2020 Couch Power 10, Week 11
If all had gone according to plan, this would have been the weekend that conference championships were played, bowl matchups announced, and the playoff field set. But as you know by now, nothing in 2020 goes according to plan.
So instead, we find ourselves still a couple weeks away from the fateful championship weekend and ensuing playoff announcement, with many of America's college football programs still waiting to play their 6th, 5th, even 4th game of the season. Such are the times. Still, there were a few major developments this weekend in the road to the postseason. 5 different ranked teams lost, and 3 of them were upset by unranked teams! And though the playoff contenders have seemingly been etched in stone all season, the vast number of cancellations, re-scheduling and unforeseen changes across the board this year has created a decent amount of uncertainty about just how this season is going to be a finish.
Just a reminder that 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 actually proved on the field to date. In this unprecedented and uncertain time, I'm adding this disclaimer: teams have to have played at least half a season to qualify for Power 10 at this point in the season. I recognize this change suddenly leaves out heavy hitters like Ohio State and every Pac-12 contender, but the truth is it's just impossible to gauge where these guys are at in comparison to other teams when you're looking at a 3-game sample size. So, despite very little movement in the college football playoff rankings, we've got some movement this week:
1. Alabama
Alabama continued their inevitable march to the College Football Playoff-- and possibly started nailing Ed Orgeron's coffin earlier than anticipated --by railroading LSU, 55-17. Since mid-October, it's been clear the only potential intrigue facing Alabama before the postseason was going to be the SEC Championship two weeks from now. Fortunately, they only have to play one more game (sorry, Arkansas) before the anticipated matchup with Florida.
2. Notre Dame
The gameweek after a big win against North Carolina and before an ACC Championship always had the potential to be a bit of a letdown game, and that was true for the Irish, who struggled early on against a Syracuse team that's probably better than their record shows. Like Carolina and Clemson before them, though, Notre Dame ultimately saw the Orange off fairly easily down the stretch, and now can take a well-earned respite before a rematch with Clemson for all the marbles.
3. Coastal Carolina
Has there been anyone who has been a bigger "winner of the week" in 2020 than Coastal Carolina was last week? The Chanticleers, in the midst of their unprecedented successful season were primed to host College GameDay for the first time ever, as well as one-loss team Liberty. Then COVID results forced Liberty to cancel the game, threatening to throw the whole celebratory week off. What did Coastal do? Go out and get an upgrade, scheduling fellow unbeaten and Top 20 team BYU for a primetime mid-major showdown. Then, despite the short week of preparation against a favored team, Coastal won, turning in an absolutely dominant defensive performance in the 2nd half against Heisman candidate Zach Wilson. This game was no joke; it was one of the best of the year, and both teams are for real. Regardless of how all other Group of Five teams' seasons (Cincinnati's, namely) play out, Coastal has absolutely done enough to warrant a New Year's Bowl bid.
4. Cincinnati
Speaking of Cincinnati, their game against Temple got scrapped thanks to COVID, making it two weeks without playing. And just today, it was announced that their season finale against Tulsa will also be cancelled. The latter is not too bad of a development, considering Cincinnati-Tulsa was already set as the AAC Championship next weekend. And Cincy undoubtedly remains in the driver's seat for a New Year's Six bowl, if not an outside shot at the playoff. But missing several chances to add to their resumé hurts, as does coming into their conference championship with nearly a month in between games.
5. Clemson
Clemson appears to be doing that thing where regardless of how choppy and inconsistent the first half of their season might have been, they're playing like one of the best teams in the nation at the absolutely right time. The game at Virginia Tech was a microcosm of that. The Tigers' sloppy first half kept the Hokies around longer than they would have liked, but their quality took over in the 2nd half, ultimately blowing Virginia Tech out on the road en route to sealing their place in their 6th consecutive ACC Championship Game.
6. Texas A&M
I talked last week about how Texas A&M has failed to impress for some time now, but keeps finding ways to win games. That held true once again last week, as they trailed a mediocre Auburn team for much of the game. But once again, the Aggies dug deep and made out of there with a W. In a year such as this, that really might be all they need to do; backing into the playoff with an 8-1 record is not out of the question.
7. Florida
For the 3rd consecutive week, Florida scored in the 30s while their opponent scored in the teens, this time in a 31-19 win over rivals Tennessee. I can't figure out if defenses are starting to find ways to semi-contain the outrageous talent of Kyle Trask and Kyle Pitts, or if the Gators' defense is just stepping up enough that the offense no longer has to play like it needs 65 points! Regardless, Florida is getting the job done and barring a massive brain fart vs. LSU next week, will have the chance to play themselves into the playoff in the SEC Championship.
8. Ohio State
Ohio State became the latest team to show a long COVID layoff was not going to wreck their momentum, exploding out of their three-week hiatus with a 52-point skulldragging of Michigan State. The good news for the Buckeyes is that with 5 games played, that's officially half a season and thus they are eligible for the Couch Power 10! The very bad news for the Buckeyes is that with today's announcement that the Michigan game will be cancelled, they're stuck at 5 games, which would mean they're not eligible for the Big Ten Championship, per conference rules. It remains to be seen whether the Big Ten will find some way to weasel them in to the final, though. If Ohio State misses out on the conference championship and/or playoff strictly due to COVID cancellations, it will be a shame, because they objectively appear to be one of the best teams in the country. But the Big Ten will have nobody but themselves to blame for their completely incompetent handling of this football season.
9. Indiana
If you had any questions about whether Indiana's good season was a fluke, they should have been answered by how closely they hung with Ohio State last month. If you still were a skeptic, your doubts should now be adequately addressed by Indiana's road win over Big Ten West favorite Wisconsin. The Hoosiers are for real, y'all. Many might protest they're not the "true" division champions, but should Ohio State be kept out of the title game, Indiana is a more-than-deserving representative of the Big Ten East.
10. Iowa State
It took until the 2nd week of December, and even then required some unexpected upsets, but I finally extended an invitation to the Couch Power 10 to a 2-loss team. I'm not sure anyone, myself certainly included, would have anticipated that honor falling to Iowa State before the season. But the Cyclones deserve it. They have long put the ghosts of that season-opening howler against ULL behind them, and though I'm sure they'd love to have their close road loss to Oklahoma State back, their win over Oklahoma looks better and better, and having now clinched a spot in the Big 12 Championship for the first time in school history, their positive trajectory is undeniable.
Just missed: USC, Colorado, Louisiana-Lafayette, Miami, BYU, criminally underrated RB Michael Carter
Comments