The rankings are beginning to shake up after an eventful week 4 although the top teams held off a couple upsets to keep things relatively stable inside the Top 10. At some point, the national favorites have to lose, right? One of Notre Dame’s upcoming opponents suffered one of the worst upsets of the year and added salt to their wounds with a key injury and team dismissal afterward. The Irish schedule is definitely looking…different.
Here’s the latest 18 Stripes college football rankings.
18 Stripes Top 20 Poll
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | LAST WEEK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama | 4-0 | 45-23 W vs. Texas A&M |
| 2 | Georgia | 4-0 | 43-29 W vs. Missouri |
| 3 | Clemson | 4-0 | 49-21 W vs. Georgia Tech |
| 4 | LSU | 4-0 | 38-21 W vs. La Tech |
| 5 | Ohio State | 4-0 | 49-6 W vs. Tulane |
| 6 | Stanford (+1) | 4-0 | 38-31 W vs. Oregon |
| 7 | Penn State (+1) | 4-0 | 63-24 W vs. Illinois |
| 8 | Oklahoma (-2) | 4-0 | 28-21 W vs. Army |
| 9 | Notre Dame | 4-0 | 56-27 W vs. Wake Forest |
| 10 | UCF | 3-0 | 56-36 W vs. FAU |
| 11 | West Virginia | 3-0 | 35-6 W vs. Kansas State |
| 12 | Auburn | 3-1 | 34-3 W vs. Arkansas |
| 13 | Michigan (+2) | 3-1 | 56-10 W vs. Nebraska |
| 14 | Washington | 3-1 | 27-20 W vs. Arizona State |
| 15 | Wisconsin (+2) | 3-1 | 28-17 W vs. Iowa |
| 16 | Kentucky (NR) | 4-0 | 28-7 W vs. Miss State |
| 17 | Miami (+2) | 3-1 | 31-17 W vs. FIU |
| 18 | Texas (NR) | 3-1 | 31-16 W vs. TCU |
| 19 | Michigan State (NR) | 2-1 | 35-21 W vs. Indiana |
| 20 | Duke (NR) | 4-0 | 55-13 W vs. N.C. Central |
Out: TCU, Oklahoma State, Mississippi State, Virginia Tech
In: Kentucky, Texas, Mich State, Duke
Somehow, Virginia Tech was No. 10 in the Coaches Poll and following a loss to previously 0-3 Old Dominion the Coaches Poll still thinks highly enough of them to keep them at 24th! It was an awful weekend for the Hokies who gave up a Bud Foster-worst 632 yards and nearly 500 through the air. Quarterback Josh Jackson also suffered a nasty broken ankle while lead pass-rusher Trevon Hill was dismissed from the team following the loss. Yikes.
TCU has now lost two in a row causing them to tumble from the rankings. They were defeated soundly by Texas who are back in the rankings with a pair of quality wins (TCU, USC) in their back pocket.
Oregon’s Justin Herbert was flirting with the Pac-12 accuracy record for a single game (he finished 26/33) before the Ducks imploded in impossible fashion, handing the game to Stanford. Bryce Love has been a disappointment and still the Cardinal haven’t been defeated yet. Stanford gonna Stanford.
We welcome Kentucky and Duke into the rankings, quite the surprise! There’s been so much volatility at the bottom it gets pretty difficult to pick someone. These 2 do have a combined 4 wins over Power 5 teams so far while Kentucky has already beat Florida and Mississippi State. Not bad, Cats.
Week 5 Games to Watch
Oregon (-3) at California – We have Cal coming off an early season bye and finding themselves ranked in the AP Poll despite best wins over North Carolina and BYU. Well, BYU is ranked too so, quality win! You have to love the pissed off Ducks exploding offensively on the road after a crushing loss. Ducks win 44-27.
BYU (+17.5) at Washington – The aforementioned Cougars have beaten Arizona and Wisconsin, and while they don’t have much of an offense, their defense is quite legit. I guess Vegas is thinking BYU is going to be tired from a few tough games this early in the season? That might be it because Washington’s offense isn’t exactly humming right now and they’ve played a lot of close games so far. Huskies win 24-16.
Syracuse (+23) at Clemson – Trevor Lawrence has been named the starter for the Tigers (although Kelly Bryant is expected to still play) in an interesting spot. Clemson lost this game last year, pretty much due to poor quarterback play when Bryant was hurt. The Orange are pretty frisky so much so I debated putting them in my Top 20. Take the points. Tigers win 38-31.
West Virginia (-4) at Texas Tech – Somehow Tech didn’t score a billion points on a piss poor Ole Miss defense (and lost by 20 to boot) in week one. Since then, they’ve piled up 181 points. West Virginia is likely to be favored until November and perhaps beyond. If they are to trip up this sleepy 11 AM central start could be the spot. Red Raiders win 58-55.
