The Confidential

The Confidential’s College Football Top 25

Now that we are three weeks into the season, the time has come to start ranking all of the college football teams.  At this point, there is a solid basis to start fairly comparing and contrasting.  So here it is:

1. Alabama.  At 3-0, the Crimson Tide has beaten two major programs in USC (badly) and Ole Miss (barely).
2. Louisville.  While some teams have big wins, Louisville has only big wins, including a huge win over Florida State.
3. Ohio State.  An argument for #2 could be made here, with a win over Oklahoma.  However, Houston has that same win.
4. Houston.  See above.  Actually, given Houston’s win over Cincinnati, an argument could be made to slot them ahead of Ohio State.
5. Clemson.  With a win over Auburn, only a pedestrian win over Troy hurts the Tigers.  This will resolve itself in short order, with games against Louisville and Florida State looming.
6. Stanford.  With wins over Kansas State and USC, Stanford has only played good programs so far.  What else can you ask of the Cardinal?
7. Michigan.  At 3-0, Michigan has not played anyone outstanding, but that win over 2-1 Colorado has to count for something.  UCF and Hawaii are certainly not FCS teams.
8. Michigan State.  A win over Notre Dame is usually impressive, but it remains to be seen just how impressive.  With the only other win being Furman, Sparty can go no higher than #8.
9. Washington. When your best win is Rutgers–who struggled early against Howard and narrowly defeated New Mexico–this is not going to get you far.  However, the Huskies have been dominant so far.
10. Tennessee.  Style points are not there, but at 3-0 with a win over Virginia Tech anchoring things, the Volunteers sneak into the top 10.
11. Georgia (3-0)
12. Wisconsin (3-0)
13. Texas A&M (3-0)
14. Arkansas (3-0)
15. Nebraska (3-0)
16. Georgia Tech (3-0)
17. Arizona State (3-0)
18. Boise State (2-0)
19. Florida State (2-1).  Losing to Louisville, and only Louisville, cannot be enough to be unranked.  Sorry.  Ole Miss has lost to FSU and Alabama, still that is two losses.  Oklahoma has lost to Ohio State and Houston–still that is two losses.
20. Florida (3-0)
21. Baylor (3-0)
22. Miami (3-0)
23. Central Michigan (3-0)
24. West Virginia (2-0)
25. Georgia Southern (3-0); Memphis (3-0); Indiana (2-0); Minnesota (2-0); Navy (3-0); San Diego State (3-0); South Florida (3-0); Toledo (3-0); Utah (3-0); Maryland (3-0); Wake Forest (3-0); Army (3-0); Western Michigan (3-0) (TIE–no undefeated team deserves to be left out of the top 25.. are we sure that Baylor is THAT MUCH better than Maryland or Wake Forest based on quality of opponents beat and 2016 only?  Of course not.  Only history makes us think that some 3-0 teams are better than others).

So there it is.  What do YOU think?