J3C College Football Top 25 (after week thirteen)

Ah yes, Rivalry Week.  Where strange things happen.  Or don’t.

Nothing strange about kicking things off in earnest on Thanksgiving and seeing Ole Miss get the blue hell beaten out of them.   A performance that got (so far) only the defensive coordinator fired but should have been the swan song for the entire inept staff … Friday provided the Big 12 version of arena football, with Oklahoma outlasting West Virginia … Washington did Apple Cup things to Wazzu …. Virginia Tech did VaTech things to UVA, again …  UCF won a game but lost something far more valuable to their fortunes … Then we get to Saturday and things got more than a little serious, with Alabama scuffling for a half with Auburn, Clemson doing likewise with South Carolina, and Notre Dame doing the same for most of the day in SoCal … Other teams, like Georgia and Florida and Kentucky did what they were supposed to do with downtrodden rivals (and don’t let the surge fool you, the lack of commitment to winning, or football in general, at Georgia Tech leaves the Jackets in the ranks of the downtrodden regardless of their late season wins) … But just when you thought you’d seen the last of the turkey, along comes Michigan to lay a big ol’ turkey egg against Ohio State.  Again … The insanity of seven overtimes for Texas A&M and LSU seemed to put a fitting bow on the regular season, in a year when defenses were hard to locate unless bad offenses were willing to pitch in to help … Oh, and let’s not forget Tennessee reverting to form against Vandy, after reverting to form in the latter part of the previous game.  Nobody is likely to mourn the departure from Rocky Top of OC Tyson Helton, who is off to take over things at Western Kentucky.   Good luck with that, he seems better suited for a Hilltop than a mountain anyway.

Only a few games remain before bowl season begins, so let’s sort ’em out again in earnest here with the latest update of my JonsThreeCents College Football Top 25.
(last week’s ranking follows their name)

1. Alabama (1)
2. Clemson (2)
3. Notre Dame (3)
4. Georgia (5)
5. Oklahoma (6)
6. Ohio State (11)
7. Florida (10)
8. Michigan (4)
9. UCF (9)
10. Washington (16)
11. Texas (14)
12. Penn State (15)
13. LSU (7)
14. Washington State (8)
15. West Virginia (13)
16. Utah (17)
17. Boise State (20)
18. Kentucky (18)
19. Syracuse (19)
20. Mississippi State (22)
21. Northwestern (21)
22. Fresno State (24)
23. Texas A&M (Un)
24. Army (23)
25. Utah State (12)

Dropped: Cincinnati (25)

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J3C College Football Top 25 (after week twelve)

Did some teams have their turkey (and the ensuing hangover) a week early?

Bama was tied at halftime. Clemson had a one score lead at the half.   The clear top two teams went on to win by a combined 62 point margin but life was certainly more interesting for them than expected … Notre Dame established themselves as a rather clear (however distant) #3 while Michigan created more room for doubt by actually trailing after two quarters … Georgia played a glorified scrimmage while Oklahoma probably slipped backwards a tad … None of those teams did as much damage to themselves as Oklahoma State did to West Virginia however … For my more personal rooting interests it was Georgia Tech who managed to pull off the upset for a change while Ole Miss helped Vanderbilt look like a clear favorite in the upcoming rivalry game against Tennessee, a team that managed to find a way to look like hot garbage only a week after an upset that might have suggested they were closer to relevance than previously thought.

On into the winter we go, so let’s get the latest update of my JonsThreeCents College Football Top 25.
Happy Thanksgiving to one and all

(last week’s ranking follows their name)

1. Alabama (1)
2. Clemson (2)
3. Notre Dame (3)
4. Michigan (4)
5. Georgia (5)
6. Oklahoma (6)
7. LSU (7)
8. Washington State (9)
9. UCF (10)
10. Florida (17)
11. Ohio State (11)
12. Utah State (12)
13. West Virginia (8)
14. Texas (14)
15. Penn State (15)
16. Washington (18)
17. Utah (20)
18. Kentucky (22)
19. Syracuse (13)
20. Boise State (21)
21. Northwestern (24)
22. Mississippi State (Un)
23. Army (25)
24. Fresno State (Un)
25.  Cincinnati (16)

Dropped: Iowa State (19), Boston College (23)

J3C College Football Top 25 (after week eleven)

A brief respite from a season of craziness.

That was basically the story of week eleven, where almost everyone that was supposed to win (gasp) actually did so.  Though not quite all of them did so in the way we expected.

Both Alabama and Clemson dominated with defense.  How thoroughly?  They didn’t allow 300 yards of total offense COMBINED … Notre Dame and Michigan overwhelmed overmatched opponents, though in theory there ought to be a big difference in beating FSU and beating Rutgers.  Maybe not so big this season … Okay, sure, Fresno State laid an egg in the middle of my rankings but I figure somebody had to do it …

For my more personal interests, Tennessee got the job done against a Kentucky team that looks like it’s run out of gas, Georgia Tech avoided doing Tech things and handed CMR another loss to further warm his seat as the weather grows colder, and Ole Miss did Ole Miss things.  At least they got a big win earlier in the week with the “resignation” (yeah, right) of the existing chancellor there.

