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Rank the Top 5

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2020 9:14 am
by StevensTechU
A lot is made out of the top 4 teams in the country, clearly, since those are the teams who get to go to the playoffs. In that vein, I perhaps rank differently than others, because I think 'what are the teams who can lay a claim that they're the best team in the country,' and rank in descending order. That can differ a bit from what I think are the 'best' teams in the country, and ranking them as such.

So after UNC lost to FSU, Georgia was outclassed by Alabama, and Clemson blew the roof off of GTech, here are my rankings WITHOUT and WITH teams who haven't played.

Active Teams:
1. Clemson
2. Alabama
3. Oklahoma State
4. BYU
5. Notre Dame

Active & Inactive
1. Clemson
2. Ohio State
3. Alabama
4. Oregon
5. Oklahoma State

After Ohio State, I think there's a steep cliff, and then another after Alabama. Oregon being ranked above Oklahoma State is based on the idea that if they played heads up, who would I put money on. Notre Dame lags behind OkSU and BYU because they have zero downfield passing game. I think they have greater potential than some of the other teams listed, but I haven't seen it. BYU had an impressive win considering they played without their best receiver, though I think they have the lowest potential of all teams and highest chance of getting run over against the other teams listed. That said, am I sure they'd lose to OkSU? Not really.

Re: Rank the Top 5

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2020 1:52 pm
by Merganzer
Just a thought on the Active & Inactive list, in the spirit of actually playing somebody, which Ohio State hasn't and really, neither has Clemson, and they won't until the Playoffs. I would have Alabama @ #1. They just ran over #3 Georgia, and it didn't look that hard.

Re: Rank the Top 5

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2020 7:20 am
by Bud Lee
I don't think I can rank anyone who hasn't played yet. I fairly certain we are going to have some major upsets in the first couple of weeks in the PAC and the BIG10 just like we saw in the SEC and BIG12 that may change the landscape a lot.

Re: Rank the Top 5

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2020 7:26 am
by Bud Lee
So with only the active teams...

1) Bama (and that fucking pains me to type that)
2) Norte Dame
3) Clemson
4) Cincinnati

The cool thing this year is that Clemson will have to play Notre Dame. So they will be tested before the playoffs .

Re: Rank the Top 5

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2020 7:56 am
by StevensTechU
Bud Lee wrote:So with only the active teams...

1) Bama (and that fucking pains me to type that)
2) Norte Dame
3) Clemson
4) Cincinnati

The cool thing this year is that Clemson will have to play Notre Dame. So they will be tested before the playoffs .
Would you take either Alabama or Notre Dame heads up against Clemson with money on the line?

Seeing Alabama's defense against mediocre Ole Miss, I don't even think it's much of a debate for me.

Re: Rank the Top 5

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2020 8:14 am
by SuperDuck
Honestly, I don't think that Notre Dame, BYU or Oklahoma State are worthy of the Top-5.

I'd do something like this.

#1. Clemson
#2. Alabama
#3. Ohio State
#4. Georgia
#5. Oklahoma State (I still think North Carolina would beat them, though)

I watched the Alabama vs Georgia game and it was closer than the score indicates. Georgia's QB threw 2 costly picks in the second half that led to Alabama TDs. Also, the Georgia defense gave up a long FG at the end of the first half that cut the score to 24-20 Georgia, and gave Alabama momentum going into the second half. Georgia is definitely still a Top-5 team.

As much as I want to give kudo's to my Ducks, there are still some big shoes to fill at QB, OL, and in the secondary, not to mention losing Troy Dye at LB. I'll have a better idea after they've played a couple games.

Re: Rank the Top 5

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2020 8:18 am
by lukeyrid13
Clemson and Bama are by far the best two teams who have played. Ohio state will be right there with them

I think we are about where we were last year, a top 5-10 team who likely should win every game on the schedule, but would lose by 2 TD to the top 3 teams

Re: Rank the Top 5

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2020 9:12 am
by Bud Lee
StevensTechU wrote:
Bud Lee wrote:So with only the active teams...

1) Bama (and that fucking pains me to type that)
2) Norte Dame
3) Clemson
4) Cincinnati

The cool thing this year is that Clemson will have to play Notre Dame. So they will be tested before the playoffs .
Would you take either Alabama or Notre Dame heads up against Clemson with money on the line?

