2021 Couch Power 10, Week 2

If the theme of 2020's college football season was off-the-field chaos (who didn't have that theme in 2020?), early returns suggest the theme of 2021 is a return to normalcy off-the-field, but plenty of on-the-field chaos. As a fan of a team that was, for the first time in ages, highly ranked and had high expectations for this season, that's a terrifying prospect. As a college football fan in general, though, I say there's no better possible combination.

What do I mean by all this? What I mean is we've seen a return to packed college football stadiums, impassioned student sections, Lee Corso bumbling his way through College Gameday, and high-stakes non-conference games. It's all delightful. And even more delightful? Through two weeks of the season, we've now seen 13 ranked teams lose, and almost half of them to unranked teams. 34 different teams have been ranked in the Associated Press, and we're not even to Week 3 yet. More! More!

Just a refresher: 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:

1. Alabama

The Tide followed up their season-opening walloping of Miami by winning their 16th consecutive game against poor overmatched Mercer. This weekend, Florida will provide their sternest test yet, but I'd still be surprised to see Alabama's winning streak end any time soon.

2. Iowa

In terms of resumé, there's no question Iowa has the best through two weeks. In fact, they probably deserve the #1 spot, and I would put them there if Alabama wasn't just so. freaking. good. The Hawkeyes have opened their season by suffocating two of the chief 2020 darlings; after routing Indiana at home last week, they once again bested rival (and Top 10 team) Iowa State in a hostile environment, thanks to a swarming defensive display. They've thrown a serious gauntlet down not just in the Big Ten West, but in the Big Ten, period.

3. Georgia

Georgia followed up their massive Week 1 win with a blowout victory over UAB. It's the perfect start to their highly anticipated season, and though UAB is surely no Clemson, they're probably legitimately better than the Dawgs' first two SEC opponents, South Carolina and Vanderbilt.

4. Oregon

What a statement win for the Ducks program, and for Mario Cristobal. After years of their own underachievement relative to the expectations set by Oregon's performances the first half of last decade, coupled with the general nose-thumbing the rest of the nation does at the Pac-12, it wasn't hard to wonder whether the preseason conference favorites deserved the 'playoff contender' hype. Now, after coming into Columbus and knocking off #3 Ohio State, without their two best defensive players?? Hype is deserved. This may not as elite an Ohio State as we're used to-- hence why I decided to still slot Oregon behind Georgia for now --but that's a win anybody in the country would kill to have on their resumé.

5. Penn State

Oregon's victory means Penn State's hold on "most impressive road win over a Big Ten team" was short-lived. But no matter; the Nittany Lions smacked defending MAC champions Ball State around the field, and have a chance to again thrust themselves in the limelight with #22 Auburn-- and College Gameday --coming to Happy Valley this weekend.

6. Arkansas

A once-famed rivalry, before last weekend Arkansas and Texas had played just once in the last 13 years. After the way the last two matchups have gone, you can see why Texas may not be eager to restore the annual rivalry game anytime soon. The Razorbacks channeled the energy of their 31-7 win in 2014 to pound a Top 15 Texas side in front of a raucous Fayetteville crowd, dominating from start to finish in a 40-21 romp. Sure, they just won 3 games last year, sure, this is a Texas side going through a regime change, but make no mistake, Sam Pittman is quietly building up a respectable Arkansas program again.

7. Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech followed up on their season-opening upset of North Carolina by controlling affairs against a solid Middle Tennessee team. Two weeks in, they look the part of favorite in an annually entertaining ACC Coastal race.

8. UCLA

UCLA had a bye week in the wake of their big win over LSU. We'll see if they can keep the momentum up after the week off.

9. BYU

In a big week for BYU athletics, the Cougars announced they will be joining the Power 5 ranks in the coming years as a new member of the Big 12, then marked the occasion with a 2nd-straight win over a Power 5 program! This one was a bit more sweeter than their opening victory over Arizona, though; the Stormin' Mormons blitzed archrivals Utah from start to finish in Provo, proving there doesn't seem to be much of a dropoff in the post-Zach Wilson era. Can they continue the "BYU beats up on the Pac-12" campaign next week, against a Top 20 Arizona State team?

10. Florida

Well if nothing else, there should be little doubt about who the best team in Florida is. The Gators stomped South Florida, much as they did Florida Atlantic last week, all while their ACC rivals Miami and Florida State were struggling with Appalachian State and losing to Jacksonville State, respectively. Now, can they be the best team in their own division, let alone conference? Well they certainly have the chance to provide answers to those questions this weekend when they host Alabama.

Just missed: Michigan, Cincinnati, Coastal Carolina, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, one-time Heisman favorite Sam Howell