AP Poll Top 25, Week 14: LSU holds at No. 1, Alabama overrated, Utah underrated
The AP Poll Top 25 entering Week 14 is still underrating Utah while overrating Alabama. Will the final playoff spot come down to one of those two teams?
Week 13 was a lot like the week before Thanksgiving. Our plate was filled with light courses, making sure we saved room for the feast that will be the final week of the season. But still, college football delivered a gluttonous platter of yards, points and upsets. As we saw, college football remains as unpredictable and fun as ever. Just when you think you know what you’re looking at, Jayden Daniels puts on his man pants and drops 400 yards on Oregon.
Maybe we should have seen it coming. The Ducks have had issues getting open receivers for Justin Herbert all year. The defense has been good-not-great, and that can be a recipe for disaster, especially when balls start getting picked.
Utah, on the other hand, has quietly looked like the team Oregon was early in the season. The defense has given up more than 20 points twice this year. The offense is led by the underappreciated and incredibly exciting Tyler Huntley. That is a recipe that has the Utes on the cusp of making it to the CFB Playoff. Of course, since it’s the Pac 12, they will almost certainly drop the conference championship to Oregon, cementing Alabama in the fourth spot with a backup quarterback. Such is life.
Elsewhere, Ohio State took care of business against Penn State, jumping out to a huge leader before taking its foot off the gas and letting the Nittany Lions back into the game. Justin Fields despite being a little erratic, hit enough big throws to put away the Buckeye’s toughest opponent to date. The Buckeyes can silence their critics with a win… hold on. Some Harvard and Yale students want to say something about climate change.
Gary Patterson gave the world a blueprint to stop Oklahoma’s otherworldly offense. It was the first time the Sooners were held to under 30 points since Army managed to take them to overtime through a mixture of witchcraft and clock control. Voters were unimpressed with Oklahoma’s first win over Baylor, so it is unlikely a second win in the Big 12 Championship will elevate them in the eyes of the playoff committee, which is a shame. In the end, don’t lose to Kansas State, and this won’t be a problem. If you do lose to Kansas State, you’d better be Georgia.
Finally, we need to talk about Jake Fromm. Georgia’s quarterback put up his third straight dud of a game. He hasn’t completed 50 percent of his passes since Nov. 2 against Florida. He also hasn’t topped 300 yards passing all season (a feat he’s only managed once in his career). A lot of that has to do with the style of play but he’s trending the wrong way.
Week 14 AP Poll Top 25
- LSU
- Ohio State
- Clemson
- Georgia
- Alabama
- Utah
- Oklahoma
- Florida
- Minnesota
- Michigan
- Baylor
- Penn State
- Wisconsin
- Oregon
- Notre Dame
- Auburn
- Memphis
- Cincinnati
- Iowa
- Boise State
- Oklahoma State
- Appalachian State
- Virginia Tech
- Navy
- USC
Overrated
No. 5 Alabama — This is a point that needs to be repeated until we see Mac Jones move the ball against a good team. With all due respect (which is to say, very little) to the Western Carolina Catamounts, the Wofford Terriers almost put up 60 against them. If we scrub the name from the team and look at the facts, here’s where we are:
- No. 10 scoring defense, No. 16 total defense
- 1-1 vs FEI Top 40 teams, and 3-1 vs Top 50 teams
- On their second-string quarterback, who was a 3-star recruit
- Lost, at home, in what was essentially a playoff game with their starting quarterback
The distance from current Alabama and No. 5 Alabama is the gap between Tua and Mac Jones. If Jones doesn’t light Auburn up, there is no reason to give this squad a second bite at the playoff apple.
No. 9 Minnesota — Minnesota has one premier win against a middle-of-the-road Big Ten team, that proved this weekend that they cannot hang with the big boys. Otherwise, their resume looks like a good AAC team. They beat South Dakota State, Fresno State, Georgia Southern, and Purdue by a combined 20 points. A Top 10 team should be able to handle all of those teams. One close win is a blip (right, Clemson?) four is an indication of who you are.
This won’t really matter though after next week, though. The Golden Gophers will lose to a one-dimensional Wisconsin team.
No. 14 Oregon — The third overrated team could really go to Georgia, whose offense is a mess and whose quarterback is in a tailspin. But instead, it goes to the Ducks. After weeks of touting the Ducks as being wrongfully left out of the Top 4, they proved the voters right after laying an egg (a pun!) at Arizona State. The teams behind the Ducks aren’t exactly lighting it up either, but Notre Dame, Auburn, and Memphis can all make cases that they deserve this spot ahead of Oregon.
Underrated
No. 6 Utah — Much like a teen movie, we’ve been pining for the flashy Oregon Ducks with their infinite, gorgeous uniforms and their tall, early-round draft pick quarterback. Yet, all along, the defensively stout team with a phenomenal, electric quarterback was standing right in front of us. Now we’re stuck sprinting through Salt Lake City Airport to meet them before they fly to the Pac 12 Championship. Or standing outside of their window with a boombox over our head talking about karate or whatever (Note: I haven’t seen Say Anything in its entirety, but I saw John Cusack with a headband on, and I think he did a martial art).
No. 11 Baylor — The Bears in their loss to Oklahoma, proved to the world that they are a serious team. They backed it up further by handling Texas. Right now, Baylor looks like Minnesota without the elite win (unless Texas is Back), but also without the close wins against bad teams. Not to mention the game with Oklahoma went to the wire. Baylor should be where Minnesota is, and Minnesota where Baylor is, but that’s just the way it goes sometimes. They can stun the world if they knock off Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship.
No. 23 Virginia Tech — Why not? Yes the ACC is awful. Yes, even if they beat Virginia next week, they’re fighting for the opportunity to lose to Clemson by 40. But you know what? We need the Power Fives to have at least two teams in the Top 25, if for no other reason than it will keep the NCAA stable for now. The last thing we need is for the ACC to go pillage a bunch of AAC teams that will soon be under-performing. Besides, the Hokies are really turning it on lately. Is it so crazy to think that they could beat Cincinnati? Or Iowa in Blacksburg? They can win those games, right?
Right?
You know what, never mind. Burn it down.
Next. Week 13 superlatives: Records falling across the nation. dark