“Previous years do not matter for me. All I care about are the results on the field this year.” People say this, but does anybody actually mean it? Alabama has wins over Duke and New Mexico State. North Carolina has wins over South Carolina and Miami. If we’re basing it strictly to on-field results in 2019, Mack Brown’s boys should definitely be ranked ahead of the Tide, right?
Well, Alabama is ranked No. 2 with six first-place votes in the latest poll, while North Carolina does not even crack the top 25. Completely flip the resumes and the rankings remain the exact same. The most impressive win of the season so far is LSU going on the road to beat Texas and the Tigers find themselves at No. 4.
Last year should not matter. This year should matter.
Let’s take a look at the college football top 11 after two weeks of 2019 amateur pigskin season.
1. Clemson
Clemson’s suffocation of Texas A&M gave the Tigers 2 Power 5 wins to start the season, and this will be the toughest game they face the rest of this season. Clemson will be two-score favorites in every game it plays the rest of the way with its next test coming in the College Football Playoff. The Tigers are headed to the Carrier Dome to play Syracuse, which has given Clemson a tough time the past few years, but this is a different Syracuse team. They stink.
2. LSU
The best win of the young college football season has to be LSU going on the road to beat Texas in a fantastic game. This new offense is exciting to watch as the Tigers went from those weird pitch dive plays that go nowhere to a spread attack that has Joe Burrow as a Heisman favorite at this point of the year. LSU is going up against Northwestern State as a 50-point favorite. I like LSU’s chances. This team is going to start 7-0 leading into matchups against Auburn and Alabama.
3. Auburn
Second best win of the season has to be Auburn surviving the biggest game of the opening weekend against Oregon, which the Ducks led for most of. After the massive win, Auburn struggled its way to a win over Tulane, which is a very Auburn thing to do. The Tigers have Kent State next week before a road contest at Texas A&M. Early pick: I’m taking the Aggies.
4. North Carolina
How about these guys. Mack Brown comes back from the dead and revives North Carolina in the process. A little advice for coaches who might want a shot at a return? Get in the media. You stay in the conversation a bit and people don’t forget about you. But North Carolina now has a couple wins against Power 5 teams with South Carolina and Miami. The Tar Heels are 3.5 underdogs going at Wake Forest on Friday night. No respect for a North Carolina team that would be in my College Football Playoff if this was a two-week season. But it’s not.
5. California
I hate everything about this California team. I had a 10-team moneyline parlay ready to cash when I find out at 3:30 a.m. that Cal beat Washington as 14-point underdogs. Just because the Bears are now my enemy, it doesn’t mean they don’t have my respect. What a win for this program that appears to be on the rise in year 3 under Justin Wilcox. North Texas is up next followed by a road matchup with Ole Miss.
6. Utah
If you like watching cool football guys, watch Zack Moss. The running back from Utah is an absolute beast running through every tackler in front of him. The Utes are 2-0 with an impressive road win against rival BYU to start the season. I’m not sure I’ve ever been more in love with a team. I’m dating Utah right now and it’s getting pretty serious. Next up is Idaho State followed by tough matchups against USC and Washington State. I’m sticking with my preseason bold prediction this is an 11-1 Utah team.
7. Hawaii
Hawaii would be up higher with two Power 5 wins in previous years, but they were both against the Pac-12, which should legitimately be in the discussion to be a Group of 5 (6?) conference in 2019. Hawaii beat Arizona by a yard in week 0 and held Oregon State scoreless in the second half to improve to 2-0. The end is likely near with a Washington team looking to bounce back from its loss on Sunday morning.
8. Maryland
You do not mess with September Maryland. Just ask Texas. And Syracuse because Maryland came in and put the smack down on a ranked Syracuse team. Evidently the Orange should not have been ranked, but he Terrapins seem to have a pretty darn good offense when they’re not trotting out new quarterbacks every Saturday because of injuries.
9. Wyoming
An opening-week, 17-point upset over a SEC team? Sure, that’ll get you a spot in the top 11. Wyoming beat Missouri to start the year and did what it was supposed to do against Texas State. This will likely be the final week of the Cowboys cracking the top 11 with zero games against Power 5 teams the rest of the way, but Wyoming should do some damage in the Mountain West this season.
10. Boston College
A home win over Virginia Tech puts Boston College in the top 10. The Eagles are about to do some dirty things to the Jayhawks of Kansas to start 3-0 before a road matchup with Rutgers. The two biggest jokes among the Power 5 teams two weeks in a row. How ’bout that.
11. Georgia
Finding good wins is a difficult process this early in the season, but Georgia went on the road and smacked Vanderbilt around in the opening week. Good win? Ehh, probably not but Georgia finds itself at the bottom of the top 11 because of it. Georgia has Arkansas State next week followed by a home game with Notre Dame in what will be an absolute beat down of the Irish.
Awesome photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics
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