Another week of play is in the books and we are (thankfully) at the point in the season in which the AP Poll doesn’t matter and College Football Playoff rankings take center stage.
The College Football Playoff selection committee didn’t make too many friends in Week 10.
To start, they dropped Georgia from No. 1 where the Bulldogs were in the previous week’s AP Top 25 all the way to No. 3. Obviously fans were not amused, especially since Georgia is undefeated and it’s also the reigning national champ, but the Bulldogs made sure to take their anger out on Tennessee in Week 10.
In fact, the Bulldogs toppled No. 1 Tennessee in Athens and could move back to that top spot because of it.
On top of dropping the Bulldogs, Michigan fans also felt slighted, being slotted behind Clemson in that initial top six, but that also corrected itself in Week 10 as the Tigers were dismantled by Notre Dame in South Bend. Michigan also bounced back from a halftime deficit at Rutgers to win 52-17.
We’re going to see plenty of movement in the College Football Playoff rankings this week, especially when you think about the LSU Tigers upsetting Alabama in Baton Rouge.
What will the top 25 look like for Week 11?
Illinois played just one Big Ten East team this season before Saturday’s matchup with Michigan State and it lost to Indiana 23-20 for its only loss of the season. Well, Michigan State became loss No. 2. The Spartans had the perfect game plan to beat Illinois but I think the Big Ten West-leading Illini will remain in the top 25 this week — just barely.
Am I overly impressed by Kentucky’s win? No, not really, but that’s why I think the Wildcats will be No. 24 this week instead of much higher. They did pick up a road win against a pesky Missouri team, but 21-17 won’t blow anyone away. Still, this Kentucky team is having a quietly-solid season.
UCF was clinging onto the final spot in the playoff rankings this week but I think we’ll see the Knights move up a couple of spots after beating Memphis on the road. Gus Malzahn might just have the best Group of Five team in the country this year, but Tulane, Cincinnati, and Liberty will have something to say about that.
Did anyone see Notre Dame doing what it did to Clemson on Saturday night? I sure didn’t. The Irish dominated No. 4 Clemson 35-14 and even though the Irish have three losses to Stanford, Marshall, and Ohio State this season, I think we’ll see them jump back into the rankings. What a roller-coaster of a first year it’s been for Marcus Freeman.
Did I think I’d see Liberty going on the road and controlling an entire game (outside of the final minutes) against Arkansas? No, but here we are. Hugh Freeze’s team picked right up where it left off last year with Malik Willis at quarterback and took down a tough Arkansas team in Fayetteville. We’ll see them in the playoff rankings for the first time this year.
I’m not sure why Washington is always so overlooked. The Huskies were underdogs at home against No. 23 Oregon State on Friday night and they responded by picking up a big win, 24-21. Kalen DeBoer is having a heck of a first year in Seattle and he has Michael Penix Jr. to thank for that. Washington jumps back into the rankings this week.
Do I think Kansas State’s loss to Texas will force the committee to drop the Wildcats completely out of the rankings? No, but I do think that they’ll slide all the way down to the 19-20 range. They were down 21 at the half, but stormed back and nearly knotted things up but Adrian Martinez fumbled while the Wildcats were driving to end the game. I still like what I see from this team.
I’ll admit, I didn’t know much about Tulane before this week and I watched the Green Wave’s win over Tulsa on the road and I came away impressed with their defense and run game. They rushed for over 350 yards and held Tulsa to just over 250 total yards. Yes, Tulane’s rushing attack had more yards than Tulsa’s entire offense by about 100. This team is sneaky good.
NC State was one of the few teams to pick up a ranked win in Week 10, securing a nine-point victory over Wake Forest. Freshman quarterback MJ Morris stepped up and had a huge game to lead the Wolfpack past the Demon Deacons. This was his second straight start and he was impressive yet again with three touchdowns and no picks on 210 yards.
Drake Maye is having himself quite the freshman season with North Carolina and he’s helping turn Mack Brown’s program right back around. The Tar Heels are now 8-1 on the season after beating Virginia on the road and they look like legit ACC title favorites. With Clemson losing to Notre Dame, the Tar Heels are looking like the best team from the conference.
The Bijan Robinson show was fun to watch on Saturday evening as he rushed for 200 yards and a touchdown to lead the Longhorns to a massive road win over No. 13 Kansas State. The Longhorns look to be a legit threat in the Big 12 and after winning this one, they should jump considerably and I’m thinking they’ll be the highest-ranked three-loss team in the country.
