College football rankings: Nick Shepkowski’s 11 Best
The initial College Football Playoff rankings will be released Tuesday night as a ton of excitement will come in for the listing of teams that will essentially eat each other up over the next month. However, whenever you put numbers in front of a team’s name you’ll get a reaction and we’ll certainly be participating in that here at Fighting Irish Wire come Tuesday night.
How should the teams be ranked? Should Notre Dame be given strong consideration for being a top-25 team by the committee as they have wins over both North Carolina and Syracuse?
That’s a conversation I’m sure we’ll discuss down the road but here is how I would rank college football’s 11 Best following Week 9.
“I don’t play my best 11, I play my 11 best” – Knute Rockne
Illinois
Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports
Week 9 Result: 26-9 win at Nebraska
Week 10 opponent: home vs. Michigan State
If you’re a fan of old-school, hit-’em-in-the-mouth football then you need to be watching Illinois. The Illini feature one of the best defenses in the country and a legit Heisman Trophy contender in their backfield (Chase Brown). The Illini seem bound for their first Big Ten West title in program history.
Utah
James Snook-USA TODAY Sports
Week 9 Result: 21-17 win at Washington State
Week 10 opponent: home vs. Arizona
The most physical team in the log-jammed Pac 12 and have a great chance at a conference title game appearance as long as they can do to Oregon in a few weeks what they did to them last November.
USC
Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Week 9 Result: 47-35 win at Arizona
Week 10 opponent: home vs. Cal
USC is within one two-point conversion of being undefeated but have some tough tests remaining. The Trojans should roll both Cal and Colorado the next two weekends before taking on UCLA and Notre Dame.
Oregon
USA TODAY SPORTS
Week 9 Result: 42-24 win at Cal
Week 10 opponent: home at Colorado
Oregon quarterback Bo Nix has been as good of story as there is in college football in 2022. The Ducks quarterback is getting Heisman Trophy attention as he’s been the biggest reason in the Ducks rolling to seven-straight victories after their season-opening loss to Georgia.
TCU
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Week 9 Result: 41-31 win at West Virginia
Week 10 opponent: home vs. Texas Tech
Sonny Dykes deserves coach of the year praise for the turnaround TCU has had this year. The Horned Frogs are the Big 12’s last shot at a College Football Playoff team this season and should have a chance to double their win total from a year ago next week in Texas.
Alabama
Gary Cosby Jr.-USA TODAY Sports
Week 9 Result: Idle
Week 10 opponent: at LSU
Alabama had a week off to get ready for their trip to LSU. The defense that was lit up by Tennessee on Oct. 15 held Mississippi State scoreless until the final seconds their last time out. Are we about to see the Tide’s defense play to its potential this November?
We’re guessing a few of our regulars at Fighting Irish Wire will be pulling hard for the Tide this week.
Clemson
USA TODAY SPORTS
Week 9 Result: Idle
Week 10 opponent: at Notre Dame
Clemson got a well-deserved week off before their trip to South Bend. Although the Irish has two home losses to mediocre foes this year, this may be the biggest challenge remaining as the Tigers look for another undefeated regular season and College Football Playoff appearance.
Michigan
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Week 9 result: 29-7 win vs. Michigan State
Week 10 opponent: at Rutgers
What Michigan does isn’t the most complicated but it’s a lot easier to plan to stop it than it is to actually stop them. The Wolverines are as physical as any team in the country and might be even better than last year’s squad that won the Big Ten.
Ohio State
Brooke LaValley/Columbus Dispatch
Week 9 result: 44-31 win at Penn State
Week 10 opponent: at Northwestern
Despite a slow start last week on the road, Ohio State’s offense came alive but it wasn’t because of their Heisman Trophy favorite quarterback. The Buckeyes defense forced four turnovers and TreVeyon Henderson rushed for two fourth-quarter scores as they moved to 8-0 and avoided upset.
Georgia
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Week 9 result: 42-20 win vs. Florida
Week 10 opponent: home vs. Tennessee
The Dawgs looked gettable earlier in the year as they were hardly impressive against Kent State and barely escaped Missouri with wins. Since then though? The Dawgs have beat their opponents by a combined 139-30 margin after most recently routing Florida in Jacksonville.
Tennessee
USA TODAY SPORTS
Week 9 result: 44-6 win vs. Kentucky
Week 10 opponent: at Georgia
Just three weeks after their biggest win in decades, Tennessee gets to go on the road this weekend for what would be an even bigger victory. The Vols looked every bit as good as any team in the nation this past week as they dominated Kentucky. A trip to Atlanta for the SEC Championship is on the line this Saturday afternoon as two of the nation’s very best square off.
