LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Alabama treated Georgia like the Bulldogs were fifth on the Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl watch list Saturday night in Tuscaloosa — and voters in the AP writers’ and USA Today coaches’ college football Top 25 polls still believe that Clemson, not Alabama, is the best team in the country.
Excuse me?
Here’s another one: If you watched Notre Dame defeat Louisville, 12-7, on Saturday afternoon, did you see anything from the Fighting Irish that looked like the No. 3 team in the country?
Quarterback? No.
Receivers? Negative.
Running game? Underachieved.
Defense? Maybe, possibly, but not really.
Consider it another reason that college football does not need a Top 25. It needs a Top 5/Bottom 5.
Batter up!
Top 5
1. Nick Saban, Alabama (4-0) — Saban beat novel coronavirus testing. He beats all of his former assistant coaches. He beats losing his best players early for the NFL. He beats impossibly ridiculous expectations. He’s beating the aging process. He will beat Clemson — if he gets the chance.
2. Ohio State (0-0) — This is opening week for the once-reluctant Big Ten. The league’s 14 teams, including whiny Nebraska, return to the field. In fact, Nebraska has something to whine about. The Cornhuskers get the Buckeyes in Columbus at high noon Saturday. The Big Ten needs the Buckeyes to bust up the Clemson/Alabama party. They’ve got the tools.
3. Clemson (5-0) — The Tigers have outscored their opponents by 36 points per game. They have outgained their opponents by 261 yards per game. We’re down to two unbeatens in the Atlantic Coast Conference —Clemson and Notre Dame. Which one do you like to represent the league in the national playoffs?
4. Kentucky (2-2) — Guess which defense ranks second in the Southeastern Conference in fewest points allowed (20 per game) and second in interceptions (nine).
After losing to Ole Miss, the Wildcats looked as if they were on a fast track to 3-7. Now, this team could go 6-4. They knocked Tennessee back into 1977.
5. Sam Pittman, Arkansas (2-2) — All the preseason love and publicity went to Ole Miss (Lane Kiffin) and Mississippi State (Mike Leach) for making the best head coaching hires in the SEC West.
Arkansas hired Sam Pittman. He is the guy the Razorbacks settled on after they couldn’t get Matt Campbell of Iowa State, Leach, Mike Norvell of Memphis, Gus Malzahn of Auburn and a cast of thousands.
All Pittman has done is beat Leach and Kiffin. He should have defeated Malzahn. Only the SEC officials can explain why he didn’t. Pittman looks like the best Arkansas coaching hire since ... Nolan Richardson.
Bottom 5
5. Dino Babers, Syracuse (1-4) — Remember when Babers was on the hot list for every job. There were people talking about him being a fit to replace Bobby Petrino at Louisville after the Orange won 10 games in 2018.
Syracuse lost to Liberty by 17 on Saturday. Liberty became an FBS program in 2018. The loss was the fourth in five games for Syracuse this season as well as the ninth in 12 games. The Orange have fallen further than the Carrier Dome roof. They’re 45 point underdogs at Clemson on Saturday.
4. Gus Malzahn, Auburn (2-2) — Not only have the Tigers been defeated by Georgia and South Carolina, they should have lost to Arkansas, which is coached by Pittman, who replaced the guy (Chad Morris) that Malzahn hired to fix the Auburn offense. Who gets the Auburn job is quickly becoming a very reasonable question in the SEC. (Matt Campbell?)
3. Les Miles, Kansas (0-4) — Not only is the $2.75 million man winless, the Jayhawks have lost all three Big 12 games by three touchdowns or more. They also lost to Coastal Carolina by 15. They’re also 17 point underdogs at Kansas State this Saturday. The sparkle on Miles’ LSU national championship ring has disappeared.
2. Tennessee (2-2) — In their last six quarters the Vols have been outscored 61-7, prompting curious minds to wonder if the boos that rang through Neyland Stadium during Kentucky’s 34-7 victory Saturday were real, piped in or both. The school that produced Peyton Manning, Heath Shuler and Tee Martin does not have a quarterback. How does that happen?
1. Mississippi's SEC teams (2-6) — Leach made a big, big splash when Mississippi State beat defending national champion LSU on Sept. 26. Kiffin and Ole Miss delivered an overtime victory at Kentucky.
Other than that?
In their other six games, State and Ole Miss have been each been outscored by 43 points in six combined defeats. They're twins. How cute.
Keep recruiting, fellas. Keep recruiting.
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