Stop us if you've heard this one before, but close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

Well, at least in hand grenades.

Some of our top teams had some close calls this week, but only one fell victim and dropped from our rankings, and it wasn't even close.

Here's our Top 10 as of September 25, 2017 (with won-loss records in parentheses).

 

NCAA College Football (CBB) Rankings

1. Alabama, (4-0)

We've often wondered why a school of Vanderbilt's academic standing is in the SEC (and we have a degree from an SEC school). Commodores fans must be wondering the same thing. No Jalen Hurts, no problem for the Tide. And this time junior RB Damien Harris (12 carries, 151 yards, 3 TDs) was the star.

2. Penn State, (4-0)

We were tempted to move the Nittany Lions up this week. Tempted. QB Trace McSorley (31-48, 284 yards, 1 TD) proved again that he has the intangibles for the next level, while RB Saquan Barkley (28 carries, 211 yards, 1 TD; 12 catches for 94 yards) proved he has the tangibles. Iowa City is not an easy place to win, and James Franklin's team was able to pull it off.

3. Oklahoma, (4-0)

QB Baker Mayfield (13-19, 283 yards, 3 TDs) and the Sooners struggled a bit at Baylor, but sophomore RB Abdul Adams (11 carries, 164 yards, 1 TD) may have emerged as OU's back of the present and future.

4. Clemson, (4-0)

It took a while for the Tigers to shake BC, but once they did, they left the Eagles in the dust. Speaking of emerging tailbacks, freshman Travis Etienne had his first collegiate 100-yard rushing day (9 carries, 113 yards, 2 TDs). He should get more touches going forward.

5. USC, (4-0)

Cal hung with Southern Cal well into the second half, before QB Sam Darnold (26-38, 223 yards, 2 TDs 1 pick) found his game. His struggles have to be giving NFL teams pause. But, to be fair, he's still getting comfortable with a relatively new corps of receivers. We know. He'll have the same troubles at the next level, too, at least at the start.

6. Washington, (4-0)

Well, we said we'd wait until the Huskies' match-up with Colorado before we passed judgement... A 37-10 win later, and we're officially on the bandwagon. The Huskies overcame ordinary play from their signal caller thanks to extraordinary play from tailback Myles Gaskin (27 carries, 202 yards, 2 TDs).

7. Georgia, (4-0)

Remember when we said that the 'Dawgs' stay in our top 10 would be short-lived. Good. We don't either. We do remember RB Nick Chubb (15 carries, 81 yards, 2 TDs), who is fast writing his name in the UGA record books.

8. Michigan, (4-0)

Like a lot of pundits, we questioned Jim Harbaugh's team. Some prognosticators even picked the Maize and Blue to lose at Purdue, which, of course, they didn't. In fact, they won with their back-up QB (John O'Korn; 18-26, 270 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT). We'll at least admit we were wrong.

9. Wisconsin, (3-0)

The Badgers were idle this week. Which is almost as good as playing Rutgers. Unfortunately, the Scarlet Knights aren't on the Badgers' schedule this season.

10. TCU, (4-0)

The Horned Frogs enter the rankings at the expense of Oklahoma State, whom they beat on Saturday--in Stillwater, no less. And it wasn't close, even though Pokes QB Mason Rudolph threw for nearly 400 yards, again. Sophomore RB Darius Anderson led the way, with 160 yards on 26 carries and 3 TDs.