The Couch Power 10, Week 6
It feels like last weekend that this college football season began in earnest, with a loaded Labor Day weekend slate off the jump, so it's surreal that many Division 1 teams have already reached the halfway point of their regular season.
Even more surreal? Week 6 in college football. It was a rough week to a team in The Couch Power 10, let me put it this way. The madness started, as it has for four weeks in a row now, with a Friday night thriller...and for the third straight week, it involved an ACC team. This time it was Syracuse again involved in the fray, traveling across the country to hand a ranked UNLV side their first loss of the season in an overtime thriller, that saw a crucial roughing the passer flag wipe off the Rebels' likely winning defensive play. On Saturday, 7 more ranked teams fell; not a crazy number, sure. But a little crazy when you zoom out and see this was a week with a grand total of one matchup between ranked teams-- and that one matchup wasn't even close, with Texas A&M blasting #7 Mizzou out of College Station. Yes, the country didn't even have time to recover from the most devastating result of the early window (UNC losing their 3rd straight game) before all hell broke loose in the afternoon and evening. Unranked SMU announced themselves to the ACC with a road upset of reigning conference runners-up Louisville. Minnesota dropped Lincoln Riley and #11 USC to 0-2 in the Midwest with a stunner in the Twin Cities. Arkansas gritted out a home upset of The Couch's longtime top team Tennessee thanks to stalwart defense and a late winning TD. In a rematch of last year's championship, Washington got revenge and a massive win all in one with their thrilling win over #10 Michigan. And...anything else? Oh yeah, that's right. Vanderbilt beat Alabama. Let me say that again: Vanderbilt. Beat Alabama. Let me shout it: VANDERBILT. BEAT #1, BIG BOYS OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL, ALABAMA. It's scarcely believable anyway, but rendered even more fairytale-esque by the way the game played out, with the Commodores leading wire-to-wire, and being the mentall tougher team than the Crimson Tide. In fact, we were so close to an absolutely perfect day for the haters, but sadly, even though the College Gameday special absolutely lived up to the hype, it involved America's darlings Cal blowing a 25-point 3rd-quarter lead to #8 Miami, who scored the winning touchdown with 20 seconds left. Alas, a timely reminder that we can't get everything we want.
Haters of my puritan belief in reserving the Top 10 for unbeaten teams up to a point in the season will nod to both aforementioned topics of discussion-- the midway point for many + the number of good and even very good sides with a 1 in the L column now, thanks to a wild week of upsets --as proof that I need to renege on my morals and let 'good losers' into the Couch Power 10 in Week 6. However, not one to compromise in my long-held beliefs, I offer the opposite view: given the insanity we've seen in the last couple weeks of college football, and particularly on last Saturday, the teams that have managed to keep a flawless record to date are all the more impressive. So, for one more week at least, the ranking below will include a lot of teams, but none of them with any blemish on their record.
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. Texas
Texas ascends to the top of the Couch Power 10, and sure, it's largely on the back of their SEC peers' surprising losses, but that doesn't mean it's not deserved. The Longhorns have been tested for all of about one half through their first 5 games, despite missing their star quarterback for the last 3, and still own a massively impressive road win over reigning national champions Michigan. That said, the Red River Rivalry clash against Oklahoma this weekend will be their first real contest since Week 2 and will give us a better sense of the level Steve Sarkisian's crew is at.
2. BYU
I could give most casual college football fans 25 guesses at who has the most impressive record at this point in the season, according to ESPN's metric, and they would almost surely fail to guess it. But yes, it's now none other than the Stormin' Mormons of BYU, who picked a good week to take a break. A tricky couple weeks await, with matchups against two of the preseason conference favorites Arizona and Oklahoma State, but both games are at home which gives the Cougars a real shot at entering November still unbeaten.
3. Penn State
Penn State never really found another gear on Saturday, but didn't particularly need to, making relatively easy work of a visiting UCLA (continuing the California teams' rough introduction to the Big Ten). The Nittany Lions are still lurking in the Big Ten shadows, but they shouldn't be, at least at this point; their wins over a solid West Virginia team and a ranked Illinois side give them a more impressive résumé than any of their conference peers, at this point, though there's a very good chance that may change after this weekend (more on that soon).
