Yahoo Sports Staff,Yahoo Sports
With six weeks in the books, we’ve officially reached the halfway point of college football’s regular season. Three previously unbeaten teams lost on Saturday — No. 5 LSU, No. 7 Oklahoma and No. 13 Kentucky. That means 11 undefeated teams remain. We decided to rank those teams.
1. Alabama
Is it a surprise whatsoever that Alabama became the first team to clinch bowl eligibility in 2018? The Tide trounced Arkansas 65-31 in Fayetteville on Saturday to improve to 6-0 behind 334 yards and four touchdowns from Tua Tagovailoa on just 10-of-13 throwing. The Tide offense, averaging 56 points per game, has been pretty much unstoppable. It’d be foolish to call any team other than Alabama the favorite to win the College Football Playoff.
2. Georgia
Another week, another blowout win for Georgia. The Bulldogs dominated Vanderbilt on Saturday night in Athens, putting up 560 yards of offense in a 41-13 victory. While the Bulldogs have excelled with Jake Fromm and a deep stable of running backs on offense, the defense has been one of the country’s best. Through six games, the Bulldogs are allowing an average of 283 yards per game. It’s fair to say Georgia hasn’t been challenged to this point in the year, but four ranked opponents — LSU, Florida, Kentucky and Auburn — loom.
3. Notre Dame
Notre Dame moved through the toughest part of its schedule without much resistance. The Irish took care of Michigan in Week 1 and had a few lackluster performances before making a quarterback switch from Brandon Wimbush to Ian Book. It has made a significant difference. In the three games since — wins over Wake Forest, Stanford and Virginia Tech — the Irish offense has averaged 46.3 points per game, compare to 23.3 with Wimbush running the show. Notre Dame figures to be favored in every game it plays moving forward. The path to the College Football Playoff looks smooth.
4. Ohio State
Ohio State survived its post-Penn State game malaise this year. The Buckeyes fell behind Indiana 17-14 in the second quarter, but that deficit didn’t last long in an eventual 49-26 win. Dwayne Haskins threw for 455 yards and six touchdowns in the victory, once again proving to be an upgrade at the position over J.T. Barrett. Now 6-0, the Buckeyes’ one-point win over Penn State is arguably the biggest victory of the season in college football. A path to the Playoff is clear, provided OSU and its leaky defense gets through rival Michigan in the season finale.
5. Clemson
Clemson finally put it all together on Saturday. The Tigers had been underwhelming through five weeks, but now have continuity at quarterback with Trevor Lawrence now the solidified starter. The defense was always the team’s strength, but now the Tigers seem to have found a running game to match. Travis Etienne was the key to the 27-23 win over Syracuse last week. On Saturday in the 63-3 win over Wake Forest, Etienne had 167 yards and three touchdowns on just 10 carries. The Tigers, as a whole, had a ridiculous 471 rushing yards. That’ll do.
6. West Virginia
West Virginia is off to a 5-0 start for the third time in the Dana Holgorsen era, but Holgorsen probably doesn’t feel too good about the last six quarters of football his team has played. The Mountaineers, in their toughest test of the season, jumped out to a 35-10 halftime lead over No. 25 Texas Tech on the road, but were outscored 24-7 in the second half in an eventual 42-34 win. On Saturday, WVU beat lowly Kansas, but it was by just a 38-22 margin. The Mountaineers turned it over four times, including red zone three interceptions by Heisman candidate QB Will Grier. The Mountaineers have a few weeks to shore things up before a juggernaut November schedule, including a trip to Texas and a visit from Oklahoma.
7. Central Florida
UCF has picked up right where it left off in the transition from Scott Frost to Josh Heupel. Now 5-0, the Knights have an average margin of victory of 31.2 points per game. UCF is the class of the Group of Five thus far, but, from a College Football Playoff perspective, the same argument as last year is going to surface: strength of schedule. UCF has played UConn, South Carolina State, Florida Atlantic, Pittsburgh and SMU. Its game against North Carolina was canceled because of Hurricane Florence. Still, the Knights looked primed to cruise through AAC play — including fellow unbeatens USF and Cincinnati — again. We’ll see if they can sniff the CFP this time around.
