THE CORRECT TOP 10 | FIVE AND A FADE
Last Tuesday I told you records lie in November. Then Miami, Ohio State, BYU, Kentucky and Ole Miss all went down. Here’s this week’s Five and a Fade Correct Top 10. Win and loss lines use the AP.
1. Georgia (8-1, AP 1, CFP 1)
Ranked wins: at No. 7 Alabama 20-17, at No. 19 Ole Miss 42-7
Loss: Auburn 27-24, at home
Last week I said win in Oxford and Georgia has a case for No. 1. It won there by five touchdowns, at night, against a ranked SEC team. Before Saturday it had one great win, in Tuscaloosa. Now it has two. That isn’t the logo talking. That’s legit. The Auburn loss? I still hate it. But that’s the only one they have.
2. Utah (9-0, AP 2, CFP 2)
Ranked wins: No. 12 BYU 28-20, No. 14 Houston 21-13
Losses: none
Georgia wasn’t the only one to make a case Saturday. Utah beat BYU. Two top-15 wins and no losses is real. Georgia has two ranked wins, too, and not all ranked wins are created equal. Winning at Alabama is more impressive than beating BYU. Winning by five touchdowns in Oxford is more impressive than beating No. 14 Houston, or anything Utah has done. The SEC is tougher than the Big 12. Call it bias. I call it reality.
3. Texas (7-2, AP 8, CFP 6)
Ranked wins: at No. 9 Tennessee 20-17, No. 19 Ole Miss 34-27, No. 21 Ohio State 24-23
Losses: Oklahoma 27-24 in Dallas, Florida 27-24 at home
Texas was my No. 1. It won 34-20 at then-No. 19 Missouri and still dropped two spots, because Ohio State and Ole Miss lost. But Texas has beaten all four teams it played that were ranked at kickoff, two on the road. Both losses were by a field goal, same as Tennessee’s. Winning at Neyland might be the best win anybody has this season. The only other contender is Georgia’s in Tuscaloosa, and that ending is still disputed.
4. Tennessee (7-2, AP 9, CFP 8)
Ranked wins: No. 7 Alabama 26-10, No. 13 Kentucky 34-6
Losses: No. 8 Texas 20-17 at home, at No. 20 South Carolina 27-24
Here’s where I prove I’m not a homer. In the committee’s rankings last week, Alabama was No. 5 and Kentucky was No. 6. Tennessee drilled them both. Nobody else has beaten two of the committee’s top six. Against teams in the top 10 at kickoff, Tennessee is 2-1 and has outscored them 77-36. But Texas beat Tennessee with the same record, so Texas goes ahead.
What Tennessee needs is a road win that matters. Its two road wins came against teams that are a combined 5-13. Texas A&M is 4-5, but it’s 4-1 at Kyle Field and gives up 11.6 points a game there. Win Saturday and that’s Tennessee’s best road win of the season.
5. Alabama (7-2, AP 7, CFP 3)
Ranked wins: at No. 13 Kentucky 45-17, No. 20 South Carolina 49-18, at No. 24 LSU 31-13
Losses: No. 1 Georgia 20-17 at home, at No. 9 Tennessee 26-10
Some banger wins. Only Texas has as many ranked wins on this list. I don’t hold the Georgia loss against Alabama much. Call pass interference at the end and does Georgia even win in regulation? But Tennessee beat Alabama and has the same record. So fifth.
6. Notre Dame (8-1, AP 3, CFP 5)
Ranked win: No. 5 Miami 31-24
Loss: at No. 12 BYU 28-24
Notre Dame beat Miami. BYU beat Notre Dame, but Notre Dame is 8-1 and BYU is 7-2. Same record is my rule. Different record is a different conversation. Same thing I’ve been telling South Carolina fans.
7. Texas Tech (8-1, AP 10, CFP 12)
Ranked wins: No. 14 Houston 28-26, No. 22 Arizona 34-26
Loss: at Cincinnati 37-24
Losing by 13 at unranked Cincinnati is ugly. But Tech has beaten two ranked teams. Miami has beaten one.
8. Miami (8-1, AP 5, CFP 7)
Ranked win: at No. 11 Wake Forest 33-20
Loss: at No. 3 Notre Dame 31-24
That one ranked win? Wake Forest is ranked awfully high for a team that hasn’t beaten anybody ranked. The loss is easier to live with. Miami lost at Notre Dame on a fourth-down throw to the end zone with 3:43 left. Everybody outside South Bend wanted that to be a touchdown. It wasn’t. Same record, and Notre Dame won head-to-head.
9. UCLA (9-0, AP 4, CFP 4)
Ranked win: at No. 18 Oregon 17-15
Losses: none
Last week I said undefeated gets you in the conversation, not in here. UCLA is here for one reason: it finally has a ranked win. Oregon won at Ohio State and got ranked, making UCLA’s two-point win in Eugene a ranked road win.
10. BYU (7-2, AP 12, CFP 10)
Ranked wins: No. 3 Notre Dame 28-24, No. 22 Arizona 28-17
Losses: at UCF 39-31, at No. 2 Utah 28-20
BYU is lucky to be here. It beat Notre Dame.
The Ones I Left Out
Ohio State (6-3, AP 21, CFP 20). Ranked wins: at No. 6 Indiana 19-15, at No. 16 Iowa 31-14. Losses: at No. 8 Texas 24-23, at No. 15 USC 30-18, No. 18 Oregon 41-28 at home.
Indiana (8-1, AP 6, CFP 9). Ranked wins: none. Loss: No. 21 Ohio State 19-15 at home. The committee had Indiana fourth last week. Now it’s ninth. They finally went deeper on Indiana. Credit where it’s due.
Kentucky (7-2, AP 13, CFP 11). Ranked wins: at No. 20 South Carolina 35-34, No. 24 LSU 35-34. Losses: No. 7 Alabama 45-17 at home, at No. 9 Tennessee 34-6. The poster child for why not all ranked wins are equal. Two ranked wins by a combined two points. Two losses by a combined 56.
The committee has Alabama third and Tennessee eighth. Same record. Tennessee won by 16. I still have questions.
Agree? Like it and follow. Disagree? I hear the committee has openings.
Jeremy Durham is a sports columnist for TriStar Daily and the founder of Five and a Fade.
Jeremy Durham is a sports columnist for TriStar Daily and the founder of Five and a Fade. He writes a weekly Tennessee Vols preview and the Five and a Fade picks column. All of Jeremy’s columns · jeremyrdurham.com · Newsletter · X · Instagram
