It's time for Outkick's top ten, the best top ten in all the country.
At this point in time, what I try to do is reward good wins more than I penalize for bad losses. That is, if you've posted top ten wins then I'm going to credit you more for those than I am going to discredit you for bad losses.
With that in mind, here we go.
1. Alabama
The Tide's going 15-0 and winning the national championship.
They outgained LSU by 200 yards on the road and held them to just 124 yards of offense, including just 33 yards on 27 rush attempts.
That's physical domination over a top ten team.
The score didn't reflect how badly Alabama beat LSU.
2. Clemson
The Tigers destroyed Syracuse and are close to a lock for the playoff.
3. Michigan
The Wolverines are in an interesting spot -- wouldn't it be better for the Big Ten if they lost to Ohio State and argued they had the best resume of the one loss teams in the country?
Especially if you believe, like I do, that Washington isn't going to finish the season undefeated?
That way the Big Ten could potentially get two teams in the playoff.
4. Washington
The Huskies have no margin for error. And boy oh boy, that game against USC next weekend is going to be hard to win. In fact, I'm betting on USC.
(I know, I know, they're still playing Cal at the time that this poll goes up. If they lose I'll drop them to number nine and bump everyone else from 5-9 up a spot.)
5. Ohio State
The Buckeye offense finally showed up in a big way, destroying Nebraska, a team we never had in our top ten for good reason.
Now the question is this -- can the Buckeyes beat Michigan?
6. Louisville
Lamar Jackson has won the Heisman trophy, now the only question remaining is this -- can Louisville sneak into the playoffs as a one loss team?
7. Wisconsin
The Badgers are going to be 10-2 and win the Big Ten West. Then they'll play a rematch with either Michigan or Ohio State in the Big Ten title game. Do they have the horses on offense to win that game? Probably not. But it will be fun to take the under in this game.
8. Auburn
The Tigers are a different team with Sean White, who miraculously returned to the field on Saturday and looked totally fine despite his "injury," as he led Auburn to a comeback win over Vanderbilt.
But unfortunately for Auburn they aren't good enough to beat Alabama so Tiger fans are just setting themselves up for an awful final Saturday of the season.
9. Penn State
The Nittany Lions surge into our top ten after a second straight crushing of a Big Ten opponent.
Penn State is going to finish 10-2 in James Franklin's third year. And he's a wild question for you, would LSU be able to convince Franklin to leave Happy Valley?
I think the answer's no, but can you imagine what Franklin could do on the Bayou? Don't you have to make a run at him?
10. Texas A&M
Seriously, I have no idea who else to put in my top ten.
At least A&M has a top ten win. No other team that's contending for a spot in my top ten does.
So that's why the Aggies end up here despite a bad loss to Mississippi State this weekend.
