1. Alabama Crimson Tide– Their beatdown of the Tennessee Volunteers was their 11th in the series. The Tide outgained Tennessee by almost 500 yards and they still managed to dominate in garbage time with their backups. They enter their bye week with a zero in the loss column and are in the driver’s seat right now in the SEC West. There are some new players, but it’s the same results as usual for Nick Saban and company.
2. Penn State Nittany Lions– They’ve passed part one of this Big Ten East gauntlet with their dominating win over the Michigan Wolverines last Saturday night. Saquon did what he does and Trace McSorley handled his business as well throwing for 282 yards passing, one touchdown pass and three on the ground. Today, part two of their test takes place. A battle with Ohio State in Columbus with extremely large playoff implications. The winner should be in a really good position for the playoffs and the loser will be back with a lot of ground to gain.
3. Georgia Bulldogs– They have been one of the biggest surprises in the nation this year. 7-0 and they’re unbeaten in conference play. They should definitely be included in the first set of playoff rankings just as long as a zero remains in the loss column. Today, it’s an annual showdown with a struggling Florida Gators team in Jacksonville. Kirby Smart still has my vote for coach of the year as of now.
4. Ohio State Buckeyes– Another week results in another win for them and if J.T. Barrett continues to play at this high level, the sky is the limit for the Buckeyes. They’ve put themselves back in the conversation for the playoffs and in a good position to possibly win their division and get to Indianapolis in December. Never has a game meant so much like this one will be this afternoon when the second-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions come to the shoe. Is this the Big Ten Championship here?
5. TCU Horned Frogs– Listen to this stat line from last week: Four first downs, 21 total yards of offense and negative 25 yards rushing. That’s exactly what they gave up to the Kansas Jayhawks last Saturday at home. Their game today has trap game written all over it against an Iowa State team that’s finally ranked and playing with a lot of confidence since their big win in Norman.
