Two notes on my ratings: where it comes to the TOP of the rankings, a defending champion holds the position until that team is beaten REGARDLESS. Doesn't matter how good or bad they look, to BE the man you gotta BEAT the man. I was the same way in 2011 when it was clear Auburn was not near as good with Cam Newton as they were with him.
Teams 2-10 in my rankings are based on WHAT THEY HAVE DONE, not where I think they will finish in December. So I will ignore anyone who says, "Are you kidding, Oklahoma would ROLL Iowa!" because that's not what this is.
1) Alabama - still has not lost. The end.
2) Penn State - it's hard to argue with the fact they've beaten two decent teams.
3) Georgia - some of the shine came off that Clemson win when Tech held them to 14.
4) Oregon - after Fresno knocked off UCLA, this helps the Ducks. And yeah they were lucky, but they beat Ohio State.
5) Ole Miss - like it or not, they were a whole lot better against Tulane than Oklahoma was. Yeah, they beat Austin Peay, but they also had no trouble with Louisville. Based on what they've done, I don't see how you can rank OU ahead of Ole Miss right now, even if you think OU would beat them.
6) Iowa - I don't think they stay here, but they've looked good against two decent teams and...Kent St.
7) Oklahoma - has not played a decent team and has not looked very good doing it. Scraping by Tulane and Nebraska do not instill confidence.
8) Ohio State - still a team with some issues (like, well, everyone at this point), Ohio State did beat what appears to be a decent Minnesota team when the Gophers were at full strength, and it's not like they got blown out by Oregon. The win over Minny puts them one spot ahead of...
9) Florida - who has beaten nobody good but went toe-to-toe with number one and outplayed them for the bulk of the final three quarters. The Bucks rank above the Gators solely due to the fact Minnesota is better than anyone UF has played thus far.
10) Notre Dame - here we go again. The Irish are probably - again - gonna run the table with a bunch of narrow escapes and make the playoff by virtue of being undefeated (which is defensible).Then they're going to face Alabama or Florida or Georgia or Ohio State or Oklahoma and get absolutely slaughtered. They've escaped three mediocre foes by 3, 3, and 14 points. Purdue had more total yards, more first downs, and was slightly better on 3rd down conversions. The Irish only led by 7 until there was 6:05 left in the game. Florida and Ohio State were more impressive in their losses to good teams than ND has been in their wins against lousy ones.
Teams 2-10 in my rankings are based on WHAT THEY HAVE DONE, not where I think they will finish in December. So I will ignore anyone who says, "Are you kidding, Oklahoma would ROLL Iowa!" because that's not what this is.
1) Alabama - still has not lost. The end.
2) Penn State - it's hard to argue with the fact they've beaten two decent teams.
3) Georgia - some of the shine came off that Clemson win when Tech held them to 14.
4) Oregon - after Fresno knocked off UCLA, this helps the Ducks. And yeah they were lucky, but they beat Ohio State.
5) Ole Miss - like it or not, they were a whole lot better against Tulane than Oklahoma was. Yeah, they beat Austin Peay, but they also had no trouble with Louisville. Based on what they've done, I don't see how you can rank OU ahead of Ole Miss right now, even if you think OU would beat them.
6) Iowa - I don't think they stay here, but they've looked good against two decent teams and...Kent St.
7) Oklahoma - has not played a decent team and has not looked very good doing it. Scraping by Tulane and Nebraska do not instill confidence.
8) Ohio State - still a team with some issues (like, well, everyone at this point), Ohio State did beat what appears to be a decent Minnesota team when the Gophers were at full strength, and it's not like they got blown out by Oregon. The win over Minny puts them one spot ahead of...
9) Florida - who has beaten nobody good but went toe-to-toe with number one and outplayed them for the bulk of the final three quarters. The Bucks rank above the Gators solely due to the fact Minnesota is better than anyone UF has played thus far.
10) Notre Dame - here we go again. The Irish are probably - again - gonna run the table with a bunch of narrow escapes and make the playoff by virtue of being undefeated (which is defensible).Then they're going to face Alabama or Florida or Georgia or Ohio State or Oklahoma and get absolutely slaughtered. They've escaped three mediocre foes by 3, 3, and 14 points. Purdue had more total yards, more first downs, and was slightly better on 3rd down conversions. The Irish only led by 7 until there was 6:05 left in the game. Florida and Ohio State were more impressive in their losses to good teams than ND has been in their wins against lousy ones.
