SID Sports Week 10 Top 25
Breaking down my Week 10 Rankings and Player of the Slate
It’s Week 10 and you know what that means—Playoff Rankings! That’s right, tonight the College Football Playoff Selection Committee will release their first set of rankings on the season. Thus far, we’ve relied on the AP Polls, as well as voters like myself who have independent rankings. Now, we’ll see how the actual playoff setup looks like.
But, until then, we have these rankings to work with. So how do I think the Top 25 looks like? And who had the best games last week?
Ohio State 8-0 LW: 1
Ohio State didn’t look great against Wisconsin, but they came away with a 14-point victory at Camp Randall under the lights. That counts for a lot. What’s most to note is the fact that Ohio State effectively ended the Wisconsin rushing attack, only allowing 50 yards to Braelon Allen and 94 overall to the Badgers. The Silver Bullets might not have always shown up, but when they’re on, they can stop anyone. Let’s hope that Kyle McCord and the rest of the Buckeyes offense can keep it going.Georgia 8-0 LW: 3
Georgia gets to jump up to second in the polls after a convincing victory over Florida. The Dawgs dominated this game, holding a 36-7 lead at the end of the third. While they did let the Gators back into the game, it’s still been a dominant stretch for Georgia. It looks like Kirby Smart has his team hitting their stride at the right time.Michigan 8-0 LW: 4
Michigan had a bye last week, but they certainly weren’t off. Instead, they had to contend with the opening throes of yet another NCAA investigation. Either way, the Wolverines have looked dominant this season and J.J. McCarthy is a legitimate Heisman contender. Even scarier? The Wolverines have only allowed 47 points this season. That’s total. Across eight games.
Washington 8-0 LW: 2
The Top Five is incredibly close, so this isn’t some kind of anti-Washington narrative for them to drop. Instead, it’s the simple fact that they haven’t quite played a complete game since their win over Oregon. Stanford has shown life as of late, but Washington shouldn’t be allowing 33 points to the Cardinal offense. I’m really concerned that they didn’t stop Ashton Daniels, who torched the Huskies for 367 passing yards, 85 rushing yards, and three total scores. I am happy to see the Washington offense humming as it should be, though.Oregon 7-1 LW: 8
Based on this past week, I’d rank Oregon over Washington solely based on the Ducks’ big win over Utah. However, the Ducks have that one pesky loss to none other than Washington. It’s shaping up to be a rematch in Las Vegas for the PAC-12 Championship, which I definitely want to see. Until then, I expect the Ducks to keep rolling against some suspect defenses.Florida State 8-0 LW: 6
Florida State did what it was supposed to by taking down Wake Forest 41-16. Jordan Travis is having a stellar season with 2,109 yards, 18 touchdowns and only two picks. But let’s not discount the fact that the Seminole secondary held Wake Forest to only 82 yards passing. Florida State’s defense doesn’t get much attention, but stars like Jared Verse, Fentrell Cypress II, and Kalen DeLoach are leading a very good squad.Texas 7-1 LW: 7
Even without Quinn Ewers, the Longhorns kept the ball rolling against BYU in a 35-6 win. Backup Maalik Murphy was up-and-down, completing 16 of his 25 passes for 170 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He does have a strong connection to Adonai Mitchell, who hauled in both scores through the air. Jonathon Brooks ran well, Xavier Worthy took a punt 73 yards to the house and Texas played a complete game to support their backup quarterback in his first extended action.Alabama 7-1 LW: 9
Alabama took the week off and have a massive SEC game against LSU on this week’s docket. Their win over Ole Miss keeps the Tide in first in the SEC West for now, but they’ll drop to third if LSU is able to win in Bryant-Denny. Nick Saban and defensive coordinator Kevin Steele will have to stop one of the nation’s top offensive attacks in LSU, who has scored a whopping 379 points on the season, or 47.3 points per game. Alabama, on the other hand, is scoring at a much lower clip at 30.6 points per game. The Tide can’t allow this to get into a shootout.Ole Miss 7-1 LW: 11
Speaking of Ole Miss, the Rebels notch their first Top 10 ranking of the season. They do have that pesky loss to Alabama, but a quality shootout win over LSU to account for that. The Rebs took care of Vanderbilt last week, 33-7 as Quinshon Judkins had his best game of the season: 17 carries for 124 yards and two scores. It was the Ole Miss defense that surprised me the most, holding Vandy to only 60 passing yards, though 169 on the ground isn’t great.Penn State 7-1 LW: 13
Penn State finds their way back into the Top 25 after a 33-24 win over Indiana. That’s a lot closer than you’d want to see, but a clutch Allar bomb to KeAndre Lambert-Smith with 1:54 remaining put Penn State on top for good. That’s the kind of play you want to see your young quarterback make with the game on the line, especially in a rebound game after the first loss of his career. This could be a springboard for the Nittany Lions to help prepare for a Veteran’s Day showdown with Michigan.
