Jhop's Final Top Ten CFB Rankings

Well the dust has settled and I wanted to wait until the last game to update my final top ten. I had done it all year with what I felt was pretty good success. It was at the very least, consistent.

I don’t really put my rankings together in the same way the AP, Coaches or ESPN, I mean the CFB Playoffs do. Of course you gotta win games, look good doing it, pass the eyeball test, have a resume and be relatively healthy.

That last one will forever haunt Florida State. To go from undefeated and what seemed like a lock to making the playoffs to getting absolutely demolished by Georgia instead. Fortunately next year this won’t be such a glaring issue. An expanded playoff will make it easier to give teams like Florida State, Oregon, Ole Miss, etc. a chance at winning a playoff.

With college football now over and Michigan the national champs. I figured I’d offer one last top ten for this season based on bowl game results and some eyeball test.

1. Michigan – No kidding. I’ll eat my crow here, I had a tough time buying the Michigan hype all year with a very lackluster resume for about 2/3 of the season. Let’s be honest, the B1G wasn’t very good this year. But Michigan was. They won and I believe they got better as the season went on.
2. Washington – It’s easy to fling a lot of crap at UW, but this was a good team. They pretty much crapped the bed in the championship, but that’s what happens to first-timers often. Michigan was the better team, UW beat Oregon twice, while it’s easy to poke a little fun at them now, we still have to respect the body of work.
3. Georgia – Quite frankly, if Georgia had gotten into the playoff I’m not so sure Kirby wouldn’t be holding up another trophy. I will say I think this was a playoff with intriguing matchups and we know ‘styles make fights.’ But the blue-chip ratio remains in tact and Georgia 100-percent checks that box.
4. Oregon – Yeah I know I’m a homer here but this is how I see it. Oregon lost by 3 to UW twice this season against a version of Michael Penix who didn’t crap the bed like he did in the Natty. Oregon could hang with anyone in the top four and I feel they could beat everyone below them.
5. Alabama – The inconsistent play at quarterback killed the Tide. They weren’t the same elite Bama were used to but Nick Saban can still win games and did a much better job against Michigan than the Huskies did.
6. Texas – Some pieces on offense and a terrific front four on defense. But a ton of holes behind them. Bo Nix would have picked this defense apart like Penix did. I know they beat Bama earlier this season but wouldn’t have in a rematch.
7. Missouri – Who in the hell are these guys? Well, a really good football team apparently. I had a tough time buying in but Missouri became that team you didn’t want to face down the stretch. I don’t think they had the blue chip talent to beat the top four, but I would love to see them against Texas and Washington.
8. Ole Miss – Lane Kiffin knows he’s close to having the pieces and that’s why Ole Miss was so active in the portal. Any ‘early list’ of top 25 teams that doesn’t have Ole Miss in the top ten and probably top five, isn’t a real list.
9. Arizona – Arizona would beat Ohio State. And that’s why they are 9 and tOSU is 10. Ole Miss vs Zona would have been a fun one.
10. Ohio State – Sorry Florida State, I can’t do it. I know it’s brutal to grade you on a completely disappointing bowl game after opt outs. But the fact is nobody had enough respect for you to put you in the top four and then you didn’t do yourselves any favors against Georgia. As for tOSU, meh, good team, not a great team.