Rivalry Week is here, but before those matchups are played, Joel Klatt has a new top 15 for you. Ohio State might be undefeated now, but as Klatt notes in this week’s podcast, there isn’t a player on their roster that’s ever beaten Michigan — and no Michigan player on their roster has ever lost to Ohio State.
That’s Saturday, though, and there are 13 other teams in these rankings. Here’s a full look at Klatt’s top 15 teams in the nation following Week 13.
Ohio State and Georgia in Joel Klatt’s top 15 😮💨
15. Vanderbilt
Klatt’s take: Vandy beat Kentucky, 45-17. Pavia went off. Quarterback Diego Pavia has been a bright spot in college football. I’ve loved watching him play. I think he’s going to be up for some of these awards, nationally. But listen, this is a guy who has given his heart and soul and changed the game in a lot of ways with that lawsuit for former junior college players, which, by the way, helped out a lot of players throughout the country. Almost every one of these games that I call, there’s a player that benefited from the ruling that Diego Pavia championed in getting that extra year of eligibility. And so he’s taken advantage of that, and Vandebilt has been terrific under coach Clark Lea.
14. Miami (Fla.)
Klatt’s take: Miami beat Virginia Tech 34-17 on the road. QB Carson Beck threw for 320 yards and four touchdowns with only five incompletions, so he was efficient. He was ready to go. The defense had five sacks and nine tackles for loss. They did not defend the run particularly well — 235 sack-adjusted rush yards, over seven per carry against Virginia Tech. That’s not great. Miami has won three straight by at least three scores, so they’re making their College Football Playoff case. I just don’t know if it’s going to be enough, because I think we all realize if we watch the games and watch the film that they’re not as good as Notre Dame. And that’s the team they’re going to be trying to argue against, but they’re too far right now from Notre Dame in the rankings — in my rankings and in the rankings in the CFP.
13. Texas
Klatt’s take: Texas rolled on offense, 52-37, against Arkansas. Quarterback Arch Manning had a big day and the offense got going, and that could be problematic for Texas A&M. However, however! What happened to Texas’ defense? Like, you look up and Texas defensively has given up 38, 31, 35 and 37 in their last four. What happened to this defense? I know Michael Taaffe has been in and out of the lineup, but what? I don’t understand that. Defensive Coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski has got to figure something out, because on that trajectory, Marcel Reed and A&M will eat them alive and they’ll have to win that game against Texas A&M like it’s a 2016 Big 12 game. It’s going to be like, 57-52. Their defense has got to improve. They have not played well over the last four.
12. Michigan
Klatt’s take: Michigan beat Maryland on the road, 45-20. That’s the most points Michigan has scored in a Big Ten game this season. So now all of a sudden this offense starts to get cranked up. By the way, with no Justice Haynes — the running back had that foot surgery — and no Jordan Marshall. Coach Sherrone Moore said [Marshal] probably could have played, but did not. And they were really efficient running the football. They were really good throwing the football. Michigan continues to get better and better, more balanced and those young guys are getting a lot of experience.
Ohio State vs. Michigan on Big Noon Saturday on FOX — massive game, I love this game, it’s my favorite thing that I get to do in this profession. I love this game, I love this rivalry and it’s finally here. This is the best week of the college football season.
11. BYU
Klatt’s take: BYU played an impressive game, on the road, at Cincinnati. Cincinnati was still alive, they controlled their own fate towards getting to the Big 12 Championship game and potentially getting to the CFP, but BYU ended that with a dominant performance at the line of scrimmage. Running back LJ Martin was unreal: 222 rushing yards, and BYU held the ball for 38-and-a-half minutes. Head coach Kalani Sitake, by the way, is 21-3 over the last two years. This is a really good, sound, fundamentally tough program. Now they’ve got a lot of older guys, but when you watched LJ Martin, those Cincinnati Bearcat defenders wanted no part of him. All game long, he was just battering that team, the offensive line was battering that team — 38 minutes time of possession! And they win that game, and are one step closer to going to the Big 12 Championship game.
10. Alabama
Klatt’s take: At No. 10 I’ve got Alabama still, that’s where I had them last week. They beat now 3-9 Eastern Illinois, 56-0.
9. Oklahoma
Klatt’s take: At No. 9 is Oklahoma. I moved them down one. Here’s what OU is: an unbelievably good defense. They really are. Love watching them on defense. And … they’re a really bad offense. So you know what Oklahoma is? They’re a souped-up version of Iowa. That’s all they are. And you know, in some circles, people will be like, “Oh, well that’s an insult.” I don’t view it as that, because I’ve respected Iowa for a long time, because they do the right things to win games. And that’s what Oklahoma is. So, this is a compliment, but it’s also a ceiling. We’ve known for a long time, even those of us who have been Iowa backers, that there’s a ceiling on the level that Iowa can get to playing that way. And in particular, playing with an offense that can’t generate points. OU is in that boat: they’ve got eight offensive touchdowns over the last four games, and they are hugely reliant, I mean massively reliant, on big plays and field position to do it. There is a ceiling on that, because someone will prevent that, and at some point, someone will score 20, 24, 27 on your defense. It just happens, even to the great defenses of yesteryear. Oklahoma is earning their way into this playoff in a massive way. I love watching their defense, but their offense gives me pause.
8. Notre Dame
Klatt’s take: I moved Notre Dame to No. 8 because this Notre Dame team is dominating. Now I get it, this score (70-7) got out of hand, and I don’t know what’s happening at Syracuse — it’s not good, though. They were down 21-0 before Notre Dame took an offensive snap. How’s that even possible? What are we doing? Now granted, Syracuse is starting a kid that’s a true freshman that is basically a lacrosse kid, not his problem, and I understand there are injuries. But Notre Dame was insane. Running back Jeremiyah Love in the first half had like, eight carries for 171 yards. But this is why I moved Notre Dame up: since Week 4, the defense has basically been as good as Oklahoma’s defense, and the offense has been light-years better. In the last eight games, Notre Dame’s defense has been No. 3 in the country. Their offense is No. 4 in the country in scoring. Over that same span, Oklahoma’s offense has been 73rd, their defense 15th. I totally get that the schedules have been different, I’m just saying that is a huge difference, though.
7. Ole Miss
Klatt’s take: (Ole Miss was off this week. Klatt zeroed in on the Lane Kiffin coaching situation at the end of this week’s show.)
6. Texas Tech
5. Oregon
Klatt’s take: Texas Tech was off this week. They are at No. 6. I moved Oregon over Texas Tech. If you look at the most advanced metrics and even the résumé, Oregon’s is better than Texas Tech’s. They are at No. 5. I moved them up after that really impressive 42-27 win over USC.
4. Texas A&M
3. Georgia
Klatt’s take: I know people were very upset with my having Georgia over Texas A&M, but I just think Georgia is better than Texas A&M. I think Georgia is the best team in the SEC. I think that they’ve proven that out. In particular, that win over Texas was huge, they are done in SEC play. Maybe they get to Atlanta, you know, we’ll see. I’m not sure. But that’s how I see it.
2. Indiana
1. Ohio State
Klatt’s take: Indiana was off this last week, they will play Purdue this week. They win, they go to Indy for the Big Ten Championship game. Ohio State wins against Michigan, they go to Indy. And we could have a No. 1 and No. 2 versus each other in the Big Ten Championship game in Indianapolis.
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