Straight up massive carnage during Notre Dame’s bye week finally brings our first week of true disagreement over the polls. Now the college football season has really begun! Oh, but hey Alabama is still atop the world. So not too much has changed.
Top 11
1 Alabama (+1, 7-0, 41-9 W vs. Arkansas)
Through 7 games the Tide are a cool +228 in point differential.
2 Georgia (+1, 7-0, 53-28 W vs. Missouri)
The Dawgs now enter the meat of their schedule which includes zero Top 20 teams at the moment.
3 TCU (+1, 6-0, 26-6 W at Kansas State)
Sneaky good win for the Frogs on the road.
4 Penn State (+2, 6-0, Bye)
The next 3 weeks will tell the tale of the Lions season.
5 Miami (+5, 5-0, 25-24 W vs. Georgia Tech)
Another close win vaults the Canes up the rankings due to other falling out.
6 Wisconsin (+5, 6-0, 17-9 W vs. Purdue)
Still no Top 50 wins but a defense that’s allowing 13.3 per game might not lose during the regular season.
7 Clemson (-6, 6-1, 27-24 L at Syracuse)
A terrible loss looks better with an injured quarterback and some good wins to back it up.
8 Ohio State (E, 6-1, 56-14 W at Nebraska)
A bunch of wins no one will get excited about but they have killed teams in recent weeks.
9 USC (+3, 6-1, 28-27 W vs. Utah)
The Trojans do us a favor and guarantee a highly ranked matchup this weekend.
10 Oklahoma (+3, 5-1, 29-24 W vs. Texas)
A nice comeback win gives the Sooners 3 out of the last 4 in this series.
11 Oklahoma State (NR, 5-1, 59-16 W vs. Baylor)
Okie State was back to doing Okie State things with outrageous offensive numbers.
Next 2
Notre Dame (NR, 5-1, Bye)
Here come the Irish!
Virginia Tech (NR, 5-1, Bye)
Another team benefiting handsomely from the bye week.
Dropped out: Washington, Auburn, Washington State
G5 Top 3
1 UCF (E, 5-0, 63-21 W vs. East Carolina)
Here’s the nation’s highest scoring offense.
2 USF (+1, 6-0, 33-3 W vs. Cincinnati)
The Bulls are quietly continue to win but haven’t been in my top spot in quite a while.
3 Memphis (NR, 5-1, 30-27 W vs. Navy)
Knocked off previously undefeated Navy and back in the mix for a major bowl bid.
You Were Bad
Washington State
Blown out on the scoreboard thanks to 7 turnovers versus California.
Troy
Followed up a win at LSU with a home loss to South Alabama.
Baylor
43-point losses hurt even worse when you’re 0-6.
Tennessee
Failed to score in the 2nd half losing to South Carolina and now 0-3 in the SEC.
Illinois
Went out there and lost to Rutgers while playing at home, too.
Louisville
Allowed Boston College to score 45 points, that’s almost a season’s worth for the Eagles.
Vanderbilt
Derek Mason kind of talked a little bit of junk before that Alabama game, Commodores have given up 59, 38, 45, and 57 points in the last 4 games.
North Carolina
Couldn’t muster any first half points and falls to 1-6 overall in a loss to Virginia.
Houston
Lost by 28 points to a team that was blown out by Tulane last weekend.
Week 8 Preview
Enemy Watch
Temple (+6) at Army
Boston College (+7) at Virginia
Buffalo (+3) at Miami (OH)
Syracuse (+16.5) at Miami
North Carolina (+21) at Virginia Tech
Indiana (+6.5) at Michigan State
UCF (-7.5) at Navy
Wake Forest (+6.5) at Georgia Tech
Don’t look now but Army is 5-2, looking pretty solid, with a lot of winnable games remaining.
If we didn’t play Miami I would put their game down below in the next section of “too close for comfort.” Zero home field advantage and a Syracuse team that is frisky and coming off a big win.
