College Football Top 25- Week 2

I love College Football. The NFL gets more headlines, but there is nothing that excites me more than a bunch of student athletes playing a Saturday night game under the lights in front of 100,000 of their classmates, friends, and alumni. Every game matters, and every player puts their heart and body on the line to win for their school. After a thrilling first week of action, I am presenting my top 25 rankings. Below you’ll find the entire list, as well as the difference in ranking from the actual Associated Press Top 25. Following my rankings, I give some quick analysis of my rankings, including who I think is overrated, who is underrated, and some explanation on some of the differences between the rankings. I’ll be doing this every week, so be sure to sign up for the Saloon Takes e-mail to read my analysis! Without further ado, let’s get into it:

Rank	Team	Difference Between AP
1	Georgia	+1
2	Alabama	-1
3	Ohio State	-
4	Texas A&M	+1
5	Oklahoma	-1
6	Cincinnati	+1
7	Clemson	-1
8	Iowa	+2
9	UCLA	+7
10	Texas	+5
11	Iowa State	-2
12	Virginia Tech	+7
13	Notre Dame	-5
14	Oregon	-2
15	Penn State	-4
16	Florida	-3
17	USC	-3
18	Coastal Carolina	-1
19	Ole Miss	+1
20	UNC	+4
21	Arizona State	+2
22	Miami (FL)	-
23	Auburn	+2
24	Utah	-3
25	Michigan	N/A

The biggest difference between my rankings and the Associate Press Top 25 is who is at the top. While Alabama holds the #1 spot in the AP Poll (a place they’ve certainly gotten comfortable with over the last decade), I have Georgia as the team to beat in the nation. The Bulldogs defense was elite against Clemson, and while it was not the Trevor Lawrence-led Tigers offense we are used to seeing, holding them to 3 points and only 180 yards of total offense was impressive. Quarterback JT Daniels was only able to put up 10 points himself, but the Clemson defense is one of the top units in the country and Georgia was dealing with injuries on offense. Once receivers George Pickens and Dominick Blaylock return, this Bulldogs offense will shine. Alabama certainly had an impressive win against Miami, but I think this is the year Georgia finally breaks away from Alabama as the best team in the SEC.

Some other minor differences early on my list include Texas A&M and Oklahoma flipped after the former had a dominant win over a weak Kent State while the latter nearly lost to a similarly weak Tulane team at home. It is certainly not time to panic for the Sooners, but they deserve to drop a spot for that performance. Similarly, I think Cincinnati deserves to be ahead of Clemson after a great performance from potential 1st round draft pick, Desmond Ridder, against Miami (OH).

I think Iowa is being undervalued after an impressive 34-6 win over a pretty good Indiana team, so I jumped them up to 8th in the nation. On the other hand, Both Iowa State and Notre Dame looked extremely shaky this past week, neither performing like a top 10 team. I gave Iowa State the benefit of the doubt, only dropping them 2 spots. I believe in the backfield duo of Brock Purdy and Breece Hall getting back on track with the help of head coach Matt Campbell. Notre Dame is only sitting at 8 because of name recognition. That is the only way to explain them actually moving up a spot in the AP rankings. The reality is they went to OT against a Florida State team that turned the ball over four times. Notre Dame’s run defense was abysmal, with the Seminoles torching them for an average of 5.7 yards per rush. Against a better defense, I see Notre Dame struggling and ultimately being unable to plant themselves in the CFP race. There is no team more overrated in the nation than Notre Dame.

On the other hand, UCLA is looking like an elite team capable of winning the Pac-12. LSU is a formidable opponent, even if they aren’t the same 2019 record-breaking squad. I don’t think anybody is giving UCLA the credit they deserve, especially given the fact that going into the game LSU was 22-4 all time vs the Pac-12. This is a huge win for the Bruins, launching them into Pac-12 play with the utmost confidence. Add in the fact that head coach Chip Kelley won three Pac-12 Championships in four seasons at Oregon, and UCLA has all the pieces to be a serious conference contender.

