Welcome to The Top 25, a weekly rundown of the best of college football.
Each week, The Baltimore Sun will break down the top games, players and teams to watch, from the Power Five to the Group of Five. Here’s what to know for Week 10:
5 games to watch
— Texas Tech at No. 7 TCU (Saturday, noon, Fox): The Horned Frogs have held on in close games to keep their perfect record intact, winning their last four by an average of 7.5 points. They’ll likely need to win out to get into the College Football Playoff, which means there’s no margin for error. The Red Raiders have lost three of their last four but boast one of the nation’s best passing attacks, averaging 338 yards per game through the air.
— No. 1 Tennessee at No. 3 Georgia (Saturday, 3:30 p.m., CBS): The Volunteers enter with the CFP committee’s top ranking and a buzzsaw of an offense, but the Bulldogs are favored by more than a touchdown for a reason. How coach Kirby Smart and Georgia’s defense try to stop star quarterback Hendon Hooker and touchdown machine Jalin Hyatt will not only determine Saturday’s outcome but shift the landscape in the playoff race.
— No. 6 Alabama at No. 10 LSU (Saturday, 7 p.m., ESPN): A night game in Death Valley is always intimidating, but even more so when the Tigers are rolling. After an early hiccup against a Florida State team that turned out to be pretty good, LSU has won four of their last five against conference opponents by an average margin of 13.5 points. It’s going to take another heroic effort from quarterback Bryce Young to keep the Crimson Tide from suffering two losses in the regular season for the first time since 2010.
— No. 24 Texas at No. 13 Kansas State (Saturday, 7 p.m., Fox Sports 1): After completely dismantling Oklahoma State, 48-0, last week, the largest ever shutout win by a lower-ranked team against a top-10 team, the Wildcats look like giant killers. Backup quarterback Will Howard will have to go toe-to-toe with Longhorns star Quinn Ewers, but he’s more than capable after throwing for 296 yards and four touchdowns against the Cowboys.
— No. 4 Clemson at Notre Dame (Saturday, 7:30 p.m., NBC): Take out a head-scratching 16-14 loss to Stanford, and the Fighting Irish would probably be a top-15 team in the CFP’s initial rankings. This is a tricky test for a Tigers team that has a clear path to the playoff if it can run the table against a weak ACC schedule. We still don’t know what we’re going to get from quarterback DJ Uiagalelei from week to week, and that should make Clemson fans nervous.
5 players to watch
— Arizona State QB Trenton Bourguet (vs. No. 12 UCLA): The redshirt junior seized the starting job over Florida transfer Emory Jones last week, completing 32 of 43 passes for 435 yards, three touchdowns and an interception in a 42-34 win over Colorado. If he can repeat that performance, he could derail UCLA’s special season.
— North Carolina WR Antoine Green (at Virginia): The senior went off against Pittsburgh, catching 10 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns in a 42-24 victory. With quarterback Drake Maye continuing to put up huge numbers, Green stands to benefit.
— Penn State LT Olu Fashanu (at Indiana): The 6-foot-6, 321-pound redshirt sophomore has caught the attention of NFL scouts. He’s allowed only six pressures on 176 pass-blocking snaps this season, according to Pro Football Focus.
— Miami EDGE Akheem Mesidor (vs. Florida State): If the floundering Hurricanes have any hope of beating their in-state rival Saturday, Mesidor is going to need to come up big. The 6-3, 280-pound redshirt sophomore has five sacks and eight tackles for loss this season and is one of PFF’s highest-graded edge defenders.
— Northwestern EDGE Adetomiwa Adebawore (vs. No. 2 Ohio State): The 6-2, 280-pound senior lines up all over the line of scrimmage. If he can get some penetration against Ohio State’s dominant offensive line, he might vault himself up draft boards.
5 takeaways from the first College Football Playoff rankings
— 1. The SEC will drive the discussion, as it usually does. Four SEC teams are in the top 10, led by No. 1 Tennessee. Depending on the outcome of Saturday’s top-10 matchups, there could be three in the discussion for a playoff spot come late December. What happens if Georgia beats Tennessee, wins the SEC East and loses to Alabama in the SEC championship game? Which team are you leaving out? It could be a headache for the committee.