4. Iowa State
I will say this, poll voters are exhibiting at least a little ball knowledge by having Iowa State the highest-ranked Big 12 team (although BYU should be above them) instead of some of the bigger preseason names. That said, the disrespect to the conference is still noteworthy: though the Big 12 boasts 3 undefeated teams and a bevy of solid 1-loss teams, none have cracked the Top 10 (the Cyclones still sit just outside), and much like their peers BYU, Iowa State holds a Top 5 strength of record. Saturday's domination over Baylor did nothing to quell the potential for an undefeated season rolling into the last two weeks of the season (the next time ISU faces ranked opponents), although a visit this weekend to a suddenly resurgent West Virginia will not be easy.
5. Oregon
Some caution is necessary when trying to gauge Oregon's current form, as they truly haven't faced any good teams since their near-death experience with Boise State in Week 2. Still, as Ashton Jeanty and the Broncos continue mowing down opponents, that close win ages quite well, and even if against weaker competition, the Ducks have finally looked the part of a top team in the last few weeks, exemplified by Saturday's three-touchdown romp over Michigan State. The good news is we're gonna find out awfully soon just how for real this team is: this Saturday night, #2 Ohio State comes to Autzen Stadium.
6. Miami
Obvious points against Miami: they still have played zero ranked teams, and in the last two weeks against easily the two best opponents they have played to date, only 5 total points and a highly favorable officiating decision in each instance have kept them from losing. Obvious points for Miami: they're still unbeaten, they own the #2 strength of record in the country, and the 35-3 aggregate from their 4th quarters against Virginia Tech and Cal exhibit a level of fight and mental strength that hasn't been seen at this program in about 20 years.
7. Pittsburgh
There are now just two remaining ACC unbeatens, and just as everyone expected, both are old flag-carriers for the oft-beleaguered ACC Coastal Division. While Miami actually living up to the hype might be somewhat unusual, they were at least expected to be good preseason. The same can't be said about Pitt; the Panthers are fresh off a disastrous season and were picked 13th out of the 17 conference teams preseason. Yet, thanks to a win on the road at old bogey team North Carolina, Pat Narduzzi has his guys at 5-0 and with a Top 5 strength of record, per ESPN. A tough back half of the schedule awaits; a visit from Virginia looks to be the only game Pitt should be confident in winning. Still, get through these next 3 weeks against three of Saturday's biggest headline-makers (Cal, Syracuse, SMU) and they likely head into a Week 10 visit from Clemson at 9-0.
8. Indiana
That's right, we're on to "undefeated Big Ten team number 3" and it still doesn't include preseason natty favorite Ohio State. How 'bout those Indiana Hoosiers?? I think it's safe to say just about nobody predicted them playing the part of Big Ten spoiler this season, and to be fair, it remains to be seen whether they truly will. Much like Pitt, the schedule picks up significantly in the latter half, starting with visits from Nebraska and Washington the last two weeks of October. But not only are the Hoosiers off to a 6-0 start, they've barely broken a sweat; their closest game thus far was a two touchdown victory over Maryland. A bye week comes at a perfect time this weekend, as a number of big names are sure to falter before they do.
9. Ohio State
Okay, fine: for the first time all season, welcome to the Couch Power 10, Ohio State. The Buckeyes certainly have looked the part of the national title contender they were expected to be, winning their 5 games by an average margin of 40 points, but have been kept out of this particular ranking due to how absurdly easy their schedule has been to date (currently ranked 109th in the country). The good news is their next 3 games will tell us about as much as a team's title credentials as any program could have: this Saturday's monstrous road trip to Oregon is just the start of a "huge road trip sandwich," with a visit to Penn State in 3 weeks the other bun, and a visit from 5-1 Nebraska the juicy meat in the middle.
10. Navy
What, you thought UNLV's loss would stop me from my token 'reserved #10 spot for an under-appreciated Group of Five team' gag? Wrong! On to the next! The Midshipmen of the U.S. Naval Academy have quietly been putting together a very good season, and one that does not at all resemble the tight-defense/triple-option-heavy style the service academies have popularized for most of the 21st century. Sure, the schedule strength is nothing to write home about thus far (good for # 132 in the nation), but they'll get their chance in big games in their annual showdowns against Notre Dame coming soon and of course, their currently fellow unbeaten rivals Army in December. And for now, a 5-0 record with an average scoreline of 44-20 will more than suffice.
Just missed: The teams that brought us joy on Saturday (namely: Vanderbilt, Washington, Minnesota, Arkansas, SMU, The Calgorithm)
Comments