Florida at (-7.5) Mississippi State – Sneaky big game for the young career of Joe Moorhead coming off an ugly loss at the hands of Kentucky. Win here and 8 or 9 wins could be the expectation. A loss and the schedule is still filled out with many pitfalls. I hate to trust Florida but I don’t know how I feel about Mississippi State being such a large home favorite. Gators win 27-24.
*Game of the Week* Ohio State (-3.5) at Penn State – Let’s summon the football gods and say this is the game where the Buckeyes get some comeuppance from their sins. Urban Meyer is back, sleazy as ever. Ohio State is in a weird place reportedly trying to make Ryan Day–and his seriously light resume–head coach-in-waiting all while they are in the hunt for a title. Perhaps Happy Valley brings out some more weirdness. Nittany Lions win 35-31.
Last Week:
6-2 SU, 5-3 ATS
Season:
22-11 SU, 17-16 ATS
You still have us ninth, but consider new advanced stat: we have the second most marbles in the country.
http://thenemindex.blogspot.com/2018/09/iowahawkblogs-marble-game-through-week-4.html
They didn’t explain how a team gains or loses marbles…but i’m intrigued.
Power 5 teams start the season with 200 marbles, group of 5 teams with 100. Win at home and take 20% of the losing team’s marbles. Win on the road and take 25% of their marbles.
Thanks!
https://www.alspur.com/marble-game-in-r/
Duke at 4th though.
Damn, Eric! 17-6 ats – you should take your skills to Vegas.
I’m rich!!
What is Stanford doing at #6? They were insanely fortunately to escape Eugene with a W, and beating USC by a couple touchdowns is not super impressive.
In any case, it really does seem like there is like a 90%+ chance that the national champion is one of those top-5 teams and everyone else is playing at a lower level.
Because beating the #6 team on Saturday is better than beating the #12 team on Saturday? That’s my best guess 😛
I assume the high Stanford ranking is a ploy to get us angry and pumped up for Saturday.
I said the same thing about the top 4 Plus Oklahoma last week. Frankly I think Oklahoma is too soft defensively to challenge the top 4 and I think they trip up during the regular season. Clemson offense has been weird and scattered but I think turning to Lawrence gives them some identity plus the ACC sucks so they can figure it out
The question with that line of reasoning is that everyone said the same thing last year, and they took UGA to OT (after leading them most of the game); UGA then went to OT with Bama in the NCG. So while their D gave up points, it was certainly enough to compete in the playoff. That’s not to say you’re wrong and I think they’re a playoff team, but as an ND fan I have a hard time casting stones at a team for having a problem putting away a service academy.
I’m not really holding army against them, and it was refreshing to see a major program struggle against a service team, moreover their performance against Iowa state was not good. And last years team had a trandscendent qb with a ton of experience plus their RB spot is decimated already.
All completely valid criticisms. I think they’re good, and could border on the top group, but am withholding judgement until they beat someone better and show they’ve overcome the issues you cite. I think Murray is a good QB, maybe not Baker Mayfield but he brings a different dynamic with his legs, so I don’t deduct too much there.
Touche! (with accent mark on the e, what’s up with this software?
Yeah, I’d say it’s the talent drop-off after about 4 (with LSU an imposter due to fall off eventually, but worthy of current ranking due to prior wins). #6-11 right now could probably shake out any which way you wanted to pick ’em depending on personal proclivities.
The football gods truly have a sick sense of humor if Penn State is the instrument of making Urban pay for his sins.
As an aside Tillery is having himself a season so far:
30. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS – DI JERRY TILLERY, NOTRE DAME
Kansas City must start rebuilding their defense and Tillery adds a big body up front that is capable of getting after the quarterback. He’s currently second among interior defensive linemen with a 90.7 pass-rush grade.
https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/draft-pff-2019-nfl-mock-draft-1
More than the first round grade is that he’s got the a top 2 pass-rush grade among interior lineman. Exactly what we needed him to do.
Indeed. Plus, having a first-round defensive lineman cannot hurt for recruiting purposes. I can’t remember who the last one was, given that even Tuitt was a second-rounder.
So has anyone else noted the news that a STARTING receiver for Oklahoma State has announced a transfer, because we’ve hit the 4-game mark and if he stops now he can save the year and play next year? He’s their 6th leading receiver in school history (which includes some great receivers), but is upset he’s not getting the ball enough. At last count 12 players across the country announced transfers immediately after their games this week. Unintended consequences of the new redshirt rule.
The thought occurred to me–don’t anyone tell him–that what if Wimbush decided he didn’t like being benched? He could technically play in one more game, since he didn’t this past week, and then announce a transfer. I’m not sure how that would make me feel.
Wimbush cannot be aided by that rule because he already redshirted. From his perspective, he might as well play in as many games as he can this year and then transfer post-graduation.
