Clemson Football: Ranking College Football resumes after Week 6

This is the current Resume Top 25

1. Clemson: 26.25

2. Alabama: 24

3. Georgia: 23

T4. USC: 22 – The Trojan fans are as happy as they can be. Meanwhile, everywhere else, they have become the bad guys. They now have to go on the road to play Utah. The unfortunate thing for USC is that the Utes will almost certainly drop out of the Top 25 if the Trojans win. It would still be a road win against a P5 team.

T4. TCU: 22 – College football’s rising star. The Horned Frogs beat Kansas in Lawrence, and the Jayhawks weren’t penalized by the AP voters. That was a best-case scenario for TCU – ranked wins on the road give you a huge resume boost. They have yet another test coming this weekend when they host the Fighting Mike Gundys of Oklahoma State.

T6. Michigan: 21

T6. Ole Miss: 21 – Lane Kiffin is fun, and Ole Miss looks like the white knight that everyone hopes will slay the Crimson beast. One problem: their best wins are against Georgia Tech and Kentucky, both at home. Kentucky is still in the Top 25, and I think the voters had sympathy for the Wildcats because of Levis’s injury, but that won’t save them for long. It will be November before the Rebels have a chance against more ranked teams.

T8. Ohio State: 19

T8. Penn State: 19 – Once a leader in the resume rankings, the Nittany Lions have fallen back a bit with an early bye date. If they beat Big Blue in Ann Arbor, their score will bounce back wonderfully.

T8. Tennessee: 19 – My niece’s school. I’m pulling for them against Alabama this weekend, but Vols Nation is the current poster child for not understanding how ranked wins work on a resume. “We have three ranked wins!” No, you don’t. All the teams you defeated have fallen out of the AP Top 25. It doesn’t matter where they were then, it matters where they are now. Vols fans should pull for Pitt, Florida & LSU to win and get ranked again.

11. UCLA: 18 – Two weeks ago, the Bruins had a weak resume. Two Top 25 wins later, they are flirting with the top ten. Both wins were at the Rose Bowl, which is officially home for UCLA. Next, they must go on the road to take on….

12. Oregon: 16.75 – …..the Ducks, who have won five straight games since the blowout loss to Georgia. They’ve won twice on the road. They get the Bruins at home.

T13. Wake Forest: 15 – This is why they are still ranked despite a home loss to Clemson. Outside of the close game against Liberty (when they were looking ahead to the Tigers), Wake has played very well this season.

T13. Oklahoma State: 15 – Why is the Cowboys’ score this low? They have only played five games. This does put them a bit behind. Next week is an away game at TCU, so if they win their resume will catch up.

T13. Kansas: 15 – The loss to TCU hurts, but the resume outside of that game is still strong. The upcoming schedule is challenging.

T13. Coastal Carolina: 15 – The Chants are undefeated, but unranked thus far in the AP Top 25. Coastal doesn’t have a game against the Power Five until late November, and it’s at Virginia. It’s winnable, but not enough to get Coastal anywhere close to the playoff. It will be enough to get them to the New Year’s Six as the obligatory Group of Five entrant if they keep winning.

T17. North Carolina: 14 – The three teams tied at 17th in the resume rankings all have the same issue: they dropped a game that now makes us scratch our heads. Just imagine if UNC hadn’t dropped that game to Notre Dame. Still, the Tar Heels are in the driver’s seat in the ACC Coastal.

T17. Mississippi State: 14 – Same story. Mississippi State lost to LSU and all of us are looking at it in hindsight and wondering how it happened.

T17. Tulane: 14 – This one must sting the most. Tulane upset Kansas State, who is now ranked. They could have been in the lead for the G5’s NY6 bid, but they lost at home to Southern Miss, who has a losing record. Cringeworthy.

T20. Kansas State: 13 – let’s keep this theme going. The Wildcats lost on their home field to the Green Wave. That hurts the resume.

T20. Illinois: 13 – This is where I must end the theme about games the teams dropped. Illini fans shouldn’t worry about that at all. Yeah, the loss to Indiana sucked, but who cares when your team has a legit chance to win the Big Ten West. We see you, Urbana-Champaign.

T20. James Madison: 13 – This makes me happy. They play Louisville in a month. That should be a fun game.

23. Florida State: 12.25 – FSU has lost two games now, and they were worthy opponents, so no biggie there. The problem is the continued coaching howlers. The play-calling at the end of the Wolfpack game was bizarre. I can’t help but wonder if such things catch up with Mike Norvell eventually, even if the overall record has notably improved.

T24. NC State: 12 – The Wolfpack has slowly ascended into the Resume Top 25. We will keep an eye on the quarterback situation. It’s funny how Leary can be criticized for not living up to expectations, but when he gets hurt everyone thinks State’s fortunes could drop if he doesn’t play.

T24. Syracuse – The Orange haven’t played the toughest schedule, but that changes this week. NC State comes to town, and then they visit Clemson on Homecoming weekend.

T24. Purdue – Just as I say Syracuse hasn’t played a tough schedule, one of the teams they defeated sneaks into the Resume Top 25 with two losses. How? Two road wins against P5 opponents in the past two weeks. The Boilermakers are in a good position in the Big Ten West as well.