I feel like I lost control of another piece of my life once again last week. Not to bother you with trivial life issues but since the end of Summer I have found myself battling weather, household mold issues, pet medical issues, personal health issues and god only knows what else. And the worst part of it all (perhaps) is that it has come at what is normally my favorite time of year… football season. Last week it ended up being a torn cornea in Coquette’s (my pet Frenchie) right eye, and Hurricane Nicole. We’ ll see how this week goes. I have been watching a lot of games, but not finding time or energy to write up report articles for the GBN Report. Good thing Editor Colin has more patience than Elon Musk-rat. So how about a Top 15 Rankings recap to hopefully start a busy week of College Football.
The Top 4, who would also be my Final Four participants are the Power Five, undefeated teams…
- GEORGIA (10-0) Well rounded team which has a bit more Offensive production this season, to go with a still very good D. Georgia is the new Alabama. Sorry Coach Saban.
- MICHIGAN (10-0) COACH HARBAUGH has two quality QB to run his Offense, with J.J. McCarthy being his No.1 guy. They play O & D with depth and quality playmakers. The big showdown with the Buckeyes is two weeks away.
- OHIO STATE (10-0) Solid coaching work by HC RYAN DAY keeping their squad on top in the face of more than the usual number of key injuries.
- T.C.U. (10-0) The Win this past weekend over the Longhorns was huge for this program. SONNY DYKES, their new Head Coach, after a move up from the Texas Tech program, has been masterful working with a 5-7 team from 2021, which has survived some serious losses from last year’s team. They are for real and have played a tough schedule.
Now let’s move on to the teams that have stubbed their toes a time, or two, but would still be worthy of consideration for a Play-Off spot if the field was being expanded this season.
5. TENNESSEE (9-1) After a big win over ‘BAMA they were pounded into submission by UGA. Still capable of beating anyone head-to-head. They are great offensively, and OK on Defense. HENDON HOOKER their QB is a legit Heisman candidate.
6. CLEMSON (9-1) DABO has a good team, not a great one. They can be erratic on Offense and have struggled against a tough battle with the injury bug on D this season.
7. SOUTHERN CAL (9-1) LINCOLN RILEY has been a big boost psychologically for the Trojans, but just like his tenure at Oklahoma, Riley led programs tend to not play Defense very well.
8. ALABAMA (8-2) It’s not like SABAN has lost his touch, but the talent has NOT played to 5-Star quality many times this season. They are way too dependent of BRYCE YOUNG to pull them thru games. YOUNG has a solid chance to repeat his Heisman Trophy award win, but won’t likely get it despite his stellar play.
9. LSU (8-2) BRIAN KELLY has come into Baton Rouge as a Northern Invader and turned a team that some picked for last in the SEC West, into the West representative in the SEC Championship game. Masterful job by Kelly and his staff. But man, they live and die by their Defense.
10. NORTH CAROLINA (9-1) MACK BROWN can still recruit and coach them up. He has the top QB in the country, to my eyes, in DRAKE MAYE, Pick No.1 in 2024 NFL Draft. But he doesn’t have enough talent left over for his D troops. That works in the ACC but not against the SEC or Big 10 heavyweights.
11. UTAH (8-2) In his 18th year at the helm of the UTES, Kyle Whittingham has his usual cast of transfers & recruits now blended into his 60 returning lettermen. His teams are always better by November than they were in September. Depth is key because he plays a ton of guys every year.
12. PENN STATE (8-2) The overall talent is here, as usual, under James Franklin. But their vanilla, conservative ways betray them in games against big time programs. Kinda like a ‘bridesmaids, but never the bride’ syndrome.
That’s about it for me. Beyond these guys you could flip coins to name the next dozen spots, between about 20 teams. I will wait to do that when the regular season ends.
Cheers
Pigskin
