Monthly Archives: October 2022
My AP Top 10 as of October 30nd, 2022
The top 10 were pretty quiet this week. However, we still have plenty of shake ups. Let’s get into it.
#1 Tennessee- I’m not really sure how it could be anyone other than Tennessee. Georgia and Ohio State looked dominant at times, but Tennessee put together the most complete game this weekend slaughtering rival #19 Kentucky. This mean Tennessee has now beat formerly ranked Pittsburgh, Florida and Kentucky and currently ranked Alabama and LSU. Those reasons alone should get them to #1. However, I think the floor for them is #2. That way they can drum up the Georgia Tennessee match being #1 vs #2.
#2 Georgia- Georgia is probably the most complete team in the country. Their win against Oregon continues to be an archer for some of their shaking games. Georgia played a dominant first half against Florida, however two of the touchdowns were a little fluky. Still, Georgia regrouped in the 2nd half to pull away from Florida.
#3 Michigan- Part of me hopes Ohio State and Michigan remain unbeaten until they play. There’s not much of a justification here other then I trust Michigan’s run game on bad days more than I do Ohio State’s passing game on a bad day. But who truly knows yet.
#4 Ohio State– By all accounts, Ohio State deserved to lose this game through 3 quarters. When Penn State went up 21-16 with about 9 minutes left, Ohio State turned on the jets scoring 4 touchdowns in 8 minutes. There’s still reasons to be concerned here as OSU has continued to settle for field goals. It’s that inability to finish drives that makes me nervous. However, a match up between Tennessee and Ohio State sounds like the most fun matchup for a bowl game this year.
#5 Clemson- No one believes in Clemson. Admittedly their resume took the biggest hit yesterday when Wake Forest and Syraucse both lost and NC State won by 1 point. They were on bye last week and remain unbeaten. However, TCU could jump them at this rate.
#6 TCU- There was some legitimate consideration for TCU at 5. This time next week and they could be. Their over KSU got a lot prettier (but at the same time going to OT with Oklahoma State now looks worse.). Needing to pull away from West Virginia late certainly limited their jumping potential this week. Still, I feel like they’ve accomplished more than Alabama up to this point in the season
#7 Alabama– Alabama was on bye.
#8 Oregon- Oregon just keeps on winning. Nothing really to add to that. They handled Cal last week.
#9 USC– USC went on the road and escaped an Arizona team. USC still has some its harder foes ahead of them, but they are 7-1 so far.
#10 UCLA– There wasn’t too much drama this week. Oklahoma State got bounced hard and Wake Forest got upset. This allowed for UCLA, who handled business this week, to climb back in the top 10. With Penn State losing and Ole Miss getting a good scare to an awful Texas A and M team, it left little doubt who was going land at the ten spot. Utah and Kansas State are two 2 loss teams with quality wins trying to get in. For now, UCLA was clear choice for this week.
My AP Top 10 as of October 22nd, 2022
What an interesting week. Georgia Michigan and USC were all byes. TCU and Alabama faced off against fellow ranked teams and UCLA and Ogregon battled each other.
#1 Georgia- My top two teams from last week were on bye. As a result there isn’t much to write this week.
#2 Michigan- See #1 above.
#3 Ohio State– Before it was Ohio State vs Alabama for the two spot. Now it’s Ohio State vs Tennessee for the 3 spot. I’m not upset either way. Tennessee has had some horrible defensive moments, while Ohio State’s best win is Notre Dame. Again, these things will sort themselves out in the end.
#4 Tennessee- With LSU most likely joining the ranks soon, Tennessee continues to have the best overall resume. The argument for who has the best win comes down to Tennessee over Alabama or Georgia over Oregon. Tennessee’s win holds value because of its historical significance and name recognition of who they beat, despite it being a walk off field win at home. While Georgia’s gets a lot of credit for how utterly dominant they were and how good Oregon has looked since.
#5 Clemson- Let’s get the negative comments out of the way now. Clemson continues to start slow. Clemson continues to look beatable. Clemson continues to make it hard to defend a team that has now beaten three ranked opponents. Three teams that Clemson was their first loss. NC State, Wake Forest and Syracuse all watched perfect seasons die to the Tigers. Even FSU was a solid team. Still, it is the best 4 game stint the ACC has thrown at Clemson in a long time. I wish Clemson would have delivered knock out blows earlier in each match. But they’re undefeated. That counts for something. I consider Alabama the cut off for tier S. If Clemson keeps struggling early, Alabama will jump them.
