Outkick’s Final Top Ten Of the Regular Season

The playoff selection committee got it right.

Congrats to them for picking the right four teams for the playoff. Even if their rankings remain different than mine, I think their teams are correct.

We’ll do one more Outkick top ten after the bowl games, but this will be our final ranking for over a month.

So here we go.

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1. Georgia

I believe the 12-1 Bulldogs now have the best resume of any team in college football. They lost one game on the road against a top ten foe by 23, but then came back to beat that same team by 21 on a neutral site. So they’ve effectively erased their loss.

They’ve not just beaten ten FBS teams from power five conferences, they’ve beaten nine of them by two touchdowns or more and eight of them by 20 or more.

So I’ve got Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs as my top team in the country headed into the playoff.

2. Clemson

The Tigers have the second best resume in college football, notching a ton of big wins, but still managing to lose to 4-8 Syracuse.

I can’t wait to see what happens against Alabama in the third straight postseason match up.

This is crazy to say, but if Dabo beats Saban again this year, he’s legitimately in the running to challenge Saban for best coach in college football right now. (Saban would, however, remain the most dominant college football coach of all time).

3. Oklahoma

The 12-1 Sooners have the best quarterback in the college football playoff.

Will that be enough to win a title?

It sure was last year.

4. Alabama

The Tide survived an Iron Bowl loss to roll into the college football playoff.

Now can Saban win a title out of the four position like Urban Meyer did three years ago?

If so, it’s going to take much better play from Jalen Hurts than the Tide got in last year’s playoff or in the Iron Bowl.

5. Ohio State

The Buckeyes 31 point road loss to Iowa — in conjunction with a 15 point loss to Oklahoma at home — was a bridge too far for the playoff selection committee.

So the JT Barrett era will end in the Cotton Bowl against USC.

That should be a hell of a game.

6. Auburn

The Tigers couldn’t quite pull off one of the most epic stretches in college football history — they were trying to beat two number one teams and win a league title all in less than a month.

Late in the SEC title game they finally ran out of gas.

Now Gus Malzahn is locked up for years to come on the Plains and Auburn should be really good again next year.

7. Wisconsin

 

The Badgers have benefited from a very mediocre Big Ten West over the past several years, winning the division three of four years and five out of seven overall.

But are the Badgers ever going to be good enough to actually win a national title?

Based on their recruiting classes, I have my doubts.

8. Southern Cal

If Southern Cal had played a lower tier FBS team or even an FCS team instead of Notre Dame, USC would be in the playoff this year.

Instead, the Trojans played the most challenging schedule of all the college football contenders and they got blown out by the Irish, effectively eliminating themselves from title contention in October.

The simple truth is this, it’s highly unlikely that a 12-1 big five conference champion or, certainly, a 13-0 big five conference champion, is ever going to be left out of the playoff.

9. Miami

The Hurricanes got exposed in the final two weeks of the regular season. They simply didn’t have enough talent to be considered an elite national title contender.

But Mark Richt is still vastly exceeding expectations early in his tenure with the Canes.

Is the U officially back? I think so.

10. Penn State

Penn State needed four more points against Michigan State or two more points against Ohio State and they would have been playing Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game for a guaranteed spot in the college football playoff.

It’s hard to find fault with a 10-2 season, but the Nittany Lions were achingly close to an incredible year.