Week 5 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.
This week had a few interesting matchups and a few puzzling comebacks. LET'S DIG IN.
#1 Clemson - They took care of business against an outmatched opponent. They're not moving yet because they've been so good on defense. Next up: @North Carolina. UNC has been hit or miss, getting into deep holes and having to climb out pretty much every week. They just lost to App State on a blocked field goal attempt to tie, but they're still a dangerous team. I don't think they'll beat Clemson, but they may hold them under 40 points.
#2 Ohio State - Slow start for OSU this week as they went down 5-0 to Miami of Ohio before scoring.. 76 unanswered points. To be fair, Miami OH is terrible. It's good that OSU is taking care of business (like Clemson), but we still haven't seen them play anyone. Next up: @Nebraska. I guess it will be at least one more week before we see them play anyone, because Nebraska is bad. They can put some points on the board, but they can't stop anything. Can they outscore Ohio State? Not likely.
#3 Auburn - Auburn has beaten Oregon and Texas A&M so far this season. Those are some good wins. They haven't looked dominant in any games yet so far, but it doesn't matter if they keep winning. Next up: Mississippi State. That's not a gimme game at all. MSU has a good, well-rounded team. I give the advantage to Auburn in talent and because it's at home, but I expect this to be a very close game.
#4 Cal - This is going to sound crazy, I'm sure, but Cal beat Ole Miss in Mississippi in an early start. That's not easy for a west coast team to do. Not only that, but Cal also beat Washington earlier this year. The Huskies blasted BYU this week, so that win looks better as time goes on. Next up: Arizona State. ASU had a huge let-down this week, losing to Colorado after an emotional win @Michigan State. I expect ASU to rally and give Cal some fits. This game is in California, though, which should make it a bit more difficult for the Sun Devils. It's a late Friday night start. Pac 12 After Dark is usually wild. We'll see how it shakes out, but I expect it to be close.
Always the bridesmaid...
#5 Wisconsin - Up 35-0 in the third quarter, Wisconsin took their foot off the gas a bit. They could have won by 6 touchdowns if they really wanted. They utterly dominated Michigan, which would normally be very impressive. But this Michigan team should've lost to Army two weeks ago. They're not very good. That takes a little bit of the luster off of this otherwise lopsided win. Next up: Northwestern. A team who was just blasted by Michigan State. Sorry, Wisconsin, but you're not likely to gain any ground in this game.
Other teams under consideration after Week 4
Georgia had a big win over Notre Dame, but really didn't look good at all for more than half of the game. Sure, some of that is ND playing well, but when you're at home in a big game like this, you really need to show that you are a title contender. LSU killed Vandy. It wasn't even close. But it was Vandy. Texas continuing to win helps. Alabama still needs to play a real game. They look great against inferior competition, but when will they play someone? They have Ole Miss next week, which still isn't a threatening team. Oklahoma is in a similar position, though they had a bye week, so it was even less interesting.