Tag: College Football Power Rankings

Duke breaks into the top 25 in USA TODAY Sports college football re-rank

The Duke Blue Devils finally broke into the top 25 of the USA TODAY Sports college football power rankings on Monday after their eighth win.

The Duke Blue Devils clinched their third straight eight-win season on Saturday night, defeating the Virginia Tech Hokies 31-28 in their final home game of the season. As a result, USA TODAY Sports writer Paul Myerberg included them among his top 25 teams in his college football re-rank on Monday.

Myerberg moved the Blue Devils up three spots to 24th in his latest rankings, one spot ahead of the Colorado Buffaloes.

The aerial duo of [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] and [autotag]Eli Pancol[/autotag] certainly made an impression during Week 13. Pancol was named ACC Receiver of the Week after he caught two touchdowns longer than 75 yards on Duke’s first two possessions, ending the night with 188 yards and three scores.

The third touchdown connection gave Murphy his 25th scoring pass of the year, a new single-season school record.

Only three other ACC schools finished higher than Duke in Myerberg’s rankings. The Miami Hurricanes (No. 7) and SMU Mustangs (No. 8) will likely play in Charlotte for the conference title, but if Syracuse can find a way to upset Miami, the Clemson Tigers (No. 11) would take their place. All three squads remain in contention for a College Football Playoff appearance, either through the first-round bye as conference champion or via an at-large bid.

The North Carolina Tar Heels, after a 41-21 loss to Boston College, dropped down 10 spots to No. 72.

PFF ranks Georgia No. 1 in power rankings

Georgia is the No. 1 team in the country and has the best chance to win the national championship according to PFF

Pro Football Focus has ranked the Georgia Bulldogs as the No. 1 team in their 2024 college football power rankings. Georgia returns starting quarterback Carson Beck along with a talented group of pass catchers, strong offensive line and a stacked defense.

PFF defines its power rankings, “The relative quality of each team as defined by point spread team ratings.” This would mean that Georgia would be favored over any other team on a neutral site according to PFF’s metrics.

PFF gives Georgia a 26.5% chance to win the SEC, which will have 16-teams this season with the additions of Texas and Oklahoma. Speaking of the Longhorns, PFF ranks Texas No. 2 behind Georgia. Georgia’s October road trip to Austin, Texas, could be a battle between No. 1 and No. 2 or at the very least it will be a critical game in the SEC championship race.

PFF ranks Georgia’s schedule as the 15th-most challenging slate in the country. ESPN’s Football Power Index thinks Georgia’s schedule is more challenging than PFF. The Bulldogs have road games at Ole Miss and Alabama in addition to their game at Texas.

Georgia has the highest chance to win a national championship in the country according to PFF. In fact, Georgia’s 18.95% chance to win a national title is more than double any other team.

Wisconsin cracks top 30 of Pro Football Focus 2024 college football power rankings

Wisconsin in the top 30 of latest Pro Football Focus power rankings

Pro Football Focus released their latest power rankings for the upcoming 2024 college football season this week. Wisconsin fell at No. 30 in the service’s ranking.

PFF’s metrics specifically give the Badgers a projected win total of 7.5, an 81.74% chance to make a bowl game, a 5.72% chance to win the Big Ten and a 1.22% chance to win the national championship.

2024 will be Wisconsin’s second season under the guidance of head coach Luke Fickell and his staff in Madison after the program went 7-6 in his first season in 2023, capped off with a loss in the ReliaQuest Bowl to LSU.

Notable departures from the team following the season included running back Braelon Allen (New York Jets), interior offensive lineman Tanor Bortolini (Indianapolis Colts), as well as quarterback Tanner Mordecai (San Francisco 49ers), wide receiver Chimere Dike (Florida Gators) and linebacker Maema Njongmeta (Cincinnati Bengals).

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With transfer quarterback Tyler Van Dyke (Miami-FL) joining the Badgers ahead of his final season of eligibility and familiar faces like running back Chez Mellusi and wide receiver Will Pauling returning, Phil Longo’s offense is expected to take a step forward in 2024.

