#1. Clemson - Nothing has changed. A big lead and sitting on the ball, winning by just 20 has become standard.
#2. Iowa (up from #7) - Give me an undefeated team from the Big 10. A 20-point win against the same team that gave MSU troubles, who hung around and beat OSU at the shoe.
#3. Notre Dame - Notre Dame won by only 3 against BC, a stiff defense might I add.. ND still has the more respectable loss.
T-#4. Oklahoma (up from #5) - I would put OU all the way up to #3 if either: a) They beat TCU by a decent margin, b) TCU didn't struggle so bad against Kansas at home (which WVU hammered). They did beat Baylor on the road, who beat Ok-State on the road, who beat TCU by 20.. all of which were the respective losing team's first loss. Sooners are the prettiest team right now and would easily be #1 is not for that 'L' against Texas.
T-#4. Alabama (from #4) - The SEC took a dip for reasons mentioned above. I would've liked the combo of LSU-Ole Miss-Florida to be at least half as good as expectations to put Alabama a spot or two higher.
#6. Baylor (up from #10) -
#7. Michigan State (up from "considering") -
Going to tOSU and winning suddenly makes the rest of the schedule forgivable, including a 1-point loss to unranked Nebraska and some other close games. Going into Stillwater, winning by 10 with your backup QB while sitting on a schedule full of blowouts looks better. Lone Baylor loss came up against OU and I would put Baylor ahead of Alabama (once again) had OU not beaten TCU by just 1 point.
#8. Ohio State (down from #4) - It was just a 3-point loss but it was at home. Ohio State's loss to MSU is more respectable than MSU's loss to Neb. The rest of the schedule and margins slightly favors Ohio State. But it is only fair to put MSU ahead of whom they beat on the road.
#9. Oklahoma State (down from #6) -
#10. Navy (down from #9) -
Lone losses to Baylor at home or ND on the road by 17. Hard to tell but for sure Ok-St has better wins under their belts.
Considering:
Stanford - Just not to leave out an entire Power Conference. Let's see how good Oregon looks and if another team slips. Other than that I think my top 10 is pretty solid.
North Carolina - It was close against VA-Tech and the loss to SC looked all the much worst.
Summary:
1 from ACC
3 from Big 10
ND
3 from Big 12
1 from SEC
1 from AA
Thought on playoffs:
Can we really see a playoff without an SEC team in it??
If Clemson and Iowa win out, they're in. If ND wins at Stanford, they're also in. Oklahoma winning in Stillwater will have a LOT more merit than Alabama winning at Auburn and Florida.
Notre Dame could very well choke against Stanford.
It'll be Clemson-Iowa-Oklahoma-Alabama/Notre Dame..
I would say ND should get in if it wins convincingly at Stanford and Alabama struggled against either one of its remaining opponents.
Thoughts?