2017 ACC Football: Coastal Division power rankings Week 13
Another week of college football means another week of the ACC Coastal Division power rankings
Week 12 may have been a snoozer, but it was secretly just a setup for the chaos ensuing weekend of Week 13 that got kicked off on Thanksgiving with the wild Egg Bowl and ended with Stanford snuffing out what little hope Notre Dame had left.
In between all that were shut outs, blow outs, and game changing plays, all of which led to two more undefeateds falling by the wayside. A weekend like that sends shockwaves not just through college football, but the top-10 as well.
With all of that said, let’s move into the top-10 where I had to choose between USC and UCF.
I believe that USC will be in the committee’s top-10 this week, but I just can’t leave out one of the two unbeaten teams, so I went with the Knights, who regardless of who they played, deserve recognition for their stellar season much like Western Michigan did last year.
Dropping a spot to No. 9 is Ohio State. The Buckeyes remain in a favorable position to sneak into the playoffs despite their two losses if they can find a way to beat Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship.
Ohio State would need Oklahoma and Georgia to win, and hope they look better than a one-loss Alabama squad. Regardless they are still in better shape than USC and the Pac-12.
Coming in at No. 8 is TCU who the Trojans should really blame for their expulsion from these rankings. The Pac-12 will need a miracle for USC to get into the playoffs, where I think the Horned Frogs would have a better shot of getting into the top four.
It may not seem likely but a win over Oklahoma would make TCU a two-loss champ and compared to other two-loss champs, such as the aforementioned Trojans and Buckeyes, would be hard to leave out, especially since TCU would’ve beaten a team Ohio State failed to.
Dropping six spots to No. 7, is Alabama. The Crimson Tide has been in my top two all season long, but due to a lack of a tough schedule their first loss, really puts them in a disadvantage.
They also don’t get the benefit of playing in a championship game and therefore would need utter chaos to make the playoffs, say TCU, Ohio State, and Auburn all winning.
That brings us to No. 6 where we find Miami who only dropped a spot this week despite losing to a far worse opponent than Alabama did. Why is that? Because unlike the Crimson Tide the Hurricanes get to play for a Championship game. Win and you’re in Miami fans.
Moving up a spot to No. 5 is Georgia. The Bulldogs like Miami control their playoff fate. If Georgia can get revenge and beat Auburn in the SEC championship game, they too will be in the playoffs.
Speaking of Auburn, we find the Tigers at No. 4 after moving up three spots thanks to their Iron Bowl win over Alabama. Auburn is trying to become the first two-loss squad to make the playoffs this season and will have a great case if they can beat Georgia for a second time this season.
Jumping up a spot to No. 3 is Wisconsin, the last remaining undefeated Power Five squad. All the Badgers do is win and are one Ohio State win away from punching their first ever ticket to the playoffs. Can they do what Iowa couldn’t two seasons ago?
As we move into the top two we find Oklahoma, who also moves up a spot this week. The Sooners took care of business against West Virginia and Baker Mayfield seems to have the Heisman locked up. All that is left is a TCU team they crushed in Norman. Can they do it again?
All of that brings us to the top ranked squad in Clemson. Clemson returns to the spot they had before that horrible loss to Syracuse. A win over Miami Saturday and Clemson will be looking at their third straight playoff, something only Alabama can match.
Well with all that worked out, we move on to our real rankings.
This week I return back to the country side of things with Martina McBride. First up is a team that has been a shell of themselves to end the season.