CFN College Football Rankings: Week 12 Top 10
10 Oklahoma Sooners (10-1)
Last Week’s Ranking: 12
Week 12: Oklahoma 28, Iowa State 21
Week 13 Opponent: at Oklahoma State
It’s easy to dump on Oklahoma for a lack of big wins – beating Iowa State and Kansas State isn’t all that special – but being 10-1 at this point in a Power Five conference is strong no matter what. The one loss is looking more and more okay coming on the road at …
9 Baylor Bears (9-2)
Last Week’s Ranking: 11
Week 12: Baylor 20, Kansas State 10
Week 13 Opponent: Texas Tech
This is the Need To Put Baylor Ahead Of Oklahoma slot. QB Gerry Bohanon went down with a leg injury against Kansas State, but the defense is good enough to pick up the slack and the running game continues to be outstanding. The loss to TCU a few weeks ago is an anchor, but the win over Oklahoma makes up for it – for now.
8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-1)
Last Week’s Ranking: 10
Week 12: Notre Dame 55, Georgia Tech 0
Week 13 Opponent: at Stanford
The overall resumé is far superior to Cincinnati’s, but it’s just not fair to make the move now. It could be argued that the Fighting Irish are far better now than they were when they played the Bearcats, but again, it’s not fair put them ahead of …
7 Cincinnati Bearcats (11-0)
Last Week’s Ranking: 9
Week 12: Cincinnati 48, SMU 14
Week 13 Opponent: at East Carolina
(In whisper voice) SMU isn’t all that great. But to be fair, everyone was asking for Cincinnati to look the part against the awful schedule, and it did just that with a dominant performance against the Mustangs. No matter what, being 11-0 at this point is impressive.
6 Ole Miss Rebels (9-2)
Last Week’s Ranking: 8
Week 12: Ole Miss 31, Vanderbilt 17
Week 13 Opponent: at Mississippi State
The loss at Auburn now looks bad, and the high-powered offense has chilled a bit, but there’s no dogging the loss at Alabama. Beating Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas A&M are enough to get here, and now the Louisville win is starting to look a bit better.
5 Michigan Wolverines (10-1)
Last Week’s Ranking: 7
Week 12: Michigan 59, Maryland 18
Week 13 Opponent: Ohio State
The Wolverines got the break they needed. Now, they have one game at home against Ohio State with a chance to finally break through in the Jim Harbaugh era. There aren’t a ton of amazing wins, but getting by Wisconsin and Penn State on the road – and being 10-1 – is enough to get here, but not over …
4 Oklahoma State Cowboys (10-1)
Last Week’s Ranking: 5
Week 12: Oklahoma State 23, Texas Tech 0
Week 13 Opponent: Oklahoma
Defense, defense, defense. Resumé-wise it’s all about the next two weeks against Oklahoma and then either in a rematch or against Baylor in the Big 12 Championship.
However, wins over Baylor, Kansas State, and Boise State are strong thanks to a defense that’s turned into a dominant force. The Cowboys have allowed just 23 points over the last four games and haven’t give up more than 24 all year.
3 Alabama Crimson Tide (10-1)
Last Week’s Ranking: 2
Week 12: Alabama 42, Arkansas 35
Week 13 Opponent: at Auburn
The rough performances against Arkansas and LSU are enough to move them down a slot, but whatever. Beat Auburn, beat Georgia, and everything will be just fine. Considering how amazingly deep the SEC is this year, just winning the West is impressive enough.
2 Ohio State Buckeyes (10-1)
Last Week’s Ranking: 4
Week 12: Ohio State 56, Michigan State 7
Week 13 Opponent: at Michigan
Yeah, the passing game went against the worst pass defense in college football, but that was still breathtaking. The offense is obliterating everyone, and the defense shut down Michigan State cold. At the very least, we might have our answer to who might be able to hang with …
1 Georgia Bulldogs (11-0)
Last Week’s Ranking: 1
Week 12: Georgia 56, Charleston Southern 7
Week 13 Opponent: at Georgia Tech
One more light scrimmage and then it’s Game On. It’s becoming fashionable to dog the schedule without a truly amazing win, but Clemson might win ten games, rocking Arkansas is good, and wins over at least eight bowl bound teams is more than good enough.
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