Movement In The Top 25
Crazy week of football is mostly behind us, with USC and UCLA among others still playing in the night cap. The changes to the top 25 CFP rankings will be dramatic, to say the least. Much speculation is being made already with regards to the top 4, of course. But looking down the rankings, many teams should be gaining or losing a lot of ground. 8 of the top 25 lost this week, with another 2 or 3 winning in ways that could drop them in the rankings or at least hinder their ceiling.
I know, I know, beat Nebraska. But the top 25 has been a part of college football for forever and it’s interesting, so if you’re interested, enjoy. Here’s the rankings from last week, with the game and record result from this week, and some commentary:
1. (8-1) Tennessee L 13-27 to Georgia (between this and Bama losing, I think they drop to 4 or 5)
2. (9-0) Ohio State W 21-7 over Northwestern (ugly win, they might drop to 3. hopefully Stroud’s Heisman odds drop even more)
3. (9-0) Georgia W 27-13 over Tennessee (clear #1 now)
4. (8-1) Clemson L 14-35 to Notre Dame (finally exposed in a way that affected the record, could still be in top 10 though)
5. (9-0) Michigan W 52-17 over Rutgers (could be as high as 2 now)
6. (7-2) Alabama L 31-32 to LSU in OT (should be out of the playoff, but… ya know)
7. (9-0) TCU W 34-23 over Texas Tech (waiting for them to have their game like Clemson did today)
8. (8-1) Oregon W 49-10 over Colorado (could jump into top 6, but still needs luck to push into top 4)
9. (7-1) USC vs. Cal (winning 20-7 at halftime)
10. (7-2) LSU W 32-31 over Alabama in OT (could also jump into top 6)
11. (8-1) Ole Miss bye (teams that lost ahead of them may not fall far enough to break into top 10)
12. (7-1) UCLA @ ASU (winning 28-10 at halftime)
13. (6-3) Kansas State L 27-34 to Texas (should be out of top 25 imo. lost to the only 3-loss team in top 25 entering into this week)
14. (7-2) Utah W 45-20 over Arizona (everyone who won from here down bumps at least one if KSU falls all the way out)
15. (7-2) Penn State W 45-14 over Indiana (oof this makes Illinois losing to IU look even worse)
16. (7-2) Illinois L 15-23 to MSU (speaking of making Illinois look worse)
17. (8-1) UNC W 32-29 over UVA (I was at this game. UVA was winning at half and would not go away, but they are bad. Would not be surprised if UNC drops a despite the W)
18. (6-3) Oklahoma State L 16-37 to Kansas (good Kansas is back I guess, OSU continues its descent)
19. (8-1) Tulane W 27-13 over Tulsa (Cincinnati isn’t walking through that door for the G5 this year)
20. (6-3) Syracuse L 9-19 to Pitt (‘Cuse has really fallen flat lately, and will be out)
21. (6-3) Wake Forest L 21-30 to NC State (Wake could in theory stay in at 24 or 25 with so many loses ahead of them)
22. (7-2) NC State W 30-21 over Wake Forest (will get to move up a good bit this week)
23. (6-3) Oregon State L 21-24 to Washington (making room for some new teams, kick your FGs kids)
24. (6-3) Texas W 34-27 over Kansas State (will likely get the biggest bump this week outside of ND. could find itself around the 15 or so range)
25. (7-2) UCF W 35-28 over Memphis (will stay in top 25 but barely)
With possibly 6 teams dropping out, new faces next week will likely include Notre Dame (6-3) who could climb quite high despite their up and down season, Liberty (8-1) who held on for their first ever win over an SEC team in Arkansas, Kentucky (6-3) who bounced back against Missouri after getting embarrassed by Tennessee last week, Washington (7-2) who could just swap spots with Oregon State, Cincinnati (7-2) who despite falling off this year extend their home win-streak to 31 games, and Coastal Carolina (8-1) who beat App State on Thursday.
November 6th, 2022 at 12:52 AM ^
Beat Nebraska
November 6th, 2022 at 8:20 AM ^
I’ll grab my belt
November 6th, 2022 at 10:38 AM ^
If I had a rubber hose...
November 6th, 2022 at 11:12 AM ^
Do you Cayman Nebraska after the beating?
November 6th, 2022 at 11:44 AM ^
Will Scott Frost's mom be at the game?
November 6th, 2022 at 12:55 AM ^
If Michigan isn't #2 in the next CFP rankings then it's all a piece of shite.