On the defensive side of the ball, Mike Tressel’s unit struggled to get to the quarterback in 2023. Its rate should improve in 2024 with the additions of Leon Lowery (Syracuse) and John Pius (William & Mary). Returning stars Hunter Wohler and Ricardo Hallman, then, are expected to hold down the secondary.

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Luke Fickell’s squad will have a particularly difficult schedule in 2024, including a non-conference matchup with Alabama (home) and contests with new Big Ten foes USC (road) and Oregon (home). If the Badgers can pull off some notable wins, they could easily outperform their position PFF’s current power rankings.

Longhorns Wire’s College Football Playoff rankings for Week 8

Texas’ playoff prospects increased after Week 7.

The Texas Longhorns (5-1) are alive for another week in the College Football Playoff hunt. The team was afforded the opportunity to regroup in the bye week following a loss to the Oklahoma Sooners (6-0).

Texas received plenty of help in the playoff race. The undefeated Oregon Ducks fell to the Washington Huskies before the USC Trojans suffered their first loss of the season to Notre Dame.

The Longhorns’ playoff chances really hinge on a couple of things: Texas must win out, and another Power Five conference champion must suffer a loss. With the Pac-12 beating itself, the Washington Huskies are now the only undefeated team in the conference.

Other conferences are less likely to produce a one-loss champion. The Georgia Bulldogs stand as the SEC’s only undefeated team and could be vulnerable to an upset. The Bulldogs will face Florida, No. 20 Missouri, No. 13 Ole Miss, No. 17 Tennessee and Georgia Tech to end the year.

In the Big Ten, No. 3 Ohio State and No. 7 Penn State face a potential playoff elimination game this week.

Here’s a look at our playoff power rankings ahead of Week 8.

College Football Power Rankings: SEC teams make big moves; OU-Texas represent Big 12 after week 5

Which teams made moves in this week’s College Football Power Rankings after week five’s action?

Five weeks into the 2023 college football season has given us quite a bit of information. There’s a lot of football to be played this season, but the contenders are beginning to separate themselves from the pack.

In the Big 12, only Texas and Oklahoma were ranked in the latest US LBM Coaches Poll. This week’s Red River Rivalry game will have huge conference title implications.

While the SEC and Big 12 have clear frontrunners, the Pac-12 and the Big Ten have a number of teams that will make some noise throughout the season on their way to contention.

Oregon, USC, Washington, and Washington State remain undefeated after week 5, and Utah and Oregon State are still very much in the mix.

In the Big Ten, Michigan may look like the best team in the conference, but Penn State and Ohio State aren’t far behind.

It’s going to be a fascinating next two months in college football.

Here are this week’s College Football Power Rankings after week 5.

Dropped Out:

Florida Gators: Lost to Kentucky

Kansas Jayhawks: Lost to Texas

College Football Power Rankings: Longhorns, Fighting Irish make big jumps after week 2

The Texas Longhorns experienced the biggest jump of the week after their win over Alabama in this week’s College Football Power Rankings.

The 2023 college football season has already provided some fantastic games just a few weeks in. In week one, Florida State and LSU provided the entertainment in their top 10 matchup. In week two, Texas and Alabama took center stage.

Texas beat the Crimson Tide 34-24 in Tuscaloosa, giving Steve Sarkisian his biggest win since taking over as head coach in Austin, and perhaps in his career.

If the Texas hype hadn’t already reached the stratosphere, it’s jumping into hyperspace after their 10-point win over the Tide.

It sets up the potential for an undefeated collision course when the Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners make the I-35 trek to Dallas to meet in the Cotton Bowl in a few weeks.

They’ll each have challenges to navigate, but Texas’ win gave the Red River Rivalry a little more juice.

Here’s a look at the College Football Power Rankings after week 2.

Dropped Out:

Texas A&M Aggies: Lost to Miami

Wisconsin Badgers: Lost to Washington State

College Football Power Rankings: Notre Dame climbs, USC falls after Week 0

Though there weren’t many games of consequence in week zero, USC slid and Notre Dame moved up a few spots in this week’s updated College Football power rankings.

