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have a win over Oregon that could be a great head-to-head tiebreaker, and they can still add big wins against Georgia and Alabama. They’re not done just yet.</p><p id="09f6">But they’re also the fifth best team in the SEC right now, so it’s a steep hill ahead. Florida and Georgia have a much better path right now at just one loss each, though one of them is getting their second loss in this weekend’s marquee game.</p><p id="959a">Speaking of marquee games, NDSU played the FCS game of the season in front of ESPN Gameday and outlasted South Dakota State in a classic. That gives the Bison six wins against teams that ranked in the FCS Top 25 last week and continues a 29-game win streak.</p><p id="8a4d">Are we sure the Bison couldn’t hold their own in the College Football Playoff too, that they’re not just as good as a team like Oregon rounding out the top 10? We’ll find out next fall, when NDSU travels to Oregon in September. The Bison will beat the Ducks then, so we may as well rank them ahead now.</p><h1 id="8c00">TIER II — DOMINATING NO ONE IN PARTICULAR</h1><h2 id="0859">5. Clemson (1) 4. Alabama (5) 3. Penn State (6)</h2><p id="64eb">Clemson hasn’t done anything particularly impressive all season, but I’ve kept them #1 as the defending champs. Two months in, it’s time to admit that they’re a lot more Baylor or Minnesota than the rest of these elite teams.</p><p id="9787">Alabama and Penn State have the nation’s classiest uniforms. Neither team has really had a scare yet, but neither looks like the class of the season either. Each has a couple tough road conference wins but there’s only one top-25 win between them, and that’s only because we ran out of teams and ranked Iowa. We’ll find out what the Tide and Nittany Lions are made of in two weeks.</p><h1 id="1c09">TIER I — THE TITLE FAVORITES</h1><h2 id="c0b7">2. Ohio State 8–0 (4)

LSU 8–0 (2)</h2><p id="6a2e">Is there any question these have been the two best teams in college football through two months? Ohio State continues to slaughter everyone. The Buckeyes haven’t allowed more than 10 points since the opener led by monster defensive end Chase Young, and don’t expect that to change against Maryland or Rutgers the next two weeks. They thrashed Wisconsin 38–7 in maybe the most impressive win of the season by any team.</p><p id="0903">LSU has the strongest resume though, and it’s not even close. They now have wins against Auburn, Florida and Texas, and they’ve all been relatively comfortable wins, too. If the CFP rankings came out this week, LSU would be a clear #1. They’ll get a chance to prove it in Alabama in two weeks.</p><div id="7646" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/nba-blowout-season-preview-prediction-tiers-basketball-2019-20-lakers-clippers-76ers-bucks-mvp-champ-6c69ed742f15"> <div> <div> <h2>NBA Predictions, Tiers, and 2019-20 Season Preview</h2> <div><h3>Let’s rank all 30 teams in nine tiers and pick an MVP and a champion!</h3></div> <div><p></p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*C02wNydKS3IFId-orsyN3A.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><h1 id="43da">THE 10 BIGGEST GAMES LEFT ON THE SCHEDULE</h1><h2 id="d379">Georgia vs Florida, Nov 2 (in Jacksonville, FL)</h2><p id="64ab">The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party hasn’t been this meaningful in years, but it’s the biggest game this weekend. The Bulldogs and Gators are pretty clearly the best two teams in the nation with a loss, so the winner remains a serious playoff threat. Florida has clear sailing until the SEC title game after this one. Georgia leads the all-time battle by a hair, 97–96, and has won the last two meetings.</p><h2 id="3ca6">LSU at Alabama, Nov 9</h2><p id="dacb">THE BIG ONE. Clear your calendars for the #1 team in the coaches poll against the #1 team in the AP poll. Bama has won eight straight in this so-called rivalry and shut out the Tigers last November, but this LSU team seems different. Winner becomes the national title favorite, but the loser will have an excellent chance to backdoor into the playoffs as a 1-loss team that probably avoids an SEC Championship Game.</p><h2 id="b446">Penn State at Minnesota, Nov 9</h2><p id="e03b">A pretty juicy amuse bouche before LSU-Bama. Like that one, both teams are guaranteed to enter unbeaten. No one totally believes in the Nittany Lions or Golden Gophers yet. Penn State beat Michigan and won at Iowa. Minnesota’s most impressive victory might actually be against FCS South Dakota State. Winner becomes everyone’s favorite sleeper, but there’s work left to do. Penn State still travels to Columbus, and the Gophers’ back-loaded schedule includes Iowa and Wisconsin.</p><h2 id="4c3a">Wake Forest at Clemson, Nov 16</h2><p id="51e2">These are the only two ranked teams in the ACC, so this is Clemson’s only real shot at a conference loss. Wake is 6–1 but four of those wins came by one score, so don’t get your hopes up.</p><h2 id="e956">Georgia at Auburn, Nov 16</h2><p

