It finally happened. One of the top teams in the country went down in a major upset this past weekend and shook up the polls at least a little bit. The Georgia Bulldogs inexplicably tripped up against South Carolina and now are forced to run the table and hope a playoff spot still awaits. The good thing is they still have big games remaining to get back into contention, especially if they do win the SEC East.
This Week’s Biggest Winner: Joe Burrow, QB, LSU
Making his second appearance this year, Burrow absolutely torched Florida going 21 of 24 for 293 yards, 3 touchdowns, and no picks. He has to be the Heisman favorite right now.
This Week’s Biggest Loser: Virginia Cavaliers
It’s too easy to go with the Dawgs here. Instead, UVA was coming off a bye and just fumbled away a road win against a mediocre at best Miami team. They can still take their division and be a quality win for the Irish but it won’t be as easy with their top defender lost for the season. They also have Duke and and Louisville coming up which could offer another upset if Virginia’s offense takes another week off.
18 Stripes Top 20 Poll
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | LAST WEEK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama | 6-0 | 47-28 Win vs. Texas A&M |
| 2 | LSU | 6-0 | 42-28 Win vs. Florida |
| 3 | Clemson (+1) | 6-0 | 45-14 Win vs. Florida State |
| 4 | Ohio State (+1) | 6-0 | BYE |
| 5 | Oklahoma (+2) | 6-0 | 34-27 Win vs. Texas |
| 6 | Wisconsin (+2) | 6-0 | 38-0 Win vs. Michigan State |
| 7 | Penn State (+4) | 6-0 | 17-12 Win vs. Iowa |
| 8 | Notre Dame (+1) | 5-1 | 30-27 Win vs. USC |
| 9 | Florida (-3) | 6-1 | 42-28 Loss vs. LSU |
| 10 | Georgia (-7) | 5-1 | 20-17 Loss vs. South Carolina |
| 11 | Auburn (+1) | 5-1 | BYE |
| 12 | Oregon (+1) | 5-1 | 45-3 Win vs. Colorado |
| 13 | Boise State (+1) | 6-0 | 59-37 Win vs. Hawaii |
| 14 | Texas (-4) | 4-2 | 34-27 Loss vs. Oklahoma |
| 15 | Michigan | 5-1 | 42-35 Win vs. Illinois |
| 16 | Utah | 5-1 | 52-7 Win vs. Oregon State |
| 17 | Baylor (+3) | 6-0 | 33-30 Win vs. Texas Tech |
| 18 | Arizona State (+1) | 5-1 | 38-34 Win vs. Washington State |
| 19 | SMU (-2) | 6-0 | BYE |
| 20 | Minnesota (NR) | 6-0 | 34-7 Win vs. Nebraska |
OUT: Virginia
IN: Minnesota
I’m trying to dish out some hot takes but I’m still not giving our readers a poll that is all that different from the AP rankings. Sorry about that.
Does anyone think right now the playoff committee would have LSU as the No. 1 seed?
There needs to be some arguing about the place of Georgia. Should they be above Notre Dame, a team they beat at home? How many comparisons can we make to Notre Dame’s situation in 1993 when they held serve at home against Florida State? It’s the age-old debate between a bad loss, a good win, and what means more.
I keep looking at Oregon and thinking if they win out do the Ducks even crack the Top 7 in the final playoff poll? That question may not matter after this week.
Please welcome P.J. Fleck into the Top 20! He’s been grinding away up there in Minneapolis and finally is getting back some of that spotlight.
That said, I feel like the bottom 4 teams in our poll are seriously weak overall as a group just as much as the top 5 look enormously strong. Would anyone surprised if Baylor, ASU, SMU, and Minnesota finished the season with a combined 12 or 13 more losses?
Week 8 Games to Watch
Oregon (-3) at Washington – How important is this game for both teams? A win here by Oregon essentially clinches the Pac-12 North. The only team that could likely catch them is California and Oregon holds the win tie-breaker in the event they stumble a few times down the stretch. Washington needs to win to prevent really falling out of the national picture, probably for good this year. A local 12:30 PM kickoff brings some weirdness and a home win. Huskies 27-24.
Temple (+7.5) at SMU – There is still a lot of things to be sorted out in the AAC this season. Both of these programs are unbeaten in league play thus far, and the Ponies have been climbing the national rankings slowly. I think we’re going to see a lot more Sonny Dykes talk across the nation very soon. Mustangs 34-23.
Baylor (+3.5) at Oklahoma State – We haven’t seen Baylor really step into the spotlight yet. This week won’t really be that time yet, either. Both of these teams are pretty good according to the advanced stats, though. Baylor even with the weak schedule is getting a lot of love by those same statistics. Bears 47-40.
Arizona State (+14) at Utah – This seems like way too many points to give Arizona State. I know Vegas is betting the Utes chew up and spit out ASU’s young but talented quarterback on the road and everything. Take the points. Utes 23-17.
Michigan (+9) at Penn State – Are you already feeling the pressure of trying to beat Michigan the week after this? Should UM drop this game their morale could drop significantly but at the same time I feel like it puts a ton of pressure on the Irish to TCOB in Ann Arbor in a game that should be won. If UM wins this game, it kind of recasts the season for them. It would be unwise to pick the Wolverines in a big road game with their recent track record, although I do think this will be a dog fight until the end. Nittany Lions 20-16.
I still think Georgia is a better team than us. Seems rude to put them below us just because they lost more recently. Just like it was rude to put us below FSU.
Yeah, I agree. I don’t think I could rank ND above Georgia right now because we saw UGA win that game. If Notre Dame were to throttle Michigan (let’s hope!) or Georgia stumbles again that could change my mind, but for now I’d probably have ND about 10th. It’ll be interesting to see how the committee fits ND in relative to the other SEC one loss teams (Auburn, UF) as well and if we see any “punishment” for last year’s playoff loss resulting in a lesser perception.
i’m really not bothered by ND being ahead of UGa. It’s a totally different situation than ’93. Back then both teams played an epic game. This year at Georgia, ND continually shot themselves in the foot while UGa played a pretty clean game. i think the gap between the two teams is fluid and marginal.
Sonny Dykes is a really interesting head coach, and I think he could be a hot commodity this offseason. However, I’m not sure what job openings out there would be the right fit. After his flop at Cal, I don’t think Vandy is right. UCLA wouldn’t want him either.
If Arkansas or Mississippi State opened up, maybe there? I also think he would need to seriously consider just riding it out at SMU.
Count me as very surprised that Herm Edwards is 5-1
Penn State beats Iowa (Iowa!) by 5 points (5 points!), and moves up 4 spots (4 spots!). Seems reasonable.
And Florida and Georgia lost.
I was surprised to see ND +7.5 next week. Will be interesting to see how the UM PSU game goes tonight in swaying that line. I thought it would be more along the lines of ND +3.5 or so.
You were seeing the preseason line. When it opened this week it was ND +4, then dropped all the way to ND +1.5, and has since recovered to ND +2.5. I didn’t see a moneyline available when it opened, but it’s currently ND +115 (bet $100 to win $115).
Ah I see. Thank you for the clarification!
You can reuse your opening sentence this week.
Recycling the title, for sure.