The other top underrated team in the nation is Virginia Tech. UNC was ranked 10th in the nation and was a popular choice as a CFP dark horse before their loss to the Hokies. The Virginia Tech defense held Sam Howell, a potential top overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, to just 208 yards through the air on 17/32 passing. They were also absolute ballhawks on their way to three interceptions. Justin Fuente is one of the most underrated head coaches in the country, and the Hokies do not have a tough schedule. They get Notre Dame at home, but again, I think Notre Dame is overrated. Their hardest test will be Miami in November, but if they play anything like they did against UNC, they could have a chance. Unfortunately for the Tar Heels, their hopes of a playoff berth are essentially dead. They also have matchups against Notre Dame and Miami, but I’m not sure they will be able to recover enough to make the top 4. I still have UNC in the top 20, but that is more because I am higher on Virginia Tech than most people, so I don’t see the loss as being too embarrassing.

Now let's get to the one team included in the AP Poll that I chose to omit, Wisconsin. I think Wisconsin is really just a mediocre football team. Graham Mertz is truly just not a good quarterback. I am not here to trash players, but watching Mertz play makes it hard not to question his abilities. Wisconsin’s offense really just calls for a game manager behind center, someone who can make smart, short to medium throws to set up the run game. Mertz struggles to even do that. I would never make a claim like this without backing it up, so here is a play from Saturday:

Yikes. The offensive line completely misses the blitz, and Mertz has absolutely no pocket presence to escape. Yes, he got hit from his blind side, but how did he not at least step up in the pocket when he saw #40 coming right at him? His eyes were so focused on his receiver the entire play that he never even thought about the pressure. Luckily for Wisconsin, it was ruled an incomplete pass, but that was a rough play from Mertz.

Although that clip was pretty bad, nothing beats Mertz's late game interception. Down 16-10 with just over 2 minutes left on the clock, the Badgers have a 1st and Goal at the 1 yard line. The first play? They lose 6 yards on a botched handoff. The next two plays yield very little, so they are down to one final try. The playcall was honestly perfect, and Wisconsin has a man open right in the endzone. All Mertz needed to do was float one to get an easy tie and potentially the lead, but he throws it directly at a white jersey.

It is honestly a hard play to watch. You can see Mertz quickly panic when the pressure comes, despite it being picked up by his line. The ball isn't even close to being on target, even if #1 isn't there. In fact, it looks like the ball would've landed at the feet of his receiver. I think we will see a new quarterback in Madison sooner rather than later. On the other side of the ball, the defense only allowed 16 points, but they were torched by WR Jahan Dotson who had 102 yards and a TD on just 5 receptions. Sean Clifford, while slightly better than Mertz, is also a mediocre quarterback, so I am not sure how much credit Wisconsin’s defense should get for their performance. Either way, I struggle to see how Wisconsin makes it in the top 25. They are 18th in the AP Poll, but I have them just outside my list. It is also important to note that I am not alone. 8 out of 62 AP voters have Wisconsin on the outside looking in. (Note: there are 63 AP voters, but one had Wisconsin at 10 and Penn State at 18, so I discounted that ballot on the basis of delusion). No matter where you think they belong, the Badgers are in for a long season.

I only have one team listed who isn’t in the AP Top 25, and that is Michigan. I am all in on the Harbaugh train this season. After shaking up a large portion of his staff and implementing a brand-new culture this offseason, the Wolverines looked incredible in their first game of 2021. Granted, it was against Western Michigan, but this team is miles better than they were last year in their miserable 2-4 campaign. The “speed in space” mentality that offensive coordinator Josh Gattis has been trying to implement was finally on full display. The loss of captain Ronnie Bell hurts, but there are a lot of young guys in a deep receiving group that can step up. Michigan is still far away from returning to their former glory as a program, but they deserve the top 25.