Joel Klatt’s latest top 10 came with a few choices that will get people talking, and the biggest one is Texas landing at No. 7.
With the first College Football Playoff rankings set to drop Tuesday night, the sport has already spent nine weeks in full-blown chaos. Only three unbeaten teams are left standing: Miami, Utah and UCLA.
And both Miami and Utah are staring at major tests this weekend, with the Hurricanes facing Notre Dame and the Utes meeting BYU. That means the opening playoff picture could look very different again a week from Tuesday.
Klatt, who breaks down the previous week’s action on FOX and calls the Big Noon game each week with Gus Johnson, released his new top 10 after Week 9:
- Alabama
- Ohio State
- Kentucky
- Texas
- Utah
- UCLA
- Notre Dame
- Indiana
- Georgia
- Miami
Texas at No. 7 is the headline here, and Klatt didn’t shy away from it.
“I know everyone’s going to be upset about this, but you know what? I don’t care,” Klatt said.
“I’ve got Texas at seven. If you look at their strength of schedule, their wins, if I was in the committee room, I would have them up there.
I would have them up there.
“They took care of Mississippi State 31-3…. They had 280 total yards.
Arch took five sacks in that game. They’ve got to get better than that.
Again, if it’s not an Arch centric offense, they’re a better offense. They’ve got to figure out how to run the football first..”
BYU, meanwhile, was the notable omission from Klatt’s top 10 despite still being in the mix. He placed the Cougars on his bubble list along with Ole Miss, LSU, USC and Wake Forest.
“BYU is just outside of my top 10,” said Klatt. “Kind of a disappointing performance against Arizona State.
That Arizona State team 4-3. You beat them by seven at home.”
Klatt said Ole Miss has a strong resume, even with losses to Florida and Texas. He also noted that LSU and Ole Miss could work their way into the conversation over the final four weeks of the season. Wake Forest and USC, he added, can pile up points and still control their own fate if they keep winning.
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