Navy did just hang with Memphis but a big win for UCF feels like it’s going to happen. Or, maybe this is the Knights lone loss of the season?
Too Close for Comfort
Tennessee (+34.5) at Alabama
I know, I know this is crazy. This is the largest spread in the long history of the Tennessee-Alabama rivalry. And yet, it doesn’t feel that big. I just think there’s zero reason for the Tide to put their foot on the pedal and we might see a game that isn’t an enormous blowout, maybe something like 35-3?
Upset Pick of the Week
BYU (-5.5) at East Carolina
Both of these teams have been super bad this year–a combined 2-12 so far–and this simply based on BYU coming back east and struggling on offense like perhaps no one else in the country. Bad recipe.
National Spotlight
Memphis (+3) at Houston
Oklahoma State (-7) at Texas
Oklahoma (-13.5) at Kansas State
Michigan (+9.5) at Penn State
Wyoming (+13.5) at Boise State
Outside of 2 big games featuring ranked matchups this is obviously a really poor week for college football fans. More hype and focus on that Notre Dame game!
Memphis and Houston need to sort through some upper half AAC stuff this weekend.
For their sake let’s hope Okie Light doesn’t trip up in Austin. Is that big win for Tom Herman coming at all this year?
TCU came out of Manhattan unscathed can Oklahoma do the same?
I wish we lived in an universe where both Michigan and Penn State could lose this game. It feels terrible.
Wyoming and Boise State may not seem like much of a game right now–both got off to poor starts this year–but they are undefeated in Mountain West play and this could be a big one by the end of the season.
Hey, we get it, Illinois sucks. But they’re not the worst P5 team. Can we pick on Kansas once in a while? Especially since Charlie Weis coached there, too?
The Michigan – PSU game will be an ugly football game, but I’m amazed that PSU is getting 9.5 points. Their offense disappears at times and, even though Michigan sucks and hasn’t beaten anyone worth anything, their defense is better than anything PSU has seen.
And PSU has played no one. I really do not understand why everyone has been giving them so much credit this year. No. 2 in the country? Over Georgia? Why, because they beat Iowa by 2? Or was it the Akron blowout? I want them to beat Michigan because, it’s Michigan, but I think they will lose to MSU and Ohio.
Are you from Illinois?
I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas, anymore.
Michigan’s offense is terrible. They were once again lucky to escape with a win last week – O’Korn was 10/20 for 58 yards against the 43rd ranked pass efficiency defense. If Karan Higdon was 95% awesome instead of 100%, they would’ve lost. Their defense is elite, arguably the best in the country, but their offense is sooooo bad that I think anyone with an above average offense and average defense puts them at risk. And Penn State is 1st nationally in scoring defense, 8th in S&P+ Defense, and 4th in FEI Defense.
I think they’re a paper tiger too, but with that offense I don’t think Michigan is the team that’s going to challenge them.
I’ve got the Irish at 9 and USC at 10. I’m not clear on what tOSU or Okay State have done to be ranked above ND.
I like to look at more than best wins, although that’s usually atop the list.
Ohio State is straight MURDERING teams right now. I don’t care who they’re playing. Last 3 games – 56-0, 62-14, 56-14. They are playing bad teams and crushing them. Not beating them decisively; crushing them. Granted, their schedule is also back-heavy, so we shall see.
They got smushed at home when they played a decent team and have zero quality wins. If the game isn’t in doubt in the last quarter all wins against bad teams are the same to me.
I mean you’re kind of implying that since they got beat decisively by OU that they’re more of a 8-4 type of team? I understand dropping them down a little bit based off a lack of quality teams beaten. But they are No. 1 in S&P and still Urban Meyer with a ton of talent.
I’m saying that of the 20 teams that are still “playoff eligible” they’ve proven less than 10 of them.
You probably like Arby’s burgers, don’t you?
Remember the first half of the ND season when ND was “dominating” teams and winning by ~30 points? With 1 quality win in there [and I’m not really convinced MSU (#24 FEI) is that great] and the rest of the teams in the 70-90 FEI range.
