2019 Couch Power 10, Week 7
- Oct 9, 2019
- 3 min read
There's been a whole lot of excitement in this college football season, but not really any serious gravity shifts. Predictably, in a weekend that had only one "can't-miss" game, only one team took a serious step towards playoff contention.
You might often miss the most enthralling action because it is in places that don't really tend to feature in the Couch Power 10. Take, for example, the delightfully chaotic ACC Coastal, which boated two of the seasons' wildest games in Virginia Tech-Miami and Pittsburgh-Duke. None of these teams are going to win the ACC, and likely none of them are even going to win the Coastal Division (the ESPN FPI projections still heavily favor Virginia and North Carolina), but it goes to show that the traditional must-watch college football action you're probably longing for is, these days, taking place largely in seemingly missable games.
That said, let's rank some big dogs!
Just a reminder, as you are preparing to protest "Daniel, good sir, we are now approaching the midway mark of this season and yet I fail to see nary a mention of my favorite sporting side, know that this is not a statement on who I think have the most talent and quality, 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.
1a. Alabama
1b. Clemson
That being said, the Saban-Dabo Rule dictates that 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 drawing from every year since 2014, we're working off the assumption that 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.
Bama retains the TOP top spot by default, as Clemson used their bye week to lick their wounds and regroup after their near loss to Carolina last week.
3. LSU
LSU, conversely, returned from their bye week and were back to their old ways. Okay, so they didn't put up 60-plus points like their previous outings, but still, it was an impressive day at the office against a solid Mountain West team.
4. Wisconsin
Wisconsin took a break from Big Ten play to get back to what they do best: shutting out inferior opponents. It's becoming increasingly clear the Badgers are the Big Ten's best hope for a non-Ohio State champion.
5. Florida
Florida had been the forgotten unbeaten team of the SEC, with little to show other than ugly wins over Miami and Kentucky. But, when the time came for them to make a statement, they took advantage. It still wasn't the prettiest performance, but a win over previous Couch # 3 Auburn was never going to be an easy task. What we learned is that the Gator D is for real....good enough to keep their team in the game against about anybody.
6. Georgia
Maybe this year won't be the cakewalk for Georgia in the SEC East that everyone assumed it would be. Two weeks after a thrilling win over Notre Dame, the Dwags had to watch their division rivals steal headlines. Still, Georgia had a nice comfortable return to action with a cruise in the park against hated rivals Tennessee.
7. Ohio State
Once again the level of competition for Ohio State kicked up a notch, and once again, the Buckeyes responded by passing with flying colors. It's not that anyone really expected Michigan State to march int o Columbus and win, but when you've comfortably put away the 4th-hardest game on your schedule, you're doing something right.
8. Oklahoma
Oklahoma (and more specifically, Jalen Hurts) is still breezing through the Big 12. Yawn. Wake me up when they play a real te-- what's that? They're playing Texas this Saturday? Innnnnnterestiingggg....
9. Wake Forest
Wake Forest got a well-earned breather last week. They'd be forgiven if they spent the time basking in their stunning 5-0 start, but my guess is they're refocusing their attention on working towards a suddenly attainable Orange Bowl berth.
10. Baylor
Due in no small part to UCF's 2nd loss (RIP National Champions) and SMU's near-loss at home to Tulsa, I don't have a token Group of Five representative in the Power 10 this week. Instead I'm going with another Power 5 surprise success story. The Baylor Bears were picked to finish in the bottom half of the Big 12 this season, and yet here they sit in Week 7, unbeaten on the whole and 2-0 in conference play. What a job so far by Matt Rhule and co.
Just missed: Boise State, Penn State, SMU, Memphis, Appalachian State, human bowling ball Javonte Williams
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