The Couch Power 10, Week 4

Week 4 in college football was a perfect lesson in the dichotomy of the sport; i.e., the split between college football fandom and college football as an impartial observer.

What do I mean by that? Well, in fairness, after a fairly forgettable Week 3, last weekend objectively was a terrific couple days of football. The tone was set on a Friday night, in which 2 of the 3 games being played, including a Top 25 showdown between Illinois and Nebraska, were decided in overtime, and the lone exception -- Stanford's upset at Syracuse --was decided on a game-winning field goal. More upsets would follow throughout the college football Saturday, as well as a bevy of near-upsets, and some more terrific games between ranked teams. Michigan won a thriller in the Big House against Top 10 USC in the latter's Big Ten debut, Utah held on against a wild Oklahoma State rally to upset the Cowboys on the road in a matchup between the two Big 12 favorites, their statemates BYU crushed a favored Kansas State team coming off a big win to stake their own claim, and even if the primetime game between undefeateds Tennessee and Oklahoma didn't really live up to the hype (it was a fairly routine win for the Vols), the atmosphere for the Sooners' SEC opener was absolutely electric.

So, what was the problem with the weekend? Well, my heart and my rooting interests. So many of the noteworthy games on Saturday ended in results that, frankly, made me sad. Some of the upset victims? Northern Illinois, whose stunner of Notre Dame is still the result of this college football season, saw their Cinderella playoff hopes severely hampered by a home OT loss to Buffalo. Cal, whose surprising (and impressive) unbeaten start to their debut ACC season as well as their delightful Twitter presence had made them 'America's team,' lost their first game in Tallahassee to a hapless Florida State, who did everything they could to not get their first win but came out on top regardless. SEC minnows Vanderbilt came so close to a famous win for the program, but their upset bid at #7 Missouri ran out with a shanked 30-yard field goal in double overtime. Miami (OH) and Bowling Green's attempts to replicate their MAC peers NIU's bid for 'upset of the season' were valiant, but Notre Dame (again!) and Texas A&M, respectively, did just enough in the 4th quarter to pull away. Baylor just needed to successfully defend a Hail Mary to pull off a big upset in Boulder and save us from another week of "Coach Prime has BROUGHT COLORADO BACK!!!!!!" talk, but couldn't do so. And for the first time all year, the eyes of the nation were on my beloved North Carolina....but it was to point and laugh, mouths agape, as my poor, sweet Tar Heels gave up 53 first-half points en route to a demolition at home by James Madison-- JAMES. MADISON. --which led to a somehow even more embarrassing postgame scene in which Mack Brown reportedly resigned in the locker room, and then immediately began privately and publicly walking back said resignation. Sigh. This sport giveth and this sport taketh away, but I suppose that's why we love it.

Just a refresher, since it's been nary a year since you've heard from this ranking: 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. Don't be mad cuz I'm doin' me better than you doin' you:

1. Tennessee

It’s too early to say that Tennessee is “back.” It’s definitely too early to declare Tennessee the best team in the country. But it is not too early to say Tennessee looks like the best team in the country, especially now that they have a significant win on their résumé. The Vols blew out a ranked NC State in primetime a couple weeks ago, but I think we have enough evidence now that State did not deserve their lofty preseason expectations, and that game was sandwiched between two demolitions of cupcake opponents. Saturday night’s trip to Norman against undefeated Oklahoma was supposed to represent a real wake-up call for this side, and yet, they found it only a little more difficult to get into high gear, sailing to a tidy 25-15 win. QB Nico Iamaleava is the main headline of Josh Heupel’s team, and deservedly so, but arguably the even bigger story of the Vols’ success thus far is their defense, who didn’t concede a single touchdown until the 4th quarter of the 4th game of the season.

2. Texas

No Quinn Ewers, no problem, thus far for Texas. The Heisman hopeful's injury threatened to throw off a strong start for the Longhorns, but vaunted recruit Arch Manning has stepped in perfectly for two dominant wins. Admittedly, both have come against clearly overmatched opponents in UTSA and now UL-Monroe, but still, winning two games with your backup QB by a combined score of 107-10 is the perfect way to build on a big win at Michigan.... a win that has only aged better with the Wolverines' win vs. USC.

