by It’s a new week with some noticeable movement in the top 25. Let’s start with a recap of my pick last week and my new one this week.
Jump Picks Review
UCLA did not come through this week losing to Oregon State 36-24. Quarterback play from Dante Moore did not help the Bruins this week as he threw 3 interceptions and went 14/33 on the day. Poor quarterback play won’t allow any team to win big games as this was a huge opportunity for UCLA to knock off a good Oregon State team. This game was not low scoring as my pick for the Under and UCLA to win did not hit. Let’s move past this dreadful pick to a much better one.
Big Noon Saturday on Fox will host the biggest game this season as Ohio State takes on Penn State. I have Penn State as my jump pick this week in a close game this Saturday. Penn State has the better quarterback in Drew Allar and has a lockdown corner trio. The corner trio only allows 121 passing yards a game. Ohio State on the other hand is hoping to get some key players back for this big game. Penn State is hungry to beat an Ohio State team that has gotten the best of them in previous seasons. It’s the Nitty Lion’s time to shine and get this big win that they have needed to jump into the top 5.
Top 25
- Georgia
- Michigan
- Ohio State
- Florida State
- Washington
- Oklahoma
- Penn State
- Texas
- Oregon
- North Carolina
- Alabama
- Oregon State
- Ole Miss
- Utah
- Notre Dame
- Duke
- Tennessee
- USC
- LSU
- Missouri
- Lousiville
- Air Force
- Tulane
- Iowa
- UCLA
Last Saturday Recap
It happened, USC didn’t drop another 1 spot in the rankings because they dropped 8. Notre Dame embarrassed USC at home with a final score of 48-20 as Caleb Williams struggled with 3 interceptions and only 1 touchdown. It’s not a surprise the USC defense was in shambles again allowing 48 points. I’ve been saying it week after week that USC relies on Caleb Williams to win games and when he struggles the team just falls apart. Notre Dame moves up 6 spots with a well-earned win against a bad defense while beating up on Caleb Williams keeping him to under 200 yards passing.
The game of the week between Washington and Oregon did not disappoint as Washington took home the dub with a final score of 36-33. A potential game-tying field goal attempt from Oregon would’ve sent this game to overtime after a late score from Washington. Michael Penix jr played a tremendous game throwing for 302 yards and 4 touchdowns while on the other side, Bo Nix played a great game himself throwing for 337 yards and 2 touchdowns. This game was a joy to watch as it was close the whole way through. It’s a tough loss by Oregon who drops 1 spot rightfully so by playing a really good Washington team close. Washington moves up 2 spots and will look to continue this momentum into a spot in the top 4 soon enough.
Some other big games were North Carolina topping Miami in an ACC battle which pushes Miami out of the top 25. Louisville going to Pitt on homecoming in a rainy game where Pitt just had all the momentum is a tough scene for the Cardinals who got upset 38-21.
My Top 25 Reaction
Not too many complaints when looking at these rankings. Alabama has been in discussion a good amount lately of why they should be in the top 10 but I’ll give one example of why they shouldn’t. Alabama only beat Arkansas 24-21 this past Saturday and Texas A&M by 6 two weeks ago. A win is a win but when looking at the teams ahead of them, they all deserve to be ahead. The teams Alabama is playing close are unranked. The Crimson Tide needs a quality win or two to get bumped up over some of these other teams ahead who have good quality wins.
A question that needs to be talked about more is if North Carolina deserves to be ahead of Oregon and Texas. The Tar Heels are undefeated while Texas and Oregon both have 1 loss. If all the teams ahead of them are undefeated, then why isn’t North Carolina who has a very talented team? North Carolina needs to keep playing well and hope some teams ahead start slipping. An undefeated ACC team should be ahead of these 1 loss teams.
