Ben van Ooyen
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A Non-Voters Top 10
Ben van Ooyen via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Welcome to a new weekly feature on The Buckeye Battle Cry, my “doesn’t count for anything” top 10 poll. Each week after digesting the college football games that were I will come here and put together my top 10 teams in the nation. After week 3, let’s see how I think things stand.
1.) Alabama – 3-0 – Next Week vs Kent State
Although the USC win looks a lot less spectacular after their defeat this weekend, they still put 52 on them with a freshman quarterback. Although at times on Saturday they looked like they would lose for the 3rd time in a row against Ole Miss, they rallied at the end of the first half, and then held on for dear life at the end to escape 48-43. Between Ohio State and Alabama, there aren’t two more talented teams in the country. Alabama still has a lot of games left against ranked opponents, so let’s see how it plays out.
2.) Ohio State – 3-0 – Next Week Bye
To see what the young Bucks did on Saturday night was nothing short of impressive. They shut down Baker Mayfield and Samje Perine for the majority of the night. The “basic” defense showed they were nothing of the sort and dominated nearly the whole game. J.T. Barrett led the efficient offense to five scoring drives, finding Noah Brown on four of them. Again there isn’t a more talented team in the country than the Buckeyes, but the fact that they returned only six starters from last years team, speaks volumes about the coaching staff and their efforts on the recruiting trail.
3.) Stanford – 2-0 – Next Week @ UCLA
The Christian McCaffrey show continued on Saturday night, with 238 yards on offense and two touchdowns. The quarterback Ryan Burns merely has to not turn the ball over, and feed McCaffrey and Stanford will be tough to beat. They have a big game coming up in two weeks against Washington, and that should be a great primetime matchup. The Pac-12 doesn’t seem to be that powerful this season, so will winning it be enough for Stanford to make the playoff if they win out?
4.) Louisville – 3-0 – Next Week @ Marshall
Well the September Heisman is surely going to Lamar Jackson. What a dominate three weeks he has put up so far, and the thrashing of Florida State Saturday afternoon put him and the Cardinal in the spotlight. The matchup in two weeks against Clemson will go a long way to showing where the Cardinal stand, as they don’t have a tough schedule outside of the Tigers and the Houston Cougars in late November. Louisville looks for real, and Lamar Jackson should continue to put up video game numbers with the schedule they have.
5.) Houston – 3-0 – Next Week @ Texas State
They didn’t look particularly good against Cincinnati, but they won on the road in a tough place to go. Their win against Oklahoma was knocked down a few notches as well with the Buckeye trouncing, but it is still a quality win no matter how you look at it. They don’t have a tough game until possibly Navy on October 8th, but the match-up with Louisville looms large in the middle of November. As long as they stay undefeated there is a chance they make the playoff.
6.) Clemson – 3-0 – Next Week @ Georgia Tech
Clemson put the beat down on South Carolina St. to where both sides decided to end the game early. Deshaun Watson played sparingly, but finally looked like the one we have seen in the past, alas it was against a not great team. They travel to Georgia Tech for a Thursday night game, in what might be considered a trap game for Clemson. The Yellow Jackets are also 3-0 and the Tigers might be looking ahead to that match-up in two weeks with Louisville. Don’t Clemson, Clemson.
7.) Michigan – 3-0 – Next Week vs Penn State
I may be in the minority, but I am still not impressed with Michigan. Their offense is average at best, and their defense got exposed against Colorado until their starting quarterback left injured. Had he stayed in the game, who knows what could have happened. I am also not enamored with Jabrill Peppers. Yes, he is quite talented, and yes he plays in all facets of the game, but I just don’t get the hype. Michigan will lose before they play Ohio State in November, will it be to Wisconsin in two weeks or Michigan State in October?
8.) Washington – 3-0 – Next Week @ Arizona
I’ll admit, I haven’t seen Washington play a down of football this season. I thought they were overrated to begin the season, and I still believe that they probably are here. They are here because they have won convincingly in all three games, and are playing as well as anyone in the country right now. Time will tell how the Huskies stand up, as I said I feel the Pac-12 is down this year except for Stanford, and that match-up comes in two weeks in Seattle which should be a great game.
9.) Michigan State – 2-0 – Next Week @ Wisconsin
I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure what Michigan State would be this year. They lost a lot of talent off of last years team, and I didn’t expect them to have their way with Notre Dame like they did. Sure they made it a game late, but I don’t think the game was ever in doubt. They struggled a bit in week one, but I think they have the kinks worked out now, and have a huge home game next weekend against the Wisconsin Badgers. Both teams are undefeated and have aspirations of a Big Ten title, so although next week’s game is not a division game, a lot will still be on the line.
10.) Wisconsin – 3-0 – Next Week @ Michigan State
Speaking of teams I wasn’t sure about at the beginning of the season, the Wisconsin Badgers are quite a surprise this season. They defeated LSU to open the season, and while LSU hasn’t been that impressive, a win against an SEC team to open the season is still a good victory. There is a bit of a quarterback controversy with Alex Hornibrook taking over against Georgia State and leading them to victory after Bart Houston struggled early. They need to have a solid plan at QB if they want to go into East Lansing and have a chance at the upset next weekend.
