Welcome to the College Football Top 10 Power Rankings Week 14 As it Should Be. Firstly, the SEC November cupcake scheduling is so ridiculous. In November, teams are competing for playoff spots and New Years Six Bowl games while SEC schools are playing East Tenn, Western Carolina, UT-Martin, Abilene Christian, New Mexico St., and Western Carolina. To make it even worse, their fans co-sign it which makes ZERO sense to me. Why do they want to waste their time or money watching that? When a team stacks a November cupcake on top of a poor schedule, there’s no way they should be in the CFB Playoff.
There is always a huge debate surrounding the CFB Playoffs. Should the four best teams be in or the four most deserving teams? I would argue those are one in the same. The best teams are the ones that jump through all the obstacles in their way. Teams should get what they earn. If you schedule poorly in the non-conference, don’t win your conference, and only have one ranked win then you should NOT be in the top four. The amount of talent on your team, who your coach is, and your playoff history should have no bearing the rankings.
Wouldn’t it just make more sense to have an 8-team playoff? The five Power 5 champions and highest-ranked Group of 5 team would get automatic bids. The two remaining spots would be at-large bids.
Rankings should be fair and unbiased, but that’s not the world we live in when preseason polls ultimately affect the final rankings.
I always talk about how big of an advantage playing eight conference games is for the ACC and SEC. In addition to the math that forces more losses within the conference, there is a grinding element to playing nine conference games. Injuries mount during the season and have a huge impact on a team’s record. Imagine if Alabama were playing Missouri, Miss St (again), or Florida this weekend instead of Western Carolina. All the injuries they have would affect the outcome. This is what happens in the Big Ten, Pac-12, and Big-12.
College Football Playoff
After two sets of CFB Playoff Committee rankings, we have more information to put playoff scenarios together. So here is how it should shake out at this point. Check back here on Tuesday for the Road to the Playoff series where we examine every team’s path to the top 4.
- SEC Champion- LSU and Georgia will play in the SEC championship. The conference could make a case for two teams if 1-loss UGA beats LSU.
- Undefeated or 1-loss Big Ten Winner– (Ohio State/Minnesota): The only thing that could mess up the Big Ten selection is if 2-loss Wisconsin wins the Big Ten Championship. But if Minnesota beats OSU in the Big Ten Championship they will have a case for two teams as well.
- Clemson– They have no competition in the ACC so they will finish undefeated with a string of blowout victories.
- Utah– Oregon hurt the Pac-12’s chances by messing up the battle of 1-loss top six teams in the Pac-12 championship. But Utah will get real consideration if they can beat Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship.
- Oklahoma– Everybody canceled Oklahoma when they lost to K-State but three weeks later they are right back in the playoff mix. Beat OKSt and Baylor in the Big-12 Championship and have Georgia and Utah lose and they may be in.
The Rules: No Bias, No Bull College Football Rankings
There is no more unbiased ranking out there than Unafraid Show’s College Football Top 10 Rankings Week 6. I get criticized from time to time by people who only want to see the college football world through the lens of the AP Poll. These rankings are not going to look like the AP Poll. Open your eyes to see a different view of evaluating the top 10. Most polls including the College Football Playoff Committee give college blueblood teams a massive “benefit of the doubt.” I don’t believe in that. Teams are ranked by the correct criteria: quality wins, schedule played, and dominance. After the preseason rankings, only games played matter. No consideration is given for future games.
I re-rank the top 10 every Sunday from scratch. The previous week’s rankings do not factor into the next week. So, the rankings will change, sometimes drastically every week because we will have new information. So make sure to come back every Sunday. For reference, you can check College Football Top 10 Power Rankings Week 12.
College Football Top 10 Rankings Week 13:
Next Up: Baylor, Florida, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Auburn
10. Oregon Ducks (9-2)
Last Week: 28-31 (L) at Arizona State
Horrible loss for Oregon, but still not worse than the loss Georgia suffered against South Carolina. Arizona State is going to a bowl game. Justin Herbert played awful and for the first time all season, the Ducks defense gave up big plays. After being down 24-7 in the fourth quarter, Oregon fought back and showed why they are a top tier college football team. Justin Herbert has easily the worst two interceptions of his career.
Their dreams of the CFB Playoff are dead for 2019, but their Rose Bowl dreams are still alive. However, going through Utah will NOT be easy.
9. Penn State (9-2)
Last Week: 17-28 (L) at Ohio State
It wasn’t pretty against Ohio State, but the Nittany Lions did put up a good fight. It’s hard to knock Penn State for an 11-point road loss to the best team in college football. There was a point in the 3rd quarter game where they were down one score with the football. The team was largely ineffective on drop-back passes because Chase Young had set up a campsite in the PSU backfield. However, after QB Sean Clifford went down with an injury, Will Levis stepped in an played well. Some of the Penn State fans and media wonder if he should be the starter for the remainder of the season.
This is still a very good football team, just not one of the top four. However, if there were an 8 team playoff, PSU would warrant serious consideration.
8. Minnesota (10-1)
Last Week: 38-22 (W) at Northwestern
Good thing we have the College Football Top 10 Power Rankings Week 14 As it Should Be. It is inexplicable how the committee ranked Penn State in front of Minnesota last week. Minnesota literally beat them two weeks before. It would be different if the game had been played in September and there was a lot more information in between.