#6 Alabama- Even if I think this is the worst Saban team in a long time, it’s still hard to bash too hard on this team. Alabama didn’t give Mississippi State the thrashing most teams get from Alabama. Yet, this was still one of, if not their best win of the season. With close calls against Texas, Texas A and M and Tennessee, and they allowed Arkansas to climb back in for a quarter, it must have been nice to not have to sweat a power 5 matchup. Truthfully, I’m not sure what to do with Alabama. As TCU has the better win and is undefeated. They’ve earned a higher spot than Alabama. Oregon has the worse loss, but a better resume as a whole. I feel like they’ve earned a higher spot as well. Though, I’m not sure either of those teams could win at Alabama. Yet, Alabama has been horrible on the road and would probably lose at either of their home fields.
#7 TCU- TCU has now beaten Oklahoma, Kansas, Oklahoma State and Kansas State in consecutive weeks. They are now just a win over Texas away from most likely being undefeated heading into the B12 Championship Game. I think a dominating performance against Texas could elevate them over Alabama since Alabama struggled to the Longhorns.
#8 Oregon- Oregon is probably wishing they played anyone but Georgia in week 1 as they have been rolling people. UCLA and Oregon were two of the hottest teams in the country and Oregon extinguished UCLA seemingly before the opening kickoff. It was truly a game that was never in any real doubt. Its hard to hold week 1 against them, you just wish they had shown a pulse at some point in that game. Otherwise, this team would be battling for the 5 spot.
#9 Oklahoma State– With Ole Miss and UCLA thumped, it vacated two new spots. Oklahoma State is the most deserving team to take that 9 spot. Their only loss is to unbeaten TCU. They responded to that loss by handling a red hot Texas team. They find themselves in a decent spot to make a run for the title game.
#10 Wake Forest– Wake Forest is benefitting from two things. A. Both USC and Utah are on byes (as though would be two teams gunning for this ten spot.). B. They have a QB that can play with anyone. This is supported by the fact their only loss was in overtime to Clemson. They might not quite be a juggernaut or household name, but I like them a lot up to this point in the season.
So that’s my top ten. I had a Halloween party yesterday so I don’t have a lot of other predictions. I will say the B12 probably takes a big hit as I think K State and Texas could drop out of the rankings. While the SEC will get a nice bump as LSU and South Carolina look to jump into the top 25.
Thanks for reading. Have a great day.
My AP Top 10 Today! October 16th, 2022!
Just a heads up guys. My work schedule has been all over the place and I’ve been busy on my off days. As a result, post have been infrequent and probably will be this week too. Anyway, I won’t bore you with the details. Let’s get into the post!
#1 Georgia- For two weeks, Georgia looked very beatable. This was coming off a dominant month of football. After sleepwalking through Missouri into their near demise, Georgia has finally woken up. It’s a good thing, too. Tennessee looks to fit the billing of a top 4 team. That matchup looms big now. Georgia is the only team with two shutout victories this season. They’ve played complete football for two weeks. And they still have that win over Oregon in their back pocket.
#2 Michigan- I’ve made the case before on this blog Michigan is the 2nd best team in the country, they just lacked the quality win to go with their slaughtering of lesser teams. Then, a lot like Georgia, the wins got uglier. They weren’t just going for the throats of their opponents. And at halftime against Penn State yesterday, Michigan looked like maybe they weren’t ready to play another top 10 team. They still seemed to be in control. Penn State couldn’t do anything on offense and Michigan could move at will. Suddenly, Michigan was settling for field goals while Penn State popped off some major boom plays. A long run by QB Clifford followed by a Pick Sick score for the Lions. Penn State actually had the lead despite their QB being 1-3 for 8 yards midway through the 2nd, 14-13. Then, if you blinked, Michigan was up 41-17 and the game was over. As if it was never in any doubt. As if the game was never close, not even once.
#3 Ohio State– You could certainly make the case for another team being here. After all, Ohio State was on bye while another team was out getting one of the best wins of the season. Time will tell in the end.