The march to the playoffs continues, so let’s march right on in to the latest update of my JonsThreeCents College Football Top 25.

(last week’s ranking follows their name)

1. Alabama (1)
2. Clemson (2)
3. Notre Dame (3)
4. Michigan (5)
5. Georgia (6)
6. Oklahoma (5)
7. LSU (4)
8. West Virginia (8)
9. Washington State (9)
10. UCF (10)
11. Ohio State (11)
12. Utah State (12)
13. Syracuse (17)
14. Texas (16)
15. Penn State (19)
16. Cincinnati (21)
17. Florida (20)
18. Washington (23)
19. Iowa State (25)
20. Utah (Un)
21. Boise State (Un)
22. Kentucky (13)
23. Boston College (18)
24. Northwestern (Un)
25. Army (Un)

Dropped: Fresno State (14), Mississippi State (15), Auburn (22), Iowa (24)

J3C College Football Top 25 (after week ten)

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: One potential contender for the final four lost, as did a number of field fillers.
Somehow that sounds familiar.

So in a post-Election Day attention diverted fashion, I’ll just hit a couple highlights from the weekend that was.
Thorough.  That’s the word that comes to mind when I think about what Alabama did to LSU.  In Death Valley … Clemson and Michigan both stood out this weekend … Oklahoma, Washington State, and Ohio State also stood out but for the wrong reasons instead of the right ones … Also standing out were Texas A&M, Florida, and Iowa, but that’s the kind of stuff that will leave you standing outside …. For my personal interests, Tennessee struggled their way past Charlotte (? Srsly?), Georgia Tech found juuuuust enough to avoid another collapse, and I watched in person for the second straight season as Ole Miss snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, sparked by the refusal of their quarterback to even look willing to TRY to get a crucial first down.   I’m genuinely shocked at this point that anyone is willing to block for him at all.

That’s an abbreviated wrap due to time constraints, let’s get to the latest edition of my JonsThreeCents College Football Top 25.

(last week’s ranking follows their name)

1. Alabama (1)
2. Clemson (2)
3. Notre Dame (3)
4. Michigan (5)
5. Oklahoma (6)
6. Georgia (7)
7. LSU (4)
8. West Virginia (8)
9. Washington State (9)
10. UCF (10)
11. Ohio State (11)
12. Utah State (17)
13. Kentucky (13)
14. Fresno State (19)
15. Mississippi State (20)
16. Texas (16)
17. Syracuse (25)
18. Boston College (Un)
19. Penn State (12)
20.  Florida (14)
21. Cincinnati (Un)
22. Auburn (Un)
23. Washington (Un)
24. Iowa (21)
25. Iowa State (Un)

Dropped: Utah (15), Houston (17), Virginia (22), Texas A&M (23), Georgia Southern (25)

J3C College Football Top 25 (after week three)

Week three, where bubbles burst. Or at least a couple of them did.

While Auburn still has multiple opportunities to get themselves back in position for the playoff despite their loss to LSU, Wisconsin now may need an unbeaten run to the finish by BYU for them to salvage a spot for themselves.  Such is life in the (post)modern college football era.

Meanwhile, Alabama could face charges involving mistreatment of a corpse after their thorough dismembering of (what’s left of) Ole Miss.  It only looked like a snuff film, but the victim was already dead … Clemson did enough, though for about a quarter & a half things were closer than they would have liked or hoped … Georgia beat up another victim while Ohio State got one of the best wins anyone has on their resume to date this year … Iowa State might be the best 0-2 team in the land, just ask Oklahoma … Stanford mostly sleptwalked through their win this week while Washington survived a physical affair against Utah … Notre Dame nearly ended their season early while Michigan posted a pedestrian 25 point win … Out west, USC and Arizona State were both revealed as pretenders to significance …   Tennessee manhandled a lesser opponent defensively, more than enough to get their offense through another week, while Georgia Tech throughly soiled the proverbial sheets.  While it’s fair to put the latest display of ineptitude largely on the players lack of execution (insert John McKay joke about his players execution here), CPJ is the clown who brought them in so #FireCPJ remains most definitely a valid thing.

Shuffled up a bit, time to deal  the latest edition of JonsThreeCents College Football Top 25.
(last week’s ranking follows their name)

1. Alabama (1)
2. Clemson (2)
3. Ohio State (5)
4. Georgia (4)
5. Oklahoma (5)
6. Stanford (9)
7. Notre Dame (7)
8. LSU (11)
9. Auburn (8)
10. Washington (10)
11. Penn State (12)
12. Mississippi State (14)
13. Virginia Tech (15)
14. West Virginia (16)
15. Oklahoma State (18)
16. TCU (16)
17. Wisconsin (3)
18. Michigan (19)
19. Oregon (24)
20. Miami (21)
21. UCF (22)
22. Boston College (23)
23. Texas A&M (Un)
24. Boise State (17)
25. BYU (Un)

Dropped: USC (20), Arizona State (25)

J3C College Football Top 25 (after week two)

Does week two have a bit of “sophomore jinx” this year?

