Jacks Follman's Updated College Football Top 25 (Pac-12 Week 2)

Jacks Follman’s Updated College Football Top 25 (Pac-12 Week 2)

Six Pac-12 teams make Follman's independent solo CFB rankings

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Posted on November 11, 2020


  By Jack Follman, SuperWest Sports

Each week I’ll give you my college football Top 25, with commentary on the Pac-12 teams I rank. Disagree? Let me know on Twitter @jackfollman.

1. Alabama (6-0)

2. Ohio State (3-0)

3. Notre Dame (7-0)

4. Clemson (7-1)

5. Oregon (1-0)

Were the Ducks breathtaking against a very questionable Stanford team? No. Still, Oregon showed enough to make me believe that they should be the Pac-12 favorite, and a team that hovers around the last Playoff slot—as long as they can remain undefeated.

The top four are locked in to me unless one of them has a bad loss and until the Ducks can prove themselves against what should be the best teams they play at the back of their schedule.

The RPO-centric offense Oregon debuted with new quarterback Tyler Shough looked scary for the rest of the Pac-12, and the completely rebuilt offensive line looked solid against a Stanford defense that actually gave their lauded veteran offensive line fits last year.

6. Texas A&M (5-1)

7. Florida (4-1)

8. Wisconsin (1-0)

9. Indiana (3-0)

10. Cincinnati (6-0)

11. Oklahoma State (5-1)

12. Miami (6-1)

13. Georgia (4-2)

14. BYU (8-0)

15. Auburn (4-2)

16. USC (1-0)

The Trojans got a lucky win and should hold their ground in this neck of the woods, but definitely lost the chance to compete with Oregon as the Conference favorite in my eyes, for now.

We should see if the win was just a stroke of luck or if it wakes them up and they can become the clear South favorite they should be in the coming weeks. Give credit to Arizona State’s defense for looking strong, but I want to see a little more from the Trojans’ passing game.

17. Arizona State (0-1)

I was tempted to put Arizona State ahead of USC, given the way they almost won on the road. Either way, I was really impressed with the Sun Devils, especially on defense, where the NFL expertise they have—and an underrated influx in talent—could create a unit that could take their team and program to the next level this year, and the years to come.

The road is now simple for the Sun Devils: Beat the rest of the South, and hope USC stumbles the rest of the way. Even if they can’t win the South, putting together as great a season as possible in this weird year looks very possible in Tempe under Herm Edwards.

18. Iowa State (5-2)

19. Oklahoma (5-2)

20. Northwestern (3-0)

21. Cal (0-0)

We were robbed of Cal getting to open with a huge test against Washington in Berkeley and show if the Pac-12’s favorite dark horse is really ready to make a run at a Pac-12 title under Justin Wilcox. For now, we just have to wait and hope they’ll get to play at Arizona State Saturday.

22. Washington (0-0)

Washington is still a mystery as well after not getting to play Cal. The Huskies may have actually gotten a break, though, as they now get to open with three out of four home games against what could be the Conference’s four weakest teams before they get Oregon on the road to close out the regular season.

23. Utah (0-0)

The Utes didn’t get to open with what was probably an ideal opener at home against Arizona. Instead they got to see their biggest competitors in the South, Arizona State and USC, square off. Hopefully, their COVID situation will clear up and they can play on Saturday at UCLA.

24. Texas (5-2)

25. Purdue (2-0)

On The Edge: Kansas State, North Carolina, Washington State, Liberty, SMU

—More from Jack Follman—