Top 10 Rankings: Week 4
Oregon rises after a dominant win over Coach Prime’s Colorado squad. Photo: KKTV
Georgia, 4-0
Georgia cruised to another victory, this time over UAB 49-21, to improve to 4-0 on the year. Another slow start for the Bulldogs as they led only 14-7 late in the first half. When exactly are they going to play more quality opponents?
Next: @ Auburn
Texas, 4-0
I have the Longhorns in my #2 spot this week after a 38-6 win over Baylor to move to 4-0. I assure you this is not a homer pick! It’s difficult to place any of the top 8 or so right now, but Texas still owns the best single win of any team in my estimation and has won all games by double digits.
Next: vs. Kansas
Washington, 4-0
The Huskies cruised to a 4-0 record with a 59-32 win over Cal that wasn’t nearly that close. This ranking may be higher than many have Washington, but I believe their play on the field has earned it. These rankings reflect that more so than any preseason expectations or conferences biases that voters may have.
Next: @ Arizona
Ohio State, 4-0
The Buckeyes do get the nod for the #4 spot on the back of their 17-14 road win at Notre Dame. While neither team looked overly impressive, it was a hard fought game and the winner earned a relatively high placement on this list.
Next: BYE
Michigan, 4-0
Michigan slides down to 5th after a 31-7 win over Rutgers - the fall is largely due to other teams’ more impressive resumes thus far. Sure, they’ve won each game convincingly, but who have the Wolverines really played to this point? I’m taking a wait-and-see approach for now.
Next: @ Nebraska
Penn State, 4-0
The Nittany Lions smothered Iowa 31-0 in their White Out game to improve to 4-0 on the year and are quietly putting together a solid resume. Games with the Wolverines and Buckeyes loom ahead.
Next: @ Northwestern
Oregon, 4-0
The Coach Prime train came to a screeching halt - at least for a week, in Eugene as the Ducks dominated for a 42-6 victory. They are beginning to look like a real juggernaut in the PAC-12 - the first true test awaits in a few weeks in Washington.
Next: @ Stanford
USC, 4-0
The Trojans failed to put away a bad Sun Devils team until late into the night, ultimately winning 42-28. Questions still remain on the defensive side of the ball for Lincoln Riley’s squad. They’ll be put to the test during a 5-game stretch where they face 4 teams currently ranked in the top 11 of the AP poll.
Next: @ Colorado
Florida State, 4-0
The Noles survived in Death Valley, 31-24 in overtime to move to 4-0. This is now back-to-back games they’ve struggled against unranked opponents in a pretty weak ACC - thus the fall in my rankings this week.
Next: BYE
Utah, 4-0
The Utes survived a slugfest with UCLA, winning 14-7 on Saturday. While struggling without starting QB Cam Rising, they’ve still managed to win no matter how ugly. Utah will need Rising back to make a PAC-12 championship push this season.
Next: @ Oregon State
Notre Dame, 4-1
ND drops out of my top 10, but this spot was a tough call between the Irish and the Crimson Tide. Both own a single home loss over my #3 and #4 teams on this list, however Notre Dame basically lost this game on the final play whereas Alabama was beaten by double digits. It was a tough one for Irish fans to swallow as they drop to 4-1 and now face an upstart Duke team with GameDay traveling to Durham next week.
Next: @ Duke