Oklahoma 7-1 LW: 5
Oklahoma flirted with a loss last week and the bill came due against Kansas. Dillon Gabriel was efficient, but couldn’t find the end zone through the air and tossed an early pick six to Mello Dotson that put Kansas ahead. It was a ground-and-pound affair on both sides, but Kansas was able to pull it out with a 9 yard touchdown run by Devin Neal with one minute on the clock. The Sooners still sit atop the Big 12 standings, so there’s no reason to worry yet and a win in Bedlam this weekend will do a lot to help keep the Sooners moving towards the playoffs.Notre Dame 7-2 LW: 15
I don’t know if we’ve seen a better game from the Irish this season than last week’s 58-7 domination of Pitt. Now, Pitt’s a bad team. But still, 58-7 against a Power Five opponent is nothing to sneeze at. Notre Dame isn’t going to make a playoff run, especially since their late-season resume builder against Clemson likely won’t build much resume and USC keeps losing, but they have a solid shot at a New Year’s Six bowl.
LSU 6-2 LW: 16
LSU also had a bye week ahead of their game against Alabama and will heavily rely on their offense in Tuscaloosa. The Tigers don’t have a strong defense, but their offense can outscore anyone in the nation. Jayden Daniels is somehow going under the radar with an outstanding season: completing 73 percent of his passes for 2,573 yards with 25 touchdowns and only three picks, all while adding 521 yards and five touchdowns on 91 carries. He also has one of the best receivers in the nation in Malik Nabers, who will have a great matchup against Alabama’s star cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry.James Madison 8-0 LW: 14
Even though they can’t beat the NCAA, James Madison keeps beating up on Sun Belt competition. They survived a 30-27 scare on the road at rival Old Dominion where Jordan McCloud tossed two picks. Still, the Dukes survived an Old Dominion comeback bid in the fourth to escape with a win.Missouri 7-1 LW: 17
Mizzou got the week off to prepare for a crucial matchup this weekend in Athens against Georgia. The Dawgs have hit their stride the past few weeks, but Missouri has rebounded well from their loss to LSU in the beginning of October with resounding wins over Kentucky and South Carolina. Brady Cook and Luther Burden will be a handful for Georgia to stop, but can their defense slow the Dawgs’ offense?Tulane 7-1 LW: 19
Tulane keeps on climbing as they keep on winning in the American. Granted, it was a close win against Rice of all schools, but it was a win. Quarterback Michael Pratt threw the ball well in the win, and Tulane dominated a lot of the peripheral stats. This really is just a game that appears closer than it really was.Louisville 7-1 LW: 24
Louisville-Duke is usually a great basketball matchup, but this year’s meeting on the gridiron seemed to be a great game. Key work: seemed. Instead, the Cardinals steamrolled Duke, who is trotting out a clearly ineffective Riley Leonard still. Even though Jack Plummer didn’t have a great game against Duke’s strong secondary, Louisville got a great game from tailback Jawhar Jordan, who tallied 163 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries. It’s clear now that Louisville is the team to beat in the ACC behind Florida State. Who knew?Kansas 6-2 LW: Next Five Out
Kansas has been flirting around the 20-30 range all season, but a win over Oklahoma in Norman finally pushes the Jayhawks through that ceiling. Kansas beat its first AP Top 10 team ever with backup quarterback Jason Bean, which is incredibly impressive. No matter when starter Jalon Daniels returns, Bean has shown he can keep Kansas going. They’re stuck in the middle of the conference, though, with two in-conference losses already to Texas and Oklahoma State.Air Force 8-0 LW: 21
We just watched a service academy put up 30 points in a game. That’s impressive. The Falcons also did it in the most service academy way possible: with only 32 passing yards. Air Force continues to—quite literally—run through the Mountain West and I don’t think anyone’s left to stop them. They have a legit defense that’s often well rested because of the time-killing option attack they run, and the offense is humming. That’s a very hard combination to stop.UCLA 6-2 LW: 23
