Joel Klatt’s latest top 10 came with one of the more eye-catching calls of the college football season: Texas at No. 7, and BYU left just outside the cut.
With the first College Football Playoff rankings set to drop Tuesday night, the sport is still sorting itself out after nine weeks of chaos. Only three unbeaten teams remain - Miami, Utah and UCLA - and both Miami and Utah are headed into major tests this weekend. The Hurricanes face Notre Dame, while Utah gets BYU, which means the opening playoff picture could look very different by the time the next rankings roll around.
Klatt, who breaks down the weekly action on FOX’s Big Noon with Gus Johnson, released his new top 10 after Week 9, and it featured a few notable twists:
- Alabama
- Ohio State
- Kentucky
- Texas
- Utah
- UCLA
- Notre Dame
- Indiana
- Georgia
- Miami
The biggest conversation starter was Texas landing at No. 7.
“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 one of the teams Klatt kept just outside his top 10. He also listed Ole Miss, LSU, USC and Wake Forest on the bubble.
“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 pointed to Ole Miss as a team with a solid resume, even with losses to Florida and Texas. He also said LSU and the Rebels can still work their way into the mix over the final four weeks. Wake Forest and USC, he noted, have the kind of offenses that can put up points in bunches and still control their own fate if they keep winning.
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