Another weekend of great college football games is the books and that means it’s time to look at fresh power rankings.
This week things are going to be a little bit different because college football is truly in a very unique situation. There are less than ten teams in America that are realistic national title contenders and then there’s a massive drop-off. Instead of doing just the top four teams I’ll be breaking down every team capable of winning the national title ranked in the order of each team’s greatness.
1) Ohio State
The Buckeyes had the week off, but their first three games of the season speak for itself. OSU is on a different planet right now and a throttling of a very good Oklahoma team is only further proof of that. There’s not a single team in America that wants to play the J.T. Barrett-led Buckeyes.
2) Louisville
There’s only two words you need to know about the Louisville Cardinals: Lamar Jackson. The incredible quarterback accounted for an astounding seven touchdowns against Marshall. That brings his season total to 25 through four games. You read that previous sentence correctly. He is single-handedly outscoring most teams in America. As long as Jackson remains healthy and on target Louisville is a top two team in America.
3) Michigan
The Wolverines are the real deal and they’re here to stay. Their ground attack might be the best in the country and that was on display when five different players scored rushing touchdowns against Penn State. The King of Ann Arbor Jim Harbaugh turned the program around in the blink of an eye. Some questions linger about if quarterback Wilton Speight can be a star in tight games. Hopefully we all find out when the Wisconsin Badgers visit next Saturday.
4) Alabama
Alabama continues to look impressive as the games go by every passing weekend. They already played the toughest game on their schedule against a good Ole Miss team so they should cruise through an atrocious SEC conference this season. If Alabama is as good as they want people to believe they are then the Crimson Tide shouldn’t have a game within single digits the rest of the season against a very weak schedule. This week they laid a 48-0 smackdown on Kent State. Their time would probably just have been better spent practicing.
5) Wisconsin
I have been Wisconsin’s biggest critic all season long. I wasn’t impressed after they beat LSU and then struggled with Georgia State, albeit playing with lots of backups because of injuries. After a 30-6 obliteration of Michigan State I finally feel comfortable calling the Badgers a good team. Freshman quarterback Alex Hornibrook looked incredible poised as he sniped his way to 195 yards in his first career start. There aren’t many quarterbacks in America that can go into a hostile environment for their first game and throw all over one of the best defenses in the country. Their upcoming game against Michigan has the ingredients of everything needed in a game for the history books. If the Badgers are healthy the Wolverines could face the same fate as MSU.
6) Houston
Houston superstar quarterback Greg Ward Jr. is one of the top three quarterbacks in America and the Cougars are an offensive juggernaut. They improved to 4-0 after beating Texas State 64-3. Ward had himself a casual day of three touchdowns and over 300 yards in total offense. The toughest part of Houston’s schedule is over so they likely will arrive undefeated come December for playoff decisions.
7) Stanford
I absolutely love everything about Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey. He can play five or six different positions on the field and play them all at an NFL caliber level. He was the best player in America last season and history will not be kind to those who honestly believed he shouldn’t have won the Heisman. He remains the best player in America this season and rushed for over five yards a carry in a 22-13 victory over UCLA. He is like a video game player that you just set every rating to 99.
8) Clemson
The Tigers of Clemson were expected to be a lot higher on this list but early season struggles have caused them to drop. Don’t be fooled though. DeShaun Watson is an incredible quarterback. He threw for over 300 yards and two touchdowns against Georgia Tech this week. The winner of their upcoming game against Louisville will almost certainly win the ACC.
9) Texas A&M
Texas A&M murdered Arkansas Saturday night, and Razorbacks coach Bret Bielema looked confused and beaten from the first snap of the game. Do the Aggies owe me for winning that game because I’m living rent free in Bielema’s head? Am I hero for potentially destroying the Razorbacks program? I don’t know. I’ll let the history books decide. Either way the Aggies are a legit team.
So those are the nine teams in America capable of winning it all. Next weekend should be another great run of games.