The Couch Power 10, Week 5

One week after one of the more epic slates of college football we've had in some time, we were always going to be primed for a bit of a comedown, and it's true last weekend was a bit of a comedown. You won't see as much moving and shaking in this week's poll compared to weeks past, for example.

That said....what do I always say? College football always delivers, even when you least expect it. There may have only been 3 matchups between ranked teams this week, but boy, did they deliver. On Friday night, Utah's lack of offense without their starting QB finally caught up to them, as Oregon State swamped them in a 21-7 decision. On Saturday night, Lane Kiffin's Ole Miss recovered from their loss to Alabama last week to knock Brian Kelly's LSU from the playoff race (most likely), thanks to a last-minute touchdown in an epic game of "whoever has the ball last wins." Less than an hour later, Notre Dame would finish flipping the script on the previous week's heartbreaking loss, this time going on an epic last-minute touchdown drive to break upstart Duke hearts, a drive relying on a 20-yard scramble from QB Sam Hartman on 4th and 16. In between it all, we had #1 Georgia once again needing a big 4th quarter to edge past a seemingly overmatched rival-- Auburn this time --while unbeaten Washington and USC only narrowly survived tricky road tests against Arizona and Colorado, respectively, and Kentucky notched a statement win over #22 Florida.

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. Texas

It was, of course, an enormous bummer that Kansas QB Jalon Daniels got injured and had to miss the unbeaten showdown with Texas. But in truth, I'm not sure it would have mattered, as the Longhorns continued their streak of dominant 2nd halves to blow out the Jayhawks, and earn yet another win over a ranked team in the process.

2. Florida State

Florida State enjoyed a bye week after beating Clemson, a win that didn't age badly after the Tigers knocked off previously unbeaten Syracuse.

3. Washington State

Washington State also had a bye week one week after knocking off Oregon State, and while they rested, they saw their resumé improve even more, as the Beavers turned around and ended Couch #3 Utah's perfect season.

4. Ohio State

Ohio State also had a bye week, and avoid their signature win looking worse thanks to Notre Dame's late rally vs. Duke.

5. Oregon

If the Top 4 were the "terrific resumé" tier, this next tier is "only one or two good wins, but they look impressive." Oregon's big win over Colorado declined a little in value with the Buffaloes' loss to USC, but honestly, the fact that it was much more competitive in Boulder than last week was in Autzen is a good sign. And for their part, after a sluggish start, the Ducks blew out Pac-12 bottom-feeders Stanford.

6. Penn State

Penn State will have been relieved to see that Iowa didn't turn around and lose to hapless Michigan State one week after the Nittany Lions' big win over them, but it was close. PSU also got off to an awfully ugly start against a horrible Northwestern side, but fortunately for their own and the Big Ten's cred, turned on the jets in the 2nd half.

7. Kentucky

Put some respect on the Wildcats' name! Kentucky clearly took it personally that they were unranked (with a perfect record) while 1-loss Florida were ranked, and took it out on their opponents. Despite the 5-0 record and 20-point victory over the Gators, the pollsters still only moved Kentucky up to #21. No matter- beat Georgia this weekend, and everyone will certainly stand up and take notice.

8. Missouri

Wins against Memphis and Vanderbilt in the last two weeks haven't moved the needle much for the Tigers. But still, Mizzou owns a 5-0 record, an impressive road win against Kansas State, and faces an opportunity to add to their credentials next week vs. LSU.

9. Washington

This last tier for this week's Power 10 is "they haven't really played anyone yet, but damn, don't they look good?" tier. I still want to see Washington play a high-quality opponent before jumping on the hype train, but there's no question the Huskies have looked the part. A late challenge by 4-1 Arizona this past weekend was the first time they even broke a sweat this season, and even that result was hardly ever in doubt. And the good news is we won't have to wait long to test their credentials-- after a bye this week, #8 Oregon-- and most likely College Gameday --will pay a visit next weekend.

10. Oklahoma

Similarly, I'm holding off on joining the cries of "Oklahoma is BACK!!" until I see the Sooners face a high-quality opponent. But there's no question Brent Venables' second year in charge is off to a much brighter start. OU is 5-0, and fresh off their 50-20 demolition of Iowa State, have won their games by an average margin of 36.5 points. And oh, what's this? Oklahoma plays Couch #1 Texas this weekend? Well, there's a chance to prove your mettle.

Just missed: North Carolina, Miami, Georgia, Fresno State, Louisville, fall weekends in Chapel Hill