8. Colorado
Nobody would have predicted Colorado to be the last undefeated team from the Pac-12. The Buffs were expected to finish toward the bottom of the South division, but are now 5-0 thanks to a win over Arizona State on Saturday. Steven Montez has been impressive at quarterback, as has Virginia Tech transfer Travon McMillian at running back. But the unquestioned star of Colorado is wide receiver Laviska Shenault. Against ASU, he accounted for all four of his team’s touchdowns and now has 51 catches for 708 yards and six scores on the year.
9. NC State
NC State lost a bunch of talent on both sides of the ball, but with NFL prospect Ryan Finley at quarterback, the Wolfpack has kept pace with Clemson in the ACC Atlantic. Finley threw two picks in Saturday’s win over Boston College, but is up to 1,621 yards and 10 touchdowns on 69.5 percent throwing. Finley and his deep receiving corps (led by Kelvin Harmon and Jakobi Meyers) will keep the Wolfpack in games as the season progresses. A trip to Clemson looms in two weeks. The Wolfpack have a bye next weekend.
10. South Florida
The well-traveled Blake Barnett has been an excellent pickup at quarterback for Charlie Strong. The prolific Quinton Flowers was never going to be easy to replace, but Barnett (once of Alabama and Arizona State) has thrown for 1,308 yards and nine touchdowns for the 5-0 Bulls. While the offense has thrived, the defense is still a concern. The Bulls surrendered 42 points and 486 yards of offense in a 16-point win over UMass on Saturday. That defense needs to be shored up before the tougher part of the schedule arrives in late October.
11. Cincinnati
Cincinnati is the third and final undefeated team in the AAC’s East division. The Bearcats are the most surprising team on this list, too. In year two of the Luke Fickell era, nobody expect this big of a jump. There have been some close calls on the way to bowl eligibilty, too. The Bearcats issued Chip Kelly his first UCLA loss with a 26-17 decision in Week 1. In Week 4, Cincy overcame a 24-7 halftime deficit and eventually beat Ohio 34-30 with a touchdown with 3:24 to go. Sophomore running back Michael Warren has been a standout with four 100-yard games.
More: https://www.yahoo.com/sports/winner...lls-11-undefeated-teams-week-6-042805101.html
With six weeks in the books, we’ve officially reached the halfway point of college football’s regular season. Three previously unbeaten teams lost on Saturday — No. 5 LSU, No. 7 Oklahoma and No. 13 Kentucky. That means 11 undefeated teams remain. We decided to rank those teams.
1. Alabama
Is it a surprise whatsoever that Alabama became the first team to clinch bowl eligibility in 2018? The Tide trounced Arkansas 65-31 in Fayetteville on Saturday to improve to 6-0 behind 334 yards and four touchdowns from Tua Tagovailoa on just 10-of-13 throwing. The Tide offense, averaging 56 points per game, has been pretty much unstoppable. It’d be foolish to call any team other than Alabama the favorite to win the College Football Playoff.
2. Georgia
Another week, another blowout win for Georgia. The Bulldogs dominated Vanderbilt on Saturday night in Athens, putting up 560 yards of offense in a 41-13 victory. While the Bulldogs have excelled with Jake Fromm and a deep stable of running backs on offense, the defense has been one of the country’s best. Through six games, the Bulldogs are allowing an average of 283 yards per game. It’s fair to say Georgia hasn’t been challenged to this point in the year, but four ranked opponents — LSU, Florida, Kentucky and Auburn — loom.
3. Notre Dame
Notre Dame moved through the toughest part of its schedule without much resistance. The Irish took care of Michigan in Week 1 and had a few lackluster performances before making a quarterback switch from Brandon Wimbush to Ian Book. It has made a significant difference. In the three games since — wins over Wake Forest, Stanford and Virginia Tech — the Irish offense has averaged 46.3 points per game, compare to 23.3 with Wimbush running the show. Notre Dame figures to be favored in every game it plays moving forward. The path to the College Football Playoff looks smooth.
4. Ohio State
Ohio State survived its post-Penn State game malaise this year. The Buckeyes fell behind Indiana 17-14 in the second quarter, but that deficit didn’t last long in an eventual 49-26 win. Dwayne Haskins threw for 455 yards and six touchdowns in the victory, once again proving to be an upgrade at the position over J.T. Barrett. Now 6-0, the Buckeyes’ one-point win over Penn State is arguably the biggest victory of the season in college football. A path to the Playoff is clear, provided OSU and its leaky defense gets through rival Michigan in the season finale.
