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There are nine remaining undefeated teams in college football. Can you name them?
Through seven weeks, we have nine remaining unbeatens in college football. Four big ones fell this weekend: Oklahoma State, Penn State, Alabama and USC.
Coastal Carolina and James Madison also experienced their first loss of the season.
Here are the nine undefeated teams remaining, plus their national championship odds (courtesy of BetMGM), in order of where I had them in my top 25:
Heisman Trophy rankings after Week 7
In most cases, the Heisman Trophy is a quarterback’s award. Alabama quarterback Bryce Young looks to repeat in 2022, but he has stiff competition from Ohio State’s CJ Stroud and Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker, who just took down Young and the Tide in Knoxville. There’s also UCLA’s Dorian Thompson-Robinson and, despite losing to Utah, USC’s Caleb Williams is still in the hunt.
But let’s not forget about Michigan running back Blake Corum, who has been on an absolute tear over the last five games. He just posted 166 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Penn State. Also finding his way into the rankings is Tennessee wide receiver Jalin Hyatt, who had a five touchdown performance on Saturday.
I also wanted to highlight some guys you’ve maybe never heard of but are top-five nationally in key stats: running backs Israel Abanikanda (Pitt) and Chase Brown (Illinois), and receivers Ali Jennings (ODU) and Keylon Stokes (Tulsa). There are also defenders putting up really nice sack numbers; I included them as well.
That interior D-Line graded well! #GoBlue
Penn State had two touchdowns against Michigan on Saturday, but only one of those came from the offense. The Nittany Lions went into the game wanting to run the ball effectively, but the Wolverines held Penn State to 111 run yards and the maize and blue cruised to a 41-17 victory.
It was tough sledding for the Penn State offense against the Michigan defense. The Nittany Lions had one long play, which came from the legs of Sean Clifford. On third and one, Clifford kept a read-option — it shocked the entire state of Michigan — and he ran the ball 62 yards down inside the Michigan five-yard line. PSU later scored its only offensive score a few plays later.
Penn State gained 268 yards of total offense and had 10 first downs during the entire game.
After the Michigan defense suffocated the Penn State offense, you may wonder which Wolverines graded out the highest on defense. If so, we have you covered.
Here are the top 10 Michigan defensive players according to Pro Football Focus after defeating Penn State. This article has a 15-snap minimum.
The No.1 player had a huge grade! #GoBlue
Michigan football moved to 7-0 on Saturday after dominating Penn State thoroughly on both sides of the ball. The Wolverines defeated the previously unbeaten Nittany Lions, 41-17.
The Michigan offensive line manhandled the Penn State defensive line and opened up some gaping holes for both Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards to run through. The Wolverines rushed for 418 yards against the then No. 5 run defense.
Edwards ran for his career-high of 173 yards and Corum continued his monster season after rushing for 166 yards. Both of them scored two touchdowns each.
J.J. McCarthy wasn’t asked to do too much on Saturday throwing the ball 24 times. He completed 71% of his passes and he threw for 145 yards. The sophomore did throw an interception, but that was a fluky play that bounced off a Penn State helmet and landed in linebacker Curtis Jacobs’ hands.
If you were wondering which players graded out the best on offense for Michigan after defeating Penn State, we have you covered.
Here are the top 10 Michigan offensive players from Week 7 according to Pro Football Focus. We do base this on a 15-snap minimum.
Where are the Georgia Bulldogs and Tennessee Volunteers in Paul Finebaum’s college football rankings?
ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum has named his top four teams in college football following a crazy Week 7. Four ranked and undeafeated teams lost in Week 7. Let’s recap the top action from last week.
Tennessee got a monster, 52-49, home win over Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide. It is the Volunteers’ biggest win in a long time. As expected, the Georgia Bulldogs dominated Vanderbilt. Clemson won at Florida State. Michigan dominated Penn State. USC lost a thrilling game to Utah. TCU won an overtime game against Oklahoma State.