The post A Non-Voters Top 10 appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
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Ben van Ooyen via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Welcome to a new weekly feature on The Buckeye Battle Cry, my “doesn’t count for anything” top 10 poll. Each week after digesting the college football games that were I will come here and put together my top 10 teams in the nation. After week 3, let’s see how I think things stand.
1.) Alabama – 3-0 – Next Week vs Kent State
Although the USC win looks a lot less spectacular after their defeat this weekend, they still put 52 on them with a freshman quarterback. Although at times on Saturday they looked like they would lose for the 3rd time in a row against Ole Miss, they rallied at the end of the first half, and then held on for dear life at the end to escape 48-43. Between Ohio State and Alabama, there aren’t two more talented teams in the country. Alabama still has a lot of games left against ranked opponents, so let’s see how it plays out.
2.) Ohio State – 3-0 – Next Week Bye
To see what the young Bucks did on Saturday night was nothing short of impressive. They shut down Baker Mayfield and Samje Perine for the majority of the night. The “basic” defense showed they were nothing of the sort and dominated nearly the whole game. J.T. Barrett led the efficient offense to five scoring drives, finding Noah Brown on four of them. Again there isn’t a more talented team in the country than the Buckeyes, but the fact that they returned only six starters from last years team, speaks volumes about the coaching staff and their efforts on the recruiting trail.
3.) Stanford – 2-0 – Next Week @ UCLA
The Christian McCaffrey show continued on Saturday night, with 238 yards on offense and two touchdowns. The quarterback Ryan Burns merely has to not turn the ball over, and feed McCaffrey and Stanford will be tough to beat. They have a big game coming up in two weeks against Washington, and that should be a great primetime matchup. The Pac-12 doesn’t seem to be that powerful this season, so will winning it be enough for Stanford to make the playoff if they win out?
4.) Louisville – 3-0 – Next Week @ Marshall
Well the September Heisman is surely going to Lamar Jackson. What a dominate three weeks he has put up so far, and the thrashing of Florida State Saturday afternoon put him and the Cardinal in the spotlight. The matchup in two weeks against Clemson will go a long way to showing where the Cardinal stand, as they don’t have a tough schedule outside of the Tigers and the Houston Cougars in late November. Louisville looks for real, and Lamar Jackson should continue to put up video game numbers with the schedule they have.
5.) Houston – 3-0 – Next Week @ Texas State
They didn’t look particularly good against Cincinnati, but they won on the road in a tough place to go. Their win against Oklahoma was knocked down a few notches as well with the Buckeye trouncing, but it is still a quality win no matter how you look at it. They don’t have a tough game until possibly Navy on October 8th, but the match-up with Louisville looms large in the middle of November. As long as they stay undefeated there is a chance they make the playoff.
6.) Clemson – 3-0 – Next Week @ Georgia Tech
Clemson put the beat down on South Carolina St. to where both sides decided to end the game early. Deshaun Watson played sparingly, but finally looked like the one we have seen in the past, alas it was against a not great team. They travel to Georgia Tech for a Thursday night game, in what might be considered a trap game for Clemson. The Yellow Jackets are also 3-0 and the Tigers might be looking ahead to that match-up in two weeks with Louisville. Don’t Clemson, Clemson.
7.) Michigan – 3-0 – Next Week vs Penn State
I may be in the minority, but I am still not impressed with Michigan. Their offense is average at best, and their defense got exposed against Colorado until their starting quarterback left injured. Had he stayed in the game, who knows what could have happened. I am also not enamored with Jabrill Peppers. Yes, he is quite talented, and yes he plays in all facets of the game, but I just don’t get the hype. Michigan will lose before they play Ohio State in November, will it be to Wisconsin in two weeks or Michigan State in October?
8.) Washington – 3-0 – Next Week @ Arizona
I’ll admit, I haven’t seen Washington play a down of football this season. I thought they were overrated to begin the season, and I still believe that they probably are here. They are here because they have won convincingly in all three games, and are playing as well as anyone in the country right now. Time will tell how the Huskies stand up, as I said I feel the Pac-12 is down this year except for Stanford, and that match-up comes in two weeks in Seattle which should be a great game.
9.) Michigan State – 2-0 – Next Week @ Wisconsin
I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure what Michigan State would be this year. They lost a lot of talent off of last years team, and I didn’t expect them to have their way with Notre Dame like they did. Sure they made it a game late, but I don’t think the game was ever in doubt. They struggled a bit in week one, but I think they have the kinks worked out now, and have a huge home game next weekend against the Wisconsin Badgers. Both teams are undefeated and have aspirations of a Big Ten title, so although next week’s game is not a division game, a lot will still be on the line.
10.) Wisconsin – 3-0 – Next Week @ Michigan State
Speaking of teams I wasn’t sure about at the beginning of the season, the Wisconsin Badgers are quite a surprise this season. They defeated LSU to open the season, and while LSU hasn’t been that impressive, a win against an SEC team to open the season is still a good victory. There is a bit of a quarterback controversy with Alex Hornibrook taking over against Georgia State and leading them to victory after Bart Houston struggled early. They need to have a solid plan at QB if they want to go into East Lansing and have a chance at the upset next weekend.
The post A Non-Voters Top 10 appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
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