There were a number of upsets during Week 6 of the college football season and here’s our updated College Football Playoff top four.
We are getting into the meat of the college football schedule and that’s reflected in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings.
Oklahoma and Texas was a consequential matchup and there will be more in the coming weeks. We had Notre Dame and Ohio State, as well as Texas-Alabama, LSU-Florida State, and other key games early in the season.
But this weekend, college football fans can feast their eyes on Oregon-Washington. That game has big-time playoff implications, as does USC and Notre Dame. The Irish are out of the College Football Playoff race. USC isn’t, but they need an impressive win after another struggle.
Soon enough, we’ll have actual College Football Playoff rankings from the committee, but here’s our projected top 4, as well as a list of other contenders.
Top Contenders (5-10)
- 10. Texas: Yes, the Longhorns lost to Oklahoma. But all is not lost. They have a marquee win over Alabama and if Texas wins out, it will probably get another shot at OU in the Big 12 title game. Redeem that loss and finish 12-1, and the Horns will be a top-4 team.
- 9. USC: The Trojans have struggled against mediocre teams the past two weeks. Notre Dame might be in the same category, but the Irish are capable of upsetting the Trojans, who need to figure out their issues on defense.
- 8. Washington: The Huskies can prove they are for real this week against Oregon. For now, it’s hard to view them as a legit contender even though Michael Penix is amazing.
- 7. Penn State: The Nittany Lions play Ohio State in two weeks. The Nittany Lions have to split against OSU/Michigan to keep their playoff hopes alive.
- 6. Oregon: The Ducks were impressive against Colorado. But they still don’t have a marquee win. However, that can change Saturday against Washington.
- 5. Ohio State: Based on their resume, Ohio State should be in the top four. But this is a projection and the Buckeyes have to beat Michigan this year to make the College Football Playoff.
4. Oklahoma
The Sooners had the most impressive win of the weekend. Dillon Gabriel is a bona-fide Heisman contender now after nearly 400 yards of total offense and a game-winning touchdown drive with no timeouts and just over a minute left.
It was epic. The Sooners will probably have to beat Texas again if they want to make the College Football Playoff though.
Unless, another Big-12 team can work its way into the top two, but right now, the Sooners and Longhorns feel like the best teams far and away.
3. Florida State
Florida State took on Virginia Tech this week. The Hokies have struggled this season but Florida State football dominated just like you would expect the No. 3 team in the country to do.
The Seminoles scored the game’s first 22 points. Those were all in the first quarter. Virginia Tech was able to battle back and cut the FSU lead to 32-17 before the fourth quarter.
Still, Florida State looked like a playoff team in the 22-point win. Jordan Travis threw two touchdowns; the defense was stellar and Trey Benson carried the ball 11 times for 200 yards and two touchdowns.
If Benson gets rolling, the FSU offense could be as good as any in college football. The wins over LSU and Clemson don’t look as good as they might have before the season, but they were on the road and on a neutral field.
2. Michigan
Another week and another dominant performance for Michigan. Minnesota was an 18-point underdog, so it’s not like this game was expected to be close.
However, for the second week in a row, J.J. McCarthy was sitting on the bench for the fourth quarter because the game was so out of hand.
Minnesota dropped to 3-3 after the loss. And to be fair, Michigan’s best win is a home victory over 4-2 Rutgers, or road wins over 3-3 Nebraska or 3-3 Minnesota.
Yet, those three wins came by a combined score of 128-24. That’s an average margin of victory of 34.6 points. In fact, Michigan’s defense scored more points than Minnesota’s after two interceptions returned for touchdowns.
The Wolverines also had more yardage on interception returns than Minnesota had passing yards. J.J. McCarthy is also college football’s leader in QBR.
1. Georgia
Passing the eye test has become important in college football once again and some fans weren’t all that happy with the way Georgia was playing in the first few weeks of the season.
Yet, the Bulldogs absolutely dominated Kentucky on Saturday. The Wildcats just whipped Florida and looked like a team that might be able to challenge Georgia.
Nope.
The Bulldogs were focused and rolled to a 51-13 win. Carson Beck was 28-of-35 for 389 yards and four touchdown passes, as well as one interception.
Brock Bowers caught seven passes for 132 yards and a touchdown, so those who thought the UGA offense wasn’t as good as it had been in previous years were wrong. The defense also smothered Kentucky to the point it felt mean.
Michigan looks damn good. But Georgia is No. 1 until someone proves they can beat the Bulldogs.