Right. For ND the best candidates to transfer are non-red shirted players who aren’t near the top of the 2-deep. So like a Devin Studstill or Nicco Fertitta type. But Fertitta (probably) wants an ND degree and at least is a meaningful part of special teams.
Those guys probably aren’t candidates to announce a transfer at this point anyway, because they’re not likely to play more elsewhere right away.
The player that most of the media has been hypothesizing in this regard is Jaylen Hurts, since Tua was named the starter–would he play past game 4 (since he’s played in all 4 games to this point), when he’s on track to graduate this year and would have 2 years elsewhere if he shut it down this year. Of course Saban doesn’t really care about players having options, so he’s going to try to play him even though he doesn’t need to. I think the best option is for Hurts to sit the rest of the season, Tua starts, and whoever the third-team guy is plays in garbage time, UNLESS there’s an injury to Tua and Hurts is needed to start. That way, Hurts either gets to keep his year of eligibility for his next stop or he gets to start at Alabama. Whatever you think of the new rule, players and coaches need to sit down and have these discussions at the very least. Otherwise you get what’s happening, and I don’t think any of the coaches pushing for this rule change (pretty much all of them) anticipated that starters might just decide to shut it down 1/3 of the way into the season if they’re not happy.
I don’t know if there have been recent rumors about Hurts, but with Trevor Lawrence now officially the starter at Clemson there are reports that Kelly Bryant is looking to transfer. So pretty much that scenario is playing out, just not at Bama (yet).
Just saw that Bryant wasn’t at practice the day after Clemson announced Lawrence as the starter.
Studstill got meaningful snaps against Wake and played pretty well. But the larger point stands.
Fair point, forgot that he redshirted.
Why has a mid season transfer never happened before? Or has it and it just didn’t make news? The NCAA’s transfer rules don’t have anything to do with seasons played, or eligibility burned. They only mention having an academic year in residence.
I don’t see how the 4 game RS makes any difference, unless it also changes how they interpret academic year in residence. Or it was always possible, but it never occurred to anyone until this new rule came into play.
NCAA SITE:
“To satisfy an academic year in residence, you must be enrolled in and successfully complete a full-time program of studies for two-full semesters or three-full quarters. Summer school terms and part-time enrollment do not count toward fulfilling an academic year in residence.”
Juice box is he actually transferring now or just announcing that he will transfer? My guess is the latter. So it won’t help with sitting g out a year. It would only affect those who haven’t redshirted and think they should be playing more.
The new rule incentivizes stopping playing midseason in order to save a year. Before there would have been no point and you could decide about transferring after the season.
Yeah, this is what I don’t understand.
There is no reason to announce a transfer, and stop playing, to transfer after the season. He would then have to sit out NEXT season anyway.
And if you can play 4 games, transfer, then play immediately the next year, it seems like this would have been super common before the 4 game RS rule was instituted.
For example, anyone who already RSed, it would still benefit them to transfer after 4 games if that meant they could play next season (only missing 8 games), instead of waiting until after the season and missing a full 12.
These transfers are all happening immediately after the 4th game because they can transfer and not have the games played this year don’t count against the “5 years to play 4” because of the new redshirt rule. You…you don’t think it’s unusual that a starter who is 6th all-time in yardage at his school and has played and started all 4 games just happened to decide to transfer 4 games into the season? And at least 11 (I haven’t followed up if there were more) other players at schools around the country all decided to do the exact same thing?
They can’t “transfer mid-season” in the sense that they are going to play somewhere else this year. What they’re doing is basically quitting at the 4 game mark so they don’t have count this year against them, can transfer after the season, and can play immediately next season.
The 5 years to play 4 has nothing to do with when you redshirt, or the first game you play in.
Nothing about eligibility starting, ending, or having to wait for transferring has changed.
In this situation, he will RS this year, then still have to sit out NEXT season, making this years RS meaningless.
UNLESS 1.5 semesters is deemed a full academic year in residence (which the NCAA rules say it isn’t). So if 1.5 semesters IS considered a full academic year in residence, then anyone in the middle of a RS season could have left halfway through a season at any point, and started the next year.
I get why they are doing it at 4 games as opposed to six, but why this year. Nothing has actually changed that should impact transferring, other than it actually occurring to kids to do this.
Okay. Ask the approximately 73 different news outlets talking about it on their podcasts, man. This RS year isn’t “meaningless”–it’s the RS year. This doesn’t count as a year of eligibility, as long as the player doesn’t take a snap in another game. I’m not going to go down the list and find out if all now 3,472 players who announced transfers are all seniors, I’ll leave that for you.
But, logically it doesn’t add up. I want to figure out why????
I am satisfied with simply, it never occurred to anyone to do this before. Or it did happen to lots of redshirts, but since they weren’t allowed to play, no one noticed. I think those are the two most likely reasons.
But I want to know if anyone else has some sound reasons for it.