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As mentioned in the “Hurts” column yesterday, we’re looking at the near end of these. I hope all 11 of you that have been reading have enjoyed them, just as we’re getting to the point where we start to use ambiguous opinion rooted in our version of the facts to make rankings for teams. Soon, it will be about projecting who should make the playoffs week by week.
For now, there’s more work to do on this front. Grab my shovel. Let’s do work.
5. Iowa
Popular comedic radio show “Bob and Tom” once joked that Iowa stood for “Idiots Out Wandering Around.” Having spent time in Iowa, there’s a lot of wandering to do, but I didn’t meet any idiots. At any rate, their football team is doing things smart, winning football games (this weekend over Illinois) and were buoyed by the fact that Northwestern got drawn and quartered by Michigan, leaving the Hawkeyes as the last unbeaten in the Big Ten West. The win-loss swing for the two teams is huge, seeing as Iowa goes to Northwestern in a few weeks.
4. Utah
While defeating previously unbeaten Cal was expected, it had to be done and it got done. It feels like people don’t want to buy into Utah because their name is “Utah,” and if they were named “Southern Cal” or “Alabama” and not “Utah,” they’d be viewed as the default team that’s done the most thus far this season to be considered a playoff leader, not just contender. I hope at one point we get over this idea that a team’s name matters versus their resume. Everyone deserves the same shot. Socialism in college football.
3. Michigan
Took all of five games, but Jim Harbaugh has Michigan in the national talking points. As of Sunday, Michigan was fourth in terms of odds to make the CFB Playoff by several gambling sites if you subscribe to that sort of thinking as logic. Destroying Northwestern was the beginning. Michigan State comes to town this weekend. If the Wolverines plow out a win there, they’ll be in the top 10 without a doubt. They’ll need to handle the pressure of that. If it happens. Michigan gets in if they win out.
2. TCU
Yes, TCU loves them some giving up points, but winning at Kansas State is a nice looking skin on the wall. TCU is becoming the default annual, “they can score on anyone but can they stop anyone when it matters?” Since we have a playoff now, that sort of matters because of the eternal curiosity of “elite defense versus elite offense” even though elite defense seems to be unbeaten. Still it’s a massive win in a place that’s tough to win in, including a 35-10 margin after halftime. They say that helps indicate an elite coaching staff.
1. Oklahoma State
I’m not sure what the ceiling is here, but OSU has two road games left after dispensing of West Virginia, possibly their toughest test away from home. The Pokes get all of the contenders at home, and it’s tough to tell how such a young team overall would respond to title pressure as they keep winning, but they’re continuing to win football games and have their toughest ones against all of the contenders at home. I’m not saying. I’m just saying.
