RADIO
The power rankings here at RotoBaller are winding down. I will have one more after conference championship week and one more after the bowl games, then it's radio silence until August. I hope you have enjoyed this new feature at RotoBaller as much as I have enjoyed bringing it to you!
My rankings are a little different. I only go by results on the field. I tune out all of the external noise and just focus on what these teams have shown on the field. I have watched at least 10 games of all of these teams by this point of the season. I have a good grasp of what they are.
This is also going to be far different than traditional polls because I will only look at what has been done on the field so far, not what is expected of a specific team. That had a significant effect on the rankings early in the year, but it is starting to stabilize now. No, Georgia is still not my top team. Neither is Michigan. There is no excuse for that weak schedule.
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(25) Kansas State (8-4) ⇓7
Last week: L 35-42 vs. Iowa State
Losing Farmageddon is a bad look on paper, but I still don't view it as a bad loss. Iowa State is another one of those bowl teams that no one is lining up to face.
(24) Toledo (10-1) ⇓1
Last week: W 32-17 at Central Michigan
If only the Rockets hadn't choked away the opener to Illinois...
(23) Clemson (8-4) ⇑2
Last week: W 16-7 vs. South Carolina
Three of the four losses are on the road. The other is to Florida State. Wins over Notre Dame and the Tarheels land them here.
(22) Liberty (12-0) ⇔
Last week: W 42-28 at UTEP
With all due respect to Tulane, I want to see what Kaidon Salter can do in a New Year's Six bowl. We got to see what Tulane could do last year. They beat USC, for those of you who don't remember. That was the beginning of the end for the Trojans. We just didn't know it yet.
(21) Oklahoma State (9-3) ⇔
Last week: W 40-34 vs. BYU (2 OT)
It took five Ollie Gordon touchdowns to bring the Cowboys back. If it weren't for Gordon, the Pokes would have lost at least eight games. This is the best the Big 12 can do to oppose Texas? Yikes!
(20) Oregon State (8-4) ⇓4
Last week: L 7-31 vs. (6) Oregon
As if getting their (Beaver) teeth kicked in by their rivals in their Pac-12 swan song wasn't enough, this happened.
Unfortunately, that's what happens when you have no conference. First, the coach leaves, then the star player(s) follow. The Pac-12 could have avoided this whole mess if it weren't for bureaucratic greed.
(19) Tulane (11-1) ⇔
Last week: W 29-16 vs. UTSA
That loss to Ole Miss without Michael Pratt is looming large.
(18) North Carolina State (9-3) (NR)
Last week: W 39-20 vs. North Carolina
Another late-season collapse by UNC makes their resume look a little worse than it is. They did beat Clemson, Miami, Marshall, and Virginia Tech though.
(17) Notre Dame (9-3) ⇑3
Last week: W 56-23 at Stanford
This game kind of makes you wonder where the Irish would be this year if they had leaned a little more on Audric Estime and a little less on Sam Hartman.
(16) Louisville (10-2) ⇓7
Last week: L 31-38 vs. Kentucky
Losing two games to unranked teams, one at home, will drop you below three-loss teams.
(15) Iowa (10-2*) ⇑2
Last week: W 13-10 at Nebraska
If it weren't for a gaggle of dumb officials, Iowa would be an 11-win team. Oh, to be a team in the Big Ten West...
(14) LSU (9-3) ⇑1
Last week: W 42-30 vs. Texas A&M
LSU's three losses are better than most team's three toughest games, but Arizona's win streak trumps LSU's wins. Good losses stop counting at some point. They're still losses.
(13) Arizona (9-3) ⇑2
Last week: W 59-23 at Arizona State
Am I really moving a three-loss team above two-loss Louisville? Damn right! Arizona's three losses are by a combined 16 points and Noah Fifita is a lot better now than he was then. Two of those losses were to top-10 (at the time) teams. One was to my number-one team for the last three weeks.
Arizona is winning the Big 12 next year so long as Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan don't transfer out as is the current rumor.
(12) Oklahoma (10-2) ⇑1
Last week: W 69-45 vs. TCU
The Sooners lost two games they could have won. Giving up 45 to a struggling TCU offense is not what I wanted to see heading into a bowl.
(11) Mississippi (10-2) ⇑1
Last week: W 17-7 at Mississippi State
If Ole Miss plays poorly in the first half of whatever bowl they wind up in, they aren't going to win. It's one thing to do it against Monroe and a down Mississippi State team. It's quite another to do it against...say...Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl.
(10) Missouri (10-2) ⇑1
Last week: W 48-14 at Arkansas
Demolishing your rival is a good look. I could argue that Missouri's losses are almost equal to those of Penn State.
(9) Penn State (10-2) ⇑1
Last week: W 42-0 at Michigan State
Penn State didn't make that leap that everyone wanted to see this year, but their only two losses are to teams inside the top five. No one else can say that. I have serious questions about the depth of this conference. If the Big Ten hadn't raided the Pac-12, they would have been a laughingstock in 2024.
(8) Alabama (11-1) ⇔
Last week: W 27-24 at Auburn
The Tide were this close to ending their playoff hopes. Weird things happen at Jordan-Hare for both teams...
(7) Texas (11-1) ⇔
Last week: W 57-7 vs. Texas Tech
This was the statement win that Longhorn fans have been waiting for.
(6) Ohio State (11-1) ⇓3
Last week: L 24-30 at (5) Michigan
Oregon has the best loss. Ohio State is close behind. Again, the Buckeyes lost to Michigan. What are the chances that a) Ohio State didn't change their signals and b) Michigan tried to steal them again? Practically zero in both instances. All that complaining about sign stealing means nothing now. Ohio State went out there and just got beat.
(5) Florida State (12-0) ⇓1
Last week: W 24-15 at Florida
This is nothing against Florida State. This is about what happens on the field and this did not look like a playoff team on the field. I understand that it takes more than a week for Tate Rodemaker to get up to speed with the entire offense, but the defense struggled for a half against Florida's backup. Oregon looks like a better team right now.
I'm disappointed that we were robbed of watching Jordan Travis on college football's biggest stage. As football fans, we all deserve that whether you realize it or not. What Florida State did with Travis is not what they are doing without him. We shouldn't take some other team off the stage based on what Florida State did before the injury. If they go out and whip Louisville, I'll happily include them. Until then, they are on the outside looking in for me.
(4) Oregon (11-1) ⇑2
Last week: W 31-7 vs. (16) Oregon State
It was another big win over another ranked team, so yes, Oregon moves up. This is about what happens on the field. What has been happening on the field is an absolute clinic from Oregon in every facet of the game.
(3) Georgia (12-0) ⇓1
Last week: W 31-23 at Georgia Tech
Michigan getting that elusive top-five win puts them ahead of Georgia, but not by much.
(2) Michigan (12-0) ⇑3
Last week: W 30-24 vs. (3) Ohio State
Does Georgia have a top-five win and another top-10 win? Wins over Ole Miss and Tennessee look good, but they don't stack up to Michigan's two wins. Georgia's pathetic non-conference schedule hurts them in my rankings. At least Michigan played two overachieving bowl-bound teams in Bowling Green and UNLV.
(1) Washington (12-0) ⇔
Last week: W 24-21 vs. Washington State
So yes, let's kill the conference, but that's a different story. Washington survives again. The win over Oregon and quality wins over Arizona and Oregon State keep them ahead of Michigan, but not by much.
Others Receiving Votes
- Utah
- James Madison
- Kansas State
- Kansas
- UNLV
Stay tuned for the college football rankings here at RotoBaller throughout the entire season!
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