Week 0 didn’t provide much high-profile action, but two of our top 15 teams took the field.

The USC Trojans hosted San Jose State in a sparsely-filled Los Angeles Coliseum, and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish took on Navy in Dublin.

Though Week 0 may not be the strongest indicator of how a season is going to go for a team, it reinforced some of our preexisting thoughts on these two prominent programs.

Sam Hartman was a fantastic addition by the Irish. USC’s defense is still a problem.

Though the rest of our top 25 didn’t give us anything to work with, we’re going to update our preseason power rankings based on what we saw out of USC and Notre Dame.

College Football Power Rankings after CFP Championship Game and Bowl Season

Final power rankings for the 2022 season after Georgia throttled TCU in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.

The Georgia Bulldogs capped an incredible 15-0 season with a 62-7 thumping of the TCU Horned Frogs to become the national champions for the second straight season. It was a dominating performance for Kirby Smart’s crew that showed why Georgia is the best program in college football.

Though the Alabama Crimson Tide has had a longer track record of success over the last decade and a half, the Georgia Bulldogs have done something no program has done in the College Football Playoff era: win back-to-back championships.

It’s a remarkable feat considering Stetson Bennett was a walk-on, and the Bulldogs lost five defensive starters to the NFL draft. Smart and his staff have built a juggernaut in Athens, and there’s no indication it will slow  anytime soon as they continue to pull in top recruiting classes annually.

For the final time in the 2022 season, here are our post-bowl season power rankings.

TCU and Michigan survive upset bids: College Football Power Rankings after week 12

TCU and Michigan survived upset scares, and Tennessee falls to Spencer Rattler. Updated look at the College Football power rankings after week 12’s action. From @john9williams

Week 12 provided a fantastic football weekend with close games up and down the top 25.

In the Big 12, TCU overcame an eight-point deficit to kick a field goal at the buzzer to beat Baylor and remain undefeated. Like the Horned Frogs, Michigan required a last-minute field goal to overcome a strong performance from Illinois.

Georgia and Ohio State played close ball games as well but came out on top to remain undefeated. The top four stayed the same, and USC took over the No. 5 spot after their win over UCLA and Tennessee’s loss to South Carolina.

What does the remainder of the top 25 look like in this week’s power rankings? Let’s take a look.

Top 4 remain unbeaten, Oregon stumbles: College Football Power Rankings after Week 11

The top four teams in college football remained undefeated, while Oregon saw their playoff hopes dashed in their 37-34 loss to Washington. From @john9williams

Entering the home stretch of the college football season, there’s little margin for error for the nation’s top teams.

The Oregon Ducks saw their playoff hopes dashed at the hands of border rival Washington in a 37-34 loss that was arguably the best game of the weekend. Bo Nix and Michael Penix went blow for blow, but an untimely illegal touching penalty killed Oregon’s attempt to get into field goal range and send it to overtime.

Georgia, Ohio State and Michigan won in blowout fashion; their average margin of victory was 33 points. TCU played a close defensive battle on the road with the Texas Longhorns and looked on their way to a 14-point win before Texas picked up a botched mesh-point handoff between [autotag]Max Duggan[/autotag] and [autotag]Kendre Miller[/autotag]. The Longhorns returned it for a touchdown. Still, the Horned Frogs showed a defensive element that they hadn’t leading into their matchup with Texas.

Tennessee continues to make a strong case for inclusion in the College Football playoff with its 66-24 win over Missouri. However, with four undefeated teams in front of them, they’re going to need some help. That could come when the Buckeyes and Wolverines go to battle in two weeks, but a close game between the Big Ten rivals could spell doom for the Volunteers.

LSU clinched a berth in the SEC title game and looks headed for a showdown with top-ranked Georgia. Could the Tigers throw everything into disarray and make a case for playoff inclusion even with two losses?

USC had an impressive win over Colorado, but its strength of schedule took a hit with UCLA’s loss to Arizona.

We’re in for another fantastic finish to the season. Let’s take a look at this week’s power rankings.