The Couch Power 10, Week 6
It's becoming a running theme this season. In fact, you all should know it by now, so say it with me: college football always delivers, even when you least expect it. Last weekend was supposed to be a fairly pedestrian day outside of one big game, but it was anything but.
In a deviation from the norm, the biggest game of the weekend had the early kickoff, but the Red River Rivalry did not disappoint. An unbeaten showdown betweeb #3 Texas and #12 Oklahoma, in their last meeting as members of the Big XII, saw 6 lead changes, wild trick plays, crazy turnovers, and at the end of it all, a would-be game-winning 49-yard field goal for Texas nullified by an actual game-winning touchdown for Oklahoma with 15 seconds left. No one game could top this chaos, but the day in general had more craziness in store. LSU and Missouri played a wild back-and-forth affair that was ultimately won by the Tigers from Louisiana on a game-ending pick six. Arizona and Texas A&M came tantalizingly close to ending USC's and Alabama's perfect season and playoff hopes, respectively, before the favored teams ultimately escaped by the skin of their teeth. Wyoming did end Fresno State's perfect season, usurping the Bulldogs both in the Mountain West and in the New Year's Six drivers' seat, and UCLA did the same to Washington state, launching the Pac-12 carousel of cannibalism fully into motion. Then at night, the ACC lost their damn minds: underdogs Louisville stomped Notre Dame in the unfriendly confines of Papa John's Cardinal Deep Dish Stadium presented by Papadias, and then Miami.....well, if you haven't heard, Miami did this.
It's perhaps fitting that per Couch protocol, this is the last week of the season in which only unbeaten teams can be ranked in the Power 10, because parity is upon us, and I wouldn't be surprised if the 13 remaining undefeated teams in college football aren't much longer for the waking world.
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. Oklahoma
I said this just one week ago: " I'm holding off on joining the cries of "Oklahoma is BACK!!" until I see the Sooners face a high-quality opponent." Well played, OU. Knocking off the The Couch's #1-ranked team, the best Texas team in ages, is a surefire way to boost your credibility. Yes, it was a wild game that could have gone either way at the end, but that doesn't make it a fluke victory; Oklahoma came to play, and were the better side for most of the game. What a turnaround for Brent Venables in year 2 in Norman. His Sooners had looked the part all season, and now have one of the best wins of any team in the country as a feather in their cap.
2. Florida State
All of Florida State's buzz from preseason and then their dominant win over LSU in Week 1 seems to have died down, as the carousel of big wins and losses from other big teams has carried on-- and, perhaps, as LSU continues to not exactly impress. But the 'Noles are still unbeaten, and still plugging away, with likely only Duke and Miami being the feasible roadblocks to a perfect regular season.
3. Ohio State
Ohio State's first game since their thrilling win over Notre Dame followed much the same pattern as most of their games have thus far this season: an ugly first 2+ quarters, even to a point where we all were saying "could Maryland actually win this?!", before a dominant late push gave the Buckeyes the W. And this one was no joke: Maryland's perfect record may have been a little bit of fool's gold, but the Terps are solid, and this was a statement follow-up victory for a young Ohio State team that seems to be coming into its own.
4. Louisville
I expect I am far from the only one who was skeptical of Louisville's perfect record before last weekend. After all, they had beaten nobody of note, and had only narrowly avoided defeat against a bad Georgia Tech team and an unimpressive NC State team starting their backup quarterback. That all went out the window Saturday night, as they dispatched of Notre Dame (and the Fighting Irish's playoff hopes) with stunning ease, taking full advantage of the primetime audience and home-field edge. It's already been a remarkable turnaround for Jeff Brohm, and it could get better and better: thanks to an ACC slate that somehow avoids Florida State, North Carolina and Clemson, a 12-0 season is now suddenly very feasible.
5. Georgia
Two things are true at once: 1. I do rationally believe the two-time defending champions should be assumed the best in the country until someone proves otherwise, but 2. not once this season had the Bulldogs actually looked impressive at all. Until, of course, this past weekend when an unbeaten Kentucky, by far the best opponent they'd played all year, came to town, and the Dawgs welcomed them to the tune of a 40-point win. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ As my die-hard Georgia friend David texted me Saturday night, "I dunno, man. When I’m confident we suck, when I stress we kick butt." That very well could be the theme of the last few seasons in Athens.
6. North Carolina
North Carolina's schedule still hasn't seen a single ranked opponent, though that will change this weekend, but it has seen a slew of solid Power 5 opponents (plus one tricky in-state rival), all of whom the Tar Heels have dispatched with ease. Still, none of their wins to date had been quite as impressive as this past weekend's, when a solid Syracuse team, whose first loss was a narrow one at Clemson the week before, came to town and got dismantled. In a Drake Maye masterclass that put the game away before halftime, the Heels rolled to a 40-7 victory, and it was the kind of balanced performance (offense, defense, special teams) fans have been waiting for since Mack Brown's return to Chapel Hill. Win this weekend in prime time against Miami, and the ACC race-- and perhaps more! --is well and truly on.
7a. Washington
7b. Oregon
These two Pac-12, soon-to-be Big Ten, pacific northwest rivals, are inextricably linked at this point in the season. Both teams entered the year with quietly high hopes for a great season, and have wholly looked the part of contender, without yet reeeaaally playing and beating anybody significant. The good news is, that will change for one of them this weekend, as the two face each other with a perfect season, a driver's seat in the conference race, and an eye on the College Football Playoff all on the line.
9. Penn State
Michigan and Ohio State have understandably commanded all the Big Ten headlines since even before the season started, but oh. don't mind Penn State. The Nittany Lions rolled to a 5th straight win against hapless Northwestern to maintain their perfect record, and I'm sure they have no problem at all staying off the radar while all eyes are on their two biggest division rivals.
10. Michigan
It's not that I don't think (and haven't thought) Michigan is one of the best two or three teams in the land, it's just that their early season schedule is such a joke that it's hard to measure just how good they are. Still, while it will probably be November before we get to see them actually tested, dominant wins in consecutive weeks against better-than-you-might-think Rutgers and Minnesota teams speaks to their true quality.
Just missed: Texas, USC, Wyoming, Bama, WVU, North Carolina attorney general Josh Stein
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