Kirk Herbstreit reveals College Football Playoff Top 4, First 2 Out after Week 7
ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit updated his ranking of the top college football teams after a loaded Week 7 Saturday.
What else can you say, it was a tremendously entertaining week of football. Oregon vs. Washington more than lived up to the hype as the Huskies squeaked by. Notre Dame bounced back and scored a huge blowout win over USC while the Big Ten power houses all whupped up on some lesser competition.
Below, you can check out where six different teams landed in Kirk Herbstreit’s current College Football Playoff picture as we round the corner and head towards Week 8.
1. Michigan
Michigan is just ruthlessly mowing down their schedule, scoring 30+ in every win while allowing no more than 10 points in any game. Indiana struck first on Saturday with a trick play TD to make it 7-0 before the Wolverines stomped the Hoosiers into submission with 52 straight points.
The Wolverines may not have a strong resume in terms of the number of quality opponents they’ve beaten. But in the games they have played, Jim Harbaugh’s squad has been absolutely dominant, which is all you can ask.
2. Georgia
Georgia finally looked like the Georgia of 2021 and 2022 in their washout of a 5-0 Kentucky squad last weekend under the lights in Athens. But then, on the road in a noon kickoff this Saturday vs. Vanderbilt, the Bulldogs reverted back with a more lackadaisical performance.
The Commodores struck first on a long touchdown pass and really moved the ball well for a lot of the day. In the final quarter, Vandy even had a two-point try that would have cut the lead to one possession at 30-22. However, they missed and UGA escaped without much of a sweat. Though they did suffer several injury setbacks on offense, notably to starters Brock Bowers, Kendall Milton and Xavier Truss.
3. Washington
Six long years into his career and Michael Penix is finally at the summit of the sport for now. He surpassed 300 yards for the sixth game out of six this season, and this performance was the most important of all.
In one of the biggest regular season games in the history of the Washington program, the Husky superstar came through against a top Pac-12 defense and delivered in the biggest moments to earn the victory. For UW, it means a path to the College Football Playoff is very real. For Penix, it means he’s now the Heisman frontrunner.
4. Florida State
When Jordan Travis and Keon Coleman connect like they did vs. Syracuse — over and over again for a slew of explosive plays — then it’s virtually impossible to slow down this Florida State offense. Particularly, Coleman was excellent on Saturday with nine grabs, 140 yards and one amazing catch shown above.
Aside from a bizarre close call vs. Boston College, Florida State has been perhaps the most impressive team in the country aside from Michigan. They’ve beaten the snot out of most opponents while also scoring two quality victories over a pair of Tigers vs. LSU and Clemson — both away from home, too.
First Out: Oklahoma
Well, Oklahoma’s resume really isn’t a whole lot different than the four teams ahead of them that Herbstreit has in the playoff. All five clubs are undefeated power conference leaders, but Oklahoma’s the one who arguably has the best win with a neutral-site victory over a top-10 Texas team.
This week, the Sooners were off as they’ve reached the midway point. Frankly, their slate the rest of the way isn’t all that challenging, especially since a road matchup with Kansas is the toughest test on paper.
Second Out: Ohio State
Like the other five, Ohio State is also an undefeated power conference club and has a marquee win at Notre Dame that looked a whole lot better this Saturday night than last Saturday night. But with some slow starts and a lack of pure dominance in some of the wins, Herbstreit has them out right now.
Obviously, rankings like these really don’t matter right now, especially for the Big Ten East triumvirate of Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan. After all, the three squads each have to play the other two in the second half of the season and it’s those massive contests that will decide their fates as College Football Playoff contenders.
After seven weeks and half a season for each of these clubs, the smoke is starting to clear with the playoff picture. Teams like Florida State and Washington have an inside track, while we know a Big Ten and Big 12 school are each likely to make it in as well. Plus, there’s always Georgia marching their way towards another 12-0 season. A lot of fun is left to be had as these six plus a few others battle it out for those coveted four spots.