by Sean Szymczak
Tell your family & friends you love them. Go talk to that person you have a crush on. Take that exotic trip. Life is short people! The swiftness of the college football is an annual reminder to appreciate the great things in life while they’re around. In the blink of an eye, only one week remains in the college football season.
Georgia disposed of another overrated SEC team in Week 12, cementing their place at #1. Ohio State looks to be playing their best football of the year, while injuries and poor play on Michigan has be wavering a bit.
Washington picked up another gutsy win in a torrential downpour at Oregon State. Oregon continues to dominate. Missouri converted a 4th & 17 to escape with a win against Florida. Arizona blew out Utah in one of the best wins of the Pac-12 season.
Perhaps the biggest storyline of the weekend was Jordan Travis’ devastating, gruesome leg injury that looked to cost him the rest of the season. How does the committee evaluate Florida State? I would hope they would favor a 13-0 Florida State team over any one-loss team, but Texas would certainly have an interesting argument if it came down to them. And all of a sudden Louisville winning out and putting themselves in position to sneak in the playoff doesn’t seem crazy.
This CFP race is shaping up to be the best we’ve seen yet – a fitting in for the four-team era.
The Floor Slap’s Week 13 Top 25
- Georgia (11-0)
- Listen, I never thought Ole Miss or Tennessee were any good. But Georgia has done exactly what they should have done to average, overrated teams: dominate them. The Bulldogs have certainly earned their #1 spot.
- Ohio State (11-0)
- I think Ohio State is playing their best football of the season. Kyle McCord hasn’t quite developed like many hoped, but he doesn’t have to be great for the Buckeyes to be. This offense is different with a healthy Treveyon Henderson. And the defense has allowed 6 points combined in their past two games.
- Michigan (11-0)
- I came out of Michigan’s win against Penn State with a lot of questions about this offense, and none of them were answered against Maryland. JJ McCarthy hasn’t been nearly as efficient since the Stallions firing and this offensive line isn’t great. But the Wolverine defense is so good maybe it doesn’t matter.
- Washington (11-0)
- The media seems to want to discredit Washington for not blowing teams out. But wins over Oregon, Arizona, and Oregon State speak louder.
- Oregon (10-1)
- Since their heartbreaking loss on the road to Washington, Oregon has won 5 straight by over 26ppg. Bo Nix is playing better football than any quarterback in the country.
- Florida State (11-0)
- This has as much to do with Jordan Travis’ injury as it does with the Seminoles leading the 3-8 North Alabama Lions of the FCS 24-13 more than halfway through the 3rd quarter. But if FSU wins out, I still think they are deserving of the playoff even without their star QB.
- Texas (10-1)
- Alabama (10-1)
- Louisville (10-1)
- Missouri (9-2)
- Penn State (9-2)
- No other changes in the top 11. All these teams took care of business, though none were particularly impressive.
- Arizona (8-3)
- Since losing back-to-back games against Washington & USC by a combined 10 points, Arizona has ripped off 5 straight wins by an average margin of 17ppg. RB Jonah Coleman & WR Tetairoa McMillan have emerged as one of the nation’s best offensive duos.
- Oklahoma (9-2)
- Oregon State (8-3)
- Ole Miss (9-2)
- LSU (8-3)
- Ole Miss & LSU drop a couple spots because they played UL Monroe & Georgia State. In November. The SEC pulls this every year, and it drives me up the wall every year.
- Iowa (9-2)
- Liberty (11-0)
- How will the committee reward Liberty by being 1 of 6 undefeateds in college football? By raising them from NR to NR?
- Kansas State (8-3)
- Kansas State really doesn’t have a bad loss on the year: a 3-point loss to Missouri, an 8-point loss to Oklahoma State, and an OT loss to Texas (all on the road).
- Notre Dame (8-3)
- Tulane (10-1)
- The committee seems to have a 1-loss Tulane as the firm favorite for the G5 bid instead of Liberty. Why? They have only three wins over teams with a winning record. Their last 4 opponents have a combined record of 14-30 and Tulane has beaten them by an average margin of only 5 ppg. Their one loss was to Ole Miss, but they lost by 17 and were held to under 4.5 yards per play by a porous Rebel defense. I just don’t know what the committee has seen from Tulane to put them ahead of an undefeated Liberty squad.
- Toledo (10-1)
- Respect the MACtion.
- Oklahoma State (8-3)
- Can’t stop thinking about that 45-3 loss to UCF.
- SMU (9-2)
- NC State (8-3)
- Four straight wins!
Just Missed Out: James Madison, Miami OH, UNLV, Troy, Clemson
New to Rankings: Oklahoma State (23), SMU (24), NC State (25)
Dropped from Rankings: Utah (17), James Madison (19), Kansas (25)
Ranked Teams by Conference
SEC: 5
Big Ten: 4
Pac-12: 4
Big 12: 4
ACC: 3
American: 2
Other: 3 (Liberty, Notre Dame, Toledo)