Power
Rankings After Week 10
1. Alabama 9-0 (1st)
2. Oregon 9-0 (2nd)
3. Kansas State 9-0 (3rd)
4. LSU 7-2 (5th)
5. Georgia 8-1 (7th)
6. Florida 8-1 (6th)
7. South Carolina 7-2
(8th)
8. Stanford 7-2 (9th)
9. Notre Dame 9-0 (4th)
10. Oregon State 7-1
(10th)
11. Oklahoma 6-2 (11th)
12. Florida State 8-1
(12th)
13. Texas A&M 7-2
(NR)
14. USC 6-3 (13th)
15. Clemson 8-1 (15th)
Out:
Texas Tech (14th).
Comments:
After several somewhat chaotic weeks, there was not too much change in my power
rankings this week. Overall just 7 of the 15 spots in my rankings experienced
change, making it my most stable week of the season. At least two thirds of the
teams in my rankings had changed places each week going back to week 2. 13 of
15 slots had changed in each of the previous 2 weeks, so this was a major step
towards stability. In addition, for the second week in a row and the fifth time
in the last six weeks I only changed out 1 team.
Texas Tech was the only
team to fall out of my rankings this week. The Red Raiders dropped out from #14
following their rather unimpressive showing at home last Saturday. They were
beaten fairly easily by a Texas team that has looked ordinary most of this
season.
Meanwhile, Texas Tech’s
place in my rankings was filled by another team from the Lone Star State. Texas
A&M spanked Mississippi State on the road last Saturday and the Aggies were
the only new team in my rankings this week, making their debut in the power
rankings at #13.
2 teams moved down in
my rankings while still remaining in the top 15 this week. The only team to
fall more than 1 spot in my rankings was Notre Dame. I was thoroughly unimpressed
with ND’s effort against Pitt last Saturday. I suspect that my hatred for Notre
Dame may be having an effect on my opinion somewhat, but I’ve gotten pretty
good at viewing teams objectively even while actively rooting for or against
them.
Frankly, I can’t figure
out how ND beat Oklahoma so convincingly on the road like they did. They don’t
appear to have any more speed than usual at any position other than QB. The
defense is stout, but the offense is plain ordinary. Their entire game plan
last week seemed to be to buy time in the pocket and then lob balls towards the
sidelines in hopes of getting pass interference called.
I’ve seen Notre Dame
play almost every week this season and I’ve either come away really impressed
with their defense or wholly unimpressed with the rest of the team. They were
playing a Pittsburgh team that is worse than mediocre. They were playing that
Pittsburgh team at home following their biggest victory in years. And yet they
needed triple overtime to pull out the win.
The Irish had 9 or 10
huge breaks go their way in that game. Sure, they pulled off a late comeback
and survived, but they needed a few crucial calls to go their way just to make
it into overtime. Then they needed Pitt’s kicker to miss from inside 40 yards
just to survive the 2nd overtime. It’s true that they also lost a
fumble at the 6-inch line earlier in the overtime, but there were so many times
where ND was literally one play away from losing.
Anyway, while Notre
Dame survived to remain undefeated, I don’t base my rankings off the standings.
I dropped the Irish 5 spots in my power rankings this week from #4 to #9.
4 teams moved up in my
rankings this week. The only team that climbed more than 1 spot in the rankings
was my Georgia Bulldawgs, who climbed 2 spots from #7 to #5. It sounds crazy
but if the Dawgs were a little bit healthier I would be willing to dream about
a shot at the national title. However, I think any chance of winning the SEC
Championship Game and sneaking into the BCS Championship Game may have died on
Saturday night when Alabama pulled it out over LSU. I just don’t think we can
beat the Tide, especially now that we’re down 2 of our top 3 receivers, in
addition to some injuries along the offensive and defensive lines.
Despite losing the
heartbreaker to Alabama, LSU moved up a spot in my rankings this week from #5
to #4. No one else had come close to stopping Alabama this season, but the
Tigers held them in check until the final minutes. LSU also moved the ball much
more effectively than any other team had against Bama. Les Miles is getting
crushed, but I think he’s basically going to get killed whenever LSU doesn’t
win. They got a lot of help from the crowd, but there aren’t many teams I’d
pick against LSU right now.
USC lost an absurdly
high scoring affair to Oregon at home on Saturday, suffering their third loss
of the year. I only moved the Trojans down 1 spot in my rankings this week from
#13 to #14. They are the first 3-loss team in my rankings this year. I will say
that they remain in my ranking almost by default. The Trojans are certainly not
anywhere near as good as expected, but so many of the teams that could potentially
move into my top 15 and knock USC out are just too inconsistent from
week-to-week.
The top 3 teams in my
rankings stayed the same this week. Kansas State remains at #3 in my power
rankings following their win over Oklahoma State on Saturday night that got
them to 9-0. KSU produced another impressive victory over a quality opponent,
despite losing star QB Collin Klein in the 2nd half. The Wildcats
are keeping tight lipped about the details. Hopefully for their sake it’s just
a case of Klein getting his bell rung and not some sort of arm or shoulder or
upper body injury (yes, I know it’s blasphemous to act like a possible
concussion is anything less than a death sentence but I don’t really care).
Without Klein KSU is
obviously more likely to be knocked off, but to be honest I wouldn’t bet
against Bill Snyder’s team even if he can’t go this week against TCU. They have
answered the bell time and again this year.
Oregon and Alabama also
remained unbeaten and they once again hold the top 2 spots in my power rankings
this week. Oregon is my #2 team for a seventh consecutive week, while Bama is
the top team in my power rankings for a tenth straight week.
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