Options

id="3080">This will definitely be a good football game. We’ll see in a few weeks if it still has any relevance to the playoff picture.</p><h2 id="c85b">Oklahoma at Baylor, Nov 16</h2><p id="01bd">The Big 12’s playoff hopes took a huge hit with Oklahoma’s loss compounded by the Texas upset. But don’t count out Baylor. The Bears remain undefeated, and a win in Waco could knock Oklahoma out of the Big 12 Championship and clear Baylor’s path to the playoffs. A Sooner win instead will keep them very much in the playoff picture, too.</p><h2 id="e62d">Penn State at Ohio State, Nov 23</h2><p id="820c">If the Nittany Lions survive in Minnesota, this becomes a de facto play-in between two likely top-3 unbeaten teams in a top-2 conference. Like LSU-Bama, the loser here could end up with one loss but locked safely out of their conference championship, waiting to hopefully sneak in as a playoff wildcard.</p><h2 id="4a98">Ohio State at Michigan, Nov 30</h2><p id="7ee8">The Big Game hasn’t been much of a rivalry of late. The Buckeyes have won seven straight against Michigan and 14 of the last 15, and they hung 62 on the Wolverines last November. Jim Harbaugh could be coaching for his job. Ohio State will be playing to keep its playoff hopes alive.</p><h2 id="29d9">Wisconsin at Minnesota, Nov 30</h2><p id="4601">The Gophers finally beat Wisconsin last year and won Paul Bunyan’s Axe, snapping a 14-game Badgers rivalry win streak. That win propelled the team forward to this year’s unbeaten campaign. This year, the winner takes the Big Ten West and heads to the conference championship.</p><h2 id="8aba">Alabama at Auburn, Nov 30</h2><p id="3bbb">The Iron Bowl is always a big one. Auburn has two losses and needs all sorts of help to have a playoff case, even if they still add wins against Georgia and Bama. The Tide should have a fully healthy Tua Tagovailoa and they’ll need him in their only real road test of the entire season.</p><h2 id="f6c2">Championship Weekend, Dec 6–7</h2><p id="557f">The SEC and Big 10 Championship Games will be huge. The Big 12 will be fun. The ACC will be a Clemson snoozer. And the PAC 12 will just hope someone notices them.</p><div id="0551" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/week-eight-nfl-picks-against-the-spread-football-sports-betting-ats-2019-seahawks-rams-lions-packers-chiefs-398f558eddd0"> <div> <div> <h2>Week 8 NFL Picks against the Spread</h2> <div><h3>An odd week, with the Seahawks, Lions, and Rams as Week 8 best bets…</h3></div> <div><p></p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*ERYucGJRxj8-kc6pXKaZUA.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><h1 id="7f10">TOP 10 HEISMAN RANKINGS THROUGH OCTOBER</h1><h2 id="e57e">10. QB Shane Buechele, SMU 9. RB Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin 8. RB J.K. Dobbins, Ohio State</h2><p id="77e5">Buechele is keeping the dream Mustangs season alive. Taylor came up small in Wisconsin’s biggest game, while Dobbins keeps putting up his biggest numbers in Ohio State’s key games but is overshadowed by his teammates.</p><h2 id="978f">7. RB Chuba Hubbard, Oklahoma State 6. DE Chase Young, Ohio State 5. QB Justin Herbert, Oregon 4. QB Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma</h2><p id="7177">Hubbard continues to post the best rushing numbers in the nation for an otherwise anonymous Oklahoma State team. Chase Young is becoming less and less anonymous by the week. He might be the best player in college football and has a real shot to be a Heisman finalist. Herbert has pristine numbers but plays so late no one cares. Hurts may have seen the end of his Heisman campaign this weekend.</p><h2 id="d366">3. QB Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama 2. QB Justin Fields, Ohio State

