My College Football Top 10 at (around) the Midway Point of the Season

With plenty of data to work off of, it's finally time to put together a ranking that isn't based largely off of pre-season expectations. These are the ten best teams so far this season based only on what they've accomplished this season. This ranking takes into account the "eye-test" AND the team's actual resume on the season. Losses matter, folks, but some teams have also had it MUCH easier than others along the way. This is essentially where I'd rank the nation's teams if I was honestly acting on the College Football Playoff Committee with MY criteria for ranking teams (which is somewhat influenced by how the CFP committee has ranked teams in the past).

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10. Penn State Nittany Lions

As you'll come to realize as you work your way down the rankings, I am putting perhaps as much weight on avoiding bad losses as acquiring good wins. What I mean by this is that I will find a team's resume more palatable if they have a tough loss, but have never been incredibly underwhelming. My ranking of Penn State/Iowa and Oregon/Ohio State both reflect this. While Iowa and Oregon have close head-to-head wins against Penn State and Ohio State, both the Hawkeyes and the Ducks have rather inexcusable losses (to Purdue and Stanford, respectively). I value consistent performance at great-to-elite levels, and the Nittany Lions' loss to the Hawkeyes still reflects a high level of play that Iowa has not sustained each week. Penn State also holds an increasingly impressive win over Auburn, and I think they slot in comfortably as a top-10 worthy team.

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9. Oregon Ducks

Similar to the Hawkeyes, the Ducks have a pretty strong resume on paper as well as a head-to-head win over another team in these rankings. However, their level of play outside of that Ohio State victory has detracted from their case almost every week since, with the clearest example coming from their OT loss to a mediocre Stanford team. However, their one-loss record and that win in Columbus (likely still the most impressive win of the season to date) slots them in at #9.

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8. Michigan State Spartans

They keep winning, which is more than I can say for most teams. Coach Mel Tucker should absolutely be at the forefront for national Coach of the Year at this point. They still haven't really beaten anyone that looks like they have a pulse at this point, and they've been on the ropes multiple times against said teams. I can't knock them for winning, though.

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7. Michigan Wolverines

They're a lot like Michigan State, but I think they've been marginally more impressive. They absolutely broke Wisconsin on the road (not abundantly impressive, but it's something) and weathered a tough road game against Nebraska (MSU's close win versus the Huskers was at home). I really could flip the Michigan schools, but I just feel that Michigan is a half step better. It's just my gut feeling. This debate will get settled on the field in two weeks.

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6. Oklahoma State Cowboys

I'll roast the Big 12 as much as anyone else, but the Cowboys have the best wins of any of the three teams in the 6-8 tier (Baylor and Texas). Shockingly, the Cowboys have adapted to win with defense this year, and I'm willing to believe they're a legitimate threat to Oklahoma's stranglehold on the conference.

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5. Alabama Crimson Tide

The loss to Texas A&M last week is debilitating on paper, but I think it's important to grasp the context of a game instead of just looking at the metrics of it (looking at you, stats nerds). One of the great things about college football is the occasional moment where a team elevates its play to new stratospheres for one 4-hour period to topple a titan of the sport. That's what happened in College Station when the Aggies (a very talented team) pulled out all the stops and nipped Alabama at the end. I'm not being an Alabama apologist (I'm the farthest thing from that). I'm just calling it how I see it. Alabama has played like a top-5 team all year, and they still played like a top-5 team in their loss. They just happened to run into the wrong team at the wrong time. The Crimson Tide aren't untouchable this year, but neither is anyone else. They're still knocking on the door of a playoff berth going forward.

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4. Ohio State Buckeyes

They have a better loss than Alabama (not by a lot because it was at home, but still) and they lack a second showing where they looked outclassed at times (as Alabama did against Florida). Ohio State looks like a team that has at least mended their most glaring deficiency (their entire defense), and their offense is freakishly good if CJ Stroud continues his ascent to being an impact player. In a crowded field of teams with assailable resumes, Ohio State looks like the best of the rest outside the top 3.

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3. Oklahoma Sooners

Caleb Williams is a game-changer, but we'll have to wait and see whether the Sooners are truly head-and-shoulders above the rest of the Big 12. Despite looking better since Williams replaced Spencer Rattler at QB, they still haven't accomplished anything as a football team that any number of decent squads haven't done (beat Texas and TCU). Let's see how they look against Iowa State and Oklahoma State, but they're legitimately slotted into the CFP as of now.

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2. Cincinnati Bearcats

I value taking care of business when the opportunity is presented, and the Bearcats have done exactly that dating back to last year (save for a bowl loss to Georgia last season). Cincinnati was in serious danger against Indiana before Micah McFadden's ejection, but have been firmly in control ever since then. Their resume will only look relatively worse as the rest of the season progresses, unfortunately, as they play vastly inferior competition compared to the other CFP contenders. But for now, let's give the Bearcats credit for doing what has proved to be exceedingly difficult for almost every team in college football: Being the decidedly better team on the field every week.

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1. Georgia Bulldogs

Time will tell, but 2021 has been the year of the Dawgs so far. Dispatching every team so far with relative ease since a huge game against a since-wounded Clemson team, Georgia appears to be one of the strongest teams in recent college football memory. The offense hasn't blown me away, but let's be honest: They could be okay and still beat almost every other team in college football by 2-plus touchdowns. The defense is THAT good. For a program that has epitomized coming up just short of glory for the past decade, this year would easily take the cake as the biggest disappointment of all if UGA isn't holding the national championship trophy at season's end. They are clearly the class of the country, and the rest of the country is just playing spoiler at this point. Don't mess this up, Kirby.