The Golden Gophers still control their own playoff destiny. Wins against Wisconsin this weekend and Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship with absolutely land them in the top four.
7. Oklahoma Sooners (10-1)
Last Week: 28-24 (W) vs TCU
This week Oklahoma remembered how to play football in the first half. Jalen Hurts didn’t pass the ball particularly well (11-21, 145 yds), but his legs more than made up for it (173 yds 2 TD).
A lot of people thought Oklahoma and the Big 12 were completely out of the playoffs but chaos is striking. If the Sooners can beat ranked Oklahoma State and Baylor in the next two weeks, Alabama loses to Auburn, and Oregon beat Utah in the Pac-12 Championship the path is clear.
Check out our Pac-12 Football Podcast, Pac-12 Apostles:
6. Utah (10-1)
Last Week: 35-7 (W) vs Arizona
No team in the country is beating down opponents like Utah. This team is NASTY on defense. They are the boa constrictor that wraps around a team and just squeezes every bit of life out of them. It’s time to stop sleeping on Utah. No one is giving them the respect they deserve except the College Football Rankings Top 10 As It Should Be. They haven’t received 1/10 of the coverage as any team in the top 15. Whoever they play in the bowl game will be in for a rude awakening. Their defense has only allowed over 13 points three times this season and has held six opponents to single digits.
Tyler Huntley may be having the best season of any quarterback in the Pac-12. Some are even arguing they are better than the Oregon Ducks. If you haven’t watched Utah play, Florida would be a really good comparison except UF has more explosive wide receivers.
5. Alabama Crimson Tide (10-1)
Last Week: 66-3 (W) vs Western Carolina
There was nothing to be learned about Alabama or gained from playing Western Carolina. It was a glorified bye week for the Crimson Tide. Nick Saban could have scheduled an intrasquad scrimmage that was more competitive. Mac Jones replaced Tua and averaged 27.5 yards per completion. Most of them were short passes that the army of 1st round receivers turned into big plays.
Good thing they schedule that “November Cupcake” game to get healthy before Iron Bowl. When will SEC fans grow tired of wasting their time and season ticket money on games like this?
4. Georgia Bulldogs (10-1)
Last Week: 19-13 (W) vs Texas A&M
The Bulldogs pulled out a close one against Texas A&M. It was not pretty but ultimately any win against a solid opponent in a good win. They are fully battle-tested and will give LSU a run for their money in the SEC Championship. At this point, there is no other team that could have an argument to be ahead of UGA. For their last trick, they must beat Georgia Tech this weekend.
Ultimately, Georgia’s undoing will be the same thing that has plagued them every year under Kirby Smart. They are too conservative. They won’t be able to run their way to an SEC championship or CFB Playoff Championship. Jake Fromm will have to show is elite and not just a game manager. The best teams won’t allow them to run the football at the level they are accustomed too. And the best opponents will score enough points to make the Bulldogs throw the ball more than 30 times.
3. Clemson Tigers (11-0)
Last Week: IDLE
Dabo Swinney had another week off to fine-tune his well-oiled machine. Everything I have seen this season tells me Clemson and Ohio State are in a class of their own. LSU is an elite team, but their defense is not up to the job of beating either one of them.
There is no way South Carolina, who beat Georgia, stays within three touchdowns of Clemson this weekend. This team just feels like a veteran NBA team that coasts throughout the regular season but starts getting prepared for a championship push late in the season.
As a college football fan, I’m hoping Clemson and Ohio State is not one of the semi-final matchups in the CFB Playoff. It would suck for the two teams I believe are the best to play each other first. Wouldn’t Ohio State vs Clemson be a helluva national championship game?
2. LSU (11-0)
Last Week: 56-20 (W) vs Arkansas
Not only did LSU beat Alabama, but they scheduled better too. No November cupcake for the Tigers. Even though Arkansas is awful, it was still an SEC opponent. Joe Burrow added another 300+ yard, three touchdown performance to his Heisman Trophy campaign. At this point, why would anyone else even be invited to the ceremony? Tua is hurt, Chase Young missed two games, Justin Herbert was awful last weekend. There is no one else who could possibly win.
Coach O has a very tough job in front of him now. It is national championship or bust for LSU now. So, he has to find a way to keep his team focused and away from reading their headlines. Any stumble from here on out will ruin their great season.
1. Ohio State Buckeyes (11-0)
Last Week: 28-17 (W) vs Penn State
The Buckeyes check all the boxes: quality wins, schedule played, and dominance.
The most complete team in college football is back the #1 team in college football. Ohio State actually helped Penn State stay in the ball game with three lost fumbles. Justin Fields only threw for 188 yards and two touchdowns but there were a couple throws he made that NFL scouts were salivating over. After watching this season Fields is clearly better than Jake Fromm at Georgia. Chase Young came back from his suspension against Penn State and was still the best player on the field.
No matter who you can a fan of, an honest man can’t tell you he’s seen a better team than O-H-I-O State in 2019?
They deserve the #1 spot of the College Football Top 10 Rankings As It Should Be.
Check back next Sunday morning for the College Football Top 10 Power Rankings Week 14.
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