#4 Tennessee- Some people will have Tennessee #1 or even #2 after the game they put on Alabama. My problem with Tennessee is they still almost choked. Texas and Texas A and M showed how beatable Alabama was but how hard they are to kill. Tennessee almost joined that club. The fireworks started early. Tennessee jumped up 28-10 at one point. Well, Tennessee forgot how to play not only offense but defense as well. And soon, Alabama was up 35-34. There was another point where Tennessee put it on the ground and Alabama scooped and scored to go up 49-42. All signs pointed to Alabama houdining their way out of another loss. Alabama still has not found a reliable kicker in Sabans near two decade reign. As a result, Tennessee was able to get their own field foal attempt off. Winning the game 52-49.
#5 Clemson– Clemson has been silently impressing me this season. They aren’t outright obliterating teams like Michigan and Ohio State. They dont really have a signature out of conference win like Georgia or Alabama. However, Clemson is in the midst of a “Monster of the Week” ACC schedule. They beat Wake Forest, NC State and Florida State in 3 straight weeks. And the heat continues when they play an unbeaten Syracuse team. People will scoff at those names who do not follow the ACC or take it seriously. However, Wake Forest has one of the most electrifying QBs in the nation. Florida State beat a quality LSU team. I’ll admit NC State as been a little underwhelming this year. But their only two losses are to undefeated Clemson and undefeated Syracuse. They even sniffed the top 10 til Clemson got them. The problem, I think, for them is the nation at large doesn’t respect those other schools I named, so Clemson needs to be dismantling those schools, not letting them hang around. Next week should again be very telling.
#6 Alabama- I’m sure people will be outraged with the #6 spot for Alabama. But I actually think it’s the perfect spot for a multitude of reasons. The teams that could have been breathing down their necks, USC and Oklahoma State, both lost. That helps soften their fall. Secondly, the polls were already moving Alabama down. Since becoming #1, Alabama fell in back to back weeks. Its means the polls were starting to get worried about Alabama. And how could you not. I don’t have the stats in front of me, but they have to be one of the most penalized teams in the nation. The turnovers are scary, too. And the kicking game continues to give Saban heart attacks on a yearly basis. Alabama has two things going for them. A. Saban. It’s hard to envision a Saban team getting 3 losses. B. The sheer talent found on that roster. All Alabama fans wanted to say last year was their rebuild. I rolled my eyes at that and now you see why. This is the year that feels like a rebuild. Saban and Young are doing everything to hide the glaring flaws of this squad. But what I learned about this team is simple. If you take Young and Gibbs off this team, they easily have 3 losses already. But when Young and Gibbs decide its go time, the rest of the team plays better. They just finally messed around too much.
#7 TCU- What a turn of events for the hornfrogs. They go from utter destroying Oklahoma to scratching back against Oklahoma State. But you get to make crazy leaps like jumping from 13 to 7 when the number 7 and 8 team lose and you are the one who sent 8 home. TCU has weathered most of what the B12 can throw at them. Though, Kansas State and Texas still look for the Hornfrogs.
#8 UCLA- I may be the person highest on UCLA right now. They were on bye, but they had one of the best two week stretches of any team when they bounced Washington and Utah. They got a bye week to prepare for Oregon. That game will decide a lot.
#9 Ole Miss- Ole Miss is waiting for their shot to get a few more quality wins under their belt. The bad news is Mississippi State and Texas A and M have dropped, while Kentucky Arkansas and LSU all took steps up this weekend.
#10 Oregon- The Pac 12 always seems to be lingering for the 10 team spot. As right now it could go to UCLA, Oregon or USC. Oklahoma State could also have a claim at it. Considering their only loss came in OT at fellow undefeated TCUs home turf. A game in which they were up 30-16. Not to mention Still I’m going Oregon. They’ve looked solid since bouncing back to the thumping they took last week. It also sets up a top 10 matchup next week, Oregon and UCLA.
So that’s my top 10. There were still plenty of teams that have an argument for the ten spot. Which is why this reveal will be one of the more interesting ones to watch.
Thank you guys so much for reading. Have a great day.
My NFL Power Rankings as of October 4th, 2022!
