Five weeks of college football have passed. We have seen upsets, we have seen survivals, we have just about seen it all. The second half of the season is almost upon us and it begs the question: Who has the best team?
TSS associate editors Bart Doan and Terry Johnson join staff writer Kevin Causey in this roundtable discussion.
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Question: After five weeks, who is the best team in college football?
Bart Doan:
On Twitter @TheCoachBart
I have a weird answer, because, pretty much, I’m the Bernie Sanders of college football on this site when it comes to these things. The only thing anyone can count on is “completely out in right-field” thinking. If you’re asking me who I think is the “best team in college football so far this year,” you can only go based on what we’ve seen this year, and that would lead me to say Utah.
If you’re asking me who I’d take to win the title, or asked me who I’d take if I had to pick one team to win one game, I’d still go Ohio State. The kicker is, I’d expect OSU to be the best by the end of the year, and really, they might be now. Utah has done more to tilt the argument, however. Folks will glitz and glam over how good the season-opening win over Michigan looks now that Michigan is good again … but Michigan played poorly in that game, and Utah still barely got out of dodge.
What was more impressive was the thorough gutting of Oregon in Eugene. That stands out as probably the most impressive win in college football other than maybe Florida over Ole Miss. OSU hasn’t had the opportunity yet to do what Utah has done, and that’s no fault of their own.
So … Utah, but if the Utes played Ohio State, I’d still take the Buckeyes to win. Make sense of it all? Good, because neither did I.
Kevin Causey:
On Twitter @CFBZ
The way this year is headed, it appears we will see one loss teams in the College Football Playoff. If we are just talking about undefeated teams then I would lean to TCU being the best undefeated team in the Nation. They have their issues but I think they have a better balance of offense and defense than Baylor. Ohio State and Utah are also in the discussion. Ohio State hasn’t peaked yet. Utah has looked fantastic, but I need to see more.
This brings me to an old familiar team. Alabama got beat earlier this year because of a few things happening. First of all, they weren’t as focused as they should have been. Second of all, crazy stuff happened for them to lose the game. The loss to Ole Miss was what Alabama needed to wake them up. A sleeping giant has been woken. They are currently the best team in college football. Can they maintain it the entire season?
Terry Johnson:
On Twitter @SectionTPJ
As with most debates, it depends on the wording of the question.
If the question is, “which team has the best body of work after five games,” the answer is clearly Utah. While they don’t always earn style points every week, the Utes consistently make the plays they need to in order to get the “W.” With a season opening win over Michigan and a blowout victory over Oregon on the road, UU has the best resume of any of the top contenders. Given the depth of the Pac-12 this year, that won’t change if — and it’s a BIG if — the Utes keep on winning.
On the other hand, if the question is, “which team would you not want to play,” then my answer is Ohio State. Sure, the Buckeyes have their issues, but what team doesn’t at this point in the season? However, I’ve seen enough out of this year’s OSU squad to believe that when it needs to put together a complete game in order to get a “W,” it’s going to do exactly that. After all, the true measure of a champion is how it performs under pressure. Every time Ohio State has trailed this year, it found a way to come back and win the game.
Some of the other teams mentioned in this article can’t say that.