OSU is winning by 40+ against close to the same schedule, less MSU [Teams in the 50-65 FEI range].
This is the first year that ND is solidly beating teams it should beat – OSU is making those same type of teams reconsidering football as an idea.
1. OSU and ND are both winning comfortably against bad teams.
2. ND has beaten one good team and lost very close to a very good team.
3. OSU has beaten zero good teams and lost fairly badly to a good team.
I don’t take those three statements and conclude that OSU should obviously be ranked above ND.
1. ND is winning comfortably, OSU is winning boringly [As in, this game is even boring to watch as a fan]
2. Is MSU a good team??
3. OSU did not lose “fairly badly” to Oklahoma – they lost by 15 and it was 17-13 heading into the 4th quarter.
How about the following:
ND plays OSU this weekend at a neutral site (Dubai), who do you think wins that game? What’s your confidence level? I’m thinking somewhere in the 60-65% OSU range.
1. You’re impressed by running up the score on bad teams (apparently impressed that they did it in prior years as well, which I think qualifies you for a voting seat with the AP). I’m not. We’re not going to come together there.
2. On a list of teams with a better win than anything OSU has done would appear Michigan State. I wouldn’t have them above OSU, but they’re a quality win at this point, don’t be ridiculous to make a point.
3. OSU won the turnover battle against OU. They couldn’t move the ball at all. JT had a QBR of 21.1 in that game.
They’re a good team. We’re a good team. We’ll have more information later to see if maybe either are a very good team, but right now I’ll take the Irish straight up.
1. I’m not impressed with running up the score. I just don’t think that ND is capable of doing that to teams. Halftime scores of their 3 wins with the biggest scoring margins (OSU: 35-0, 41-7, 35-0 | ND: 28-10 Temple, 14-10 BC, 45-14 M’OH). OSU comes out of the gate at full speed, ND gets great gas mileage.
2. I’m not arguing if the MSU win is better than any win OSU has. I’m just questioning how good of a win it is for ND. I don’t think there’s any ridiculousness there. (MSU’s best win is Michigan – is Michigan really all that good?)
3. Josh Adams averaged 2.8yd/rush against Georgia. What’s your point? A good team played good defense and did good things to a good player.
Beat SC, Beat the Convicts, this whole thread is moot. We will have 2 huge wins, three big ones. Beat Pack, Beat Tree, we will have 2 huge wins, five big ones. Beat Middies, Beat Deacons, we will have 2 huge wins, five big ones, and two more beatdowns to go with our current 4.
Well, yeah. But how do we argue about this?
Like this: YOU’RE AN ARGUE!!!!
I like the computers the most right now, too. The coaches are clearly off their rocker(they still have scUM ranked ahead of us for some ungodly unknowable reason) and the AP also undervalues us and continues to put “preseason darlings” ahead of us who have losses to really bad teams.
I’m perfectly content to sit in the top 15 and wait to see how we do against quality opponents. I know we played GA close, but they’ve clearly picked up steam from when they played us, and the rest of the teams we’ve beaten, besides MSU, have been bodybags. I’m not saying we’re not really good; I’m just saying I’m not sure yet, and I’ll wait till we thump Southern Cal, or beat both them and NCSt, before I start clamoring about who in the top 10 we should be ranked ahead of.
I can’t believe you have Miami at #5. This is a team that eked out a win over FSU (almost lost to Duke and Wake) and Georgia Tech (triple option yes, but talented? No). I haven’t seen anything putting Miami in the top 10 for me. Oklahoma and Ohio State should be above them.
When was the last time Snyder pulled an upset? For me, it feels like 2012 against Oklahoma. (Translated, every time I pick him to cover, he doesn’t cover).
I like Indiana to cover against MSU. Indiana took UM to overtime and I actually feel like if the second half had not been played in a monsoon, UM would have beaten MSU. What do people think there?
I would be all over that Miami line. I think they’ll win, but giving Syracuse 16.5? Seriously? Seems like a pretty good value.