This week saw multiple teams in my top 10 face each other. As a result, we got some good shakes up coming today. The Chiefs routed the Bucs in a game that was rarely close. The Bills had an heroic comeback to edge the Ravens. All the while the Rams solidified they aren’t ready to be the premier NFC team to beat this season.
#10 Buccaneers– I was tempted to drop them out of the rankings but the Rams stunk it up on Monday night. This allows the Bucs one more week to get it right. They find themselves on a two game losing streak which would be more concerning if the losses were not to the Chiefs and Packers. The division looks beyond dreadful, so it’s not all doom and gloom, yet. Fittingly, Bucs and Falcons play each other this week for the right to be atop the woeful South.
#9 Bengals- Two weeks ago the Bengals were in a whole different position. They lost to the Steelers and Cowboys and were 0-2. They looked as if they were superbowl hungover or got lucky last year. Well, they’ve turned it around quickly. They grabbed a pair of wins over the Jets and Dolphins. They now play fellow top 10 rival, Ravens, this weekend. A win Sunday could go a long way to repeating as AFC champions.
#8 Cowboys- Move over Eagles, Cooper Rush is also unbeaten. Not only is Rush undefeated, he’s got some quality wins to his name. In his debut, he beat the Bengals. He then followed that up by handing the Giants their only loss of the season. If the Cowboys beat the Rams, it will officially cause a narrative shift. The NFC East will go from disfunctional and downright awful, to the best division of football. While over on the West, all those teams could end up being overrated and bad. What a year this could be.
#7 Packers- Packers are scoring high on everybody’s list. Maybe rightfully so. This is not a star studded team. But they are getting wins some how. They had multiple chances to blow it last week at home against a 3rd string rookie. But they didn’t. They held on. If they can handle the Giants this weekend in London, maybe they can crack the top 5.
#6 Vikings- Just like the Packers, a win is a win. Outside of thoroughly rocking the Packers in week 1, the Vikings have failed to impress. The Saints should have been overwhelmed without Winston, Kamara, or Michael Thomas. Still, the Saints found a way to only lose by 3. With that said, the Vikings have managed to keep a winning record going. I expect them to secure the win over the Bears this weekend as this is not the game they want to be slipping on.
#5 Ravens- I continue to give the Ravens a pass. The Ravens have, 2 out of the last 3 weeks, looked like they were going to make statement wins and climb to number 1 on the rankings. Yet, here they are at 2-2 because they cannot close out games. They were up 20-3 before letting the Bill’s score 20 unanswered. 2-2 is still a respectable record with losses to two teams ahead of them on this list. But a lose to the Bengals will shake this whole list up.
#4 Dolphins- We’ve come full circle. Everybody made excuses when the Dolphins beat the Ravens and Bills in back to back weeks. Now, on a short week, coming off of two emotional wins while watching their QB get knocked out of the game concussed, we find the Dolphins with their first loss. Dolphins are dropping hard on peoples rankings, but I’m going to give them 1 more week to prove it was a fluke this weekend. They play the Jets which should be a game they come out swinging in. Win it for Tua, boys.
#3 Bills- The Bills have not looked nearly as dominant lately as they did to start the season. Still, there’s no doubt in my mind they are one of the best teams in the league. They needed late game heroics from Allen, which you expect from a guy like him, and some questionable coaching from the Ravens, which you don’t expect from them, to snatch the win. If they rip the heart out of the Steelers then everything is back on track in Buffalo.
#2 Chiefs- As long as the Chiefs have Reid and Mahomes, they will always be my pick for the AFC. The AFC is fierce this year with at least 6 legitimate contenders and a handful of dark horses, but they continue to step up and just out last the best teams. I knew the Colts game was a fluke, but they don’t need anymore performances like that with all the talented teams chasing them.
#1 Eagles- I don’t know what to make of the Eagles at the moment. I would pick the Chiefs to beat the Eagles if they played tomorrow. However, if this defense keeps getting better, the Eagles will keep making the strongest case for #1. Falling down 14-0 early against one of the most red hot teams in the league didn’t matter. They forced 5 turnovers on young Trevor Lawrence. Many will wonder if it didn’t rain that game, would he have had as many turnovers. We don’t know. Maybe we can get a superbowl rematch?