November 6th, 2022 at 1:03 AM ^
Get ready to wipe... Not jumping over undefeated OSU - even though we should.
November 6th, 2022 at 1:41 AM ^
Yep, they dropped us from 3 to 4 because our win over IA was not that impressive! But they will not drop OSU down one after their unimpressive win over NU!
November 6th, 2022 at 5:46 AM ^
I think you have your answer already. Clemson never should have been in the top 5 and probably not the top 10, but the committee has their biases. My other theory is they deliberately wanted to publish rankings that were likely to change in later weeks so they could hold people's attention.
The truth right now is that Georgia, Michigan, and Ohio State are the 3 best teams in the country in some order. Then there's everyone else fighting for 4. The committee doesn't want to admit that because it would make for crappy TV.
November 6th, 2022 at 8:48 AM ^
OSU's extra win over ND will keep them over us until we play. We can match their resume with a win over Illinois, but I doubt that will move the needle in the rankings.
November 6th, 2022 at 10:30 AM ^
Illinois just shat the bed against MSU…not sure anyone nationally views them highly anymore.
November 6th, 2022 at 10:43 AM ^
Illinois will no longer be consider a quality opponent for us. Really we’ll only have PSU and OSU, which is not enough. Should have kept UCLA, which would give us a good shot of making the CFP with a fairly close loss to OSU. It’s Michigan’s own fault. Now OSU is an elimination game.
November 6th, 2022 at 11:43 AM ^
UConn has a chance at home for a high quality win against #23 Liberty next weekend. And it would make UConn bowl eligible. If that happens then one of our three non-conference opponents is actually pretty decent. But otherwise, yeah, the middle of the B1G is devouring itself which isn't helping Michigan's cause any.
November 6th, 2022 at 11:44 AM ^
An ESPN writer has UGA, ohio, Tenn, TCU as their new CFP 4.
November 6th, 2022 at 12:59 AM ^
Here’s my ranking:
1. Georgia
2. OSU
3. Michigan
4. TCU
5. LSU
November 6th, 2022 at 1:39 AM ^
Surely you jest with LSU. 2 home losses including to FSU. That should essentially disqualify them.
November 6th, 2022 at 8:53 AM ^
FSU game wasn't in Baton Rouge.
November 6th, 2022 at 9:21 AM ^
Yes. LSU has made an impressive turnaround. They are a much better team now than they were in game 1. The Alabama win was a great win. But those two losses should all but disqualify them from playoff consideration.
November 6th, 2022 at 1:09 AM ^
I would guess...
- Georgia
- Ohio (should be Michigan)
- Michigan
- Tennessee (should be TCU)
- TCU
- Oregon
- LSU
- USC
- Alabama
- Ole Miss
- Clemson
- UCLA
- Penn State
- Utah
- UNC (should be Texas)
- Texas
- NC State
- Notre Dame (should be about 3 lower)
- Tulane
- Illinois
- Kansas State
- Liberty
- Kentucky (should be Washington)
- UCF
- Washington
November 6th, 2022 at 1:32 AM ^
I hate SEC bias and don't think the SEC is actually very good this year. ACC are worse. My actual opinion:
- Georgia
- Michigan
- Ohio
- TCU
- Oregon
- UCLA
- USC
- Tennessee
- Penn State
- Ole Miss
- Utah
- LSU
- Alabama
- Texas
- Tulane
- Kansas State
- Clemson
- Washington
- Illinois
- Liberty
- UCF
- Coastal Carolina
- Oregon State
- Notre Dame
- UNC
November 6th, 2022 at 5:14 AM ^
So you have LSU beating Alabama & dropping 2 spots. Very funny!
November 6th, 2022 at 6:36 AM ^
It’s what he said his opinion was. He probably never agreed with LSU being #10
November 6th, 2022 at 9:22 AM ^
And I think LSU was ranked that high for 1 reason - to give BAMA a back door entrance into the top 4. But now that it has backfired on them, it will be interesting to see where they put them. They should not be ranked above UCLA or USC imo
November 6th, 2022 at 11:20 AM ^
I agree. Sec isn’t that good. Alabama struggled in half of their games including against a shitty Texas. LSU still isn’t that good. Tennessee was never in that game and would lost every time to Georgia. Alabama dropping 49 on them is hilarious. Oregon losing 49-3 automatically disqualifies them for me. You can’t be a playoff team and suffer an ass whooping like that. No matter when it happens in the season.
November 6th, 2022 at 9:46 AM ^
I’m guessing it looks a little more like this for the top 15.
