Tag: College Football 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.

Georgia No. 1, TCU continues climb in College Football Power Rankings after week 10

Tennessee, Clemson, and Alabama stumble while the top of the Pac-12 continues their winning ways. College Football Power Rankings after week 10. From @john9williams

The game of the week between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Tennessee Volunteers didn’t really live up to the hype, but it did provide more clarity at the top of the college football food chain.

Georgia was in control for much of this game, controlling the Volunteers’ prolific offensive attack. Tennessee just had six points at halftime. Georgia is the class of the SEC and looks destined to repeat as national champions in 2022.

A new contender has emerged in the SEC West after the LSU Tigers beat the Alabama Crimson Tide in overtime. The Tigers now control their own destiny in the SEC, and while they have two losses on the season, a strong finish that concludes with an SEC championship game win over Georgia could be enough to push them into the playoff by season’s end.

TCU continued their undefeated season with a win over Texas Tech. It wasn’t easy through three quarters, but the Horned Frogs turned it up in the fourth, outscoring the Red Raiders 21-7 to remain unbeaten and inch closer to clinching a berth in the Big 12 title game.

With losses by Clemson and Tennessee, TCU may have found the opening it needed to make the College Football Playoff if they win out.

Notre Dame’s been on a roll lately, and that continued with their 21-point win over Clemson. The Tigers, who were looking to get back into the College Football Playoff after a down year in 2021, will likely need a lot of help after losing to unranked Notre Dame.

It’s going to be a competitive finish over in the Pac-12. There are five teams that hold a 4-2 record or better in conference play. Oregon leads the way at 6-0, but one-loss USC, UCLA, and Utah are right on their heels for the conference title. Washington, with their win over Oregon State remained in title contention.

College Football Power Rankings: Tennessee and TCU move up, Syracuse and Wake Forest slide

Oklahoma State, Wake Forest, and Syracuse fall after disappointing losses in Week 9. But who’s on the rise? Here are this week’s College Football Power rankings. From @john9williams

Week 9 of the college football season provided some fantastic action and stunning blowouts in top 25 action.

The Ohio State Buckeyes and Penn State Nittany Lions played a fantastic game. The two teams scored 41 points in a frenetic fourth quarter and the Buckeyes stayed undefeated. Rival Michigan held on against Michigan State.

Elsewhere in the top four, the Tennessee Volunteers dismantled the Kentucky Wildcats, 44-6, and Georgia continued its dominance with a 42-20 win over Florida.

In the only other game featuring two top 25 teams, the Kansas State Wildcats blanked Oklahoma State, 48-0. Several upsets occurred: Wake Forest fell to Louisville, and Syracuse was blown out by Notre Dame.

With another fantastic week of college football action, how did this week’s power rankings shake out?

Trojans fall, down goes Bama: College Football Power Rankings after a wild week 7

College Football Power Rankings after a week 7 that featured three teams in the top 10 falling and eight in the top 25.

What a wonderful sport we follow. With several marquee matchups on the docket for week seven, including three games featuring undefeated teams, Saturday promised to be a fantastic day for college football.

It lived up to the hype.

Tennessee and Alabama played a barn burner, with the Volunteers coming out on top 52-49, and the TCU Horned Frogs came back to win in double overtime over the Oklahoma State Cowboys after being down 30-16 at halftime.

USC dropped its first game of the season in a thriller with Utah. Led by Cam Rising, the Utes scored late and opted to go for two and the win instead of kicking an extra point.

In all, four teams inside the top ten of last week’s USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll lost, and eight in the top 25.