Alabama will face Georgia in the SEC Championship. Here is what the AP Top 25 Poll may look like entering Week 11 of the 2018 college football season.
Week 10 of the 2018 college football season featured four games that had two top-25 teams going at it. Three of these games happened in the mid-afternoon window.
The No. 6 Georgia Bulldogs ran all over the No. 9 Kentucky Wildcats to win the SEC East division crown by the score of 34-17. This was Georgia’s second straight division title, as the Dawgs have their shot at winning the SEC and reaching the College Football Playoff two years in a row. Having a great rushing game by both D’Andre Swift and Elijah Holyfield led Georgia to an easy victory.
Over in the Big Ten saw the No. 5 Michigan Wolverines wipe the floor with the No. 14 Penn State Nittany Lions in Ann Arbor, 42-7. Michigan has clearly emerged as the best team in the Big Ten. If the Wolverines handle rival Ohio State on Thanksgiving weekend, they will be playing in their first Big Ten Championship Game of the Playoff era. Jim Harbaugh has his alma mater humming.
In the Big 12 saw an absolutely fantastic finish, as the No. 13 West Virginia Mountaineers stun the No. 17 Texas Longhorns in Austin. Mountaineers quarterback Will Grier opted to take in it in himself for two points to beat Tom Herman’s team, 42-41. Dana Holgorsen and West Virginia still have to play the Oklahoma Sooners in the regular season finale. They will probably meet a second time this season in Arlington for the Big 12 Championship Game a week later.
And finally, the game that everybody was watching saw the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide paste the No. 3 LSU Tigers in their own building in shutout fashion, 29-0. Alabama clinched the SEC West and will face SEC East winner Georgia in the 2018 SEC Championship Game in Atlanta on Dec. 1.
With a handful of ranked teams losing, let’s take a look at what the AP Top 25 Poll could look like entering Week 11. Expect to see a huge shakeup in this upcoming week’s projections, just like last week.
Projected Week 11 AP Top 25 Poll
- Alabama Crimson Tide (9-0)
- Clemson Tigers (9-0)
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9-0)
- Michigan Wolverines (8-1)
- Georgia Bulldogs (8-1)
- Oklahoma Sooners (8-1)
- Washington State Cougars (8-1)
- Ohio State Buckeyes (8-1)
- West Virginia Mountaineers (7-1)
- UCF Knights (8-0)
- LSU Tigers (7-2)
- Kentucky Wildcats (7-2)
- Mississippi State Bulldogs (6-3)
- Syracuse Orange (7-2)
- North Carolina State Wolfpack (6-2)
- Fresno State Bulldogs (8-1)
- Iowa State Cyclones (5-3)
- Texas Longhorns (6-3)
- Iowa Hawkeyes (6-3)
- Utah Utes (6-3)
- Florida Gators (6-3)
- Utah State Aggies (8-1)
- Washington Huskies (7-3)
- Michigan State Spartans (6-3)
- Wisconsin Badgers (6-3)
Nobody is really going to argue the top-four, especially with Michigan destroying Penn State at home on Saturday. The Wolverines’ lone loss to undefeated Notre Dame is significantly better than Georgia’s defeat to two-loss LSU. Still, Georgia’s loss to LSU is better than Oklahoma’s lone loss to what is now a three-loss Texas Longhorns team.
With three more games left on the slate for most Power 5 teams, only a handful still control their own Playoff destiny. If any of the top-five teams win out, they get in, as Alabama will face Georgia in the SEC Championship.
At this time, both the Big 12 and the Pac-12 need some help to crack the top four, especially with Notre Dame taking presumably one of their spots as a national independent. The Playoff field has narrowed, but we are a long way away from figuring out which for teams get in and what other eight teams round out the New Year’s Six.