Mississippi Rebels (6-0, 3-0, +574) - Mississippi survived a scare from the visiting Washington State Cougars 24-21, and now have progressed to 6-0 and could be en route to their first SEC championship since 1963. They still have challenges ahead in the form of back-to-back trips to Georgia and Oklahoma, but the Rebels should be able to endure one loss and still find themselves in a good position to make their championship game and/or the playoff.
Washington State, meanwhile, has fully embodied the pirate ethos of their late coach, Mike Leach. Homeless without a functional conference, the Cougars wander the country, raiding cities and sometimes being rewarded with great riches and sometimes meeting utter disaster. So far this year, they have dominated Mountain West opponents Colorado State and San Diego State, lost to their rivals Washington by 35, and got crushed by the North Texas Mean Green. Next week, they play AP No. 18 Virginia in Charlottesville. Something tells me to put the Cavaliers on upset watch.
Texas A&M (6-0, 3-0, +523)
Ohio State Buckeyes (6-0, 3-0, +522) - Right now it looks like the Big Ten, and possibly the entire country, falls into two categories: Ohio State, and everybody else. The Buckeyes defeated the Illinois Illini 34-16, and are now 3-0 in the Big Ten with wins by 18, 18, and 39 points. Plus, all three of those opponents should be bowl bound, and at least two of them should be Top 25 teams. And with the collapses this season of both Wisconsin and Penn State, I doubt that the Buckeyes will be seriously challenged until their finale against Michigan.
Alabama (5-1, 3-0, +474)
Miami (FL) (5-0, 1-0, +426)
Texas Tech (6-0, 3-0, +408)
Indiana Hoosiers (6-0, 3-0, +380) - Indiana handed the Oregon Ducks their first loss of the season, 30-20 in Eugene, ending the Ducks’ record 18-game home winning streak, and marking the first time ever that Indiana defeated a Top-5 AP team on the road. The Hoosiers did it behind excellent line play on both the offense and the defense, preventing Oregon from getting more than one chunk play, and holding them to only 2.7 yards per rush. As a Ducks fan, this is only the second time that I have felt like Coach Dan Lanning did not have his team prepared for the game, the other being the Rose Bowl Game against Ohio State. However, I am not overly concerned. Indiana is good - maybe great - and they look like they have the inside track now to face Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship. But I expect to see both of these teams again in the playoff.
George Tech Yellow Jackets (6-0, 3-0, +358) - Is Georgia Tech a legit contender for the college football playoff? The Athletic has them right on the bubble, with a 32% chance of making the Field of 12. And after weeks of one-score wins, the Yellow Jackets finally got an emphatic victory 35-20 over Virginia Tech, who is bad. Georgia Tech should be favored in all of their remaining conference games, although they have a couple of tricky roadtrips, starting next week with at 4-2 Duke. But what happens if we get 11-0 Tech vs 10-1 Georgia at the end of the year?
LSU (5-1, 2-1, +331) -
Cincinnati (5-1, 3-0, +304) -
South Florida (5-1, 2-0, +294) -
Utah (5-1, 2-1, +306) -
Georgia Bulldogs (5-1, 3-1, +283) - The SEC is still up for grabs, and even though Georgia already has a conference loss, I like their odds of at least making it back to the conference championship game. Their path starts this weekend, however, with a big showdown against visiting Mississippi. The Bulldogs defense appears to have gotten back into shape after giving up 41 points to Tennessee, but they will be tested by the Rebels offense, and quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, who is completing 65.4% of his passes, and has thrown 7 touchdowns to only 1 interception. Mississippi won this game last year 28-10, but they haven’t won in Athens since 1996.
Vanderbilt (5-1, 2-1, +282) -
BYU Cougars (6-0, 3-0, +282) - I was considering putting undefeated Brigham Young into my
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