QB Joe Burrow, LSU</h2><p id="0d2d"><a href="https://readmedium.com/top-10-heisman-candidates-2019-through-september-week-6-ncaaf-power-rankings-ncaa-college-football-eff8352771e6?source=friends_link&sk=e2452fe36d3722f85a7c483dd46b7dc6">One of these three is winning the 2019 Heisman</a>. Fields has been a monster but has competition from multiple guys on his own roster. The best Heisman bet at this point is the quarterback of the LSU-Bama winner in two weeks. At this point, that player looks like a pretty heavy favorite. ■</p><p id="c041"><i>Follow Brandon on Medium or <a href="https://twitter.com/wheatonbrando">@wheatonbrando</a> for more sports, television, humor, and culture. Visit the rest of Brandon’s <a href="https://readmedium.com/brandon-anderson-writing-archives-6b3ee1a29301#.6cteu050v">writing archives here</a>.</i></p><figure id="3b76"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*YnbtD8IipCsqVjNwkjtY8w.png"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><figure id="2ba5"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*d318hSQDEA-NP2sgKkTINw.png"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><figure id="0963"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*jwbMPAfFsxT_PGFz7US69Q.png"><figcaption></figcaption></figure></article></body>

College Football Top 25 Power Rankings through October

Top 25 rankings, the 10 biggest games left on the schedule, the CFP playoff picture, and Heisman rankings…

THE NEXT COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAMES ARE IN NOVEMBER, SO IT’S TIME FOR AN UPDATED POWER RANKINGS. That means only one month of regular season college football left, and the College Football Playoff picture is becoming clearer. A shocking Oklahoma upset leaves five major unbeatens atop the Power Rankings, and Ohio State looks stronger than ever after crushing Wisconsin in the most impressive win of the season.

With just one month remaining, only 13 teams still have a real shot at the playoffs. The CFP rankings are one week away, so let’s do a Top 25 Power Rankings to see where things stand, plus a look at the three-man Heisman race and the 10 biggest games left on the NCAA schedule…

College Football Top 25 at the Season’s Midpoint

What does the CFP playoff picture look like going forward?

TIER VI — WE STILL DON’T HAVE 25 WORTHY TEAMS

25. Memphis 7–1 (Last week: 23) 24. Boise State 6–1 (22) 23. Cincinnati 6–1 (20) 22. Wake Forest 6–1 (21)

These teams are little more than placeholders, though they could contend for a New Years Six bowl as the top team from a non-Power-5 conference. Wait, the ACC is still a power conference? Still, do these teams really matter? Their collective best win was Boise’s victory at Florida State or maybe Cincinnati’s home win against UCF. Sure.

TIER V — BRING ON THE TWO-LOSS TEAMS

21. Iowa 6–2 (NR) 20. Wisconsin 6–2 (16) 19. Kansas State 5–2 (NR) 18. Notre Dame 5–2 (10) 17. Michigan 6–2 (NR)

It’s been a swift, hard fall for the Badgers from top-5 two weeks ago to mostly irrelevant after a Buckeyes beatdown. Iowa isn’t much more relevant. Michigan pounded Notre Dame in the last rivalry game between the two schools until 2033, because college football is stupid.

And all hail first-year coach Chris Klieman and the Kansas State Wildcats, who dominated the Sooners early then held on for their lives late for a monster win. Too bad for Coach Klieman that this one barely even cracks his top-5 wins all time, considering he won the FCS championship with North Dakota State four of the last five years.

TIER IV — WE STILL DON’T REALLY KNOW MUCH

16. Appalachian State 7–0 (18) 15. SMU 8–0 (17) 14. Utah 7–1 (15) 13. Minnesota 8–0 (14) 12. Baylor 7–0 (13) 11. Oklahoma 7–1 (3)

Considering these teams are a combined 44–2, it’s shockingly difficult to find a genuinely meaningful win on the schedule. The best is probably OU’s close win over Texas, though that’s a lot less exciting after the Longhorns loss over the weekend. The next best come from Baylor on the road at Kansas State and Oklahoma State. You don’t have to tell Oklahoma how tough it is to win at Kansas State.

