The carnage in the SEC is in full swing now as every team in the league has suffered at least 1 loss. Oregon looks on with a smile as the Ducks move up into the top spot of the 18S rankings. After 8 weeks of college football, we have 10 undefeated teams remaining across the country with 7 of those teams come from Power conferences. Who will be the next to fall and will anyone make it to the new 12-team playoffs without a defeat?
Here’s the latest 18 Stripes Top 20 Poll:
18 Stripes Top 20 Poll
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | NEXT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oregon (+1) | 7-0 | vs. Illinois |
| 2 | Penn State (+1) | 6-0 | at Wisconsin |
| 3 | Miami (+1) | 7-0 | vs. Florida State |
| 4 | Ohio State (+3) | 5-1 | vs. Nebraska |
| 5 | Georgia (+1) | 6-1 | BYE |
| 6 | Texas (-5) | 6-1 | at Vanderbilt |
| 7 | Tennessee (+3) | 6-1 | BYE |
| 8 | Indiana (+3) | 7-0 | vs. Washington |
| 9 | Iowa State (-1) | 7-0 | BYE |
| 10 | BYU (-1) | 7-0 | at UCF |
| 11 | Clemson (+1) | 6-1 | BYE |
| 12 | Notre Dame (+1) | 6-1 | at Navy |
| 13 | Texas A&M (+1) | 6-1 | vs. LSU |
| 14 | LSU (+1) | 6-1 | at Texas A&M |
| 15 | Kansas State (+1) | 6-1 | vs. Kansas |
| 16 | Boise State (+1) | 5-1 | at UNLV |
| 17 | Pittsburgh (+2) | 6-0 | vs. Syracuse |
| 18 | Navy (+2) | 6-0 | vs. Notre Dame |
| 19 | Missouri (-2) | 6-1 | at Alabama |
| 20 | Alabama (-15) | 5-2 | vs. Missouri |
OUT:
No teams dropped out of our poll this week. I debated dropping Alabama all the way out, although 15 spots is a massive plunge for any team. The AP dropped them only 8 slots from 6th to 15th.
First round bye watch (if they win their conferences):
#1 Oregon
#3 Miami
#5 Georgia
#9 Iowa State
Due to tie-breakers and such Texas A&M actually “leads” the SEC right now although Georgia’s win at Texas moves the Dawgs into the highest ranked SEC team in our rankings. It’s been several weeks with Oregon, Miami, and Iowa State staying here with an anticipated bye going into the playoffs.
So, I thought it would be fun to go back and look at my pre-season Top 20 poll and see who isn’t ranked at the moment. Look at some of these dead bodies!
#8 Florida State (1-6)
#9 Kansas (2-5)
#10 Ole Miss (5-2)
#11 USC (3-4)
#12 Oklahoma State (3-4)
#14 Arizona (3-4)
#15 Oklahoma (4-3)
#18 Louisville (4-3)
#19 Utah (4-3)
Just a little over halfway through the season and 34 combined losses from this group is wild.
National Storylines
Western Kentucky beat Sam Houston State 31-14 on Wednesday, notable since the Hilltoppers are 3-0 in the Conference USA.
Virginia Tech got off to a fast start this past Thursday and dropped Boston College 42-21 in Blacksburg.
BYU was on the brink of suffering their first defeat in 2024 but a late touchdown capped their 38-35 comeback over Oklahoma State.
LSU easily got past Arkansas 34-10 in Fayetteville.
Is Wisconsin ready to make some noise? The Badgers beat Northwestern 23-3 and move to 3-1 in the Big Ten.
Kansas State moves up in the Big 12 with a 45-18 dispatch of West Virginia.
Their stay at no. 1 was short as Texas can’t defend home turf and lost to Georgia 30-15 in primetime.
Iowa State was another undefeated poised for their first loss but a late touchdown helped the Cyclones to a 38-35 win over visiting UCF.
Does Kentucky really suck this year? They were blown out by Florida on Saturday to the tune of 48-20.
California is still winless in the ACC following a brutal 24-23 loss to NC State.
Tennessee was shut out in the first half but came back to beat Alabama 24-17 in their rivalry game.
Indiana lost quarterback Kurtis Rourke in the 2nd half due to a thumb injury and it didn’t matter as the Hoosiers pounded Nebraska 56-7 giving the Cornhuskers their 2nd worst defeat since joining the Big Ten.
Drew Pyne did his best to lose the game for Missouri after Brady Cook left with an injury. The Tigers held on 21-17 from the other Tigers of Auburn, though.
Illinois did all of America proud wearing awesome throwbacks and beating Michigan 21-7 in Champaign.
Utah are on the struggle bus losing 13-7 at home to TCU with offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig stepping down after their 3rd straight loss.
UCLA hadn’t scored 20 points in a game this season until Saturday as their 35-32 win at Rutgers gave the Bruins their first Big Ten victory.
Year 1 in the SEC isn’t going great for Oklahoma as they drop to 1-3 following a 35-9 home loss to South Carolina.
Kansas is on the board with their first Big 12 win, beating Houston easily 42-14.
Coach Prime is 3-1 in the Big 12 after a 34-7 win at Arizona.
Vanderbilt remain perfect at home. The Fighting Clark Lea’s beat Ball State 24-14.
Michigan State dropped Iowa 32-20 in a minor upset this weekend.
Opponent Watch
Texas A&M (6-1): It wasn’t an easy game but the Aggies pull out a win 34-24 at Mississippi State.
Northern Illinois (4-3): A defensive struggle saw NIU lose 13-6 to visiting Toledo.
Purdue (1-6): Not a real let down for Oregon who drilled Purdue in West Lafayette 35-0.
Miami [OH] (3-4): The Red Hawks beat Ohio 30-20 to move to 2-1 in MAC play.
Louisville (4-3): Now losses in 3 out of their last 4 games following an entertaining 52-45 defeat to Miami.
Stanford (2-5): SMU took care of the Cardinal with ease winning 40-10 on The Farm.
Georgia Tech (5-3): After the loss to Notre Dame, the Bees travel to Virginia Tech on Saturday.
Navy (6-0): Charlotte were wrecked 51-17 as Navy remains unbeaten.
Florida State (1-6): For the first time in history, the Noles lost to Duke dropping the road game 23-16.
Virginia (4-3): The game was close for a while, then Clemson pulled away, then Virginia closed the gap but not enough in a 48-31 loss to Clemson.
Army (7-0): Who is beating this team before they face Notre Dame? Not East Carolina who lost 45-28.
USC (3-4): Maryland was below USC in the Big Ten standings but not anymore following the Terps 29-28 win against the Trojans. Things are looking really bad right now for USC.
Let’s give full credit where credit is due!
My deepest apologies!!
As the season wears on, some of these escapes by unbeaten teams are starting to impair ND’s playoff chances, IMO. For example, if one loss Clemson beats unbeaten Miami, does the ACC suddenly get two teams in? What if a 1-loss Iowa St beats unbeaten BYU? And I think ESPN will be more than happy to throw their weight around to make sure there are 4 SEC teams in. At some point we need to start seeing some teams in front of us lose if we really want to have a no doubt about it “win and in”