— 2. Michigan vs. Ohio State is a likely play-in game. The committee is clearly not impressed with the Wolverines’ strength of schedule, ranking Michigan No. 5. The Buckeyes are No. 2, perhaps benefiting from a bit of recency bias after dominating the fourth quarter in a 44-31 win over No. 15 Penn State. Barring some huge upsets, it doesn’t seem like there’s room for both in the final four, which means the regular-season finale will have huge stakes.
— 3. Clemson has a good chance to get in. The Tigers are undefeated, but they haven’t been dominant, beating Wake Forest, NC State, Florida State and Syracuse by an average margin of seven points. The committee still put them ahead of unbeaten Michigan and TCU. That bodes well for a Clemson team that should be able to roll to a perfect record and ACC title.
— 4. TCU has some work to do. The No. 7 Horned Frogs are the lowest-ranked unbeaten team, coming in one spot behind one-loss Alabama. They’ll likely need to finish as an undefeated conference champion to have a legitimate shot at the playoff, and that’s going to be tough considering how deep the Big 12 is this year.
— 5. The Group of Five still doesn’t get any respect. There isn’t an undefeated G5 team like Cincinnati pushing for a playoff spot this year, but it’s pretty shameful that Tulane is all the way down at No. 19. Five teams with two losses are ranked ahead of the Green Wave, including No. 13 Kansas State … which Tulane beat earlier this season.
5 teams that could surprisingly miss a bowl
— Wisconsin (4-4): The Badgers haven’t missed a bowl since 2001, but they have just four more chances to secure two wins. It’ll be a tough task for interim coach Jim Leonhard, as Maryland (6-2), Iowa (4-4) and Minnesota (5-3) are all ranked in the top 31 in overall efficiency, according to ESPN’s SP+.
— BYU (4-5): The Cougars’ hot start feels like a distant memory after four straight losses. A win over Utah Tech is a given, but they’ll have to defeat either Boise State (6-2) or Stanford (3-5) to get to the magic number.
— Texas A&M (3-5): We can pencil in the Aggies’ win over UMass, but they need at least two victories against Auburn (3-5), Florida (4-4) and LSU (6-2). Freshman quarterback Conner Weigman gives them a fighting chance, at least.
— Florida (4-4): Coach Billy Napier entered his first season with modest expectations, but it would still be a disappointment if the Gators can’t get two wins against Texas A&M (3-5), South Carolina (5-3), Vanderbilt (3-5) and Florida State (5-3) down the stretch.
— Michigan State (3-5): A blowout loss to Michigan went from bad to worse after a fight inside the tunnel led to eight Spartans being indefinitely suspended. Now ESPN gives MSU just a 25.9% chance of reaching six wins.
5 stats leaders you probably didn’t know
— Western Kentucky QB Austin Reed: Following in Bailey Zappe’s footsteps, Reed has stepped in and put up huge numbers for the Hilltoppers. The West Florida transfer ranks second nationally in total passing yards (2,762) and is tied for sixth in touchdown passes (22).
— UAB RB DeWayne McBride: The 5-11, 215-pound junior leads the country with 163.3 rushing yards per game and is tied for seventh with 12 rushing touchdowns.
— Old Dominion WR Ali Jennings III: The 6-2, 196-pound West Virginia transfer has been unstoppable, ranking second nationally with 116.1 receiving yards per game and tied for fourth with nine touchdown catches.
— Connecticut LB Jackson Mitchell: Only Old Dominion’s Jason Henderson (129) has more tackles than the 6-2 junior, who’s piled up 100. He’s recorded double-digit tackles in five games this season, including a career-high tying 16 against Syracuse and Utah State.
— Eastern Michigan DE Jose Ramirez: The 6-2, 252-pound graduate student is tied for the national lead with eight sacks, and all eight have come in the past four games. He recorded four in a win over Western Michigan on Oct. 8.
