No. 5 LSU might be the only team in the country that can say it has been as impressive as No. 2 Baylor. A fifth straight convincing win has the Tigers at their highest ranking since 2012, but they couldn’t be playing a more different style from that team.
The 2012 Tigers held eight different opponents to fewer than 20 points, while this year’s team has given up at least 20 points in all but one of its games. They scored 30 or more points just six times in 2012, whereas the 2015 Tigers have already eclipsed the 30-point mark in five of their first six games.
LSU is led by the best running back in the nation in sophomore Leonard Fournette, who has already rushed for an astonishing 1,202 yards and 14 touchdowns, both tops in the country. His season thus far has arguably been even more impressive than Melvin Gordon’s near record-setting campaign last year, as he had just 1,046 yards through six games.
The Tigers just put away a very good Florida team to improve to 6-0, and after they cruise past Western Kentucky they’ll have their toughest test of the season in Tuscaloosa against No. 8 Alabama.
There’s not much left to say about the Baylor Bears. They have clearly been the best team in college football this year, and the fact that No. 1 Ohio State remains ahead of them in the AP Poll is absurd. However, the point gap between the two has been getting steadily thinner with each passing week. In the latest AP Poll, the Bears trail the Buckeyes by just 12 points, a microscopic margin. After they trounce lowly Iowa State Saturday, there’s a good chance that they’ll finally get the respect that they’ve earned and claim the top spot in the polls.
No. 6 Clemson has flown relatively under the radar despite the fact that it’s started to rack up quite the resume. The Tigers have yet to lose and have an impressive win against No. 11 Notre Dame. They boast one of the best defenses in the country and a solid offense, led by sophomore quarterback Deshaun Watson, who was expected to be a Heisman candidate but is only just now coming into his own. The next real test for Clemson won’t come until Nov. 7 against No. 9 Florida State, so it won’t be clear how good it truly is until then.
No. 18 Memphis burst into the AP Poll this week thanks to a massive victory over then-No. 13 Ole Miss. After a shaky first quarter, the Tigers outscored the Runnin’ Rebels 17-0 in the second quarter and never looked back.
The win catapulted Memphis to its highest ranking in school history and right into the national spotlight. Looking forward, the Tigers might cause some trouble for the College Football Playoff Selection Committee come December. They will have two tough road tests against conference foes No. 21 Houston and No. 22 Temple, but if they can get through those games unscathed they’ll be sitting pretty. An undefeated record with three wins against ranked teams will be hard to ignore when the time comes to pick playoff teams.
The chaotic ending of No. 15 Michigan’s game against No. 7 Michigan State threw all of college football into a frenzy. With just over a minute and a half remaining in the game and possession of the ball at the 50-yard line, the Wolverines looked about ready to jump into the Playoff conversation. Blake O’Neill’s fumbled punt and Jalen Watts-Jackson’s subsequent walk-off touchdown gave the Spartans one of the most improbable wins in college football history. A loss to Michigan, combined with their spotty play against bad teams, would likely have taken them completely out of the playoff picture altogether.
No. 12 Iowa made a big statement Saturday with a decisive blowout of Northwestern. The Hawkeyes have been steadily working their way up the AP Rankings and are on the verge of the top 10 for the first time since 2010. They have a good shot at winning out too: FPI gives Iowa at least a 75 percent chance to win all but one of their remaining games. Iowa’s only remaining game in which it won’t be favored is its final game of the season against Nebraska in Lincoln.
The Hawkeyes have a two-game lead in the Big Ten West and show no signs of slowing down. Should they run the table and win the Big Ten Championship, they will undoubtedly make the College Football Playoff.
