1. Oklahoma Sooners– It’s about time that they appeared here in the top four and I can back up my reasoning as to why they are my number one seed as of now in this latest release of playoff rankings. Just like the Georgia Bulldogs when they were ranked here at the top, they have some impressive “quality victories”, three to be exact. One over Ohio State in week two in Columbus which is an extremely difficult to play let alone get a win, the other was against the Oklahoma State Cowboys in Bedlam almost two weeks ago and on Saturday at home, they handled their business against the TCU Horned Frogs. That’s three wins against ranked opponents and two of those came on the road which makes it look even more impressive. Baker Mayfield has put together a season worthy of winning the Heisman. He’s the best quarterback in the nation right now and this team will go as far as he takes them. Lincoln Riley has done a phenomenal job replacing a legend in Bob Stoops. It’s a good time to represent Boomer Sooner.
2. Alabama Crimson Tide– They had everybody talking after their game in Starkville on Saturday night where they barely escaped with the victory over Mississippi State to improve to 10-0 for the second consecutive season. They have two top-20 victories (LSU and Mississippi State) and the reason why I don’t have them on my one line in the playoff picture has been the soft schedule they’ve had (but I definitely understand that you play who you play). There is some concern moving forward with them because they are injured and the absence of Shaun Dion Hamilton will affect them greatly. The Iron Bowl this season just became must-see television at the end of the month especially with Auburn coming off their biggest win in recent memory.
3. Miami Hurricanes– You talk about making a statement, that is exactly what this football team did on Saturday night against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, a team who was on a winning streak of their own and rolling over their opponents. It was a good day for this program all around on Saturday. With Virginia losing earlier in the day, Miami won their division and then turn around to beat the absolute brakes out of one of their biggest rivals. Mark Richt is a great coach that has this program playing with a lot of confidence and most importantly, the swagger that this football institution has been known to have for years. We know for a fact that they will be in the ACC Conference Championship game against the Clemson Tigers in December. They win out, expect to see their names here on Selection Sunday when the final rankings are revealed.
4. Clemson Tigers– They’ve been all over the place and I’ve stated many times within the last month that I haven’t necessarily been sold on them. They’re definitely a beatable team, but after the loss to Syracuse, they’ve fixed a lot of things especially on the offensive side of the football. For this stretch run and if they want to remain in this playoff picture, they need Kelly Bryant to be more consistent. The resume was definitely fluctuated on Saturday during week 11 with Virginia Tech getting destroyed, Syracuse getting hammered by Wake Forest and Auburn and their biggest win of the year over the previously ranked number one ranked Georgia Bulldogs.
