Week 15 Power Rankings

Not sure why I am writing this. In last week’s power rankings blog, I added a simple “homework assignment” so I would know who is reading… and I got 0 responses. But for the love of the game, we ride on. 

1. Oregon Ducks - I predicted Oregon would beat Washington by 21, but they 1-upped me and won by 28, so we’ll just chalk that up to the fact that the Huskies rolled out a true freshman quarterback. Moving along, Oregon takes on Penn State in what could decide who gets the number 1 overall seed in the playoffs. This is only the 5th time these two teams have crossed paths, with the most recent contest taking place in 1995. What is one of the keys to the Ducks’ success this weekend? Jump out to a quick start. No duh, Zac, thanks for the expert analysis. But seriously, Penn State, when away from home, has struggled early on. If they get into a quick hole, will they be able to claw back against the likes of Oregon?

2. Texas Longhorns - After a long 13 years, the Lone Star Showdown returned. It wasn’t the prettiest win ever, but the Longhorns were never in serious danger and secured the 17-7 victory. Texas displayed high level talent on both sides of the line of scrimmage, out rushing the Aggies 243 to 102. Looking forward, UT gets a chance to redeem their loss against Georgia in the SEC championship this weekend. What stands out? In the first matchup, the Longhorns had 4 turnovers and they were a combined 3 of 20 on 3rd and 4th downs. That alone hints at the blueprint for how to generate a different result this Saturday. 

3. Penn State Nittany Lions - After dismantling Maryland 44-7, Penn State achieved an 11-win regular season, which is only their 2nd time doing so since the Joe Paterno days. Wait, don’t mention him or Jerry Sandusky? Too risky? Got it. So, with the conference championship coming up, how can Penn State avoid being a victim to the bright lights? Easier said than done, but get your play makers involved early and often. In the Nittany Lions lone loss on the season, Nick Singleton scraped by with a mere 12 touches and co-star Kaytron Allen was held to 27 yards on 12 carries. If these two get bottled up again, it’ll be a long day for James Franklin’s squad. 

4. Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Their game against USC had the potential to go down to the wire, but Trojan’s quarterback Jayden Maiava threw two pick-6’s in the final few minutes. It’s not every day that you see a 99 yard and 100 yard interception return in the same game, but it is a fitting finale to USC’s season. As for Notre Dame, they get to sit back this weekend and watch all of the conference championships unfold, so we will quickly learn the weight that the committee puts on losing this weekend. For instance, the committee currently has Penn State ahead of Notre Dame. If Penn State loses this weekend, on paper they would now have 1 more loss than Notre Dame. Should we penalize Penn State for losing in the conference championship to Oregon by dropping them behind Notre Dame? Oh, you don’t think it matters too much, why should we care? You go look at the projected playoff path for the 5 seed versus the 6 seed; this stuff has more meaning than you’d think.

5. Georgia Bulldogs - What a game to start off rivalry weekend. As intense and stressful as this new format might be, can we please get rid of the back and forth 2-point attempts? An incredible game shouldn’t have to come down to who can run a jet sweep better. Return to the old format of alternating possessions, but have teams start farther back than the 25-yard line. Now onto the SEC title game, will there be a let down for the Bulldogs after such a high emotion, 8-overtime contest? Georgia has shown they can beat Texas even with Carson Beck playing poorly, the question is if this defense can deliver a similar performance to the first time they played. 

6. Ohio State Buckeyes - Just disgusting. This was as battered and bruised of a Michigan team that you’ll get to face and you blew it in front of your home crowd. In the wise words of Jack Sawyer, at least you’ll still be in the playoffs! Why did he say that amidst the post-game fighting? Crazy guess, but probably because he’s angry he went 0-4 against Michigan in his collegiate career! From an outsider's perspective, it seems irrational to fire Ryan Day, given his overall record as the Buckeyes’ coach, but this fan base expects a lot more than your average team. If they don’t make any noise in the playoffs, make sure to find some of the Ohio State fan threads - it will be some sensational reading. 

7. Tennessee Volunteers - After a lightning quick start from Vanderbilt to start the game up 14-0, it was all Vols from that point on. Not that Tennessee doesn’t want to win the SEC, but they got put into a great situation where they get to rest during championship weekend while being a lock for the playoff. Any home playoff game will bring an exciting atmosphere, but part of me is rooting for Tennessee in particular to host one. Neyland provides one of the premier environments in college football and given the current seeding, who wouldn’t want to see them host the likes of Ohio State in December? 

8. SMU Mustangs - Already a lock for the ACC championship game, the Mustangs still took care of business in convincing fashion against Cal last Saturday. And since Miami lost (what did I tell y’all last week about Syracuse), they play Clemson for the conference crown. Coming off a dramatic last minute loss to South Carolina, can Dabo get his team settled in and ready for this one? Something to consider here is that this game will be played just a couple hours from Clemson, insinuating a road-like atmosphere for SMU. A gripe about an expanded playoff is that there will be undeserving teams that make it, but let me tell you, if SMU wins this weekend, make no mistake about it, they deserve to be here.

9. Boise State Broncos - Thanks to a 226 yard effort against Oregon State, Ashton Jeanty is now 341 yards away from breaking Barry Sanders monstrous single-season rushing record. Albeit, Jeanty has played more games, but don’t forget he spent several weeks sitting in the 2nd half. The more pressing matter for him and this team though is the rematch with UNLV this Friday. If the Rebels can avenge their loss from earlier this year, they are tentatively the at-large bid, and it will shift the playoff rankings a bit from what is currently projected. Both teams are run-first and it will be a fascinating appetizer for the weekend. 

10. Indiana Hoosiers - They finished their season off against Purdue, so I don’t need to tell you how that one turned out. I saw a stat that said if Purdue started every game this year up 34-0, they would have finished 6-6. Talk about embarrassing, but at least they’re a basketball school! Still a lot of questions about how they’ll perform in the playoff given their loss to Ohio State, but this offense has the firepower to hang with anyone on any given day. Making my homework easy this time by putting it at the bottom of the blog. Text me your favorite place to land in Fortnite. Mine is Pleasant Park. Cheers.

• Zac Bryan, former Copenhagen Wintergreen merchant