2019 Couch Power 10, Week 14
Happy Thanksgiving week, Couch/football fans! As we all know, Thanksgiving isn't just about ingesting unhealthy amounts of food or celebrating our nation's unhealthy history. It's also about embracing our unhealthy addiction to college football. It's tradition for Thanksgiving weekend, as the last week of regular season games before conference championships, to feature several highly anticipated matchups and rivalry games.
But we're not there yet. We still have to look back on last weekend, and the week before Thanksgiving is typically its successor's antithesis: low on ranked matchups, low on rivalry games, low on drama. This trend seems to have increased in recent years, with many more teams scheduling an 'easy win' against an FCS team as a tuneup to their grand season finale. The motivation behind this is understandable, but it typically can lead to a dull week of football. That was somewhat the case this week, with many of the top teams involved in snoozers. But thankfully, the day was not without major developments this time. Ohio State kicked off the day by holding on to a win over fellow Top-10 team Penn State. The SEC kept their '2 teams in the playoff' dream alive thanks to LSU's domination of Arkansas and Georgia's nervy win over Texas A&M. And the Pac-12 playoff window, as has been custom over recent seasons is in danger of closing yet again, with Oregon's upset loss at Arizona State.
Just a reminder, as you scoff, "Daniel, we're 12 days away from finding out who is in the playoffs, and your rankings are laughable": remember 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.
1. LSU
Hot off the presses: the playoff committee has once again dropped LSU to #2 in the country. I don't blame the committee for being less impressed by the Tigers beating a truly horrid Arkansas team than Ohio State beating Penn State. I blame them for finding fault with a team that has beaten Alabama, Florida, Auburn, and Texas, two of them on the road. But I doubt the folks of Baton Rouge mind too much. Joe Burrow and co. have multiple chances to prove their quality to the country.
2. Ohio State
Ohio State deserves a whole lot of credit for responding well to their first real test of the season; after allowing #9 Penn State to cut their 21-point lead to 4 heading into the final quarter, the Buckeyes sealed the game on the backs of their vaunted defense. Many people (myself included) might be frustrated about Ohio State being atop the rankings, but if they close their season with three consecutive victories over top 15 teams, it will be hard to protest too much.
3. Clemson
Clemson got a week off from their destruction of inferior opponents in order to prepare for their "rivalry" game with South Carolina. Who, yeah, is an inferior opponent who will be destroyed by Clemson.
4. Georgia
Wins in huge rivalry games over Florida and Auburn gave Georgia the SEC East crown, and also gave its fans the impression that their offense was starting to perform at as consistent a level as their defense. That impression may have been shaken by Saturday's gritty, sometimes ugly win over Texas A&M. The Bulldogs may seem a ways off from the quality of the CFP's Top 3 teams, but it should be noted that the Aggies are no slouch, having lost only to Clemson, Alabama and Auburn on the year. After what should be an easy rivalry win over Georgia Tech this weekend, the Dawgs will start trying to puzzle out how to stop LSU in the SEC Championship.
5. Oklahoma
Oklahoma fans are not used to being on the outside looking in in the Playoff era, especially as a likely 1-loss Big 12 champion. But it certainly appears that the Sooners, sitting at #7 in the latest rankings, need a number of things to go their way for them to reach the playoff. It's probably a byproduct of their uncharacteristically weak non-conference schedule, and their continued less-than-dominant wins (see: narrow escapes against Iowa State, Texas, and TCU, and one epic comeback against Baylor). Still, Jalen Hurts and co. are doing the important work of just keeping themselves afloat. With just a little help from LSU and Oregon in conference championship weekend, it's not out of the question for OU to crash the playoff party once again.
6. Alabama
All eyes were on how Alabama would recover after losing Tua Tagovailoa for the season. The good news is, in the three halves with backup Mac Jones as the starting QB, Bama is outscoring their opponents 69-3. The bad news? 66 of those points came this past weekend against Western Carolina, who is not even good by FCS metrics. Rival and Top 15 side Auburn will present a sterner test this weekend, but a win over them alone, while going a long way in restoring confidence to the fanbase, would not be enough to see the Crimson Tide in the playoff for the 6th straight season.
7. Utah
Heading into last week, it seemed all Utah had to do was win out and they would clinch their first-ever playoff appearance. Now, despite a sound 35-7 win over Arizona last week, that fact has become a little less clear. Oregon, their would-be conference championship opponent, not only ended their own chance at a playoff berth, but significantly hampered Utah's playoff potential. Though the Utes are still sitting ahead of Oklahoma and directly behind Alabama, who will not play in a conference championship, and Georgia, who very well might lose their conference championship, a win over Oregon in the Pac-12 championship now looks significantly less impressive than it would have just 4 days ago. With an anticipated logjam in the competition to be the 4th team in the playoff, the finer details of a team's resume can make a world of difference.
8. Minnesota
Minnesota avoided disaster, and took care of business against heavy underdogs Northwestern. It was an expected result for the Gophers, but a necessary one, as it kept their conference championship hopes alive in the wake of their first loss of the season at Iowa last week. This weekend, Minnesota will play for their first ever Big Ten Championship appearance. Against their rivals, #12 Wisconsin. With College Gameday in town. No pressure.
9. Florida
Such is the quality at the top of the SEC this year that a team who is ranked in the Top 10 and whose only losses are to the current #2 and #4 teams is wholly forgotten in the national conversation. Though a New Year's Six Bowl is the best Florida fans can hope for, it's been a great season for the Gators, who will be expected to romp against rivals Florida State this weekend.
10. Baylor
How do you recover from blowing a 25-point lead at home in one of the program's biggest games in years? You clinch your first Big 12 Championship in school history by pummeling the flagship institution of Texas, that's how!
Just missed: Michigan, Memphis, Cincinnati, Boise State, Appalachian State, Davey O'Brien Award SNUB Sam Howell