College football has several more enticing games in Week 8. How does Paul Finebaum rank his top four teams?
ESPN updated Ohio State’s chances of winning each of its regular season games. How did the Michigan vs. Penn State result impact things?
The Ohio State football team enjoyed a bye in Week 6, and it was a much-needed. It gave the Buckeyes a chance to get some of its most important players who were nursing injuries time to heal.
Six games into the season and it’s pretty clear all of the goals Ohio State had at the beginning of the campaign are still in play, including a Big Ten championship and a potential berth into the College Football Playoff. But with the season half the way over, OSU has to finish the deal.
ESPN updates its matchup predictor for every game for every Football Bowl Subdivision team every week and we like to follow. It’s time to check in again after a week in which Ohio State sat idly by to watch Michigan make a statement against Penn State, and Illinois and Purdue separate themselves in the West a bit.
Have any of the percentages changed? Is Ohio State still favored to win all of its games in the regular season? Here’s what the ESPN FPI says about each of the remaining games on the Buckeyes’ schedule the rest of the way.
Thoughts on this?
Joel Klatt and the Fox Sports crew have seen Michigan football play the last four weeks and he’s had a lot of questions about the Wolverines in the early going. However a lot of those issues were resolved with the 41-17 win over Penn State.
On Sunday evening, Klatt revealed his updated top 10 with some big changes given Alabama’s loss to Tennessee, USC’s loss to Utah, and TCU’s upset of Oklahoma State. Though many of the same teams are still in the top 10, we’re getting a clearer view of the college football landscape as we move along.
That said, here are the teams Klatt has in his latest top 10.
Who does former UGA football star David Pollack think is the best team in the country?
ESPN college football analyst and former Georgia Bulldog defensive end David Pollack thinks that the Tennessee Volunteers should be ranked as the top team in the country following Tennessee’s win over Alabama.
Pollack thinks that Tennessee’s, 52-49, home win over the Crimson Tide is the best win in the country this year. It is hard to disagree with that statement. Alabama has set the standard for college football recently.
Tennessee does have a pair of close calls against Florida and Pittsburgh, but they have played a tough schedule, so it is fair to rank them No. 1. However, the Volunteers have a Nov. 5 game against Georgia that will likely determine who is the top-ranked team in the country.
Yes, Ohio State is a worthy candidate to be the top-ranked team, but the winner of the Georgia-Tennessee game will get a quality win that could vault either team over the Buckeyes.
Both Georgia and Tennessee have one game against an SEC opponent before the Nov. 5 clash in Athens. Georgia plays Florida in Jacksonville and Tennessee hosts Kentucky.
There are still, rightfully, some doubts about Tennessee’s defense. The Volunteers offense has been fantastic though. Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker is a legitimate contender to win the Heisman.
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Will they, or won’t they? Monday at 5 p.m. Central is the NBA’s contract extension deadline for Kevin Porter Jr. and the Rockets.
Will they, or won’t they? Monday at 5 p.m. Central is the NBA’s contract extension deadline for Kevin Porter Jr. and the Houston Rockets, along with all other 2019 first-round draft picks.
Porter, who turned 22 this offseason, is entering the fourth and final season (2022-23) of the rookie contract he signed after being selected by Cleveland in the 2019 first round. He was traded to Houston in January 2021, which gave the Rockets his contract rights.
Even if the Rockets don’t extend Porter, he would be a restricted free agent in the 2023 offseason. Thus, they have multiple avenues to retain him long-term. The debate is simply what makes the most financial sense for the team, and how much risk Porter is willing to take on by turning down whatever is being offered now.
For the Rockets, the number to watch on Porter could be $9.7 million. Houston’s plans to create massive salary cap space in the 2023 offseason are well known, and $9.7 million is the “cap hold” — if there’s no extension — to make Porter a restricted free agent in 2023 and potentially sign him on top of any external additions.
