Top College Football Resumes: Ohio State rides Penn State to No. 1

The resume rank — which doesn’t consider preseason hype and uses only the results so far this season — still veers away from the Associated Press and coaches’ polls at the top because of Georgia’s inconsistency from game to game. But with Florida, Ole Miss and Tennessee coming up on the schedule, the Bulldogs have a chance to prove their dominance. 

Meanwhile, Ohio State being ranked above Michigan doesn’t mean I’d pick the Buckeyes if they had to play the Wolverines today. It means Ohio State has tested itself against Notre Dame and Penn State and Michigan has yet to face any such test. The Wolverines’ dominance has been so impressive that I’ve ranked them above everyone else, but I still can’t wait to see how they perform against an opponent with elite talent. The problem is that isn’t happening until Nov. 11.

1. Ohio State

The Buckeyes have two of the nation’s best wins, and they beat Penn State while fairly shorthanded on offense. With a healthy TreyVeon Henderson and Emeka Egbuka, perhaps they can compete with anyone.

2. Michigan

The Wolverines still haven’t played an opponent of consequence, but it’s simply impossible to ignore the way they destroy everything in their path. From a 2023 season standpoint, another NCAA investigation seems to be something that would only serve to further incentivize them to obliterate everything in their path. Can they do this to more talented teams? We won’t know until they play at Penn State on Nov. 11. But the level of consistency is remarkable.

3. Oklahoma

The Sooners barely survived UCF, but all the teams below them have survived a scare from a less talented opponent or lost a game. Saturday was a classic win-your-clunkers moment, and Oklahoma passed. But letting UCF get that close also means the Sooners should be on high alert as they prepare to face Kansas and then Oklahoma State.

4. Florida State

The Seminoles pulled away from Duke once Blue Devils quarterback Riley Leonard succumbed to injury again, but had Leonard been fully healthy, that would have been a four-quarter fight that could have gone either way. As North Carolina learned the hard way on Saturday, there probably will be no cruising through to the ACC title game.

5. Washington

The Huskies are very, very lucky. If a defensive holding flag doesn’t get picked up — and based on the replay, it shouldn’t have been — we could be discussing a different result against Arizona State. If the Huskies play any of their five remaining games the way they played Saturday, they can lose. And if they show up as sleepy as Saturday in any of their final four games, they definitely will lose.

6. Georgia

The Bulldogs had a week off to heal and to figure out how the offense should look without star tight end Brock Bowers, who is recovering from ankle surgery. They’ll get a rivalry game against Florida to debut the new look. The question is whether they come out as fired up as they did against Kentucky. If they do, then their trip to Jacksonville should go well. If they don’t, the Gators may fight Georgia into the fourth quarter the way Auburn did.

7. Texas

The Longhorns were very lucky officials gave Houston a terrible spot late, but it also helps that Texas found its run game down the stretch. Just as Oklahoma learned against UCF, the rest of the Big 12 is not going to lay down and simply allow the Sooners and Longhorns to walk into the conference title game. It’s unlikely any current Texas player remembers week nine opponent BYU hanging 40 and 41 points on the Longhorns in 2013 and 2014, but most of the fanbase probably still has nightmares about Taysom Hill. 

8. Oregon

The Ducks started slow but rebounded and rolled to a win against Washington State. Now they’ll need to stay sharp, because Utah could knock the Ducks out of the College Football Playoff picture — and possibly the Pac-12 title picture — this week in Salt Lake City.

9. Alabama

The Crimson Tide fell behind early and roared back to beat Tennessee. At its best, this team is good enough to beat anyone. But that version of Alabama only seems to appear for a quarter or a half at a time. The other version is susceptible to losing. The good version will need to play at least a half if the Crimson Tide want to beat LSU on Nov. 4 and keep control of the SEC West race.

10. Utah

It seems unlikely that QB Cam Rising plays this season, but backup Bryson Barnes seems to be getting comfortable in the offense. (Or perhaps that was just USC’s defense making Barnes look comfortable.) If the Utes want to win a third consecutive Pac-12 title, they probably need to beat Oregon on Saturday.