Just for fun....predict our rank

Ark.... 1st

BWW Bowl - 23rd

When we are unbeaten and top Bama, we will be No. 2.

I’ll play since I think we’re 8-0 heading into Tuscaloosa. Right now, we have two teams ranked ahead of us who have already lost: Ohio State and Florida State. Both are well respected/benefit of the doubt programs so unless they lose another, I don’t think we jump them until we beat both Florida and Auburn.

In other bad news, the teams ahead of us do not have particularly daunting schedules. Until bedlam, Oklahoma’s only test (if we can call it that) is the Red River Rivalry with Texas. Clemson’s toughest game until mid-November is this weekend with Louisville. Despite how good Lamar Jackson is, Tiger fans know that team is crap. USC’s toughest tilts are Washington State at the end of the month and Notre Dame at the end of October. Washington plays NO ONE until UCLA at the end of October. Wisconsin literally plays no one.

It’s only the tough two weeks that Penn State has to endure in mid-to-late October that gives us really any guaranteed losses for teams ranked above us. Penn State plays Michigan on October 21 and Ohio State the next week. No way they win both. I say they beat Michigan at home and, after an emotional win, lose on the road to Ohio State.

Also since this is college football where flukey things happen, I say there is an upset prior to Florida and one after Auburn that right now you wouldn’t predict.

So I think we move up one spot prior to Florida and three spots more prior to Bama (the second fluke, the Michigan loss and the PSU loss) based solely on others ranked higher than us losing. I think at some point being undefeated should overtake the one loss teams. I think we jump Florida State prior to Bama, even if they run the table to that point. So that takes me to 4 spots higher (5 overall). Whether we jump OSU will depend on whether OSU thumps Penn State or not (or, if PSU beats both Michigan and Ohio State). So let me call that a half spot. As an aside, I think the playoff committee will rank us higher than Ohio State prior to Bama even if the AP writers are biased in favor of their initial views.

Florida is October 7 – we will be ranked 11th

Auburn is the next week, October 14 – we will be ranked 11th

Bama is November 4 – we will be ranked 6.5th

Oklahoma/Oklahoma State is the same day of Bama LSU. It will be a weekend in which 1 plays 6 or 7 and 2 plays 4 or 5. If we win that game, we should be ranked 2. If we lose, none of this matters.