What a wild week of college football. Of the 20 ranked teams that played this week, five won by just one score and three more lost to unranked teams. No. 10 Alabama struggled mightily against 2-4 Arkansas before pulling away in the fourth quarter, while No. 1 Ohio State got everything they could handle from Maryland.
In the midst of all this turmoil, No. 2 Baylor has looked as steady as ever. They’re undefeated, and their wins this season have come by margins of 35, 35, 53, 28 and 59 points. Their closest game so far was a 28-point victory against a deceivingly good Texas Tech team. Their FPI score jumped to 29.2, the highest score recorded this year, after expectedly blowing out Kansas.
Baylor received 13 first-place votes in the AP Poll, but it should have taken the top spot from the Buckeyes a while ago. It hasn’t shown an ounce of uncertainty in any of its games, while Ohio State has looked beatable in just about every one of its games. Sure, the Bears give up some points, but they’re the best in the country at scoring points. They might even be the best ever, too. Through five games, they’ve scored 321 points, a feat unmatched by any team in history.
Big 12 rival No. 3 TCU looked even less like a playoff contender last Saturday when it trailed unranked Kansas State by 18 points at halftime. The Horned Frogs fought back and won on a go-ahead touchdown with just over a minute remaining in the game, but their third unconvincing win of the season has started to raise some questions.
USC dropped from the AP Rankings following an ugly 17-12 loss to Washington. They’ve been damned by the masses for their two unexpected losses, but they’ve been dominant in their three wins. Their victories have come by an average of 42.3 points, including an impressive beatdown of Arizona State. The first team to topple the Trojans, Stanford, is ranked 16 in the AP Poll and Washington has lost just two games, both by slim margins to ranked opponents. USC deserves another look.
No. 20 Northwestern came crashing back down to earth, unraveling against No. 12 Michigan in Ann Arbor. Its vaunted defense was torched from start to finish, and it failed to score a single point. The two programs came into the game ranked No. 1 and No. 2 nationally in scoring defense, but the Wolverines came away as the unquestioned stronger unit.
Michigan looks more and more like a serious contender to win the Big Ten with each passing week. The Wolverines will be favored this Saturday against No. 7 Michigan State in Ann Arbor, and then it’s smooth sailing until late November when they welcome Ohio State into Michigan Stadium for a game that could very well determine the winner of the Big Ten East.
No. 4 Utah has gotten a lot of love recently in the rankings, garnering the second-most first-place votes, just behind Ohio State. The numbers don’t back that love up, though. The Utes have just the 20th-best FPI score and the 13th-best overall efficiency. They have an impressive win against Michigan, but that’s about it. Their rout of Oregon is no longer an accomplishment, with Oregon looking worse every week.
No. 8 Florida still hasn’t faltered, and its defense is starting to look like that of the Gators’ 2008 national championship team. They’ve got two tough tests coming up against No. 6 LSU and Georgia, and if they make it out of that gauntlet relatively unscathed, they’ll have by far the best resume in the country.
A few teams have started to come out of the woodwork as dark horse College Football Playoff contenders. Michigan and Florida have made their mark on the 2015 season, but their best may be yet to come.
