2021 Couch Power 10, Week 13
We have some crucial, thrilling conference championships to play this coming weekend yet, but Thanksgiving week officially closed the book on the 2021 regular season. And what a season it was, from Week 1 to Week 13. So many wild games, unbelievable upsets, high-quality players making high-quality plays, and a revolving door of both national championship and Heisman contenders the likes of which we haven't seen since 2007. Perhaps it should be no surprise that the coaching carousel is already on its wildest ride perhaps the sport has already seen, with Notre Dame, Oklahoma, USC, LSU, Florida and Virginia Tech all losing coaches either through hiring or firing.
Fittingly, the last weekend of the regular season was equal parts thrilling and inexplicable. The tone was set on Black Friday when Iowa rattled off 25 unanswered points out of nowhere to break Nebraskan hearts for the ninth time this season, North Carolina perfected the art of the collapse, going from up 9 (and kicking off) with two minutes left to losing in regulation, and Washington State fans flooded their rival's field after dominating Washington in Seattle.
But that carried over into Saturday, and then some: UTSA's perfect season came to an end with a shellacking by North Texas, leaving just two unbeaten teams in America. A seemingly inevitable Big Ten Championship matchup of Ohio State-Wisconsin suddenly turned into Michigan-Iowa when the Wolverines got their first win over their rivals in a decade and the Badgers completely stalled out against rivals Minnesota. At least four different rivalry matchups saw fights break out either on the field or in the tunnel. Florida State lost to Florida because their kicker whiffed the ball on an onside kick attempt. Virginia Tech became bowl eligible because of a strip sack safety on Virginia's star quarterback in the closing minutes. Auburn channeled their best North Carolina impression, going from leading rivals Alabama by a touchdown with 1:30 left and the ball, to losing to them in triple OT, allowing a 98-yard drive in one minute (and no timeouts) along the way. And finally, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma played an epic Big 12 Semifinal battle that saw a 16-point unanswered run answered by a 13-point unanswered run in the 4th quarter, two muffed punt touchdowns, a kickoff return TD, and the Cowboys show Auburn and North Carolina how to not TOTALLY collapse when the defense responded at the crucial time after allowing Oklahoma's freshman QB to run 60 yards untouched. That Sooner State rivalry has a nickname that in fact perfectly encapsulates this entire year in the sport: bedlam.
Just a refresher: our ranking 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. You know, the kind of thing you'd expect the playoff committee to consider:
1. Georgia
Georgia completed their wire-to-wire dominance of this regular season with, fittingly, wire-to-wire dominance over their hapless rivals Georgia Tech. I was a longer holdout than some in the national media, but it's been clear to many from the start, and everyone for at least a couple months now, that the Bulldogs are unequivocally the best team in the country.
2. Cincinnati
I feel many pundits are openly rooting for Cincinnati at this point, and following their lead, I will confess my bias: I want (and have wanted) Cincy to win out, because I want them in the playoff. They clearly have been one of the best 4 teams for some time now, and non-Power Five representation in the playoff is long overdue. As such, I have been anxious for the Bearcats the last few weeks, as they entered a difficult season-ending stretch off several subpar performances against mediocre or bad opponents. However, they are stepping up at the most crucial time, with back-to-back dominant wins against solid SMU and East Carolina teams. Now, Cincy faithful and the public at large will wait on pins and needles to see if they can wrap up a playoff bid with a win in the conference championship against a very good Houston side.
3. Michigan
You'd be forgiven by even the most ardent Michigan fan if you thought the Wolverines had no chance of knocking off Ohio State. I know, because I failed in my attempts to convince the most ardent Michigan fan I know that they had a shot at winning this one. That's how one-sided this great rivalry had been of late, and how accustomed Wolverine fans had gotten to heartbreak. Yet, this year would (at long last) prove to be different. For just the 3rd time in the last 20 years, Michigan got a win over their archrival, and while that fact would be sweet on its own, the context made it even sweeter. This was a Big Ten East title game, and a college football playoff elimination game, and Big Blue didn't just win it, they completely bossed the Buckeyes around from start to finish. It may seem difficult to believe, but based on results on the field, there's no question Michigan heads into championship week as the best 1-loss team in the country; now, they need to take that final step and avoid a letdown against a perpetually tricky Iowa team.
4. Oklahoma State
With Oklahoma possibly running off to the SEC next season, this very well may have been the last Bedlam we see, at least for a long time. If it is to be the last installment of the long-standing rivalry, boy, did we end on a good one. Oklahoma State gave their archrivals every opportunity imaginable to steal this one from them, between ill-advised passes by their veteran QB, a botched punt return inside the 5 yard line, overly conservative playcalling, and then allowing Caleb Williams a 60-yard run to set Oklahoma up with multiple plays in the red zone in the last minute. But at the end of the day, the Cowboys' defensive line was just too much, and they got enough done on the offensive side to gut out a thrilling 4th quarter rally. It will likely go down as one of the sweeter Ok State wins in this rivalry's history, as it secured their place in the conference championship and knocked their rivals out of both Big 12 and playoff contention. It also keeps them right in the thick of playoff discussion-- and deservedly so --but that will all be for naught if they can't replicate their win over Baylor in the Big 12 championship on Saturday.
