NCAA Football Report (Week 10)
The Coaches’ Poll and the AP are always interesting to look at and debate throughout most of the NCAA Football season but they don’t really mean a lot at the end of the day.
It isn’t until the College Football Playoff Committee sits down and decides who they think the best teams in the country are that the real debate begins.
Although the committee takes into account the other polls and what others are saying about teams, in the end, it is the CFP rankings that determine the playoff.
Those rankings are officially underway as last Tuesday saw the first CFP rankings released making way for the official run towards the playoffs.
There weren’t a lot of surprises in the first rankings as the top four was a collection of the teams a lot of people thought were among the best in the country.
The CFP committee followed a pattern in the rankings as well though as they threw in a team that was likely going to be out or solidify their spot by the second week of the rankings.
This year that team was the LSU Tigers who had risen to the top of the SEC but were also set to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide in Week 10.
It is a common theme in rankings especially near the start of the CFP rankings as the committee believes that there are teams they are unable to keep out but that likely won’t be there.
The rankings are a lot like the committee sending a message to either team that they are giving them a chance but they need to prove that they belong.
Either Alabama or LSU was going to take that game in Week 10 and whoever lost that game was likely going to fall out of the playoff.
The Tide was the easy choice for #1 in the first CFP rankings of the year while the Tigers were a bit more of a debated pick.
They had been playing well and they could be a playoff team this year but making the playoff ahead of some other impressive teams was a little bit controversial.
Still, the Tigers wound up at #3 in the first rankings with the committee looking at Week 10 as a chance for the Tigers to prove they belong.
That was going to be a tough task but for the Tigers to get into the playoffs they were going to need to do.
They certainly gave some proof on the week as the Tigers were entirely outmatched against the Tide.
Alabama took the win 29-0 shutting down the Tigers and proving that they are still the best team in the country.
There is no doubt that the Tide are the best team in the country as their only true test was passed with flying colours.
They will remain the top-ranked team this week and possibly for the rest of the year as the iron Bowl seems to be the only game that might give them a challenge because of the history in that game.
Right behind them were the Clemson Tigers who were another obvious pick this week as the second-best team in the country.
They took a page out of the book of the Tide and went out to prove just why they were ranked #2 in the country.
Taking on Louisville, the Tigers put on a clinic getting 77 points against the Cardinals and making the committee look smart once again.
Rounding out the top-five in the first rankings was the Notre Dame Fighting Irish who are enjoying a resurgent season but remain a team with doubts.
A lot of those doubts come from the last time they were in the National Championship game when they lost 42-14 against Alabama in an embarrassing finish to the season.
The committee likely selected them with some trepidation and they were almost proved right this week.
Although the Tigers had the worst loss out of the top four they weren’t expected to stay in the top four for very long.
The Irish had the toughest game out of the other three though as they struggled to get away from Northwestern.
They ended up winning the game 31-21 and avoiding the upset but still keeping that uneasiness around.
Ultimately the top four seemed to be proven to be right in the first rankings but heading into the second week of playoff rankings someone else is getting in.
It could be Michigan who easily beat Penn State this week and are looking to move from #5 to the top four.
Georgia has their own case and could creep up with an eye on the SEC championship game which could be against Alabama for the second year in a row.
With one spot left the debate is only going heat up and as the weeks move on the games are only going to get tougher for every team leaving possibilities for movement heading into Bowl season.
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