We’ll learn more about Utah and SMU this weekend. Utah travels to Washington, while SMU heads to Memphis. The PAC 12 has life if the Utes or Oregon win out, and the Mustangs’ dream season begins to approach UCF territory if they take care of business this weekend.

The Top 10 Heisman Candidates through September

Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts used to be teammates. Now they’re battling for the Heisman…

TIER III — WE NEED A LITTLE HELP

10. Auburn 6–2 (8) 9. Oregon 7–1 (11) 8. North Dakota State 8–0 (12) 7. Georgia 6–1 (9) 6. Florida 7–1 (7)

These teams can still make the playoffs, but they’re going to need a little help. Auburn still has a shot. Their close road losses to Florida and LSU are nothing to hang their heads about, they have a win over Oregon that could be a great head-to-head tiebreaker, and they can still add big wins against Georgia and Alabama. They’re not done just yet.

But they’re also the fifth best team in the SEC right now, so it’s a steep hill ahead. Florida and Georgia have a much better path right now at just one loss each, though one of them is getting their second loss in this weekend’s marquee game.

Speaking of marquee games, NDSU played the FCS game of the season in front of ESPN Gameday and outlasted South Dakota State in a classic. That gives the Bison six wins against teams that ranked in the FCS Top 25 last week and continues a 29-game win streak.

Are we sure the Bison couldn’t hold their own in the College Football Playoff too, that they’re not just as good as a team like Oregon rounding out the top 10? We’ll find out next fall, when NDSU travels to Oregon in September. The Bison will beat the Ducks then, so we may as well rank them ahead now.

TIER II — DOMINATING NO ONE IN PARTICULAR

5. Clemson (1) 4. Alabama (5) 3. Penn State (6)

Clemson hasn’t done anything particularly impressive all season, but I’ve kept them #1 as the defending champs. Two months in, it’s time to admit that they’re a lot more Baylor or Minnesota than the rest of these elite teams.

Alabama and Penn State have the nation’s classiest uniforms. Neither team has really had a scare yet, but neither looks like the class of the season either. Each has a couple tough road conference wins but there’s only one top-25 win between them, and that’s only because we ran out of teams and ranked Iowa. We’ll find out what the Tide and Nittany Lions are made of in two weeks.

TIER I — THE TITLE FAVORITES

2. Ohio State 8–0 (4) 1. LSU 8–0 (2)

Is there any question these have been the two best teams in college football through two months? Ohio State continues to slaughter everyone. The Buckeyes haven’t allowed more than 10 points since the opener led by monster defensive end Chase Young, and don’t expect that to change against Maryland or Rutgers the next two weeks. They thrashed Wisconsin 38–7 in maybe the most impressive win of the season by any team.

LSU has the strongest resume though, and it’s not even close. They now have wins against Auburn, Florida and Texas, and they’ve all been relatively comfortable wins, too. If the CFP rankings came out this week, LSU would be a clear #1. They’ll get a chance to prove it in Alabama in two weeks.

NBA Predictions, Tiers, and 2019-20 Season Preview

Let’s rank all 30 teams in nine tiers and pick an MVP and a champion!

THE 10 BIGGEST GAMES LEFT ON THE SCHEDULE

Georgia vs Florida, Nov 2 (in Jacksonville, FL)

The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party hasn’t been this meaningful in years, but it’s the biggest game this weekend. The Bulldogs and Gators are pretty clearly the best two teams in the nation with a loss, so the winner remains a serious playoff threat. Florida has clear sailing until the SEC title game after this one. Georgia leads the all-time battle by a hair, 97–96, and has won the last two meetings.

LSU at Alabama, Nov 9

THE BIG ONE. Clear your calendars for the #1 team in the coaches poll against the #1 team in the AP poll. Bama has won eight straight in this so-called rivalry and shut out the Tigers last November, but this LSU team seems different. Winner becomes the national title favorite, but the loser will have an excellent chance to backdoor into the playoffs as a 1-loss team that probably avoids an SEC Championship Game.