Because the Rockets have Bird rights on Porter, they could exceed the cap in such a scenario, and Porter’s restricted status would allow the team to match any outside offer and retain him.
With 10 days until the NBA’s rookie scale extension deadline, Rockets guard Kevin Porter is still without an extension.@The_Raheel and @SalmanAliNBA both agree that Houston should wait until restricted free agency.
Listen here:https://t.co/dPQQh0BzR4 pic.twitter.com/smtKpJqD2t
— Red Nation Hoops (@RedNationHoops) October 7, 2022
But if Porter is open to doing a contract extension in which the starting salary is comparable to that cap-hold figure or within the ballpark, it could make sense for the Rockets to get the deal done early. There wouldn’t be much downside, since Porter’s cap hold at $9.7 million would likely still be on the books, even if the team did nothing on the extension front. Regardless of whether Porter proves to be a long-term fixture at point guard or is simply a versatile rotation player, his talent is such that it’s hard to envision Houston wanting him off its roster altogether in under a year.
Furthermore, there could be real upside, since it’s at least possible that a strong season by Porter in 2022-23 could boost his next contract to a much higher price point. Look no further than Jalen Brunson, who recently left Dallas for New York — with the Mavs receiving no compensation — after Dallas failed to get an extension done, which allowed Brunson to play his way into a higher income bracket.
For Rockets general manager Rafael Stone, this window might present an opportunity to “buy low” on Porter, and especially if he is willing to accept a team-friendly deal for the upside of getting his long-term financial security a year earlier than expected.
From Porter’s perspective, while he could gamble on having a strong season and securing a more lucrative contract in a year, it would be understandable if he doesn’t want to pass up his first chance to land a guaranteed, long-term contract of significance. The case to do so could be made even stronger when considering some of the off-court issues that defined much of Porter’s initial NBA years.
Ultimately, for the team, it likely comes down to the dollar figure. If Porter will take a first-year salary (in 2023-24, when any extension kicks in) near or slightly above the $9.7 million cap hold, there’s not much downside to getting a deal done early and eliminating any risk of Porter potentially playing his way into a much larger contract.
On the other hand, if Porter wants a far higher first-year number, it might make sense for the Rockets to wait. Houston could give him a similar contract a year from now, but with significantly less stress on its financial flexibility, thanks to the lower cap hold.
A 6-foot-6 guard, Porter averaged 15.6 points (37.5% on 3-pointers) and 6.2 assists in 31.3 minutes last season. He ended 2021-22 with a flourish, averaging 28.7 points (48.0% FG, 40.3% on 3-pointers), 7.4 assists and 7.3 rebounds per game in Houston’s last seven games.
In the 2022-23 preseason, Porter averaged 16.8 points (47.8% FG, 52.6% on 3-pointers), 5.3 rebounds, 4 assists and 24.7 minutes. He started all four of Houston’s exhibition games at point guard, with the Rockets going 3-1 over that span.
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Social Media reacts to the Florida Gators’ 45-35 loss to the LSU Tigers, their 4th straight loss to their SEC rival.
The Florida Gators lost to the LSU Tigers Saturday, their 4th straight loss in the series. The all-time record in the series is now 33-33-3.
Florida started off strong, with [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag] throwing a 51-yard touchdown pass to put the Gators up 7-0. After that, LSU and the Gators traded scores. With 2:24 left in the first half, LSU went up 28-21 after a Jayden Daniels 54-yard touchdown pass.
Florida would not take the lead again.
The offense made a run in the fourth quarter, sparked by a fantastic Anthony Richardson 81-yard touchdown run worthy of SportsCenter’s Top Ten plays. Ultimately, the defense could not contain the LSU offense. [autotag]Jason Marshall Jr[/autotag]. had an interception late in the game that would have put the Gators in a position to tie the game. It was called back due to a roughing the passer flag, essentially putting the game to bed.
Here’s how social media reacted to Florida’s 45-35 loss to the LSU Tigers.
