Week 6 College Football Top 25

Posted on by thefloorslap

For the most part, the AP Poll isn’t quite as bad as I usually give it credit for. Our top 10s are virtually identical, and there are only 4 teams they had ranked that I did not.

I think my top 12 make up the clear-cut contenders for the CFP. However, I don’t see the top 4 chancing much, if at all, for the rest of the season. Clemson has already passed its toughest test of the season and is coming off a game where their offense and defense finally played complemented each other. Ohio State is looking like the head-and-shoulders best team in the Big Ten. And the CFP will almost certainly allow Alabama and Georgia a “free-bee” loss each.

Nonetheless, we are a game away from absolute chaos in the chase for the final playoff spot. Teams are finally starting to show up and prove who they really are. So let’s check out this week’s top 25.

The Floor Slap’s Week 6 Top 25

  1. Georgia (5-0); AP rank: 2
  2. Ohio State (5-0); AP rank: 3
  3. Alabama (5-0); AP rank: 1
    • I didn’t see enough from any of these teams to shake up my rankings. Sure, Georgia got pushed against a mediocre Mizzou team on the road. But their 46-point win against Oregon remains the best win in the country. And even though Alabama technically got a 23-point top-25 win, they nearly blew their 28-0 lead and were going up a MAC-level defense. Ohio State, meanwhile, did what they were expected to do against Rutgers. The top 3 shouldn’t change.
  4. Clemson (5-0); AP rank: 5
    • Clemson jumped Michigan because I was simply more impressed with what I saw from them on Saturday. They controlled controlled the 2nd half against an undefeated NC State, and DJ & the offense finally appear to be clicking. The Tigers had a pretty similar resume to Michigan before this weekend, so the impressive win gives them the 4 spot.
  5. Michigan (5-0); AP rank: 4
  6. USC (5-0); AP rank: 6
  7. Ole Miss (5-0); AP rank: 9
  8. Penn State (5-0); AP rank: 10
  9. Tennessee (5-0); AP rank: 8
  10. Oklahoma State (4-0); AP rank: 7
  11. TCU (4-0); AP rank: 17
    • The Horned Frogs beat the brakes off of Oklahoma. They belong right up alongside OK St.
  12. UCLA (5-0); AP rank: 18
    • You can call me over-zealous for ranking UCLA 12th after not having them ranked last week. But with a lot of weak non-conference schedules throughout the first month of the season, we are just now finding out how good some teams are. And the Bruins’ blowout win over Washington at home was impressive.
  13. Wake Forest (4-1); AP rank: 15
    • All the undefeated teams ahead of Wake Forest have a win or two they can hang their hat on. Wake Forest is the top ranked 1-loss team because their 2OT loss to Clemson was about as close as it gets. The undefeated teams behind them are still waiting for that signature win.
  14. Kansas (5-0); AP rank: 19
  15. Oregon (4-1); AP rank: 12
  16. Utah (4-1); AP rank: 11
  17. Syracuse (5-0); AP rank: 22
  18. Kentucky (4-1); AP rank: 13
  19. NC State (4-1); AP rank: 14
  20. Washington State (4-1); AP rank: unranked
  21. Kansas State (4-1); AP rank: 20
  22. Maryland (4-1); AP rank: unranked
  23. Florida State (4-1): AP rank: unranked
    • Let’s keep this simple – Florida State beat LSU, and LSU beat Mississippi State. What good are rankings if they don’t reflect the actual results of games? Florida State’s loss was close enough to a good Wake Forest to keep them ranked.
  24. LSU (4-1); AP rank: 25
    • I really hate to give LSU much credit for squeaking out a victory over Auburn, but I also think they deserve a little forgiveness for that wild season-opening loss to FSU.
  25. James Madison (4-0); AP rank: unranked
    • Hey, the Dukes beat Middle Tennessee State 44-7 and App State 32-28, who beat Miami and A&M, respectively. Why not give them some love? Isn’t this what college football is all about? I’d be much more excited about a ranked JMU team than any of the teams I left out.

*ACC: 5, Big Ten: 4, Big 12: 4, Pac 12: 5, SEC: 6, other: 1*

Notable Unranked teams:

  • Mississippi State (4-1; AP rank: 23)
    • They lost to LSU pretty convincingly, 31-16, a few weeks ago. And I’m still in the opinion that A&M is worthless. So their win over the Aggies, as convincing as it was, isn’t enough for the them to crack the rankings yet. But a similarly convincing win (against a similarly mediocre Arkansas team) could propel them into the top 25.
  • Cincinnati (4-1; AP rank: 24)
    • They lost to Arkansas week 1 by 7. If I’m not ranking Arkansas after they pushed Alabama last week, I can’t rank the Bearcats.
  • BYU (4-1; AP rank: 16)
    • They beat 1-3 Utah State, barely beat a Baylor team that evidently isn’t all that great, and got handled by Oregon. If they beat Notre Dame on the road this weekend, I’ll show them some love.
  • Washington (4-1; AP rank: 21)
    • This is about taking all games into consideration. That win over Michigan State doesn’t seem as great anymore. Coupled with how the Huskies looked Friday night (the game wasn’t as close as the 40-32 score indicated), I need to see more out of this defense before I rank them again.