2021 Couch Power 10, Week 7
Somehow, we've reached the halfway point in the college football season. That seems crazy to say, but I suppose time flies when you're having fun. And this season has been nothing if not fun.
Last weekend, I took a trip down to Chapel Hill with some dear friends to watch my absolutely, depressingly mediocre favorite team manage to not lose in thrilling fashion! Simply being able to witness the joys and frustrations of college football in person would have made me a happy man, but there was more. The most chaotic season in over a decade continued to rear its gorgeous head. San Diego State and Clemson barely escaped humiliating road losses on Friday night. Five more ranked teams fell victim to unranked teams. Tennessee fans nearly caused a second Lane Kiffin-induced riot in school history. And in a move straight out of 2007, recently promoted #2 Iowa followed up their season-defining win over Penn State by losing to unranked Purdue at home. Madness. I think I speak for most everyone when I say, please let this wheel of insanity keep turning.
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:
1. Georgia
For all the discussion I've offered up about the wild 2007 season, though, one key difference is that in that year, no team was immune to the chaos, and thus, we hurtled towards the postseason with no clear frontrunner. That likely won't be the case this year, as Georgia cleared yet another hurdle easily by running away from Kentucky in the 2nd half of their de facto SEC East championship. It was a significant one, as-- unless you're a believer in Florida turning things around --that game was likely the last real hurdle for Georgia until the SEC Championship at least.
2. Oklahoma State
It started as a hipster take, but now there's no attempt to be edgy or different: I genuinely think Oklahoma State might be the best team in the Big 12. Truthfully, I'm even more impressed by the Cowboys' win over Texas last weekend because of how competitive it was. If they had blown out the Longhorns, I would have been more prone to chalk that up to a demoralized team still reeling from their collapse against OU last week. But Texas clearly came ready to play, and Ok State were still able to fight from behind, on the road, to get the crucial victory.
3. Cincinnati
You won't often find me less high on the little guy than the polls, but I have Cincinnati ranked 3rd despite the Bearcats reaching the Top 2 in the AP poll. But fear not, Cincy faithful; it has everything to do with giving Oklahoma State their dues, and nothing to do with skepticism. In the wake of yet another blowout win, this one over the Alabama of the American conference (UCF), I very much believe in Cincinnati's quality.
4. Michigan State
Michigan State almost got bit by the same snake that their once-unbeaten Big Ten peer Iowa did: namely, losing an ugly one to an underrated team from Indiana. Sparty dug deep, though, to gut out a tough road win, and crucially remains unbeaten heading into their rivalry showdown with Michigan (after their upcoming bye week).
5. Michigan
Michigan had the week off last week, but chances are they'll also enter their Halloween rivalry showdown with Michigan State unbeaten. They would of course be wise to not overlook Northwestern, but chances are they devoted at least as much time in their bye week to MSU prep as they did to Northwestern prep.
6. Oklahoma
My Clemson friend made the point this weekend that Oklahoma might be taking the 2018 Clemson route to the title this year. After barely staying unbeaten throughout the first half of the season, they have made a QB switch, deferring to the true freshman, and it may make all the difference. It can't just be a coincidence that since plugging in Caleb Williams at quarterback, they've played their best 3 halves of the season, rallying all the way back against Texas and then dominating a solid TCU team.
7. Alabama
With over half the season played, it seems like an appropriate time to allow teams with a loss back into the picture, even with many teams across the country remaining unbeaten. I promise it’s not just inherent or recency bias causing Alabama to be the pick for highest-ranked one-loss team. Their close loss to Texas A&M is aging nicely, as the Aggies are starting to look like the good team they were expected to be preseason, and the Tide’s (usually dominant) wins over good-to-decent teams such as Ole Miss, Florida and Mississippi State speak to their quality.
8. Kentucky
Fresh off a blowout loss in the hedges, Kentucky may seem an odd choice to remain in the Couch Power 10. But for starters, give the Wildcats credit for hanging tough with Georgia for two whole quarters- that’s more than anyone other than Clemson can say. Furthermore, ESPN rates UK’s strength of record to date as 9th in the nation. What this means is that it’s as fluky as Kentucky’s success may seem, Mark Stoops’ team is legitimately the 3rd best team in the SEC at this point in the season.
9. SMU
10. Wake Forest
These two unbeatens both picked an inconvenient time to have bye weeks. Considering their last wins before the bye week were narrow escapes against bad teams (Navy and Syracuse, respectively), they missed out on a chance to lessen skepticism about their quality in a week when many other teams made statements.
Just missed: UTSA, Coastal Carolina, Ole Miss, Iowa, Notre Dame, future Dick Butkus Award winner Cedric Gray
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