Week 16 Power Rankings

And just like that, the regular season and conference championships have concluded. All that separates us from bowl season is the Army-Navy game, which is sad to think about, but don’t fret! The national championship is 6 weeks from today, so there is still plenty of football to look forward to.

1. Oregon Ducks - Last week I questioned if Penn State could afford to get behind early against a team with the stature of Oregon. As assumed, they could not. Thanks to a Jordan James touchdown run, Oregon found themselves up 28-10 early in the 2nd quarter and they would never surrender the lead from there. Penn State fought valiantly on offense, but the Ducks have too much firepower to let yourself get in a big hole. The connection between Dillon Gabriel and Tez Johnson was working all night, as the stud wide receiver wound up with 181 yards and a touchdown. Now the #1 overall seed, Oregon has a couple weeks off and awaits the winner of Tennessee and Ohio State. 

2. Georgia Bulldogs - It wasn’t pretty, and they had to do it with backup quarterback Gunner Stockton, but Georgia has reclaimed the SEC throne after beating Texas in overtime 22-19. Taking down a team twice in the same season is no easy feat, but it’s evident Kirby has that “it” factor to win big games. I find it funny they put Carson Beck back in on the final play just to hand the ball off, but for any of you conspiracy theorists, that confirms who will be starting in the playoffs for the Bulldogs. It was never a question if Kirby would bench Beck for the playoffs, but I know it would have been a media talking point leading up to their quarterfinal game if he never returned last Saturday. Maybe that’s why he was put in for the last play, to avoid any of those rumors spiraling around? Georgia awaits the winner of Indiana and Notre Dame.

3. Notre Dame Fighting Irish - No conference, so no game for the Irish last weekend. They host the Hoosiers in an in-state matchup for the first round. Notre Dame can hang points, but the storyline of this enticing matchup to me in the Hoosier’s elite offense against ND’s elite defense. I’m high on Notre Dame, so I think they will prove to be too much for the Hoosiers to handle. A key that stands out to me is Riley Leonard’s ability to take care of the football. In games where he doesn’t turn the ball over, the Irish average a margin of victory of 33 points per game. In games he throws an interception? That margin of victory drops to 12 points per game. That drastic of a difference shows me how important it will be for Leonard to be smart with the ball.

4. Texas Longhorns - UT seemed to have the clear advantage moving the ball early on against Georgia, outgaining the Bulldogs 235 to 90 in the first half. Generally, when each of your first 4 drives go for 48+ yards, you have to feel good about how things are going. Unfortunately for the Longhorns, drives stalled time and time again, resulting in only a 3 point lead at half. You’d think with Georgia’s backup coming in for the 2nd half, Texas would eventually pull away, but it never happened. Texas has a top notch defense, but it is evident that they are struggling to put up points against good competition. I don’t smell a Clemson upset, but it will be important to find some offensive rhythm against them. Who knows, though! Clemson is a team who can score points in bunches if you don’t watch out. Please Dabo.

5. Ohio State Buckeyes - Did Ryan Day intentionally lose to Michigan so he could have last Saturday off to spray paint his beard? Hopefully they come out ready to play in the playoffs or this fanbase will do their best to rid him from the face of the Earth. The Buckeyes host Tennessee in what appears to be the biggest toss up of the 1st round. Two teams with a plethora of offensive weapons, yet have stalled at times. This game will be won by the rushing attack - whoever can more effectively move the ball on the ground will be the team who wins. Don’t believe me? I’ll shotgun 6 twisted teas back-to-back if the winning team has less rushing yards. 

6. Penn State Nittany Lions - In last week’s blog, I mentioned how important it was to get Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton involved in order to combat any punches the Ducks threw. They certainly did so, as the duo combined for 287 all purpose yards and 2 touchdowns. Unfortunately for them, the Penn State defense couldn’t stop Oregon if their life depended on it. The last thing you want to do is get into a shootout with a highly skilled offense, and the results panned out accordingly. The Nittany Lions host SMU in what might be the coldest game the Mustangs have ever played in. I don’t care to fact check that, but I can assure you SMU isn’t used to playing in the projected 23* weather in University Park, Pennsylvania. Anything can happen, but Penn State appears to have drawn a favorable portion of the bracket. Man, I can’t wait to sit on my couch all day and watch the playoffs.

7. Tennessee Volunteers - No home playoff game in Neyland, but we still get a stellar matchup between the Vols and Ohio State in the first round. My brain tells me Ohio State gets this done behind their home crowd, but given what Michigan just did to them, I really have no clue! I get it being a rivalry game had some impact on the outcome, but I can't speak confidently about the outcome in this one. That’s all for now.

8. Boise State Broncos - The Broncos took care of UNLV on Friday, 21-7, to win the Mountain West and lock up a first round bye. The Broncos will face the winner of SMU and Penn State in the quarterfinals and can genuinely make some noise in the playoffs. Shoutout to Maddux Madsen. He has been a viable quarterback and helps provide a well-rounded offense for this squad. Now, as an unofficial Heisman voter, let me give you my pitch for who should win. If Derrick Henry did what Ashton Jeanty has done, he would have been given the trophy back in August. When Henry won the award in 2015, he finished the year with 2219 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns. Sensational, no doubt, BUT… in two less games played, Jeanty has 278 more yards and 1 more touchdown. Why are we overthinking this? Give the kid the trophy. 

9. Arizona State Sun Devils - Say hello to the Big 12 Champions, led by coach Kenny Dillingham. Picked by many in the preseason to finish dead last in the conference, this is a testament to the excitement that college football brings; it’s stuff like this that alludes to why we love this sport so much. I was a short 30 minutes away from AT&T Stadium before their game against Iowa State kicked off and debated buying one of the $14 tickets I saw online. Unfortunately, I passed up on this opportunity and didn’t get to witness the Cam Skattebo masterclass in person. Seriously, the kid has had a phenomenal season, and he nearly played himself into the Heisman conversation last Saturday. It’s hard to bet against this team but they will get a tough test in the quarterfinals against the winner of Clemson and Texas.

10. Indiana Hoosiers - We have a limited sample pool of Indiana’s performances against good competition, so the Hoosiers get a chance to validate themselves in the playoffs. If Indiana struggles to be competitive against Notre Dame, it will add another layer of things for the committee to discuss when selecting who makes it in the playoff. You can’t put teams in the playoff just because they had a superior strength of schedule, but be prepared for Bama and Ole Miss fans to be barking if Indiana can’t perform in the playoff. Kurtis Rourke threw for over 275 yards per game against teams not named Ohio State this season - he can’t have another 68 yard performance like the one against the Buckeyes. 

• Zac Bryan, counting down the days until Christmas break