No, they won’t. Not after Ole Miss lost to Florida in embarrassing fashion, because I think they were the only serious contender to usurp them in the top spot. Clemson is the new No. 6 while Alabama jumps into No. 8.
Advertisement
After Ole Miss defeat, LSU is now the highest ranked team from the SEC. Newly-ranked and undefeated Florida, which cracked the top 25 for the first time since 2013 with a win over Tennessee last week, will host No. 4 Ole Miss in The Swamp at 7:00 p.m. ET. Ole Miss still has a win over Alabama in its back pocket too. Notre Dame’s offensive line, led by top National Football League prospect Ronnie Stanley, looked fantastic all September. Conference play will continue to chip away at that, possibly blurring the picture even more over the next few weeks. In the East, both Ohio State (34-27 win at Indiana) and Michigan State (24-21 win vs. Purdue) avoided catastrophe on Saturday.
It was wild weekend for the Top 10 teams in the country, with almost every team struggling to escape with a win.
There is a long way to go, and it is possible that the Big Ten title game will still be Ohio State-Wisconsin.
In the other half of the Big Ten, just as we all predicted, both Northwestern and Iowa are unbeaten. A one-loss Notre Dame team would still have to be considered, especially if the Power 5 conference champions have two losses. The overall depth in the Big 12, which creates quality road opponents in various directions, means that both TCU and Baylor could head into their Thanksgiving clash with at least one loss. Today, a few teams were dropped more than 12 spots for such losses.
Baylor has the best offense in college football.
Advertisement
“I’m not trying to be a playoff team just yet”, TCU coach Gary Patterson said after steamrolling Texas.