Chip Kelly decided to turn to a veteran quarterback in Ethan Garbers instead of continuing to trot out Dante Moore, and it worked out for the Bruins. Garbers was effective against a questionable Colorado secondary, but the offense didn’t seem to really click. Instead, it’s the defense leading the way for the Kelly-led Bruins, as we all expected. This time, UCLA stymied the explosive Colorado offense, holding the Buffs to 25 rushing yards and consistently getting hits in on Shedur Sanders.Tennessee 6-2 LW: Next Five Out
Okay, so I was wrong about Kentucky. That’s why Tennessee jumps up to where they probably should have been the whole time. A balanced offensive gameplan led the Vols past Kentucky, which is probably what they need going forward. Joe Milton III has proved he’s not consistent, so balance is crucial. Plus, it help when your tailback, Jaylen Wright, averages more than 10 yards a carry over the course of the game against a tough defense.Utah 6-2 LW: 10
Yes, the Utes fell a ton after their demise at the hands of Oregon, but 35-6 in a crucial game to the conference race at home does that to a team. Utah has relied on their defense in a lot of tough spots this season, and this time they didn’t pull through as Bo Nix tore them to shreds. Bryson Barnes also struggled against the Oregon secondary, completing under half of his passes and throwing two interceptions. This loss drops Utah into a very muddled 4-7 in the PAC-12 and they’ll need some help to get out of it.USC 7-2 LW: 22
Speaking of muddled PAC-12, what’s going on in USC? The offense did what it should with an ailing Lincoln Riley and put up 50 points on Cal. The defense does what an Alex Grinch defense does and allowed 49 points to Cal. USC, let me tell you a secret: if Iowa can fire Brian Ferentz, you can get rid of fellow football terrorist Alex Grinch.Arizona 5-3 LW: UR
Arizona was hopping on my radar after playing tough games down to the wire against Washington and USC, and now the upset over Oregon State gets the Wildcats a ranking. Quarterback Noah Fifita has played his way into a job, even when incumbent Jayden de Laura returns from an ankle injury. He was lights out against a strong Beaver defense, throwing for 275 yards and three touchdowns to only one pick. In the past month of de Laura’s absence, Fifita has 1,221 yards, 11 touchdowns and only two interceptions. That’s enough to compete in a crowded PAC-12Oregon State 6-2 LW: 12
Speaking of Oregon State, the Beavs drop behind Arizona because of that loss. It also doesn’t help that Washington State has been exposed quite often since their win over the Beavers. They do have wins over Utah and UCLA, though, so don’t count Oregon State out of this wide open conference race.
Next five out: Oklahoma State, Iowa, Kansas State, Duke, Liberty
Dropped out: North Carolina (No. 18), Duke (No. 20)
And, just like always, here’s my Player of the Week ballot. Now, this isn’t a running Player of the Year ballot for me, per se. Instead, I’m voting on who had the best days that particular week. At the end of the season, we’ll evaluate who my Player of the Year was based on these ballots, with point values assigned similarly to the AP Top 25 (i.e. three points for a first place vote, two points for second place, and one point for third).
Ollie Gordon II, RB Oklahoma State
Want to know how Oklahoma State turned their season around? This guy right here. This week, Gordon joined Barry Sanders as the only Oklahoma State tailbacks to rush for 250+ yards in consecutive games. His day at Cincinnati consisted of 25 carries for 271 yards and two scores. Right now, Gordon is playing like the best player in college football. It’s time to notice and recognize that.Bo Nix, QB Oregon
We’ve already talked about Oregon-Utah a ton in this, so I’ll keep it short here. Nix torched the Utes defense. 24-for-31, 284 yards, two passing scores and a rushing touchdown is serious work against one of the nation’s stingiest defenses.Marvin Harrison Jr., WR Ohio State
Whenever Kyle McCord needs a big play, or a play at all, he knows where to look. Harrison continues to shine for the Buckeyes, this time with six catches for 123 yards and two touchdowns at Wisconsin. You could say that Harrison, more so than McCord, is the reason Ohio State holds onto the top spot in my rankings.
There you have it, my ballot explainer for Week 10. How did I do? Do I hate your team? Love them? Let me know on social media or in the comments!