Goz’s Weekly College Football Rankings (Week 14)
This season I’ll be providing my own personal Top 25 poll each week during the college football season. This week marks the final poll until the college football committee announces their selections this Sunday. My poll philosophy all season long has been ranking the teams I believe are the best twenty five best in the country following that given week’s games. Below are my rankings and comments about each week’ biggest shake up and changes.
1) Alabama
2) Ohio State
3) Clemson
4) Washington
5) Michigan
6) Wisconsin
7) Penn State
8) Oklahoma
9) Colorado
10) Western Michigan
11) Florida State
12) Oklahoma State
13) USC
14) Louisville
15) Florida
16) West Virginia
17) LSU
18) Auburn
19) Stanford
20) Washington State
21) Navy
22) Nebraska
23) South Florida
24) Virginia Tech
25) Utah
Michigan Too Low at Five? – I fought over and over on this ranking this week. Do I believe after the Wolverines’ performance on the road that they can on any given Saturday beat Clemson, Washington or even Ohio State on a neutral field? The answer is Yes. The problem is that over the course of a season, I have to evaluate what Clemson and Washington have done. They both have just one loss, play in a Power 5 conference and will possibly big up another win against a top 20 team this weekend. It was a tremendous effort by Coach Jim Harbaugh’s team but for this week I have to keep them there.
But can Michigan still make the college playoff Committee Top 4? Yes! For me it’s as simple as this: Clemson or Washington lose and Michigan should be in. Wisconsin and Penn State fans will not be happy about that but to me that seems like the eventual ending if there is an upset in the ACC or Pac 12 title game. The Wolverines in a head to head matchup this season beat Penn State and Wisconsin! When it gets down to 2 loss teams and Michigan has beat the eventual conference champion, the Wolverines should get the nod. Even if Penn State or Wisconsin win in a blowout, it will not be enough to catch a 1 loss Pac 12 or ACC champion or a 2 loss Michigan.
Colorado to Rose Bowl? Navy to Cotton Bowl? Who’s going to the Orange Bowl? For bowl fans like me this final ranking will be very interesting in determining some of the selections for bowl games. If Colorado wins, it’s likely they will not have enough on their resume to catch Michigan for a college football playoff berth but they could be getting a game against the Big Ten winner in the Rose Bowl. One Non Power 5 conference team will play in a New Year’s Six Bowl game and right now the most likely candidate is Western Michigan. Remember the highest ranking Non Power 5 team NEEDS to be a conference champion to get a New Year’s Six Bowl bid. If the Broncos lose and Navy wins, it would be the Midshipmen heading to Dallas. In the Orange Bowl, it has an ACC bid open but what team will they give it to? It’s possible Florida State may be ranked over Louisville now after the Cardinals loss, but the Cardinals beat the Seminoles by 43 points earlier in the season and may have a Heisman Trophy winner on their roster.
Tom “Goz” Goslowski is a Heisman Trophy and College Football Hall of Fame voter. You can hear him every weekday 2-7pm on Levack and Goz on 1045 The Team.