My AP Top 10 Today! October 2nd, 2022!
Two top 10 teams fell to two ranked teams. There’s little shame in that, but some big shakeups. I have 2 new teams joining the top 10 while the others get shuffled around. Georgia looked beatable two weeks in a row, while Alabama and Ohio State continued to separate themselves. Here’s a breakdown of our top 10 college football teams.
#1 Ohio State- I’m convinced of 1 thing this weekend. There will be a new number 1. And the debate of Ohio State or Alabama will continue to rage on. For the last two weeks they have looked on another level after Georgia continues to struggle.
#2 Alabama- I’m not stressing about the ordering at this point in the season. Alabama took a quarter off against Arkansas before reminding them who their daddy was. Both Ohio State and Alabama have big matchups left. Eventually one of them will pull away in the voting, but for now they are equal in my eyes.
#3 Clemson- This very well could be Georgia, but Clemson has impressed me the most out of the remaining teams. They never looked bad this season. Their game with Wake was up in the air for most of it, but Wake Forest might turn out to be really good after all. They just bounced former top 10 team NC State. It appears as if Clemson is moving upward in momentum, whereas Georgia seems to be slipping as the season goes on.
#4 Georgia- Last week, I felt like you could slide Georgia down and it wouldn’t have been a big deal. Still, they had earned enough goodwill that I let last week’s performance go. I chalked it up to a fluke. I assumed they were playing down to lesser talent. However, this weekend reinforced Georgia might be actually struggling. Georgia’s defense saved them, holding Missouri to 5 field goals. This included a FG on a drive that got to the Georgia 1. The first half was miserable and hard to watch. Georgia got it going in the second half and eventually snatched the lead with mere minutes to go. Georgia needs a few get right games or they may continue to fall.
#5 Michigan– The biggest issue for Michigan remains that they haven’t played anyone, whereas Georgia will continue to be held up by the thrashing they put on Oregon. The offense seems to have slowed down a bit now that they are in conference play. That’s fine, but now they aren’t beating teams by 50. That’s kinda a big deal when you aren’t playing ranked opponents. Michigan desperately needs some big wins or some of the teams below them could jump them as the season progresses.
#6 USC– The same could be said about USC. Their offense is still humming along though. And the defense remains serviceable. As Lincoln Riley is finally not having win shootouts each week. The close game against Oregon State remains a knock against them moving higher, but if they rout Utah in addition to being unbeaten, USC could jump to #4.
#7 Oklahoma State- Okla State took a huge step forward in solidifying their top 10 status by ousting Baylor. The Big 12 looks to be stacked top to bottom, but will ultimately be hindered for not having any elite schools. Still if Oklahoma State can take care of business this season, we will see how high they climb.
#8 Tennessee– The slide for Tennessee is fairly easy to explain. They were on bye while USC and Oklahoma State had chances to impress, also, factor in Pitt losing, which was one of their resume builders. It all adds up to a week that doesn’t exactly help you move up.
#9 Ole Miss– There’s a chance in the AP Poll the committee just moves Ole Miss to 7, taking Kentucky’s spot. I’m opting to put them here for now. The SEC West will provide opportunities to keep climbing. Still they edged out fellow SEC overachiever Kentucky, which never hurts your case.
#10 Utah- I view the 10 spot as a 4 headed race. Penn State would be a front runner if we were going off records, but Penn State has not impressed outside of a good showing at Auburn. Oregon has bounced back tremendously after week 1 thumping to Georgia, but not enough to jump into the top 10. Kentucky barely lost on the road against a now top 10 team. I would understand completely if you left Kentucky at 10. Though. My vote goes to Utah. They gutted a team that just took USC to the wire. They, too, have rebounded nicely from their week 1 let down, which could’ve been a fluke at this point.
So there’s my top 10 for this week. I’m feeling pretty good about it. By my estimations there are six teams getting removed from the top 25: Oklahoma, Texas A and M, Florida State, Minnesota, Arkansas and Pittsburgh. Baylor is probably on a short leash now, or out as well. That opens the door for a few teams such as UCLA, Kansas, TCU, LSU, Mississippi State, Cincinnati or Washington State.
What do you guys think of the rankings? Where would put teams? Let me know in the comments down below.
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