College Football Week 6 Power Rankings: Ohio State Leads, Miami and Oregon Close Behind

The AP Poll actually deserves some credit this week. We’re nearly halfway through the season, and Texas and Penn State don’t have any wins against power conference opponents, so after their bad losses, they were both dropped entirely from the Top 25.

They even corrected their mistake from last week, moving Miami back up to the number two spot in the poll. Overall, this was a pretty decent showing from the voters, but here’s how I would have voted for the top 10 this week.

No. 1 Ohio State

I am comfortable saying that Ohio State is the best team in the country. Julian Sayin is beginning to take on a bigger role in this offense, and if he continues to play at the elite level he has been showing, good luck stopping the Buckeyes.

Most importantly for this team, they have the best defense in the country by far. Caleb Downs came into the season as the best defensive player in the country. He’s been as good as advertised, but he might not be the best player on that defense. Arvell Reese is an absolute game wrecker, and they’re just a few pieces on this defense.

No. 2 Miami

If you see a ranking where Miami isn’t in the top two, just keep scrolling. Between their resume and the eye test, this is one of the two best teams in college football. Carson Beck has rightfully been getting a ton of credit for the production we’ve seen from this offense. Still, not enough attention is being given to receivers Malachi Toney and CJ Daniels.

Toney is one of the most explosive players in the country and is starting to look like someone we will be continuing to see on Sundays. My only concern for Miami is its run game. They were able to pull away from Florida State, but then they let them back in it when they couldn’t keep the clock moving with their run game. If you can slow the Canes' passing attack, I’ll be interested to see how they adapt.

No. 3 Oregon

Nobody had a worse bye week than the Oregon Ducks. After picking up their season-defining road win at Penn State, they had to sit and watch UCLA tear this Nittany Lions defense to shreds.

The good news for Oregon is that they have another top 10 matchup this week against Indiana, and it’s at home. Dante Moore has shown enough that I’m not really questioning Oregon’s top-three ranking, but the importance of this week's game with Indiana has definitely grown.

No. 4 Texas A&M

Maybe one of these weeks, I’ll come into these rankings, and I won’t be shocked at how impressed I am with Texas A&M. Mississippi State was the trendy upset pick for this week's slate of games, and many thought this could be the trap game for Mike Elko’s squad.

They weren’t caught in any traps. It was as complete a game as we’ve seen so far from Texas A&M. The defense locked down a high-powered Bulldog offense, and the Aggie run game provided most of the support for the offense. Marcel Reed had one of his worst games of the season, yet they still won by 22 points. That’s a pretty great sign for the Aggies.

No. 5 Oklahoma

It’s all about surviving right now for the Sooners. Heisman hopeful John Mateer has been progressing quickly after surgery on his broken hand; however, he still won’t be ready for their massive rivalry game against Texas.

Texas can’t lose any more games this year, so they’ll be looking to put sophomore backup Michael Hawkins Jr. into some difficult positions. Hawkins looked fine against a horrific Kent State team, but he will most likely be without receiver Keontez Lewis against Texas, only making this rivalry game even more difficult.

No. 6 Ole Miss

Coming off a bye week, Ole Miss has a pretty easy matchup when Washington State comes to town. You can’t let this be a lookahead spot with Georgia next up on the schedule.

I think Ole Miss has a great matchup with Georgia, and they’ve proven they’re not scared of Georgia, as they beat them pretty handily last season. If they’re able to run the ball on Georgia this season, I think they could even have a similar result to last year's beatdown.

No. 7 Alabama

I’m sorry to everyone who wrote off Alabama for a week one road loss to a very solid Florida State team. Kalen DeBoer has this team rolling, knocking off undefeated ranked teams in back-to-back weeks.

Let's start discussing Ty Simpson's chances of winning the Heisman. His odds are quickly dropping as he’s now only +800 to win the Heisman, third best in the country. If he’s able to run the table for the rest of the season, he will absolutely be on the big stage in New York in December.

No. 8 Indiana

Welcome to the top three in the Big Ten! Indiana’s chance of sneaking into the Big Ten Championship is the best it’s ever looked after Penn State’s putrid showing against UCLA. Indiana looked great under the lights against Illinois, but then struggled on the road against Iowa the very next week.

Curt Cignetti needs to show that Indiana isn’t going to get punched in the mouth against top-tier teams, and showing up in a road game at Oregon would do just that. They’ve done a great job playing the role of “high school bully”. They’ll talk crap and beat up the little guy, but when the big boys show up, they curl into a ball. It’ll be interesting to see how aggressive Indiana gets against Oregon, and if Cignetti learned from his beatdowns last season.

No. 9 Georgia

Is anyone impressed by this iteration of Georgia? With Mike Bobo as the play caller, this isn’t a Bulldogs team that brings fear into any team in the SEC. Georgia cruised by a Kentucky team that’s probably the worst in the SEC, and they’ll continue to get past the bottom of the conference.

I would be surprised to see Georgia finish with more than 10 wins this year. They’re currently +140 to miss the playoffs, and that’s something I would definitely bet.

No. 10 Texas Tech

Only one team in the Big 12 has separated itself from the rest of the pack, and that’s Texas Tech. The Red Raiders appear to be a playoff team, and not just because they play in a weaker conference.

Behren Morton was back to his regular role, running the offense, and he played a very clean game. I like how Texas Tech is really leaning on its defense. It’s the best defense in the history of the program, and the NIL boosters have to be very pleased with how this season has been going.

The following two weeks will be very telling for Tech. Kansas is one of the better offenses in the Big 12 and will likely be able to score against them. Arizona State is the only other program that I could see competing for a playoff spot, so if they can get past both of them, BYU might be the only other test on the schedule.