Week 2 got dicey for some folks, didn’t it?
In Week 1, after Oregon barely bested Boise State, I wrote, “Duck fans have to be slightly alarmed at that performance.”
That alarm went off in Week 2, with the Ducks falling at unranked Oklahoma State. With that, they are out of my top 10.
Rankings time.
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10.
To Make CFP: +164
Title Odds: +2500
Look at the final vs. Arizona State and one might think this was a straightforward win for the Aggies. Um, not so much. It was a 24-20 game in the fourth and then A&M got two fourth-quarter interception returns for touchdowns in a 24-point fourth quarter. A&M was outgained by 114 yards (it only had 255), but benefited from four ASU turnovers and the fact it committed only one penalty. Those 35 carries for 92 yards had all the markings of a team that was replacing its entire OL.nA&M will get a shot at getting better against Kentucky this week before heading to Baton Rouge.
9.
To Make CFP: +144
Title Odds: +2800
Total domination in the second half at Kentucky. The defense made life miserable for Kenny Minchey and the Cats. Now, UK is probably the second-worst team in the SEC, so let’s not pencil the Tide in for a Playoff berth just yet — but that was a very positive step. Next up, revenge for an embarrassing loss at Florida State last season.
8.
To Make CFP: +150
Title Odds: +2700
A sweat-free warm-up vs. Charlotte to prep for the main event this week against their former head coach. I think that win against Louisville in the opener is going to look pretty good by year’s end.
7.
To Make CFP: -146
Title Odds: +1100
Well, that was a little scary at halftime Saturday night. Maybe not in a sense that the Tigers were gonna lose, but Sam Leavitt wasn’t good in the first half. Water reached its proper level in the second half, but there might be a few more questions about the LSU offense as it heads to Oxford for the weekend’s biggest game/a circus atmosphere.
6.
To Make CFP: -380
Title Odds: +950
Poor Western Kentucky. Last week Georgia and now a trip to Indiana. We won’t learn much about the Hoosiers until their trip to Lincoln on Oct. 10, but early returns bring expectations of a third straight Playoff trip.
5.
To Make CFP: -800
Title Odds: +650
Rice was predictably no match for the Irish, who had a nice run of Big Ten and ACC bottom feeders to get their new weapons some run prior to the trip to BYU.
4.
To Make CFP: -290
Title Odds: +510
The Buckeyes probably should have won that game Saturday night, but they still have everything to play for, obviously. I’d expect OSU to enter that at Indiana/at USC/Oregon stretch at 5-1 and that’s when we’ll see if the Buckeyes can navigate just one loss. I’m not dropping OSU too far after losing a road game at one of the best teams in the country. I guess if we’re nit-picking, we’d like to see another wide receiver emerge outside of Jeremiah Smith, and the defense might need a few more disruptors, but that’s to be expected early on with a nearly completely new unit.
3.
To Make CFP: -380
Title Odds: +680
Two non-competitive games against completely overmatched opponents, but unlike previous years, Kirby Smart has shown no mercy in piling it on. And that’s fine, as those backups and walk-ons deserve to play and execute the playbook. A road trip to the worst team in the SEC (Arkansas) and then a home game against Oklahoma awaits.
2.
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To Make CFP: -600
Title Odds: +800
Miami fans got to see a glimpse of the future Thursday night as the second half saw the entire bench get emptied. The first half saw scary execution by Darian Mensah — who has more touchdowns than incompletions on the year – and big plays from everyone on offense. The Canes at least have a road conference win in addition to the blowout of an FCS opponent, so we’ll slide them over Georgia for that reason. The Canes hit the road again this week for another conference game at Wake Forest, whose offense has been pretty good early on in the season. It would be a surprise if Miami didn’t take an undefeated mark into the Nov. 7 trip to Notre Dame.
1.
To Make CFP: -370
Title Odds: +650
Massive comeback by the Longhorns on Saturday night in a game in which they could have taken an early lead, but suffered some fluky turnovers. I’m not sold Texas is better than OSU on a neutral field. If the two play 10 times, each will probably win five. But the Horns won the biggest game of the year so far and deserve all the flowers. Big picture, the win is massive, as Texas now has a huge non-conference win in its pocket as it gets ready for SEC play.
