team playoff format (top six conference champions and six at-large berths) Tulane would be in-line for a playoff berth too, which is something college football needs.

I get not allowing all 10 conference champions to get an automatic bid. But the little guys should have a guaranteed way to earn access to the playoff, otherwise, why does the Group of 5 exist?

More reactions to come after Georgia-Tennessee and other afternoon games in College Football Week 10.