Jhop's Week Nine Top Ten Rankings

Alrighty Duck fans, it’s getting down to the nitty gritty. We are entering that late season stretch where not only do wins and losses matter, how you win matters too. And the Ducks won emphatically this weekend over Utah.

I have a couple changes this week. For the most part my top ten has been pretty consistent all year with subtle changes. Again if you’re reading this for the first time, I’m more of an ‘eyeball test’ kind of evaluator. So my rankings are a reflection of schedule, performance, health and season outlook.

With that in mind, let me get right into my updated top ten rankings.

1. Georgia – This has been my number one for weeks now and I don’t envision that changing. They have no real tests left in the regular season. I know Missouri, Tennessee and Ole Miss are ranked but I just don’t see it. They’ll stay at No. 1 until we see if there’s a challenge in the SEC championship game. I think Missouri (this weekend) will give them the toughest remaining game.
2. Florida State – Does Miami have it in them to make this a game in two weeks? Does Florida pull together to make it a game as Billy Napier begs to keep his job? Probably not to both questions. FSU has a clear path into the playoffs as does Georgia.
3. Michigan – Will somebody please beat Michigan?? My least favorite of the top three. They have no quality wins this season but they have taken care of business. I could hope for a Penn State upset but I don’t see it so I’m resigned to pulling for Ryan Day and Ohio State in a few weeks.
4. Washington – There is no doubt Oregon’s wins since this game have been more impressive. But Washington beat Oregon head-to-head so I can’t move Oregon ahead of them, yet. This might make you sick to your stomach, but you might be a USC fan this weekend. For some reason I have a feeling about the Trojans here.
5. Oregon – I know I said I couldn’t move Oregon ahead of UW because of the head-to-head, but a loss or another below average performance this weekend and I’ll have to re-think that. Oregon is playing at a high level and should smoke Cal at home in the rain this weekend. (Yes, it’s going to rain in Autzen this weekend)
6. Ohio State – They have some very talented pieces on this team. But they are just not great across the board nor physical. I do think they can beat Michigan but I’ll say this as well. I think Oregon can beat everyone on this list today, with Georgia being the toughest out. I just hope Ohio State doesn’t slip up ahead of Michigan that way I can drop the Wolverines below Oregon and tOSU.
7. Alabama – Are we really out here betting against Nick Saban and Alabama? The Tide can still hang with the best of them and Saban might be the ‘bear you don’t want to poke.’ We got a good one this week in SEC land, but I get the feeling Bama beats LSU by double digits.
8. Texas – Will K-State be a challenge this week? Probably not. Like others on this list, Texas has a clear path to its conference title game which might be a rematch with Oklahoma. Texas is good, but I don’t think they are top five worthy.
9. Ole Miss – Don’t look now but Lane has a pretty good team. An early season loss to Bama, a win over LSU and a 7-1 record. To be honest there aren’t a lot of teams I like better than Ole Miss. You can put whoever you want at 10, but I think the top 5 on this list are in one tier and 6-8 are in a close second tier. Ole Miss starts that third tier.
10. Oklahoma – I’m going to list Oklahoma here because they have only one loss even though it was this weekend and a very close win over UCF last weekend. They are trending the wrong direction currently. But I like them better than Penn State, Notre Dame or LSU so they get the nod for 10. There is absolutely no excuse for Oklahoma to lose another game until the conference championship.