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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 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?
Da_Hubbz 