[Cactus Jack]

This week's rankings are out.

1. Oregon
2. Texas
3. Miami
4. Boise St.

5. Ohio St.
6. Penn St.
7. Indiana
8. Notre Dame
9. Alabama
10. Ole Miss
11. Georgia
12. BYU


Initial Thoughts:

I thought Boise State was underrated at #12 given their body of work, but going from #12 to #4 (even as a conference champion) seems like a huge overcorrection.

BYU took their first loss last week, and is a 3 point underdog to Arizona State this week.

Ole Miss' home win over Georgia in the rain isn't enough to erase the stench of losses to LSU and Kentucky. Why are they ahead of a Tennessee team with more respectable losses (at Arkansas and at Georgia)?

Indiana is a feel good story for their fans and their coach obviously knows what he's doing, but they'd probably get smacked by any team on the list. At least the SEC has a chance to quiet Big Ten fans in this hypo-- opening games where Alabama would travel to Notre Dame, Ole Miss to Indiana, and Georgia to Penn State. I'd have to think the SEC team would be the road favorite in each of those. Penn State could beat Georgia if they play well, but there's a real separation between Oregon, Ohio State, and the rest of the Big Ten. Over time, I think the addition of Oregon is going to be a boon for the Big Ten. As they continue to be successful, more teams will try to emulate their speed and, with time, the conference will see more consistent results against the SEC.

Want to see if a shellacking from Ohio State is enough to drop Indiana out of the Top 12 entirely. Ohio State is a 13.5 point favorite. I don't think two touchdowns will be enough to knock them out of the rankings, but a four-plus TD margin would probably be enough.

Georgia has played @Texas, @Alabama, @Ole Miss, and vs. Tennessee (with three of those coming in a four game span). Beating those four teams is probably a bigger ask than any path that any eventual champion could take through the playoff, but they're #11? Please.