2025-2026 College Football Thread

[Chordata]

Still don't understand the rankings. How are teams that were supposedly "top 5!!!!" teams, and got beaten by worse teams, still ranked 9-12?

People are mindless followers.

[fatediesel]

I was very surprised Iowa wasn't ranked in the new polls. They started off the season ranked 21st and 22nd but fell out after they only beat Northern Iowa by 1. I figured they'd be back in now after crushing Iowa State and Arizona. Granted Iowa State is horrible but Arizona is decent and will likely go to a bowl. In addition Northern Iowa is a top 3 FCS team that could likely beat at least 80 FBS schools. It really doesn't matter though because Iowa plays Penn State this week so if they win that game they will fly into the rankings. It might seem unlikely that Iowa would beat Penn State but they were the only team to beat them in the regular season last year and have won 6 of the last 7 against Penn State, including the exciting 6-4 victory in 2004.

[Chordata]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

I was very surprised Iowa wasn't ranked in the new polls. They started off the season ranked 21st and 22nd but fell out after they only beat Northern Iowa by 1. I figured they'd be back in now after crushing Iowa State and Arizona. Granted Iowa State is horrible but Arizona is decent and will likely go to a bowl. In addition Northern Iowa is a top 3 FCS team that could likely beat at least 80 FBS schools. It really doesn't matter though because Iowa plays Penn State this week so if they win that game they will fly into the rankings. It might seem unlikely that Iowa would beat Penn State but they were the only team to beat them in the regular season last year and have won 6 of the last 7 against Penn State, including the exciting 6-4 victory in 2004.

Speaking of surprise teams, I really think Arkansas might give LSU, Alabama, Ole Miss, or Florida (what a RIDICULOUS schedule, by the way. And 3 of them are in the next 5 weeks) a run for their money.

Their defense isn't great, but they can score. I think they can beat at least 1 of those teams, which would help out the rest of us.

[fatediesel]

Originally Posted by O_V_N

Speaking of surprise teams, I really think Arkansas might give LSU, Alabama, Ole Miss, or Florida (what a RIDICULOUS schedule, by the way. And 3 of them are in the next 5 weeks) a run for their money.

Their defense isn't great, but they can score. I think they can beat at least 1 of those teams, which would help out the rest of us.

Yeah, I was very impressed by Arkansas' offense and in particular Michigan transfer Ryan Mallett. Their defense is awful but I wouldn't be surprised at all if they shocked one of the top tier SEC schools, although all 4 of them are road games. They should be good in the future too. Mallett is only a sophomore and Bobby Petrino is a very good (college) coach who should get some good recruits soon.

[rebfandan]

Originally Posted by O_V_N

Speaking of surprise teams, I really think Arkansas might give LSU, Alabama, Ole Miss, or Florida (what a RIDICULOUS schedule, by the way. And 3 of them are in the next 5 weeks) a run for their money.

Their defense isn't great, but they can score. I think they can beat at least 1 of those teams, which would help out the rest of us.

Yeah, when I first heard Mallett was transferring, I thought "Uh oh!" I'll just come out and say it: Their best chance of knocking off a top SEC team is Ole Miss. We're starting SEC play Thurs night, but we've looked very inconsistent so far, and that's usually our biggest problem. The advantage we have is playing them at home, but we'll see. They do have a great offense.

[Teufel Hunden]

Miami is the only ACC team I have seen playing D.

Miami just got a bid to a BCS game on Thursday IMO.


And speaking about D, I thought the SEC played D. Or was that only because they had not discovered the forward pass yet? Seems like one or two teams in the SEC play any defense.

[Slec]

Originally Posted by Teufel Hunden

Miami is the only ACC team I have seen playing D.

Miami just got a bid to a BCS game on Thursday IMO.


And speaking about D, I thought the SEC played D. Or was that only because they had not discovered the forward pass yet? Seems like one or two teams in the SEC play any defense.

Clemson's been playing Defense (held BC to -2 total yards in the first half... kept GT in check after that first play)... just not great offense

[Chordata]

Originally Posted by Teufel Hunden

And speaking about D, I thought the SEC played D. Or was that only because they had not discovered the forward pass yet? Seems like one or two teams in the SEC play any defense.

I'm not sure who you're referring to.

The best teams in the conference (Alabama, LSU, Florida, Mississippi, etc.) are playing good defense. So is Tennessee, despite having 2 losses.