5. Clemson
Clemson finally put it all together on Saturday. The Tigers had been underwhelming through five weeks, but now have continuity at quarterback with Trevor Lawrence now the solidified starter. The defense was always the team’s strength, but now the Tigers seem to have found a running game to match. Travis Etienne was the key to the 27-23 win over Syracuse last week. On Saturday in the 63-3 win over Wake Forest, Etienne had 167 yards and three touchdowns on just 10 carries. The Tigers, as a whole, had a ridiculous 471 rushing yards. That’ll do.
6. West Virginia
West Virginia is off to a 5-0 start for the third time in the Dana Holgorsen era, but Holgorsen probably doesn’t feel too good about the last six quarters of football his team has played. The Mountaineers, in their toughest test of the season, jumped out to a 35-10 halftime lead over No. 25 Texas Tech on the road, but were outscored 24-7 in the second half in an eventual 42-34 win. On Saturday, WVU beat lowly Kansas, but it was by just a 38-22 margin. The Mountaineers turned it over four times, including red zone three interceptions by Heisman candidate QB Will Grier. The Mountaineers have a few weeks to shore things up before a juggernaut November schedule, including a trip to Texas and a visit from Oklahoma.
7. Central Florida
UCF has picked up right where it left off in the transition from Scott Frost to Josh Heupel. Now 5-0, the Knights have an average margin of victory of 31.2 points per game. UCF is the class of the Group of Five thus far, but, from a College Football Playoff perspective, the same argument as last year is going to surface: strength of schedule. UCF has played UConn, South Carolina State, Florida Atlantic, Pittsburgh and SMU. Its game against North Carolina was canceled because of Hurricane Florence. Still, the Knights looked primed to cruise through AAC play — including fellow unbeatens USF and Cincinnati — again. We’ll see if they can sniff the CFP this time around.
8. Colorado
Nobody would have predicted Colorado to be the last undefeated team from the Pac-12. The Buffs were expected to finish toward the bottom of the South division, but are now 5-0 thanks to a win over Arizona State on Saturday. Steven Montez has been impressive at quarterback, as has Virginia Tech transfer Travon McMillian at running back. But the unquestioned star of Colorado is wide receiver Laviska Shenault. Against ASU, he accounted for all four of his team’s touchdowns and now has 51 catches for 708 yards and six scores on the year.
9. NC State
NC State lost a bunch of talent on both sides of the ball, but with NFL prospect Ryan Finley at quarterback, the Wolfpack has kept pace with Clemson in the ACC Atlantic. Finley threw two picks in Saturday’s win over Boston College, but is up to 1,621 yards and 10 touchdowns on 69.5 percent throwing. Finley and his deep receiving corps (led by Kelvin Harmon and Jakobi Meyers) will keep the Wolfpack in games as the season progresses. A trip to Clemson looms in two weeks. The Wolfpack have a bye next weekend.
10. South Florida
The well-traveled Blake Barnett has been an excellent pickup at quarterback for Charlie Strong. The prolific Quinton Flowers was never going to be easy to replace, but Barnett (once of Alabama and Arizona State) has thrown for 1,308 yards and nine touchdowns for the 5-0 Bulls. While the offense has thrived, the defense is still a concern. The Bulls surrendered 42 points and 486 yards of offense in a 16-point win over UMass on Saturday. That defense needs to be shored up before the tougher part of the schedule arrives in late October.
11. Cincinnati
Cincinnati is the third and final undefeated team in the AAC’s East division. The Bearcats are the most surprising team on this list, too. In year two of the Luke Fickell era, nobody expect this big of a jump. There have been some close calls on the way to bowl eligibilty, too. The Bearcats issued Chip Kelly his first UCLA loss with a 26-17 decision in Week 1. In Week 4, Cincy overcame a 24-7 halftime deficit and eventually beat Ohio 34-30 with a touchdown with 3:24 to go. Sophomore running back Michael Warren has been a standout with four 100-yard games.
More: https://www.yahoo.com/sports/winner...lls-11-undefeated-teams-week-6-042805101.html