3. Georgia

The Dawgs had a bye week, which could have worked against them in this ranking; given that their last game was the narrow escape at Kentucky, it's been 3 weeks since we've seen Georgia look like a top team. The good news? Clemson has been blasting the doors off of all opponents recently, making the Bulldogs' Week 1 blowout look even better. The even more significant news? Georgia has a golden opportunity to dominate the national conversation once again after this weekend, if they go into Tuscaloosa and beat #4 Alabama in a mammoth showdown.

4. BYU

So far, adjustment to Big 12 life has gone pretty well for BYU. The Stormin' Mormons started their first year in the new-look conference with little to no preseason hype, and yet, they already own: a road win over an ACC team (SMU), a dominant rivalry win (Wyoming), and now, a big win over a ranked team with their demolition of Kansas State. That's good enough for the 3rd-ranked strength of record, per ESPN, and it may be time to start discussing the Cougars as genuine contenders for the Big 12 title, along with...

5. Utah

...their longtime in-state rivals, and once-again conference-mates, Utah. Stop me if you've heard this before: the Utes have played a handful of games this season without starting QB Cam Rising. No shade intended, but I swear I could have typed that sentence in each of the last 10 college football seasons, and it would have been a true statement. Regardless, as they have often done since the year 1999, Utah found a way to win a big game even without the services of Rising at quarterback. The Utes haven't won pretty since their season opener against Southern Utah, but they're getting the job done, and winning on the road at the preseason Big 12 favorites with a backup quarterback is a serious statement of their playoff intentions.

6. Illinois

There are two teams in college football that own two wins over ranked teams in the first 4 weeks, and both of them state schools who wear orange and knocked off a historic Big 12 program in red this weekend. The difference: everyone (deservedly) is talking about Tennessee, but very few still are talking about the Fighting Illini-- and they should be! Bret Bielema's squad had a disappointing season last year after a breakout 2022, but if their early home win over a Top 20 Kansas team raised an eyebrow or two, Friday night's comeback win, in overtime, on the road vs. undefeated (and fired-up) Nebraska showed that they're for real. The Illini are 4-0, have a Top 5 strength of record, and have a chance to turn even more heads this weekend if they can stun Top 10 Penn State in primetime.

7. Iowa State

If Illinois is flying under the radar, Iowa State is DEFINITELY flying under the radar. And it's understandable that wins over North Dakota, Arkansas State and Iowa don't move the needle for a ton of folks. But it is good enough to give the Cyclones a Top 10 strength of record (that road win against favored Iowa doing a ton of heavy lifting), and given that they don't face a currently ranked opponent again until the last two weeks of the season (Utah and Kansas State), we have to start considering the possibility of a Top 10, unbeaten Iowa State in November.

8. Missouri

Missouri certainly does not move up in our rankings for barely surviving Vanderbilt at home. But, thanks to a solid strength of record, wins over Buffalo and Boston College that both aged nicely last weekend, and frankly, a slew of fellow unbeatens falling, the Tigers hold strong at #8. Mizzou gets a bye week to recoup and re-strategize, but if they can knock off Texas A&M on the road the following week, the schedule sets up very well for them to be undefeated heading into their October 26th trip to Alabama.

9. Miami

I said this last week, and surprise surprise, it still rings true: the last couple spots in this week's Power 10 go to teams that are still in search of a signature win, but have looked pretty damn good. Like Alabama before them, Miami actually struggled to get away from South Florida at home for a while. Unlike Alabama, the 'Canes kicked it into high gear early in the 2nd half and put up another 50burger, their 3rd straight. A visit from Virginia Tech this weekend and then back-to-back tricky road trips to Cal and Louisville will be by far their toughest stretch of the season, so we're about to find out just how good this Miami side actually is.

10. Ole Miss

We're now 4 for 4 this season with Ole Miss looking like an absolute all-World team, but doing so against a clearly overmatched opponent. Last weekend's victims were Georgia Southern, who the Rebs beat 52-13. Games against Kentucky and South Carolina in coming weeks both have trap game potential but if the Lane Train can evade those traps, a massive 4-week stretch awaits, in which trips to LSU and Georgia sandwich a visit from Oklahoma. It's about to get very real very quickly for Ole Miss.

Just missed: UNLV, Pittsburgh, Alabama, Penn State, Oregon, whoever has the bravery to finally dismiss Mack Brown into retirement