We are over half way through the College Football season and other than Alabama, I have no idea who is good. The final games late in the season should make the playoff and bowl picture more clear. But taking into account what has already happened this season here are a few problems I have with the AP top 25 rankings:

1. No love for Notre Dame

I’ve been talking about how underrated Notre Dame is for the past few weeks. The “usually most overrated” program in college football has been far under the radar after their 4-8 season. The rest of the country is finally starting to pick-up after their beat down of USC.

Still, Notre Dame should be ranked higher than 9. The only loss was a one-point game at home against, in my opinion, the second best team in the nation Georgia. They’ve also blown out every other team they’ve faced including USC. I think there is a case for Notre Dame to be ranked as high as number five and if they beat NC State this weekend, they should absolutely be a top 5 team. This includes being ranked over teams like Wisconsin and Miami who have yet to face a solid opponent.

Ohio State being ranked above Notre Dame makes absolutely no sense. This brings me to point number 2.

2. Ohio State ranked way too high

Apparently if you get blown out at home, all you have to do is play UNLV, Army, Rutgers, Maryland and Nebraska then everyone will forget. Ohio State has only beaten one team with a winning record and that team was Army.

What is even crazier is they are ranked above Oklahoma, THE TEAM THAT BEAT THEM IN THEIR HOUSE BY 18 POINTS. I know Oklahoma hasn’t been playing their best football, but the College Football playoff committee has proven time and time again that when two teams have a similar resume, head to head is very important. Yet, Oklahoma is ranked 10 and Ohio State is all the way up to 6.

Clemson has beaten top 25 teams Virginia Tech and Auburn, but for some reason voters have Ohio State ranked higher. A win against Penn State will be a major resume booster, but for now they have nowhere near the credentials to be ranked 6th.

3. Georgia has a better resume than Penn State and TCU

I don’t have as big a problem with this because their resumes are so close, but I believe Georgia should be the number 2 ranked team. Georgia has the best win out of anybody in the country, a win on the road against Notre Dame. They also have a blow-out win against a fringe top 25 team Mississippi State. Other than the Notre Dame game, they’ve blown out everyone.

Penn State had an impressive win against Michigan, but they’re not even a top 25 team. And that is their best win. Other than that it has been mostly blowouts other than a close 2-point win over Iowa. I wouldn’t consider moving them up to number 2 unless they beat Ohio State this week.

Finally, TCU is undefeated with a decent resume. Their best win is at Oklahoma State and also have a top 25 win against West Virginia. They’ve won the games they needed to win by a decent margin. Honestly they even have a better resume than Penn State right now, but not a better resume than Georgia.

4. Can someone explain to me how LSU is ranked

I swear, voters have the memory of a gold fish. The month of September LSU lost by 30 points to Mississippi State and also lost to Troy. A win against Auburn has made everyone forget about this. How are you going to rank LSU in the top 25, but not Mississippi State when they beat LSU in Death Valley by 30? The Auburn win is nice, but it does not erase the terrible month of September.

5. UCF has a better resume than USF

This is where voters cling onto their preseason rankings and don’t take a fresh look at the resumes. South Florida has not played a team with more than 3 wins and their opponents overall record is 13-33. They beat an average Tulane team this past weekend by only 6 points.

UCF is the exact opposite. They smoked 24th ranked Memphis by 27 points and also beat a good Navy team by 10 points this past weekend. Ranking South Florida above UCF is idiotic and shouldn’t even be a discussion at this point.

The good news is both teams play each other at the end of the year which could decide who goes to a New Year’s Six bowl.

 

Here is how I would vote the top 25:

1. Alabama

2. Georgia

3. TCU

4. Penn State

5. Wisconsin

6. Notre Dame

7. Miami

8. Clemson

9. Oklahoma

10. Ohio State

11. Virginia Tech

12. Oklahoma State

13. NC State

14. Washington

15. UCF

16. Washington State

17. Michigan State

18. West Virginia

19. Auburn

20. South Florida

21. Texas A&M

22. USC

23. Stanford

24. Iowa St.

25. Mississippi State