The Couch Power 10, Week 5
If you needed any further evidence that when it comes to college football, the product is pure, then Week 5 provided it. Sandwiched amidst a fairly demure (sorry) Week 4, and a Week 6 slate that uhhhh does not look particularly rich (let me put it this way: College Gameday is headed to Berkeley for a 10:15 PM kickoff between Miami and unranked Cal), this week epitomized everything great about the sport. Big games, HUGE games even, thrillers, upsets, passionate fans in packed stadiums experiencing the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.
So yeah, next time anyone tells you that NIL or the transfer portal is ruining college football, or the expanded playoff is causing the regular season not to matter? Don't listen, because if all that was true, then we wouldn't have had the weekend we had. We got a Friday Night thriller between two longtime conference rivals, which ended with Miami remaining unbeaten as Virginia Tech's game-winning Hail Mary was overturned after about a 7-minute review. We got Kentucky rolling into Oxford and stunning undefeated Ole Miss, and Arizona rolling into Salt Lake City and trouncing Big 12 favorites #9 Utah. We got Oklahoma scoring 17 unanswered in the last 8 minutes to rally past Auburn. We got USC also relying on big plays late to avoid an upset, by Wisconsin, and Michigan clinging on for dear life (and relying on some aid from the officials) to avoid a stunning Minnesota rally. We got Penn State, Notre Dame, and Kansas State winning big games against their ranked opponents. And of course, in the main event, we got an absolute classic between two teams that might just be the nation's best: I don't know that the hype for Alabama-Georgia could have been even higher, and yet somehow the clash of the titans still exceeded expectations. For 2 and a half quarters, it seemed like Alabama intended to make this a snoozefest; the Tide scored the first 28 points of the game, and still led 30-7 with 20 minutes of game time remaining. And yet, a furious 4th quarter by Georgia saw the Bulldogs shockingly take the lead with 2:30 left, only to immediately cede it back in one of the all-time great college football plays, and then march back down for a game-tying score, only to lose it with an interception in the end zone. Exhale....the carousel is just getting started.
Just a refresher, in case you forgot: 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. Alabama
The crazy thing about how Saturday night's game how played out is it changes how we think of the involved teams: had you told me before the game that Alabama won 41-34, I would be impressed and not ask any other questions. But knowing that the Tide required a stunning deep touchdown to win after blowing a 28-point lead, I'm now left wondering if the real team is the one we saw in the first half or in the second. Regardless, it matters none: the final score showed Alabama on top, and the perfect record and victory in the game of the year (so far) vaults them up to the coveted Couch #1 in Kalen DeBoer's first season.
2. Tennessee
Tennessee slipped only as a result of having to watch their old rivals surpass any win on their resumé, while the Vols themselves sat at home on a bye week. Still, Tennessee's record and eye test to date both hold up, and they will have plenty chances soon to prove themselves against top competition again.
3. Texas
That's right, it's an SEC 1-2-3. I don't like it any more than you do, but that's just where we're at for now. Texas continued to win in Quinn Ewers' absence, but the Longhorns and Arch Manning did face a little adversity in their SEC opener, only leading a downtrodden Mississippi State by one score heading into the 4th quarter. But they put it away comfortably in the 4th, and still own a perfect record and that dominant win in Michigan; it could be said that result is still the most impressive, all things considered (I'm not saying I would say it, just that it could be said.)
4. BYU
Who knows how long this Cougar comet will last, so I think we should enjoy it while we can, and ask the voters why they continue to underrate the undefeated BYU, who has a peak spot of #17 in the polls. I get that a 6-point win over Baylor isn't going to move the needle much from last week, but the previous week's dismantling of Kansas State looks even better now, with the Wildcats coasting past Top 20 opponent Oklahoma State last week. Besides, their win in Waco bucked a spell of daytime futility...maybe this team is for real! They are, after all, owners of the 2nd-best strength of record.
5. Penn State
Welcome back to the Couch Power 10, Penn State! The Nittany Lions were early entrants with their impressive Week 1 win over West Virginia, but had fallen off the radar with a slew of easy games (and a brush with disaster against Bowling Green). James Franklin and co. get back on the board with a gritty primetime win over fellow ranked foe (and last week's Couch #6 team) Illinois. They've proven in this easier first half of the season that they can win the tougher contests both with offense (vs. WVU) and with defense (vs. Illinois). A winnable game at home against UCLA comes next, but we'll really know more about this Penn State side in the following three weeks, which sees them traveling to USC and Wisconsin before Ohio State comes to town.
6. Iowa State
BYU's not the only undefeated team in the Big 12; in fact, they're not even the only undefeated and overlooked team in the Big 12. Enter Iowa State, who still has next to no national chatter, despite an unbeaten record, a Top 15 ranking, and a road win over a ranked opponent. Nobody's confusing the Houston Cougars for the Houston Texans, but the Cyclones coming off a bye to pitch a 20-0 shutout on the road is very impressive. I've said it before, but I'll keep saying it: every game from here to their Week 11 clash with Utah looks very winnable.
7. Oregon
There's a handful of preseason favorites that aren't getting a whole lot of buzz at this point in the season, for various reasons. In Oregon's case, it was two far-too-close-for-comfort wins over Idaho and Boise State, and the lack of a ranked showdown to date. Yet, Boise ironically has become ranked in the AP since their matchup, which the Ducks have followed up with two dominant conference wins. Only Michigan State stands in the way of a monster matchup with Ohio State.
8. Missouri
Missouri hasn't looked a Top 10 team in over 2 weeks, following a double OT survival against Vanderbilt with a bye week, but benefits from two things: one, the losses of others; and two, the continuously well-aging win over Boston College. If the Tigers can knock off Texas A&M on the road this weekend, the schedule sets up very well for them to be undefeated heading into their October 26th trip to Alabama.
9. Miami
I'm not going to give Miami too much credit for a "win" here, given that the ruling that wiped off Virginia Tech's winning score was highly questionable, to say the least. But I'm certainly not gonna pull a Donald Trump and claim they really lost when the records clearly show they won. And after 4 cruises, maybe it was high time that this Miami team got tested. They passed that test, with a two-touchdown rally in the 4th quarter. They'll need to continue to exhibit that mental toughness if they are in fact headed for their best season in some time.
10. UNLV
It's only a third of the way through, but it's already been a wild season for UNLV. The Runnin' Rebels turned heads by winning two games against Big 12 foes, including a then-ranked Kansas team. Then, in the bye week following their 3-0 start, both star QB and starting RB announced they were redshirting and transferring out of the program immediately, setting alight the college football world with discourse on NIL and player vs. school responsibility. Then, Vegas's team returned from the fracas to blast conference rivals Fresno State on Saturday, 59-14. The Rebs own a Top 10 strength of record, and haven't seemed to miss a step with new faces at quarterback and running back. They're a potential playoff spoiler to keep an eye on.
Just missed: Rutgers, Pittsburgh, Indiana, Duke, James Madison, the North Carolina that showed up for the first half of the Duke game and the second half of the James Madison game
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