Seeing Alabama's defense against mediocre Ole Miss, I don't even think it's much of a debate for me.
At this point in the season I would take Bama over Clemson but I'm not sure about ND. Bama's offense is good enough to trade shots with Clemson and I think their defense can come up with a stop when needed. Jus t my thoughts at this point, probably will change my opinion in a few more weeks.

Re: Rank the Top 5

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2020 11:39 am
by buckmarkduck
1-Clemson
2-bama
3-uga
4-ok state.







5-nd for now. I think Clemson beats them by 21+

Re: Rank the Top 5

Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2020 9:32 am
by SuperDuck
SuperDuck wrote:Honestly, I don't think that Notre Dame, BYU or Oklahoma State are worthy of the Top-5.

I'd do something like this.

#1. Clemson
#2. Alabama
#3. Ohio State
#4. Georgia
#5. Oklahoma State (I still think North Carolina would beat them, though)

I watched the Alabama vs Georgia game and it was closer than the score indicates. Georgia's QB threw 2 costly picks in the second half that led to Alabama TDs. Also, the Georgia defense gave up a long FG at the end of the first half that cut the score to 24-20 Georgia, and gave Alabama momentum going into the second half. Georgia is definitely still a Top-5 team.

As much as I want to give kudo's to my Ducks, there are still some big shoes to fill at QB, OL, and in the secondary, not to mention losing Troy Dye at LB. I'll have a better idea after they've played a couple games.

My new Top-5 based on this weekend's results:

#1. Clemson (They're simply overwhelming everyone they play)
#2. Ohio State (They may be better than last year)
#3. Alabama (Losing Waddle for the season moves them down one spot)
#4. Georgia (Still deserving)
#5. Michigan (Harbaugh finally has a QB and the O-Line looked fantastic yesterday)


Thoughts?

Re: Rank the Top 5

Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2020 1:42 pm
by StevensTechU
I think without conferences playing each other to validate their relative strengths, two teams from the same conference better not happen.

Re: Rank the Top 5

Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2020 5:59 pm
by SuperDuck
StevensTechU wrote:I think without conferences playing each other to validate their relative strengths, two teams from the same conference better not happen.
Agreed.

Still, with the advantage of what appear to be upper tier teams, as well as having played more games, I think the SEC and ACC have an advantage. I think the Big-12 and Pac-12 may get left out this year.

The problem Oregon has is SOS. Ohio State was the one game that really beefed up their schedule. The teams they play now look average, at best.

Re: Rank the Top 5

Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2020 6:42 pm
by Everythingsducky
SuperDuck wrote:
StevensTechU wrote:I think without conferences playing each other to validate their relative strengths, two teams from the same conference better not happen.
Agreed.

Still, with the advantage of what appear to be upper tier teams, as well as having played more games, I think the SEC and ACC have an advantage. I think the Big-12 and Pac-12 may get left out this year.

The problem Oregon has is SOS. Ohio State was the one game that really beefed up their schedule. The teams they play now look average, at best.
This.

The PAC-12 made their bed. SOS will be a joke to the voters, and recent history doesn’t help. So, there will be any less bias when the PAC plays less games, starting the season so much later than the other conferences (rightly, or not)? Whomever comes out of the PAC, will have to blow teams out by 30+ points to even get a sniff, and even then...The PAC-12 will be the forgotten conference, for too many reasons. Unfortunately, rightly so.

Re: Rank the Top 5

Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2020 10:52 am
by lukeyrid13
Bruce Feldman and Stewart mandel both said on their podcast that the Pac-12 shouldn’t be considered with only 7 games played.

I think until we are 5 games in we won’t even be looked at. Fear mongering and our lackadaisical conference could do us in this year. And I don’t blame voters. Realistically, a 9-1 Georgia is probably more deserving than a 7-0 Oregon.

Re: Rank the Top 5

Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2020 11:28 am
by Phalanx
I think an undefeated Pac 12 team has a good shot at the playoffs. As always, there will be pressure to diversify the playoff field geographically to boost ratings, and with a weak Big 12 this year, there is no way a West Coast team wins all their games and doesn't get a shot. Pac 12 teams are already threatening to blow up the conference; that scenario would likely, finally spell the end of the current system.