So far (and the season is early) the SEC has:

5 of the top 16 teams in pass defense.

The #2 team in terms of rush defense.

3 of the top 14 teams in total points allowed.

[Secretagentnumber6]

Originally Posted by O_V_N

This year, I agree with you. But I'm not sure who you're referring to.

The best teams in the conference (Alabama, LSU, Florida, etc.) are playing good defense. So is Tennessee, despite having 2 losses.

Yeah if the vols had anywhere near a good QB they would likely have 2 or maybe 3 wins.

[MaCruz]

Originally Posted by O_V_N

Still don't understand the rankings. How are teams that were supposedly "top 5!!!!" teams, and got beaten by worse teams, still ranked 9-12?

People are mindless followers.

Another reason why I lost interest in college football.

[Teufel Hunden]

Originally Posted by O_V_N

I'm not sure who you're referring to.

The best teams in the conference (Alabama, LSU, Florida, Mississippi, etc.) are playing good defense. So is Tennessee, despite having 2 losses.

So far (and the season is early) the SEC has:

5 of the top 16 teams in pass defense.

The #2 team in terms of rush defense.

3 of the top 14 teams in total points allowed.

1. Against what competition?
2. SEC homers are funny

[Teufel Hunden]

Originally Posted by macruz19

Another reason why I lost interest in college football.

And yet, here you are

[Chordata]

Originally Posted by Teufel Hunden

1. Against what competition?
2. SEC homers are funny

1) I'm not sure against what competition. I'm not going to do all of your research for you. You essentially stated that the SEC doesn't play defense. I provided statistics showing they play just as much defense as everyone else, and in fact, have a few top-tier defensive teams. If you think otherwise, back it up with stats. By the way, what games have you watched to show you that they don't play defense? Hopefully not any UGA games. It's clear they don't know what defense is this year.

2) I'm not sure what a "homer" is, so I can't decide if I should be proud or offended.

Either way, you gotta have a better comeback than that man.

[MaCruz]

Originally Posted by Teufel Hunden

And yet, here you are

Why not? I like.. or TRY to keep up with College Football.

[supersix4]

Originally Posted by macruz19

Why not? I like.. or TRY to keep up with College Football.

I've been discouraged with the rankings some teams get, but it seems to be getting much better as the years have gone on, also with these new QB rules in the NFL if it gets any worse I might have to switch to CFB 24/7 .

[Teufel Hunden]

Originally Posted by O_V_N

1) I'm not sure against what competition. I'm not going to do all of your research for you. You essentially stated that the SEC doesn't play defense. I provided statistics showing they play just as much defense as everyone else, and in fact, have a few top-tier defensive teams. If you think otherwise, back it up with stats. By the way, what games have you watched to show you that they don't play defense? Hopefully not any UGA games. It's clear they don't know what defense is this year.

2) I'm not sure what a "homer" is, so I can't decide if I should be proud or offended.

Either way, you gotta have a better comeback than that man.

Why would I do additional "research" to give a witty comeback on a Blu-ray forum college football thread? Clearly there is no point.

[supersix4]

Originally Posted by Teufel Hunden

Why would I do additional "research" to give a witty comeback on a Blu-ray forum college football thread? Clearly there is no point.

lol zing!, also if I'm not mistaken UGA has lost a couple Dplayers to injury.

[Chordata]

Originally Posted by Teufel Hunden

Why would I do additional "research" to give a witty comeback on a Blu-ray forum college football thread? Clearly there is no point.

Then why did you post any comeback at all?

Originally Posted by supersix4

lol zing!, also if I'm not mistaken UGA has lost a couple Dplayers to injury.

Just one per game so far.

UGA's defense certainly is not good. The UF, LSU, and GT games are going to be looooooong days for UGA fans.

[fatediesel]

Lane Kiffin was on the Dan Patrick Show this morning and not surprisingly spent much of his time bashing Florida. He said that Tim Tebow was the only player on Florida that did anything in the game. He said next year they will beat Florida with Tebow gone. He also thinks Tennessee showed the rest of the country how to beat Florida. Sadly I think Tennessee is going to be good within a year or two. I would love to see Kiffin fail though. He's way too cocky for someone who has never done anything as a head coach.

[Chordata]

I don't like him, but I don't like Meyer.

I wish both would leave the SEC.

Conference feels dirty with them here.