My top 25 for week 4, and a look at the playoff picture:
- Texas Longhorns 3-0: at Baylor
- Michigan Wolverines 3-0: vs Rutgers
- Washington Huskies 3-0: vs Cal
- Georgia Bulldogs 3-0: vs UAB
- Penn State Nittany Lions 3-0: vs Iowa
- Florida State Seminoles 3-0: at 19 Clemson
- USC Trojans 3-0: at ASU
- Ohio State Buckeyes 3-0: at 9 Notre Dame
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish 4-0: vs 8 Ohio State
- Ole Miss Rebels 3-0: at 11 Alabama
- Alabama Crimson Tide 2-1: vs 10 Ole Miss
- LSU Tigers 2-1: vs 25 Arkansas
- Oregon Ducks 3-0: vs 22 Colorado
- Oregon State Beavers 3-0: at 21 WASU
- Utah Utes 3-0: vs 24 UCLA
- North Carolina Tar Heels 3-0: at Pitt
- Kansas Jayhawks 3-0: vs 23 BYU
- Duke Blue Devils 3-0: at UConn
- Clemson Tigers 2-1: vs 6 FSU
- Miami Hurricanes 3-0: at Temple
- Washington State Cougars 3-0: vs 14 Oregon State
- Colorado Buffaloes 3-0: at 13 Oregon
- BYU Cougars 3-0: at 17 Kansas
- UCLA Bruins 3-0: at 15 Utah
- Arkansas Razorbacks 2-1: at 12 LSU
Dropped Out
#16 Tennessee Volunteers
#23 Kansas State Wildcats
Just Missed
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Maryland Terrapins
- Florida Gators
- Missouri Tigers
- Kansas State Wildcats
Conference Comparison
Pac 12: 8 (3, 7, 13, 14, 15, 21, 22, 24)
SEC: 5 (4, 10, 11, 12, 25)
ACC: 5 (6, 16, 18, 19, 20)
Big 12: 3 (1, 17, 23)
Big Ten: 3 (2, 5, 8)
Independent: 1 (9)
Playoff Picture
The playoff picture is already looking different than in the preseason. Here’s a look at the contenders split into three categories:
Favorites
- Texas
- Michigan
- Washington
- Georgia
Michigan has been the most consistently dominant team in football right now, however, they have not played against any good teams. Texas has their big win over Alabama, and I wouldn’t be too worried about them struggling against Wyoming. I think Wyoming could end up being a really good team. Washington has look amazing, especially passing the ball with Penix, but they also haven’t beaten anyone. Georgia has looked sluggish, but they performed when it mattered most against South Carolina.
The path for these four teams are varied. Michigan isn’t gonna be tested until November when they play Penn State. Maryland could be a tough trap game in between PSU and Ohio State. Texas doesn’t have any big behemoths on their remaining schedule like Michigan does, but they have a more consistent challenge throughout. Kansas, Oklahoma, BYU, KSU, TCU, and Texas Tech could be a tough. Washington, much like Michigan has more of their challenges late in the season with a four game final stretch against USC, Utah, Oregon State, and Washington State. They also have a meeting with Oregon in a couple weeks. Georgia has a mostly easily schedule until playing against Ole Miss late in the year, so they just need to avoid a slip up on the way.
In the Hunt
- Penn State
- Florida State
- USC
- Ohio State
- Notre Dame
All of these teams have looked really good, but have a few more flaws than the favorites. My favorite of this group is Penn State. Their defense is loaded, and Drew Allar has looked great. they have to deal with Michigan and Ohio State, but I believe they are capable.
Dark Horse
- Ole Miss
- Alabama
- LSU
- Oregon
Ole Miss has a really good offense, but isn’t great on defense. Alabama has a really good defense, but isn’t great on offense. LSU completely lacks consistency and will have a tough time overcoming the big loss to FSU. I want to see what Oregon can do against a ranked team before I make a judgement on them. In the end, I think Alabama is the most likely to make a push because of their defense, but we’ll see.
Upset Alert?
Well, almost every single team is playing against another ranked team, and I don’t see much of a chance for any of these unranked teams to get any upsets this week, but if I had to pick one, I’d choose Rutgers over Michigan. I don’t think Rutgers is going to win, but they are definitely the best team Michigan has faced so far, so we’ll see how the Wolverines handle it.
JacobErwin.com 