September is in the books, as the season just flies by. The biggest story of the day was how Clemson squeaked past North Carolina by just one point. The PAC-12 may be a long shot to get a team in the playoff, but it’s the most balanced league with both the North and South races wide open. The Commander-In-Chief Trophy should be a great race too, as Army, Navy and Air Force all have good teams.
1. Auburn – What a season thus far for the Tigers, who have beaten Oregon, Texas A&M, and Mississippi State. Find a more impressive resume. They demolished MSU. Now comes the Gators. This was a once-great rivalry and The Swamp will be rocking.
2. LSU – The Tigers have ramped up the offense and are an impressive 4-0. LSU was off this past week and will host Utah State on Saturday. Then the schedule gets turned up with a visit from Florida.
3. Alabama – The Crimson Tide was a 37-point favorite over Ole Miss, and cruised to a 59-31 win. Alabama is off this week. Then comes one of the biggest tests of the season against Texas A&M in College Station.
4. Georgia – Following an emotional victory over Notre Dame between the hedges, Georgia was off this past Saturday. Now comes the trip to Tennessee, as the Bulldogs try and make it 5-0.
5. Oklahoma – The Sooners ran away from Texas Tech 55-16 and now goes to Kansas. The Jayhawks have been on the bottom for a long time, and the Sooners could put up a big number. Jalen Hurts is having some kind of great season.
6. Ohio State – The Buckeyes smoked Nebraska 48-7 in Lincoln last week. Now comes Michigan State in Columbus. The Spartans have one of the toughest defenses in the country. The Spartans have had good success against the Buckeyes this decade.
7. Clemson – The Tigers escaped with a 21-20 win over North Carolina Saturday. Kudos to Mack Brown going for two. This may have been their only regular-season scare. Clemson is off this week and then hosts Florida State.
8. Wisconsin – The Badgers snared a couple of defensive touchdowns and hung on to beat Northwestern 24-15. There was a hangover from Michigan for sure. It should be easy against Kent State Saturday.
9. Florida – The Gators cruised past Towson to make it 5-0 on the season. Now the schedule gets ramped up. Auburn comes to Gainesville, and then the Gators play LSU in Baton Rouge.
10. Notre Dame – Following a thrilling 23-17 loss to Georgia in Athens, the Fighting Irish came back and beat Virginia 35-20 in South Bend. Notre Dame has a tune-up with Bowling Green prior to the Trojans visit.
11. Texas – The Longhorns were off last week following a huge 36-30 victory over Oklahoma State in Austin. They head off to West Virginia Saturday with the Red River Shootout on deck.
12. Penn State – Hello Penn State! The Nittany Lions, favored by a touchdown, lambasted Maryland 59-0 last Friday night. Purdue comes to State College Saturday. Could Penn State be the top challenger to Ohio State in the Big Ten East?
13. Oregon – The Ducks were off this past week to get ready for the big showdown with Cal Saturday in Eugene. Oregon can move the football. What Auburn has done has brought the Ducks a little extra respect.
14. Boise State – This outstanding program is running at full speed again. Boise State’s two best wins are at Florida State and against Air Force. The Broncos were off this past week and head to Clark County to face UNLV Saturday.
15. Iowa – The Hawkeyes took care of Middle Tennessee State 48-3. Sitting at 4-0, the Hawkeyes will come out blazing against Michigan in Ann Arbor. These next two weeks with Michigan and Penn State will tell the story of how good Iowa will be in 2019.
16. Oklahoma State – The Cowboys took down Kansas State to make it 4-1. Oklahoma State has a typical explosive offense. Now comes a trip to Texas Tech, which got smoked by Oklahoma this past weekend.
17. Utah – The Running Utes powered their way past Washington State, bouncing back from a tough loss at Southern Cal. Utah is off this week and then heads to Oregon State next Saturday.
18. Air Force – The Falcons pushed it to 3-1 with a win over San Jose State last week. It’s the first battle for the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy Saturday, as Air Force takes on Navy in Annapolis.
19. Colorado – The Buffaloes’ lone loss was to Air Force, and Mel Tucker’s team has nice wins over Colorado State, Nebraska and Arizona State. Colorado was off this past week and hosts Arizona Saturday.
20. Arizona State – The Sun Devils bounced back from their loss to Colorado with an impressive 24-17 win over Cal last Friday night. Arizona State is off this week and then hosts Washington State.
21. Cal – Justin Wilcox has the Golden Bears in contention in the PAC-12 North. Cal suffered its first loss of the season Friday to Arizona State and now tries to bounce back in Eugene against Oregon.
22. Washington – For a second straight year, a tight loss to Cal has plagued the Huskies. But Washington has been very impressive since, including this past week’s 28-14 win over USC. Washington goes to Stanford Saturday.
23. Virginia – Bryce Perkins is a terrific quarterback, and the Cavaliers may be the team to beat in the ACC Coastal. The Cavaliers fell 35-20 at Notre Dame and are off this week. Then comes a trip to Miami.
24. Michigan – After getting blown away at Wisconsin, the Wolverines smoked Rutgers 52-0. It’s back to the grind now with a visit from Iowa. The Wolverines schedule is mighty tough, and the home folks at the Big House want this one badly.
25. Army – The Black Knights of the Hudson were off this past week and host Tulane Saturday. Jeff Monken has the triple-option humming in West Point. The lone blemish on the slate is the overtime loss at Michigan.