Joel Klatt breaks down massive changes in revamped Top 10
FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt raised some eyebrows with his revamped Top 10 this week. He put Ohio State at No. 1 over Alabama and had Georgia at No. 5 — a stark contrast from other rankings.
On Wednesday’s edition of “Breaking The Huddle,” he shared his rationale.
Klatt once again detailed his new rankings and said he wants to show how the college football world looks that week. He compared it to how golf does its rankings, factoring in previous years in addition to the recent play.
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“When I do a top 10, I’m trying as best I can to take a snapshot of that particular week,” Klatt said. “This is not World Golf Ranking points that are on a two-year rolling scale. Yes, this is going to look different, and I’m going to take you through the philosophy of how I arrived, and particular at the top five.”
Here are Klatt’s full rankings:
Joel Klatt: Ohio State is No. 1 because Alabama has quarterback questions
Ohio State is No. 3 in the AP Top 25, but Klatt was steadfast in saying the Buckeyes are the best team in the country after Week 5. He said he initially had Ohio State and Alabama flipped, but there’s one important factor that could work against the Crimson Tide: Bryce Young’s health.
Young is dealing with a shoulder injury and his status for this week’s game against Texas A&M. That, Klatt said, is why Alabama fell.
“Full disclosure, the first time I did this I said, ‘OK, Alabama’s No. 1, Ohio State’s 2,’ and then I started on that second tier,” Klatt said. “But the problem is in this snapshot, in the first week of October, Alabama’s got questions about the quarterback, Bryce Young, and his health. … Do we know how effective he’s going to be? Do we know how healthy he’s going to be? Do we know if he’s going to be on the field? No.
“So in this snapshot this week, Ohio State’s going to be the No. 1 team. This could very well flip if Bryce Young shows that he’s healthy and Bama continues to dominate the way that they can and o on a weekly basis. But this week, Ohio State, they have a defense that’s playing in the top 25 in the country, they have an offense that I think is the best offense in the country and their quarterback is playing at a really elite level in CJ Stroud. So this week, first week of October, Ohio State’s No. 1, Bama’s No. 2.”
‘Georgia, you start playing better, you’re going to rise up’
Tuesday, Klatt made some poignant comments about the SEC — specifically about what it’s like to play on the road in the league. He pointed to Georgia’s loss to Mizzou as a reason why laying on the road is like playing away from home in any other league. The Tigers lost to Kansas State by 28 points before putting up a strong fight against the Bulldogs.
Despite falling so far in the rankings, Klatt said Georgia can jump back up once it starts playing as well as they expect to play.
“Georgia, you start playing better, you’re going to rise up,” Klatt said. “But I’m not going to give you a pass just because you claim that it’s somehow difficult to play on the road just because of the conference that you play in. The fact of the matter is Michigan’s win at Iowa is a better win than Georgia at Missouri.
“You can’t sell me on the fact that it’s more difficult to play at Missouri — in fact, you should dominate much more than that because you’re a great team like I think you are and certainly will rise up this when you start playing that way.”