Penn State at Minnesota, Nov 9

A pretty juicy amuse bouche before LSU-Bama. Like that one, both teams are guaranteed to enter unbeaten. No one totally believes in the Nittany Lions or Golden Gophers yet. Penn State beat Michigan and won at Iowa. Minnesota’s most impressive victory might actually be against FCS South Dakota State. Winner becomes everyone’s favorite sleeper, but there’s work left to do. Penn State still travels to Columbus, and the Gophers’ back-loaded schedule includes Iowa and Wisconsin.

Wake Forest at Clemson, Nov 16

These are the only two ranked teams in the ACC, so this is Clemson’s only real shot at a conference loss. Wake is 6–1 but four of those wins came by one score, so don’t get your hopes up.

Georgia at Auburn, Nov 16

This will definitely be a good football game. We’ll see in a few weeks if it still has any relevance to the playoff picture.

Oklahoma at Baylor, Nov 16

The Big 12’s playoff hopes took a huge hit with Oklahoma’s loss compounded by the Texas upset. But don’t count out Baylor. The Bears remain undefeated, and a win in Waco could knock Oklahoma out of the Big 12 Championship and clear Baylor’s path to the playoffs. A Sooner win instead will keep them very much in the playoff picture, too.

Penn State at Ohio State, Nov 23

If the Nittany Lions survive in Minnesota, this becomes a de facto play-in between two likely top-3 unbeaten teams in a top-2 conference. Like LSU-Bama, the loser here could end up with one loss but locked safely out of their conference championship, waiting to hopefully sneak in as a playoff wildcard.

Ohio State at Michigan, Nov 30

The Big Game hasn’t been much of a rivalry of late. The Buckeyes have won seven straight against Michigan and 14 of the last 15, and they hung 62 on the Wolverines last November. Jim Harbaugh could be coaching for his job. Ohio State will be playing to keep its playoff hopes alive.

Wisconsin at Minnesota, Nov 30

The Gophers finally beat Wisconsin last year and won Paul Bunyan’s Axe, snapping a 14-game Badgers rivalry win streak. That win propelled the team forward to this year’s unbeaten campaign. This year, the winner takes the Big Ten West and heads to the conference championship.

Alabama at Auburn, Nov 30

The Iron Bowl is always a big one. Auburn has two losses and needs all sorts of help to have a playoff case, even if they still add wins against Georgia and Bama. The Tide should have a fully healthy Tua Tagovailoa and they’ll need him in their only real road test of the entire season.

Championship Weekend, Dec 6–7

The SEC and Big 10 Championship Games will be huge. The Big 12 will be fun. The ACC will be a Clemson snoozer. And the PAC 12 will just hope someone notices them.

Week 8 NFL Picks against the Spread

An odd week, with the Seahawks, Lions, and Rams as Week 8 best bets…

TOP 10 HEISMAN RANKINGS THROUGH OCTOBER

10. QB Shane Buechele, SMU 9. RB Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin 8. RB J.K. Dobbins, Ohio State

Buechele is keeping the dream Mustangs season alive. Taylor came up small in Wisconsin’s biggest game, while Dobbins keeps putting up his biggest numbers in Ohio State’s key games but is overshadowed by his teammates.

7. RB Chuba Hubbard, Oklahoma State 6. DE Chase Young, Ohio State 5. QB Justin Herbert, Oregon 4. QB Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma

Hubbard continues to post the best rushing numbers in the nation for an otherwise anonymous Oklahoma State team. Chase Young is becoming less and less anonymous by the week. He might be the best player in college football and has a real shot to be a Heisman finalist. Herbert has pristine numbers but plays so late no one cares. Hurts may have seen the end of his Heisman campaign this weekend.

3. QB Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama 2. QB Justin Fields, Ohio State 1. QB Joe Burrow, LSU

One of these three is winning the 2019 Heisman. Fields has been a monster but has competition from multiple guys on his own roster. The best Heisman bet at this point is the quarterback of the LSU-Bama winner in two weeks. At this point, that player looks like a pretty heavy favorite. ■

Follow Brandon on Medium or @wheatonbrando for more sports, television, humor, and culture. Visit the rest of Brandon’s writing archives here.