You knew change would be coming to Joel Klatt's rankings after a wild Saturday; the question was just how much change we would see. Georgia holds at No. 1 after its first win in Tuscaloosa since 2007, beating Alabama 20-17 and bullying the Crimson Tide around for most of the night.
Ohio State and Miami both climbed up behind the Bulldogs. But Texas, the former AP No. 1 and last week’s No.
2 in Klatt's ranking, craters all the way to No. 7 after a stunning 27-24 loss to unranked Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry. UCLA, fresh off upsetting Oregon in Eugene, cracks the top 10 for the first time, replacing the Ducks.
With six weeks of college football in the books, here are Klatt’s 10 best teams in the country. Klatt’s thoughts: "So UCLA is real. Where are they at in my top 10?
They’ve cracked it, man. I’ve got to put them in there. Part of this is their upcoming schedule, yes, but UCLA is going to be No.
10 for me. So kudos to Bob Chesney. "This UCLA team — there’s some juice there.
I can’t wait to see. Is it always going to be full in the Rose Bowl? No, that homefield environment isn’t the greatest.
But if it’s good, it’s good." Klatt’s thoughts: "At nine, I’ve got BYU. BYU is still in there. "They beat Iowa State 24-10, but they’ve got some injuries.
I don’t love the next couple of weeks for BYU, I certainly don’t love their matchup against Notre Dame without LJ Martin, their running back, and without Isaiah Glasker, their linebacker. "Both of those guys look to be out moving forward here for the next couple of weeks, so facing Notre Dame might be quite a tall task. And then they’ve got a huge game in conference on the road, just up the road, against Utah." Klatt’s thoughts: "Another week, another comfortable win for the Utes.
Although they were messing around a little bit with Kansas. "Kansas had a fourth down inside the five to make it basically a three-point game at one point in the fourth quarter, and then all of a sudden they stop them, get a big run going the other direction and end up beating Kansas 41-24. "Every win this year has been by at least two touchdowns, so they’re dominating some folks.
They had over 500 yards of offense, nearly 300 on the ground against Kansas." Klatt’s thoughts: "You can’t make those mistakes. The sloppiness has got to be maddening from the Texas perspective. I don’t want to harp on this, but this is one of the more talented offenses, just late, inconsistent, slower in processing, slower feet, slower release.
The variance is killing them. "Sarkisian, sloppy for the second straight week, they’ve got to fix some things. "So where does Texas go in the top 10?
Because they still have such a high ceiling, they’re still a top-10 team. Have they played like that for even a full half? I don’t think they have.
But I can’t put them lower than seven. So Texas is going to be seventh right now." Klatt’s thoughts: "Indiana is going to be at No. 6.
I think there are some things there that they need to work on, their secondary still needs some help, they’re trying to figure out where they need to be from a secondary standpoint. But Indiana’s going to be my sixth-ranked team in the country." Klatt’s thoughts: "Notre Dame is going to be five. They beat Stanford 58-7, handled them, got the ground game going, by the way, 361 on the ground.
"We’re finally going to see what Notre Dame is all about when they face BYU, and maybe we’re going to learn that BYU isn’t very good, or maybe we’re going to learn that Notre Dame isn’t very good. Maybe we’re going to learn that both of them are very good. I’m not sure, because Notre Dame’s level of competition just hasn’t been great.
"Again, Stanford isn’t going to give you any sort of barometer about what your team is." Klatt’s thoughts: "Everyone says it’s your first game to your second game — no, it’s your first real game to your second. That’s when the growth shows up, and QB Keelon Russell is going to grow from this. "So Bama is going to go to four.
They were at five last week. Texas dropped out, so obviously they can move up again. Bama can absolutely win the national championship, that team could win a national championship, I firmly believe that." "In particular, if Russell continues to improve and gets more efficient, and if the offensive line continues to develop under Adrian Klemm, their offensive line coach, then they've got something.
They totally rebuilt their offensive line, and it shows in a positive way." Klatt’s thoughts: "Miami was off this week. They’re the No. 1 scoring team in the country.
They’re the No. 1 point-differential team in the country. They’ve got Florida State at home this week — I think they should beat Florida State, although Florida State is improving a little bit.
But all eyes are pointing toward that Notre Dame game in November." Klatt’s thoughts: "They took care of Maryland, 45-16. They’ve basically been one of the most dominant and best teams in college football outside of three possessions. "Those three possessions are keeping them out of that No.
1 spot. If they would’ve beaten Texas that night, obviously they’d be No. 1 right there with Georgia.
"But Georgia’s one, Ohio State’s two. They’ve been very consistent after that game against Texas." Klatt’s thoughts: "Georgia is still the team that can bully Alabama around a little bit. Now, was it to the extent we saw in the last six quarters of their two meetings a year ago?
No, it wasn’t … All of a sudden there’s a fumble, and they take a huge review. Where does it go? It goes Georgia’s way.
"They come back and win that game. Georgia gets a good whistle. They do.
They just do … I’ve told you for a couple of weeks now, three weeks ago I said I have a sneaky suspicion that Georgia is actually the best team in the country. "Why do I feel that way? Because of everything we saw on Saturday night.
When they need a play, Gunner Stockton makes it. When they have to gain some yards, they do it. They just don’t beat themselves, and for that, they’re the No.
1 team in the country, and we all know it. They’ve proven that."