Penn State is a tough team to judge every week. One week the Nittany Lions are keeping pace with Ohio State and the next they’re losing by a million to Michigan. This week, however, the Nittany Lions had their way with a bad Indiana team on the road. This was just a completely dominant performance as the defense held Indiana to under 200 yards and the offense approached 500.
Cameron Rising didn’t have his best game against Arizona, passing for just 151 yards and a touchdown on 13-of-25 completions and with a line like that, you’d think the Wildcats pulled off the upset. Not so fast. Kyle Whittingham’s team had its way with Arizona, 45-20. The defense didn’t look great but the run game carried the Utes to a big win.
Right when it looked like Clemson was going to make a statement and really solidify a spot in the playoff field, the Tigers were dismantled by an unranked Notre Dame team on the road. Clemson looked awful against Notre Dame and barely even got on the scoreboard. Not exactly what you’d expect from a playoff team. This may have officially eliminated the Tigers from contention.
Defense was optional between UCLA and Arizona State on Saturday night as we got some #Pac12AfterDark action in Tempe. The Bruins avoided an upset, beating Arizona State in the desert, 50-36. Dorian Thompson-Robinson passed for 169 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another 120 yards and two scores as the Bruins will flirt with the top 10 this week.
How much will the committee punish Alabama for a second road loss this season by less than seven points? I don’t think too harshly. The Tide won’t be in that top-six anymore obviously, but I can see them sitting at No. 10 when the new rankings come out on Tuesday night.
Alabama’s first loss was to a team in Tennessee that rose all the way to No. 1 in the first playoff rankings and it was by just a field goal on the road.
The Tide’s loss on Saturday was at LSU by just one point in overtime. It’s hard to say that they’re having an “off-year” because of these two losses by a total of four points, especially because a couple of plays are the difference between a 7-2 record and barely top 10 and 9-0 and No. 1 in the nation.
Nick Saban’s team now will try to become a two-loss playoff threat.
Ole Miss had a bye week to begin the month of November and it comes at a good time as the Rebels are gearing up to host an angry Alabama team that just lost to LSU by a point in overtime in Week 10.
The Rebels are fresh off a big win over Texas A&M on the road in Week 9 and Lane Kiffin’s team is sitting at 4-1 on the season with a legit shot at representing the SEC West in the conference championship. The Rebels are going to slide back into the top 10 this week thanks to the Clemson loss and if they can beat Alabama, they’ll move up even closer to that playoff field.
Ole Miss is going to have to hope that LSU loses at least one more game while the Rebels win out if they’re planning on playing for an SEC title.
Sitting at 8-1 on the year, Ole Miss has been a nice surprise and although Jaxson Dart hasn’t been perfect, he’s been a good replacement for Matt Corral.
At one point on Saturday, it looked like USC was going to run away with a three-touchdown win, at least, but Cal battled its way back into the game.
In fact, the Trojans gave up 21 points in the fourth quarter after mounting a 34-14 lead and the Golden Bears were within six points before an onside kick. USC recovered and put the game away, but Lincoln Riley can’t be happy with the way his team failed to close the door on the 3-5 Bears.
Caleb Williams had yet another Heisman-caliber performance, passing for 360 yards and four touchdowns with no picks and 38 more rushing yards and a touchdown. About 400 total yards and five touchdowns? This dude needs more publicity in the Heisman race.
There are shockingly two top-10 teams from the Pac-12 who each have a legit shot to make the playoff field.
That’s it, I’m buying all the stock in Oregon immediately. The Ducks continue to just humiliate opponents and Colorado was just the latest victim.
Dan Lanning’s Ducks went to Boulder and picked up a 49-10 win over the Buffaloes to improve to 8-1 on the season and there has to be at least some talk of the Ducks pushing for that last playoff spot. Sure, they were demolished by Georgia earlier in the season, but that was Week 1. If those two teams played now, I think we see a much better and more competitive game.
Bo Nix looks like a completely different quarterback than the one we saw at Auburn for the past couple of years. He’s looking like a legitimate Heisman candidate. He had 274 yards and two touchdowns on 20-of-24 completions on Saturday evening.
This team is going to be a nightmare for a potential playoff field.
