Man oh man was Week 7 of the college football season a hectic one! I knew early in the season looking toward this time of year would either create some separation or create havoc. Havoc was chosen. Five teams in the AP Top 10 lost-#1 Georgia, #2 Norte Dame, #5 Indiana, #6 Alabama, and #7 Texas. Two of those losses were to unranked opponents-Auburn over Georgia and Florida over Texas. Two of the losses were also a team’s second loss in as many games-Alabama losing to Tennessee and Texas losing to Florida. The AP’s #3 team, Miami, needed double OT and a last play miracle to outlast Florida St.

Elsewhere in the AP Top 25 had two more losses by Top 25 teams-Oklahoma St and Mississippi St, who were shutout by LSU. And two other ‘squeakers’-#11 Utah and #25 Northwestern winning by less than a touchdown.

My rankings are built around what is your record. Early on this season I straight booted a team out if they lost. Early season there are still enough unbeaten teams where I can justify keeping one loss teams out of my rankings. That time has passed. Now it starts getting tougher. Now those losses each get evaluated. I’m not going to give early season losses a pass more than losses that come later. A loss is a loss. Who you lose to and where that loss happened now hold a greater weight to me. I was lambasted for not putting Ohio St in my ranking after their loss to Texas. I was told ‘it was a close loss’ or ‘it was on the road’ or ‘it was against the #1 team’. Well it was a close road loss but now Texas isn’t looking as formidable and if the Longhorns lose another game or two you can say the Buckeyes one loss would be to a less than top tier team. Trust me when I say the Associated Press would not kick Texas out of their top 25 even if they end up with 4 losses. There are 9 AP voters that put Ohio St and their one loss to a free falling Texas team in the #1 spot over a pair of undefeated teams in Miami and BYU when after they have their QB go down with an injury.

I’m probably not leaving Ohio St out of my Top 12 but I certainly won’t be putting them in my top spot. It might seem as if I’m picking on the Buckeyes a little to much but I just see them as the shining example of when the national media gives to much credit for what you’ve done before this season. There is a lot of this that goes on in the SEC as well. I think the SEC over-expanded and made their conference tougher than it needed to be. And with that many SEC teams get a bit of a pass since it’s it just so hard for the poor babies week after week to face opponents that are so hard. Sorry SEC, you made the bed and now you are lying in it.

College football is about winning. Winning week in and week out isn’t easy or for the faint of heart. But I reward winning. As evidenced in my newest Top 12+

1-Miami

2-BYU

3-Texas Tech

4-Utah

5-UCLA

6-Notre Dame

7-Ohio St

8-Tennessee

9-Kentucky

10-Indiana

11-James Madison

12-Ole Miss

PLUS-Georgia

PLUS-Houston

PLUS-Iowa

There it is. Like I said losses matter to me. There are still 5 unbeaten teams and maybe some of those are padded records but until you lose you get moved toward the top. Once you end up with a loss your entire record comes into play. As you can see with me placing Ole Miss in the 12 spot and Georgia sitting just outside as a PLUS. The Rebels have two wins over ranked opponents and their loss was on the road to a ranked team. The Bulldogs lost to an unranked team at home and only have one win over a ranked foe.

Admittedly I’m judging very harshly. Do I honestly think UCLA is better than Indiana? No I do not. But when you look at their records today one of them is unbeaten and one isn’t. Do I think it will hold this way? Also a no. Most teams still have 5 games left to play. This season isn’t over by a long shot. The season isn’t over for a handful of SEC teams that hoped to have a better record than they do today, but it could be teetering. The season isn’t over for a few Big 12 teams that would like to muscle into the national conversation that has long been dominated by the BIg 10 and SEC.

I said week 7 chose to give us havoc. And there is still a lot of season to be played. Havoc could easily give way to disarray, mayhem, bedlam, or even straight up disaster. Hold on tight it’s gonna get good.