There have been many surprises this college football season, as 21 members of the preseason AP Poll have lost games. The top five has been shuffled so much with just one team in there for the entire season up until this point. Finally we have reached the time where the College Football Playoff Committee has unveiled two sets of their top 25 and the playoff predictions can start to heat up. As the season winds down, here is my current top five.
1. Georgia
So far this season, Georgia has just been head and shoulders above the rest of the field. They’ve already recorded big wins against Clemson, Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky, and Florida, and with an extremely easy schedule through the end of the season, they will likely be undefeated heading into an SEC championship showdown with Alabama.
2. Cincinnati
As one of the most controversial rankings this season, Cincinnati is sitting at number two. They have recorded wins against Notre Dame and Indiana, but their only real chance to continue proving themselves will come against SMU on November 20th. As of right now, they have not cemented themselves as a College Football Playoff team, and with a loss, a couple close games, or more chaos in the Big10, they could be knocked out.
3. Ohio State
Ohio State doesn’t have much yet in terms of resume, but with games against Michigan and Michigan State, they definitely have a chance to build that up. So far their only meaningful games have been a win over Penn State and a loss to Oregon. It is interesting to rank them ahead of Oregon after Oregon beat them, but with the loss to Stanford, the Ducks tumbled out of the top five. They have been so dominant on both sides of the ball, scoring over forty points in six games and giving up less than twenty in five, that they deserve this spot regardless of their current resume.
4. Alabama
The Crimson Tide don’t look vulnerable too often, but this year they have strayed from their dominant position and haven’t yet secured a playoff spot. It is likely that come decision time the committee will sit back and say, “Well it’s Alabama so they’re in,” but Alabama is at least an interesting conversation. They have lost to Texas A&M, but have big wins over Mississippi and Florida. They have potentially tough games remaining against Arkansas and Auburn so don’t count the Tide in for a playoff spot just yet.
5. Oklahoma
Oklahoma is another traditional powerhouse that is brought into question but not by losses. They are currently undefeated, but they have been in lots of tight games against teams like Nebraska, Kansas State, and West Virginia. There is also the near disaster of the Red River Showdown with Texas. That can almost be counted as a loss, because they needed a last-second touchdown to win that game and quarterback Spencer Rattler played so poorly that he was benched for the second half.