Outkick's Top Ten For Week 2 2018
There were only two top 25 games in college football this weekend, but I'll be damned if the weekend didn't deliver like it always does.
I'll have more on the weekend as a whole tomorrow morning in my Starting 11 column, but first I always post the Outkick Top Ten late on Saturday night.
For those who haven't been here before the Outkick top ten only ranks teams based on games that have been actually played. In other words, I don't start with a preseason ranking and seek to justify keeping the teams all where I expected them to be, I re-rank the teams every week based on what they've actually done on the field.
In so doing I give particular value to how teams have done against FBS opponents.
With that in mind, here we go:
1. Alabama
Tua is a cheat code and this may well be the best team Alabama has ever had under Nick Saban.
I'm not even sure how many teams can keep it close against the Tide if Tua is healthy.
2. Georgia
Wow.
Just wow.
That was a total Saban-esque beatdown of a sandstorm infused Gamecock crowd.
Given the Florida loss to Kentucky and the Georgia throttling of South Carolina on the road, the second best team in the SEC East is...I have no idea. Maybe Missouri? They have the best quarterback, at least.
There are only four unbeaten SEC East teams -- Georgia, Mizzou, Kentucky and Vanderbilt. So right now I think I'd pick Mizzou as the second best team in the SEC East.
3. Ohio State
The Buckeyes rolled.
Now how will they do down in Texas against TCU without Urban Meyer on the sideline? (This assumes that Urban's memory issues don't act up and cause him to arrive at the stadium to coach).
4. Auburn
The Tigers took a breather after a massive opening win over Washington.
LSU comes to town next weekend and if Auburn can win that game, the Tigers would be 5-0 headed to Mississippi State.
I can't wait for LSU-Auburn, which is an early match-up of two of my top five teams in the nation.
5. LSU
The Bayou Bengals took a bye week as well.
Up next, Auburn on the road.
We'll see whether Miami was an aberration or the Tigers are set to surprise all season long.
6. Oklahoma
The Sooners whipped UCLA, but gave up a crushing backdoor cover as one of the worst beats of the day.
I'm still in pain over that one.
Will Iowa State be a dangerous game next week or will the Sooners be out for revenge? I'm betting revenge will be sweet.
7. Notre Dame
The Fighting Irish were not very impressive against Ball State, but I still have them ranked highly based on their opening game win over Michigan.
Up next?
2-0 Vanderbilt!
Look out, the Commodores are coming to town.
8. Virginia Tech
The Hokies smoked Florida State on Monday night and then got an easy win against William and Mary today.
Get past Old Dominion and Duke and 5-0 Virginia Tech could be set to host undefeated Notre Dame.
That would be a wild ass game in Blacksburg.
9. Stanford
The Cardinal have beaten two solid teams, San Diego State and USC and their defense has been stifling in both games.
Can the Cardinal challenge Washington for Pac 12 North supremacy? We'll get another good test in a couple of weeks when they travel to Oregon.
10. Washington
I know, I know, they lost to Auburn, but I'm not going to penalize a team for a tough neutral (really a road game) loss.
The Huskies impressed me against Auburn and I should have kept them in the Outkick Top Ten last week. So I'm rectifying it this week.
Yes, this means I don't have Clemson ranked in my top ten. Why should I? They gave up over 500 yards to Texas A&M and won by two.
I need to see more from Clemson on the field to convince me they're worthy of a top ten ranking.
Close to Outkick's top ten, but not quite: West Virginia and Mississippi State.