Week 4 NCAA Rankings
Rather than doing an entire top 25, LUCK NUNU will be ranking the top 5: the 4 playoff teams and 1 "at-large" that hopes to swoop in for some of that sweet playoff misery. These rankings are fluid and are not based upon the previous week's ranking, but a ranking of which teams are the best at that time.
I was at the Florida State - Virginia game, so I didn't get to see the late games this week. Good thing there were no interesting matchups!
#1 Clemson - Clemson murdered Syracuse in the dome. It seems like a much easier feat this year, but 'Cuse has given them trouble in previous seasons. To be honest, after watching 'Cuse play Liberty and get beat down by Maryland, I expected something like this score. Clemson's defense is still really good, but Lawrence is making some dumb mistakes. He needs to clean that up if they want a chance at repeating. Next up: FCS Charlotte. Aka "bye week."
#2 Ohio State - Ohio State is scoring a ton of points, which is not unexpected. The biggest difference this year is how they're holding everyone down on defense. I had the game on until it got away from Indiana, which really didn't take all that long. Ohio State is the most complete team in the Big Ten and possibly their only legitimate playoff contender. Next up: Miami (OH). They will sleepwalk through this game. No chance of losing.
#3 Alabama - South Carolina had a chance to take the lead in the second quarter of this game and screwed it up. Then they had a chance to cut the lead to 7 right before half... and screwed it up again. Part of that is the fact that Alabama has a good defense, but part of it was self-inflicted. Alabama has some things to adjust on defense, but their offense is clicking pretty well. Tua did face some pressure from the Cocks, but it really didn't do much. Next up: Southern Miss. Another snoozer.
#4 UCF - Central Florida has been the best non-P5 team for a few years now. I was skeptical that they'd keep it up after Frost left, but they have continued chugging along. The score in this game is closer than it felt. UCF was dominating Stanford all over the place, and Stanford really didn't have any answer to the UCF wide receivers. Next up: at Pitt. Pitt plays pretty good defense, so this game could get interesting. UCF should win this game by 10, but given that the game is being played in Pittsburgh, it's tough to say how it will shake out.
Always the bridesmaid...
#5 LSU - Sorry, LSU, but you played an FCS school and got off to a slow start. That's why things are fluid in these rankings! Next up: at Vanderbilt. Vandy is a solid team, though still a cellar dweller in the SEC East. Which is to say, LSU should win this game handily. It really doesn't matter that it's being played in Tennesee, Vandy is outmatched at every position and has no business being in the game.
Other teams under consideration after Week 3
Wisconsin rested up and is ready to attack Michigan. Notre Dame scored 66, the first time since the 70s. Sure, it was against New Mexico, but this is the type of domination of a lesser opponent that Notre Dame has not been doing over the past 20 or so years. Oklahoma continues to dominate their competition. At some point, they'll play someone good so I can see where they really belong. Georgia is in the same boat.