Wasserman's College Football Top 10 Ranking: Georgia, Miami moving up

It’s the second year of the 12-team College Football Playoff. When the CFP committee starts releasing rankings later this season, they won’t be the end-all, be-all, given the new seeding rules for the 12-team field. However, the rankings are still enjoyable, and people will continue to argue over them. They still matter. 

So after every weekend, after the dust settles from the games, I’m going to unveil my updated top 10. 

Here’s where things stand after week 3:

1. Ohio State (3-0)

Ohio State played with its food on Saturday. There’s no other way to put it. And if you add into the fact that Texas looked absolutely awful in its win over UTEP, you could make the case the Buckeyes may not be No. 1 heading into week 4. Ohio State, though, still possess the best player in the country on offense (wide receiver Jeremiah Smith) and defense (safety Caleb Downs) and the Buckeyes are every bit as permitted to have a clunker as anyone else. The final score was still 37-9, so we’ll give Ohio State a pass until it becomes a trend.

2. Georgia (3-0)

Georgia’s first two opponents of the season were Marshall and Austin Peay and both games were snoozefests. If you were one of the people waiting to see how this year’s Georgia team would look against a good opponent, the Bulldogs’ dramatic win over Tennessee in Knoxville should have answered some questions. Though you may be worried some about Georgia’s secondary, quarterback Gunner Stockton helped lead a dramatic comeback and overtime win. Georgia isn’t bulletproof the way it was in year’s past, but it proved it’s still one of the top teams in college football. That isn’t an easy place to play. That wasn’t an easy opponent to beat. Georgia still found a way to get it done, even when it looked like it was dead to rights. That matters.

3. Miami (3-0)

We may find out in a few weeks Miami should be higher on this list, but given where the Hurricanes were in the preseason and now, this should be an adequate measure of respect. Miami opened the season with a dramatic win over Notre Dame. And this weekend, it beat up on the same USF team that upset Florida in Gainesville last weekend. Given Clemson lost to Georgia Tech on Saturday, it seems clear the Hurricanes should be viewed as the best team in the ACC. Miami has a gnarly two-game stretch against Florida State and Florida.

4. LSU (3-0)

There was some buzz after LSU‘s opening-season win at Clemson that the Tigers should be the No. 1 team in the country. That win, however, has aged poorly. It became less impressive last week as Clemson struggled with Troy and now it’s certainly less valuable after it lost to Georgia Tech. That said, LSU’s combination of wins over Clemson and Florida on Saturday night is still a collection of two nice wins early in the season. LSU fans may be annoyed to see their favorite team fall in the rankings after a tough win at home. Rest assured, LSU will have plenty of opportunity to continue to prove itself.

5. Penn State (3-0)

Penn State is a trendy national championship pick, but it’s going to be hard to see how dangerous the Nittany Lions are until they play a team with a pulse. In Penn State’s win over Villanova on Saturday, the Nittany Lions offense struggled in the first half before they blew the game open. The good news for Penn State, who has enjoyed three easy wins so far this season, is it has a chance to prove it’s really dangerous in two weeks when Oregon comes to Happy Valley on Sept. 27. We’ll get our answers about James Franklin and his squad then.

6. Oregon (3-0)

Can we be frank? Oregon didn’t show up in Evanston on Saturday. For those watching box scores, you’ll see Oregon won 34-14 and keep scrolling, not noticing anything important. But for Oregon fans who pay close attention to all of the Ducks’ games, they know there’s a lot more in the tank than what Dan Lanning‘s squad gave. But that’s college football, where it’s hard to be at your best every single game. Oregon has an interesting two weeks coming up. Next weekend, Oregon hosts rival Oregon State. The following weekend the Ducks fly across the country to face Penn State in a pivotal Big Ten matchup.

7. Illinois (3-0)

This weekend’s game against Western Michigan could have been a letdown spot for Illinois. It was sandwiched between Duke and Indiana, two early-season tests for The Illini. It wasn’t a letdown spot. In fact, the 28-point favorite Illinois made short order of the Broncos, blowing them out, 38-0. Illinois has often been labeled as this year’s Indiana. Well, they have the undefeated Hoosiers on the road next weekend. It’s go time.

8. Florida State (2-0)

Florida State’s win over Alabama is aging well. Since the Seminoles shocked the world by beating Alabama in week 1, the Crimson Tide have rattled off consecutive wins. The most-recent Alabama win was a blowout over Wisconsin, which may or may not mean anything. Florida State didn’t have a game this weekend and its next two games are against Kent State — one of the worst teams in the country — and Virginia. If Florida State can get to 4-0 heading into the Miami game, that’s going to feel like a vintage Miami-Florida State matchup.

9. Texas A&M (3-0)

Texas A&M was one of the hardest teams to project coming into the offseason. It’s always a very talented bunch of players, but the Aggies are still transitioning into what they are going to be under head coach Mike Elko. If you’re looking for a statement, how about a big road win at Notre Dame on Saturday night? A program that has been desperate to break through got a huge break when Notre Dame botched the extra point after a late go-ahead touchdown. That left the door for Texas A&M to drive down the field and win on a dramatic touchdown pass by Marcel Reed with 12 seconds left.

10. Oklahoma (3-0)

There are a lot of teams that could have been fighting for this spot especially on a Saturday where there were a ton of impressive showings. But Oklahoma has that Michigan win in its pocket and it came out and took care of Temple on Saturday, winning 42-6. The thing that stands out about the Sooners? In a season where many of the hyped quarterbacks have underperformed, John Mateer has been as good as advertised. In case you have lost track of your calendars, next week Jackson Arnold returns to Norman with Auburn. Storylines aside, that’s another test for Oklahoma to prove it belongs this high in the rankings.