What an interesting season it’s been for LSU. The year began with a deflating loss to Florida State on a neutral field and to start the month of November, the Tigers picked up a huge win over No. 6 Alabama.
Brian Kelly went from the most hated man in Baton Rouge in Week 1 to the most celebrated. He went from potential way-too-early hot seat to “extend this man immediately” in the span of a couple of months. Kelly has turned this team around completely and the Tigers are now 7-2 overall and 5-1 in league play.
LSU is in the driver’s seat in the SEC West and the Tigers control their own destiny after topping divisional foe Alabama in overtime.
Jayden Daniels has come into his own a bit with the Tigers and his arm and legs helped them upset Alabama in Week 10.
I see LSU jumping into the top six this week, basically switching spots with the Tide.
Tennessee is going to remain in the top 10 despite the loss at Georgia and there’s a decent chance the Vols are still a top-six team when the new rankings come out.
Hendon Hooker came back down to earth against the Bulldogs, passing for just under 200 yards and no touchdowns with a pick and the Tennessee offense looked human for the first time this season.
The nation’s new No. 1 team just didn’t have the juice to keep up with Stetson Bennett and the Bulldogs and fell behind 24-6 at halftime. They were only able to muster one touchdown all game long and that goes to show just how good this Georgia defense really is.
How far will Tennessee drop after losing by two touchdowns against the No. 3 team on the road and never really looking like it’s in the game? I’m going with somewhere between 4-6.
TCU found itself in a hairy situation on Saturday afternoon as it was trailing Texas Tech at home in the second half, but that didn’t last long.
The Horned Frogs had a sleepy first half and didn’t really pull away until late, but Sonny Dykes’ team woke up when it mattered and put the Red Raiders away with a 34-24 win in Fort Worth.
The Horned Frogs actually went into the fourth quarter trailing 17-13 and reeled off 21 points and held the Red Raiders to just seven.
Max Duggan didn’t need to have his best game but he came on late when he needed to with 195 yards and a couple of touchdowns and Kendre Miller rushed for 158 yards and a score as he was incredibly efficient.
Although it wasn’t the prettiest win, it’s a big one to keep TCU undefeated on the year and the Horned Frogs will flirt with that top-six again.
We should be seeing Ohio State drop this week, there’s no doubt about it. The Buckeyes looked awful and had a terrible game plan against Northwestern in Week 10 and it wasn’t really even anything that the Wildcats did.
Ryan Day just shot himself in the foot by throwing in a rainy windstorm and the offense just stalled out because it just couldn’t get anything going until late in the second half. No one believed Ohio State was going to lose to Northwestern, but the fact that it was just a two-score game against a 1-7 team is disappointing.
If the committee is true to its word, it’s going to drop the Buckeyes to No. 3 or No. 4 and move some other teams up who played well this week.
I don’t see the Buckeyes dropping simply because Tennessee, Clemson, and Alabama all lost. But there will be a discussion about the Buckeyes and Wolverines at No. 2.
Saturday felt like a nightmare for Michigan fans — for about two hours. The Wolverines found themselves in a dogfight with Rutgers for two quarters, trailing 17-14 at halftime. It just felt like this was going to be an upset-of-the-century type of game for the Wolverines.
And then the second half started.
Michigan dominated the second half and scored 38 straight points to win 52-17 and really just embarrass the Scarlet Knights on their own field. It was just a great win for this team that looked shaky in the first half.
Outside of Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards, the offense looked fairly tame and JJ McCarthy’s sub-50 percent completion rate is slightly concerning, but the defense stepped up and the Wolverines seem to be a lock to head into the final week of the season undefeated.
Michigan will see a nice jump into that top four this week.
It looks like we’ll have a new No. 1 team this week, folks.
Georgia hosted the No. 1 team in the country on Saturday afternoon and came away with a two-touchdown win over the Volunteers. Not many teams can make the top team in college football look so punchless, but Georgia is not just any team. This is the reigning national champ for a reason.
Kirby Smart’s guys came away with a big win thanks to Stetson Bennett’s solid play, averaging over 10 yards per attempt with 257 yards and two scores.
Tennessee had been lighting up the scoreboard all season leading up to this week’s game and Georgia held the Volunteers to just one touchdown and under 300 total yards. That’s exactly what you like to see if you’re Smart and it’s hard to think of Georgia ranked anywhere else but No. 1 after this win.
The disrespect from the initial poll seemed to have motivated this team.