Clemson remains perfect, an important feat for the Tigers ahead of the debut of this season’s College Football Playoff rankings.
So are five other teams in college football.
That distinction was a given for Clemson this weekend since the Tigers had the week off as they prepare for the regular season’s home stretch. But Georgia, Ohio State, Tennessee, Michigan and TCU also kept their unbeaten records intact with wins Saturday.
With the CFP selection committee set to unveil its first batch of rankings Tuesday, here’s what we know: The top four teams in those rankings are going to come from that group. Question is, who will they be? And in what order?
That will be decided by the selection committee based on what it believes are the best bodies of work to this point. With only four spots, that also means two will be left on the outside looking in.
With that in mind, The Clemson Insider is taking a look a Clemson’ resume so far and how it stacks up with the rest of the unbeaten field. A quick note: Since no CFP rankings have been released yet, the latest Associated Press Top 25 is being used for the ranking data in this story.
Clemson
Record: 8-0
Ranked wins: 3
Best win: at No. 20 Wake Forest (51-45 in double OT)
Average margin of victory: 17.2 points
Saturday didn’t do the Tigers’ strength of schedule any favors. Wake Forest (previously ranked 10th) laid an egg against Louisville while Syracuse (a top-15 win for Clemson at the time) lost by two touchdowns at home to Notre Dame. South Carolina, which will visit Clemson late next month, had also crept into the polls before getting housed by Missouri.
Still, despite rarely looking dominant this season, Clemson has the most ranked wins of any team in this group. One of those is a top-20 road victory, something only three other unbeatens can say they have (not counting neutral-site wins). The Tigers also took care of an NC State team that still had a healthy Devin Leary at quarterback at the time. Will the selection committee take that into account, particularly considering the 21st-ranked Wolfpack have won two of three games since without the ACC’s preseason player of the year?
Georgia
Record: 8-0
Ranked wins: 1
Best win: vs. No. 8 Oregon, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta (49-3)
Average margin of victory: 31.2
With one game so far against ranked opponents, the Bulldogs haven’t played the toughest schedule, though that will change when Tennessee visits Sanford Stadium next week. But that season-opening thrashing of Oregon looks better and better for Georgia. From a rankings standpoint, it’s the second-best win in college football this season. The Bulldogs aren’t quite at the same level they were last season when they won it all – see their four-point escape from Missouri earlier this month as proof – but Georgia is still plenty good and plenty talented. All of their other wins this season have come by at least three scores.
Michigan
Record: 8-0
Ranked wins: 1
Best win: vs. No. 16 Penn State (41-17)
Average margin of victory: 29.5
Michigan will be an interesting case study for the selection committee. Jim Harbaugh’s Wolverines are a throwback group to the ground-and-pound days that routed Penn State a couple of weeks ago in what was supposed to be their toughest test so far. Michigan also struggled with Maryland at home (seven-point win) and wasn’t all that impressive against an Iowa team that struggles to score against air (13-point win). And with snoozers against Colorado State, Hawaii and UConn in the non-conference – teams that are a combined 8-18 so far – the Wolverines’ strength of schedule isn’t much to write home about. Michigan has a top-3 defense nationally to pair with its fifth-ranked rushing offense, but Clemson (1) has nearly as many top-20 wins as Michigan and Ohio State combined (2).
Ohio State
Record: 8-0
Ranked wins: 1
Best win: at No. 16 Penn State (44-31)
Average margin of victory: 32
The Buckeyes’ perfect season was in jeopardy at Penn State on Saturday until they turned it on late, scoring 28 fourth-quarter points to pull away for their best win of the season so far. With an offense and defense that each rank in the top 10 nationally, there’s certainly a case to be made of Ohio State being the nation’s most complete team. The Buckeyes are the only team in this group that’s yet to play a one-possession game, though Penn State is the only opponent Ohio State has played that’s currently ranked.
TCU
Record: 8-0
Ranked wins: 2
Best win: vs. No. 13 Kansas State (38-28)
Average margin of victory: 17
The Horned Frogs have been the biggest surprise of this group in the first year of the Sonny Dykes era. TCU’s win over Oklahoma State looked as if it might be the biggest feather in its cap until Kansas State routed the Cowboys over the weekend. Now the Horned Hogs have a pair of top-20 wins, as many as any team in this group. TCU has been arguably the least impressive unbeaten from an eye-test standpoint with a suspect defense that’s made for some close calls, but the Horned Frogs are getting it done so far with a top-5 offense nationally.
Tennessee
Record: 8-0
Ranked wins: 2
Best win: vs. No. 6 Alabama (52-49)
Average margin of victory: 28.2
Are the Volunteers the best team in the country? That’s debatable. But there’s no arguing Tennessee has the nation’s best resume to this point. The Vols, equipped with the nation’s top offense, have two top-15 wins and just knocked what was a ranked Kentucky team out of the polls with a 38-point shellacking of the Wildcats on Saturday. There’s not a better win in college football at the moment than Tennessee’s victory over Alabama earlier this month, so don’t be surprised if the Vols are in the top spot of Tuesday’s initial rankings.
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