- Georgia
- Ohio
- Michigan
- Tennessee
- TCU
- Oregon
- USC
- Clemson
- LSU
- Ole Miss
- Bama
- UCLA
- Penn State
- Utah
- UNC
November 6th, 2022 at 10:45 AM ^
Odd how many people think Tenn will stay in the top 4. Not happening. They will be 5 or 6.
November 6th, 2022 at 7:19 AM ^
No way LSU is ranked higher than Tennessee. Put Tennessee in there at #5, and I think you have your top 5.
November 6th, 2022 at 8:30 AM ^
I'll agree w Oregon @ 5. Too bad Pac 12.
November 6th, 2022 at 9:26 AM ^
You have to put Oregon as #5. Their only loss was to a dominant Georgia team to open the season, and their team is much improved now. I think Oregon is better than TCU, but have to respect undefeated over 1 loss.
November 6th, 2022 at 11:27 AM ^
Lose 49-3 anytime in the season and you are disqualified in my opinion. Early season loses don’t matter my ass. Hell Tennessee is done in my opinion. That loss to Georgia was embarrassing. They were never in that game. Why anyone would want a potential rematch in either game is beyond me.
November 6th, 2022 at 10:31 AM ^
This committee appears to want at least 3 conferences represented in their top four.
As a result, I (sadly) expect this weeks ranking to be:
1. Georgia
2. OhioSt
3. Tennessee
4, TCU
5. Michigan
6. Oregon
Beat Nebraska!
November 6th, 2022 at 11:50 AM ^
There is absolutely zero chance that Michigan won’t be in the top 4.
November 6th, 2022 at 12:34 PM ^
I hope you’re right, but I think the committee looks at this differently than we do.
November 6th, 2022 at 1:03 AM ^
After Bama’s gritty performance on the road, shouldn’t they actually move up to number 1?
November 6th, 2022 at 1:24 AM ^
You have a good point there.
November 6th, 2022 at 5:49 AM ^
Take the Tigers into overtime in a night game at Tiger Stadium? Win or lose, that's still a win in my book.
November 6th, 2022 at 5:06 AM ^
That was a DAMN fine loss. Gotta give ‘‘em credit for having the guts to be geographically located in SEC country too.
November 6th, 2022 at 7:40 AM ^
Is that you, Nick Saban?
November 6th, 2022 at 8:52 AM ^
His doppelganger finebaum
November 6th, 2022 at 11:20 AM ^
His sycophant finebaum
FIFY
November 6th, 2022 at 1:25 AM ^
,,,and then there were 4. We're one of the 4 remaining P5 teams.
Sure, our schedule hasn't been especially daunting, but 9-0 is still pretty damn great.
I'm enjoying every win, every week. So much fun to be undefeated!
Go Blue!
November 6th, 2022 at 1:28 AM ^
It will be:
UGA
Ohio
Michigan
TCU
Oregon
USC
Tenn
UCLA
Clemson
LSU
Ole Miss
Bama
Utah
PSU
UNC
S'all I got for now
November 6th, 2022 at 1:40 AM ^
Good list. This is how it should be (maybe swap Mich and OSU) but no way they drop the SEC teams that low.
I'd vote for you for CFP committee.
November 6th, 2022 at 5:40 AM ^
Tenn is not falling below 5. There will be heavy discussion by the committee for Tenn and TCU for those 4 and 5 spots.
November 6th, 2022 at 7:21 AM ^
TCU vs Tenn is interesting. TCU should be ahead by being undefeated but their only two good wins took serious hit yesterday with Oklahoma St and Kansas State loosing and likely both being out of top 25. That means they have zero top 25 wins
I expect Texas or Baylor to make this moot in a week or two though.
November 6th, 2022 at 7:31 AM ^
I'm curious to see if Oregon jumps them, actually.
November 6th, 2022 at 8:15 AM ^
Lol Tennessee isn’t dropping to 7 , 5th at worst
November 6th, 2022 at 9:06 AM ^
They should. UT got dominated. Yes, they beat Alabama and Alabama is very good, but Georgia proved UT isn't a top team.
November 6th, 2022 at 9:50 AM ^
Bama is EH. They have Will Anderson and Bryce Young. You put Bryce Young on Michigan and Michigan wins the national championship. Otherwise I like Michigan vs Bama. Young is the key. He’s mobile and can make some crazy plays.
November 6th, 2022 at 10:08 AM ^
Uh, JJ McCarthy would like to have a word with you.