2019 Couch Power 10, Week 1
It's the most wonderful time of the year! The air is starting to cool off, the kids are heading back to school, the smell of grills still waft down neighborhood blocks. And oh yeah, football! Who could forget?
Well, truthfully, though I hate to admit it, I nearly forgot. Between years of futility from my favorite team and consistent domination by the same two or three programs, and the increasing interest in money more so than the tradition or quality of the game, my interest in the sport is waning. It doesn't help that the Premier League is becoming my new go-to Saturday tradition (because you know, my favorite team actually WINS games sometimes).
That said, all it took was one Saturday spent in front of countless fight songs and tailgate scenes, and the waves of all the sport's nostalgia came flooding back. And sure, a thoroughly unexpected Tar Heel victory helped my demeanor immensely. What can I say? I'm a fickle beast. And fittingly, so shall my rankings be throughout the year.
Just a refresher, since it's been months since you've heard from this ranking: this is not a definitive ranking on how good the teams are, or on who I think will be/deserves to be in the playoff at the end of the year. Rather, it's more of a "What if preseason rankings and bigwig bias didn't predetermine the top teams" kind of thing, an ideal ranking of the country's teams based on what they've proved on the field. Any guesses on who the top two teams are?
1a. Clemson
1b. Alabama
For the first time in Couch Power 10 history, we're instituting a special rule, called the "Saban and Dabo Rule." Until Clemson and Alabama lose and/or give us reeeeeeeeally good reason to drop them from the joint top spot, we're keeping them here. Why? Because as we've seen every year since 2014, it doesn't really matter how these teams look during the regular season. Alabama and Clemson will make the playoff, and one of them will win the title. Clemson takes the slight inside lane by virtue of being the defending champs and looking marginally better against Georgia Tech than Bama did against Duke.
3. Auburn
Does it matter that the Tigers struggled for long periods of time, and didn't lead for 59:59 of their game? Probably not to any Auburn fan. They will have a lot to improve on if they are to be any sort of contender in the SEC, but their comeback win in Dallas over a favored Oregon team was easily the most impressive victory of anyone's in Week 1.
4. LSU
We now enter the "we destroyed teams we should destroy" tier. Credit is given where credit is due, though; pure, start-to-finish domination was hard to come by in Week 1. What LSU did to Georgia Southern-- a decent team who won 10 games and a bowl last year --in their 52-point blowout might just put everyone on notice.
5. Ohio State
And speaking of putting people on notice, it doesn't appear Ohio State are going to be taking much of a step back in the Ryan Day-Justin Fields era. Sure, it was just Florida Atlantic, but early indications are that the Buckeyes can expect to be the team to beat in the Big Ten again.
6. Boise State
We interrupt the "blowing out weak teams" tier to introduce another tier: "close wins over decent teams at neutral sites." Florida State is, of course, a shell of the team they used to be, but through 2.5 quarters last Saturday, it looked like they were about to demolish the Broncos. Then Boise State, led by true freshman QB Hank Bachmeier overcame a nearly 30-point deficit in Tallahassee, in incredible amounts of humidity, in a game that kicked off at their body clock's time of 9 AM. Sure, neither of these teams were ranked, but that's Hollywood level stuff, man.
7. Florida
Conversely, I think just about everyone could live with never watching Florida vs. Miami again. It's not that it wasn't entertaining: it was a rivalry clash with two energized fanbases that went down to the final minute. But, in a testament to why games need to stop being pushed up into mid-August, both teams looked horribly unprepared and sloppy. Still, even though Florida was favored, that the Gators beat Miami in a neutral site is nothing to sneeze at. It's just that they'll need to be much better to have any hope of even winning their division.
8. Utah
Nobody's mistaking this year's BYU side for the Ty Detmer teams of old, but for Utah to roll into their hated rivals' home field and win comfortably on the first night of the season was a good omen for the Pac-12 favorites.
9. Penn State
Back to good teams destroying bad teams! Idaho is, strangely enough, an FCS school now, but they are still just a couple years removed from being a bowl team, but ran into a buzzsaw in State College. Regardless of the opponent, dropping 79 points in a season opener is impressive, especially when Penn State's players have the pressure of trying to make their fans forget about Saquon Barkley and Trace McSorley.
10. UCF
The Gadflies of College Football, UCF got back to winning ways after their 25-game win streak came to an end in last year's Fiesta Bowl. They obliterated Florida A&M, and they absolutely should have. So this is not as much me saying UCF is a Top 10 team right now as it is me saying that they could very well run the table yet again, so get ready.
Just missed: National Icon Mack Brown, National Hero Javonte Williams, National Hero Myles Wolfolk, Hall of Fame Coach Jay Bateman, Freshman Sensation Sam Howell