5. Notre Dame
Notre Dame capped off a fourth consecutive 11-win season (a pretty remarkable feat) on Saturday with an unsurprisingly dominant win over Stanford, and now play the waiting game to see if they can sneak in the playoff; a longshot, perhaps, but not an altogether impossible scenario in the least considering they likely need just two out of Alabama, Michigan, Cincinnati, and Oklahoma State to secure their spot. The Irish have a decent argument for being the best of the one-loss teams; I see them, Oklahoma State and Alabama as essentially the exact same currently. Where Notre Dame might be held back by the lack of conference championship appearance and the relative weakness of most teams they beat, they ended up being perhaps the most well-rounded on both sides of the ball of their peers, and also have a way more explainable loss, their sole blemish coming to undefeated, possibly playoff-bound Cincinnati.
6. Alabama
Alabama is unlikely to take a tumble in the playoff rankings, given the committee's multiple years of evidence of bias towards the Tide, but if they were ignoring the name on the jerseys and the coach on the sidelines, Bama wouldn't be sniffing the Top 4 heading into championship week. The team that beat them, Texas A&M, just lost their 3rd game to a middling LSU team, and the relative parity of the SEC this year has left Alabama with exactly one win over a ranked team, albeit an impressive win in their blowout of Ole Miss. More significantly, though, this was yet another week where the Tide struggled against a seemingly inferior opponent, and this was without a doubt the most extreme example yet. Facing a 6-5 opponent with a backup QB, they were downright lucky to pull out a win, needing a mental lapse from Auburn's star running back and some inexplicably conservative late-game coaching to even force 3 overtimes, where they eventually survived by the skin of their teeth. All that being said, the name on the jerseys and coach on the sideline do still matter. Nick Saban and Alabama have proven time and time again that even if you think they may be finished, you cannot write them off. They are entirely capable of breaking Georgia's hearts yet again this weekend and winning the SEC.
7. Ohio State
The inverse of the Michigan fan dynamic, you couldn't blame anyone involved with or supporting Ohio State's program for being confident that they were going to go into their rival's house and secure the Big Ten East, given how many times we've seen the Buckeyes do just that. The fact that they lost says more about Michigan than it does them, but to be beaten so comprehensively will probably trouble Buckeye fans for a while. This season took a while to get going for them, but with back-to-back dominant displays, everything seemed to be lining up the way it always does, and then poof-- in the course of one game, their playoff hopes are over, as are (likely) their freshman quarterback's Heisman hopes. They still had a good season, and will likely have a Rose Bowl to play for, but I'm sure they will not enjoy the unfamiliar position of watching their rivals compete for a spot in the national championship.
8. Ole Miss
The Rebels capped off a 10-win season with a dominant win over Mississippi State in a rare Egg Bowl that saw both rivals ranked. Given that they have a Heisman-candidate quarterback and an attention-grabbing head coach, is it just me, or was this a surprisingly quiet 10-win season? People-- incluidng myself ---pretty much wrote them off when Alabama blew them out a couple months back. However, their good record, which includes wins over Texas A&M, Mississippi State, and Arkansas, solidified them as best of the "next tier" in SEC this year.
9. Baylor
The Bears capped off a fairly quiet 10-win season of their own, quiet perhaps for the opposite reason of Ole Miss: it came somewhat out of nowhere, and was the result of a terrific performance by reserved, less-attention-seeking head coach Dave Aranda. Baylor staved off an upset bid by rivals Texas Tech, then started the full-on celebrations that night when they got some help from Oklahoma State to solidify their position in the conference championship. Though they have won the conference twice (in 2013 and 2014) they'll have a chance to win their first conference championship game on Saturday, and in the process, avenge one of their two losses and inject some chaos into the playoff race.
10. San Diego State
I'll admit, I kind of forgot about San Diego State, as you likely did too. My "mid-major darling watch" was thrown off by UTSA's unbeaten run; however, with the Roadrunners' perfect season tragically ending, I widened my scope once more and when I did, rediscovered this Aztec team, which to my surprise still possesses a very solid New Year's Six resume. Their comeback win over Boise State sealed an 11-1 season and spot in the Mountain West championship, and as David Hale (far and away the best college football correspondent, pundit, what have you) pointed out, their resume is comparable with teams ranked ahead of them. In any other postseason of any other division of any other sport, this would be a playoff team.
Just missed: Houston, Michigan State, BYU, Pitt, Wake Forest, former walk-on and forever Tar Heel icon British Brooks
BONUS! The Couch's NY6 Bowls
COTTON BOWL: (2) Cincinnati vs. (3) Michigan
ORANGE BOWL: (1) Georgia vs. (4) Oklahoma State
Peach Bowl: Notre Dame vs. Ole Miss
Fiesta Bowl: San Diego State vs. Pitt
Rose Bowl: Ohio State vs. Utah
Sugar Bowl: Alabama vs. Baylor
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