The college football season has collected six weeks (plus five games played on August 26). Teams are beginning to accumulate results and acquire a profile which can be studied in depth. In an examination of the various unbeaten teams in the country, the top two are beyond dispute at this point. The real challenge is to rank the teams from number three through number 10, with the important reminder being that teams in the same conference will play each other at some point, at least in some instances. This means that teams in this list are guaranteed to lose, which will knock one down and elevate the other.
Miami and Clemson could play in the ACC Championship Game. Penn State and Wisconsin could play in the Big Ten Championship Game. Alabama and Georgia could play in the SEC Championship Game. Washington and Washington State will play later in the regular season.
1. Clemson Tigers
The Tigers won at Louisville, they won at Virginia Tech, and they defeated Auburn at home. They have played tough games in and outside their conference. They easily have the best resume of any team in the country. They are playing the best football of any team in the country. Their big concern, though, is that quarterback Kelly Bryant got injured. That will be something the Tigers must watch in the coming weeks. Their defense has to remain dominant – one bad game could get in the way of everything.
2. Alabama Crimson Tide
The Crimson Tide are firmly putting the rest of the SEC under their feet. Their victory over Texas A&M didn’t cover the spread, but it was still relatively comfortable, leading by 15 points with one minute left in regulation before the Aggies scored a generally cosmetic touchdown. The season-opening win over an athletic Florida State team reminded everyone how deep and tough Alabama is. The Tide and Clemson appear to be headed on a collision course for a third straight College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
3. TCU Horned Frogs
The rankings become very interesting at this point. TCU has probably done more than any other team not named Clemson or Alabama. The wins over Oklahoma State and West Virginia should look good at the end of the season. Georgia beat Notre Dame but hasn’t beaten one of the top teams in the SEC, so that gives the Horned Frogs an overall edge in resumes. TCU can lose once this season and still have a very good chance of making the playoff. Not every team can say that.
4. Georgia Bulldogs
The Bulldogs fit in just behind TCU, but they are better than the others. Their win at Notre Dame looks better and better, and they crushed a Mississippi State team which throttled LSU. They are winning by large margins on a consistent basis, making it hard to drop them below a majority of the other one-loss teams in the country.
5. Washington State Cougars
The Cougars’ win over USC is better than Penn State’s win over Iowa or Wisconsin’s win over Northwestern or Miami’s win over 1-3 Florida State. They also won at Oregon, a result which should look solid later in the year.
6. Penn State Nittany Lions
Who could really argue with the Nittany Lions at this point? Other than a mild hiccup against Iowa, where they needed a last-second touchdown to escape with a win, the Nittany Lions have been spotless. It also helps that the Ohio State Buckeyes and Michigan Wolverines have looked flaky in Big Ten play.
7. Washington Huskies
The Huskies are the team that still nobody is talking about. While there’s been plenty of chatter in the Pac-12, it mostly started with USC, then Josh Rosen and UCLA’s epic comeback in Week 1, and the attention has recently shifted to Washington State. Well, what about the Huskies? They haven’t allowed more than 16 points in any game this season while giving up just 14 in the last two weeks.
7. Wisconsin Badgers
8. Miami Hurricanes
9. San Diego State Aztecs
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