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There are still six undefeated teams in the SwampSwamiSports.com College Football Top 25 rankings for the week ending October 29, 2022.
Clemson has owned the #1 spot for the past month by virtue of playing (and winning) one more football game than the other five unbeaten teams. However, the Tigers had this past weekend off. After the other five teams added another victory, all six teams have eight wins apiece.
To break this logjam, I relied on my trusty tiebreaker formula to determine the #1 team.
As a result, our former #1 team was sent tumbling down to #5 this week.
By virtue of Georgia’s opening day 49-3 rout of what has now become a 7-1 Oregon Ducks team, the Bulldogs have barked their way to the top of this dog-pile of unbeaten teams.
Georgia scored early and often to dispose of rival Florida (now 4-4) during a 42-20 win in Jacksonville Saturday. The Dawgs’ often overlooked senior quarterback Stetson Bennett continues to conduct Georgia’s high octane offense as smoothly as Lawrence Welk did with his orchestra on television decades ago. Keeping Georgia’s talented receivers and running backs involved in the game isn’t an easy task. Stetson Bennett may be overlooked (again) in the Heisman Trophy balloting this season, but he remains the MVP of the Georgia offense.
Another pack of hungry dogs is in the #2 spot in my weekly rankings.
The Tennessee Volunteers’ mascot, Smokey, is a bluetick coonhound. Though not as tough looking as Georgia’s bulldog mascot, Uga, the Volunteers mascot is known for its speed – especially in retrieving. The Vols’ offense is nearly as speedy as their mascot chasing down a raccoon out in the woods. Tennessee did it again on Saturday in a 44-6 thrashing over a very good Kentucky team.
This coming Saturday, the unbeaten #1 Georgia Bulldogs will play host to the #2 Tennessee Volunteers in Athens. If you thought about going to the game, tickets are now being sold for $500 apiece today and should be going for even more as the week progresses. The defending national champion Georgia will face a huge challenge from this fast-striking Tennessee offense.
Tennessee’s incredible start in 2022 reminds me of the 2019 LSU Tigers team which went 15-0 and captured a national championship. Led by future stars like quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receivers J’marr Chase and Jordan Jefferson, LSU’s offense scored 48 points per game in 2019. The Tigers’ defense was good enough to slow down most opponents.
This 2022 Tennessee team plays in a similar fashion. The Vols are scoring an incredible 49 points per game through the first eight games. Quarterback Hendon Hooker has matured and looks more at ease running this offense. Georgia’s tough defense and home crowd will pose a formidable test for the Volunteers.
Kickoff this Saturday will be at 2:30PM on CBS. I can’t wait!
The two 8-0 teams in the Big Ten Conference (Michigan and Ohio State) will eventually play against each other on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
The Big Ten (like the SEC) will have a maximum of just one unbeaten team at the end of the year as the two unbeaten teams face one another during the regular season.
Speaking of unbeaten teams, TCU survived a big scare at West Virginia on Saturday. A last minute touchdown made the Horned Frogs 41-31 win look more lopsided than it was. The 8-0 Frogs jump back home to Fort Worth for a match-up with Texas Tech (4-4) Saturday.
Clemson will come off its bye week and travel to South Bend, Indiana to play a suddenly rejuvenated Notre Dame team on Saturday night. The 5-3 Irish went on the road to pummel 6-2 Syracuse 41-24. Clemson’s starting quarterback situation remains murky, so this game (6:30PM Saturday on NBC) should be fun to watch.
If you’re into rock ‘em, sock ‘em SEC rivalry match-ups, save time to watch Alabama (7-1) travel to surprising 6-2 LSU on Saturday night at 6PM on ESPN.
The winner will have the inside track on a trip as the SEC West entry in the SEC Championship game in Atlanta in early December. The bad news? The winner will face either Georgia or Tennessee in that game.
Finally, let’s give a tip of the SwampSwami sports cap to Kansas State on its incredible 48-0 shut-out of 6-2 Oklahoma State.
K-State (now also 6-2) dominated this game from start to finish and is alone in second place in the Big 12. The Wildcats’ head coach, Chris Klieman (formerly at perennial FCS national champion North Dakota State), is quickly becoming one of the “hottest” coaching commodities of the off-season.
Newcomers to our Top 25 rankings this week include #18 Utah, #21 Kansas State, #23 UCF (nice work in beating Cincinnati!), and #24 Boise State. Four teams exit this week – Oklahoma State, Syracuse, Cincinnati, and Maryland.
Below are the SwampSwamiSports.com College Football Top 25 rankings for the week ending October 29, 2022:
