At the midpoint of the 2017 college football season, there are 13 unbeaten teams left in the NCAA FBS top division out of 130 eligible schools. Other than Navy (whose armada was nearly vanquished by a late bombing display from spunky 1-4 Air Force on Saturday), this group of undefeated teams has been battle tested and should be prepared for the tougher second half of this college football season.
This weekend saw four teams fall from the ranks of the unbeaten as Oklahoma lost to 3-2 Iowa State in Norman, Michigan dropped a 14-10 home decision to Mark Dantonio’s plucky 4-1 Michigan State squad, Utah lost to a 4-2 Dr. Jeckyl/Mr. Hyde Stanford team 23-20 at home, while UT-San Antonio’s C-USA dream season ended with a 31-29 home loss to 3-2 Southern Miss.
Based on my premise that the AP’s Top 25 teams ending the 2016 season should be given a preference until they lose their first game in 2017, there are now only eight hold-overs from last year among the 13 remaining undefeated teams.
As for the remaining one-loss schools (there are just 21 of them left at this juncture), I am giving heaviest weight to those teams whose sole loss has come at the hands of this year’s undefeated squads. After that, the remaining group was selected based on a “Show me your most impressive win this season!” basis.
This week only, I have added a special #26 ranking for Ohio State. Since I ranked Oklahoma #25 this week, I felt slightly compelled to recognize Brutus and the Buckeyes. However, I couldn’t rank them higher than the team which blasted Ohio State by two touchdowns at the Big Horseshoe in Columbus to start this season.
That said, here are this week’s SwampSwami Top 25 (+1!) for the week ending Saturday, October 7:
| # | Team | W | L | 2016 Final Rank | Best win/loss this season |
| 1 | Clemson | 6 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2 | Alabama | 6 | 0 | 2 | |
| 3 | Washington | 6 | 0 | 4 | |
| 4 | Penn State | 6 | 0 | 7 | |
| 5 | Wisconsin | 5 | 0 | 9 | |
| 6 | South Florida | 5 | 0 | 19 | |
| 7 | Miami (Fla) | 4 | 0 | 20 | |
| 8 | San Diego State | 6 | 0 | 25 | |
| 9 | TCU | 5 | 0 | Beat 4-1 Okie State 44-31 @ OSU | |
| 10 | Washington State | 6 | 0 | Beat 5-1 USC 30-27 at home | |
| 11 | Georgia | 6 | 0 | Beat 3-2 Tennessee 41-0 @ Tenn | |
| 12 | UCF | 4 | 0 | Beat 3-2 Maryland 38-10 @ MD | |
| 13 | Navy | 5 | 0 | Beat 3-2 Tulane 23-20 at home | |
| 14 | Auburn | 5 | 1 | Lost to #1 Clemson 14-6 @ Clemson | |
| 15 | Virginia Tech | 5 | 1 | Lost to #1 Clemson 31-17 at home | |
| 16 | Toledo | 4 | 1 | Lost to # 7 Miami (Fla) 52-30 @ Miami | |
| 17 | USC | 5 | 1 | Lost to #10 Wash.St. 30-27 @ WSU | |
| 18 | Notre Dame | 5 | 1 | Lost to #11 Georgia 20-19 at home | |
| 19 | Oklahoma State | 5 | 1 | Lost to #12 TCU 44-31 at home | |
| 20 | Michigan State | 4 | 1 | Beat 4-1 Michigan 14-10 @ Mich. | |
| 21 | Michigan | 4 | 1 | Lost to #20 Mich.St. 14-10 at home | |
| 22 | Texas Tech | 4 | 1 | Beat 4-1 Houston 27-24 @ Houston | |
| 23 | NC State | 5 | 1 | Beat 4-2 Louisville 39-25 at home | |
| 24 | Marshall | 4 | 1 | Lost to #23 NC State 37-20 @ NC St. | |
| 25 | Oklahoma | 4 | 1 | Beat 5-1 Ohio St./Lost to 3-2 Iowa St. | |
| 26 | Ohio State | 5 | 1 | Lost to #25 Oklahoma 31-16 at home |