College Football Ratings- Week 4 2024
I was in Chapel Hill for what might have been the game of the day in Week 4 as James Madison knocked off North Carolina 70-50. Mack Brown’s tenure at UNC has always felt like a bit of a missed opportunity- QBs like Sam Howell and Drake Maye are not going to just walk through the door at Alabama, let alone North Carolina. I do think the Tar Heels could do better than Mack- they are the flagship university in a growing state with tons of recruits.
Elsewhere, the most impactful games on the playoff included Kansas State imploding against BYU, USC falling to Michigan and Missouri scraping by Vanderbilt. Missouri looks really shaky and I don’t think they’re a serious playoff contender anymore.
Bracketology
1 Ohio State
2 Georgia
3 Miami
4 Iowa State
No changes in my top 4 this week. My model still doesn’t trust Utah and thus Iowa State remains my pick to win an increasingly murky Big 12. Miami was really impressive in a road win over South Florida.
5 Alabama vs. 12 Liberty
6 Oregon vs. 11 Ole Miss
7 Texas vs. 10 Tennessee
8 Clemson vs. 9 Penn State
In my eyes, Clemson has fully rebounded from their loss to Georgia. Their schedule is really light with Louisville and South Carolina the main threats- I think an 11-2 Clemson team that wins out before an ACC title game loss to Miami should make the field. My model is still lower on Ole Miss and Tennessee than most others so I have them on the road in the first round as opposed to at home.
I’ve moved Liberty up to my 12 seed for the first time all year. Given their pillow soft schedule, the Flames would have to go 13-0 to make the playoff and would likely need all the other G5 conference champions to have multiple losses. With Liberty beating a good ECU team, and losses by Memphis, Toledo and Northern Illinois this week, that scenario is looking significantly more likely.
Top 25
Ohio State
Georgia
Alabama
Oregon
Notre Dame
Miami
Texas
Clemson
Penn State
Texas A&M
Ole Miss
Tennessee
Iowa State
LSU
Louisville
Michigan
Missouri
USC
Washington
Kentucky
Oklahoma
Kansas State
Virginia Tech
Auburn
SMU
Next Ten: Indiana, UCF, South Carolina, Kansas, Iowa, Georgia Tech, Boston College, Florida, Utah, Arizona
Louisville is the best team in the sport that no one is talking about. They travel to Notre Dame this week- a win there and they’re firmly in the playoff hunt. Michigan rebounded after their win over USC. Their complete inability to pass will put a ceiling on them but they’re still extremely talented and clearly a top 25 team. SMU was a preseason sleeper ACC pick and has snuck back into my top 25 after a blowout win over TCU. Plus, their early loss to BYU doesn’t look so bad now that BYU is 4-0.