Not in the sense that a lot of upsets occurred or unexpected poor performances, but rather more in the sense of feeling a little … lackluster.

Three ranked teams lost this week but none of those were overly surprising to me, though ASU vs Sparty felt like a toss up and that’s about what it turned out to be … Most ranked teams did what you’d expect against significantly weaker opponents, Clemson found life to be more interesting than they anticipated/hoped for … While not particularly relevant to anything in the big picture, my own teams of interest were at least, well, interesting (though not all for good reasons) … Ole Miss puts up a basketball score on SIU, while letting the Salukis figuratively shoot the lights out for a half … Georgia Tech got the result I expected, just not entirely in the manner I figured.   I didn’t figure USF would need the predictable collapse to win outright … Tennessee let a weaker opponent (which are kinda tough for them to find) hang around for a little while before doing what they ought to do in that situation.

Mostly though, my football weekend was highlighted by a trip to see some of my family’s favorite people as Washington & Lee faced DIII rival Sewanee.  Good times, great people, and a handy win.  Hard to beat that for a football outing.

With relatively few changes, here’s the latest update of JonsThreeCents College Football Top 25.     (last week’s ranking follows their name)

1. Alabama (1)
2. Clemson (2)
3. Wisconsin (3)
4. Georgia (4)
5. Ohio State (5)
6. Oklahoma (6)
7. Notre Dame (7)
8. Auburn (8)
9. Stanford (9)
10. Washington (10)
11. LSU (11)
12. Penn State (12)
13. TCU (13)
14. Mississippi State (14)
15. Virginia Tech (16)
16. West Virginia (18)
17. Boise State (19)
18. Oklahoma State (21)
19. Michigan (20)
20. USC (17)
21. Miami (21)
22. UCF (22)
23. Boston College (23)
24. Oregon (Un)
25. Arizona State (Un)

Dropped: Michigan State (15), South Carolina (24)

J3C College Football Top 25 (2017 season final)

Well that was close.   Too close.

A freshman quarterback that hadn’t seen particularly meaningful action all season.  A freshman receiver who caught only eight passes for the year, but two of those were game winning touchdowns on his team’s final offensive play.   This Alabama team suddenly has two surprise heroes … and, oh yeah, another national championship.

In some respects perhaps the sudden stunning finish to the 2017 college football season was appropriate.   I mean, who really thought FSU would end up with a season turning to disaster after an injury?  Or that the ‘Noles would go into 2018 with a new coach?  Or that their old coach would end up at … Texas A&M (!?!)? Or that UCF would run the table, regardless of their (lack of) strength of schedule?  Or that Auburn would beat both playoff finalists, but not be in the playoff themselves?  Or that a college team would hold a press conference to announced that they’ve hired Herm Edwards (?!?!?).   Or that Georgia Tech would miss a bowl … oh wait, that one really ain’t any more shocking than Tennessee (finally) ridding themselves of Butch Jones.    Or maybe there’s the most shocking development of all:  someone hiring Derek Doofus to coach in the college ranks again. Proof positive that, truly, anything can happen I guess.

I think, in the big picture, that the year was a good one for college football.   Too often in recent years there felt like there was little mystery to be found, while this year — good or bad — there was at least a little more sense of “what will happen next?”.   And that bodes well, in theory anyway, for next season … which is only about seven months away.   It seems almost certain that some of this year’s playoff teams will also be some of next year’s playoff teams … but you never know, which is what 2017 proved.

All that’s left is to put a bow on 2017, with my final JonsThreeCents College Football Top 25 for the year.  (Final rank & pre-bowl rank before the team name, my pre-season rank follows their name)

1. (5) Alabama (1)
2. (3) Georgia (17)
3. (2) Oklahoma (5)
4. (4) Ohio State (3)
5. (1) Clemson (7)
6. (9) UCF (Un)
7. (8) Wisconsin (11)
8. (10) Penn State (8)
9. (13) TCU (Un)
10. (6) Auburn (12)
11. (15) Notre Dame (Un)
12. (7) USC (4)
13. (11) Miami (16)
14. (16) Oklahoma State (10)
15. (18) Michigan State (Un)
16. (23) Mississippi State (Un)
17. (21) Northwestern (Un)
18. (12) Washington (6)
19. (20) LSU (13)
20. (14) Stanford (14)
21. (19) South Florida (22)
22. (22) Washington State (23)
23. (25) Boise State (Un)
24.  (Un) Iowa State (Un)
25. (Un) Wake Forest (Un)

Dropped: Memphis (17), Virginia Tech (24)

Teams ranked in pre-season that finished 2017 unranked:
FSU (2), Michigan (9),  Florida (15), Kansas State (18), Louisville (19), Virginia Tech (20),
West Virginia (21), Texas (24), Utah (25)