Brian’s College Football Top 5: Week 10

Photo by Hilary Scheinuk from NOLA.com

The first weekend of November is in the books.

The time where the conference races get a little bit tighter and the playoff picture gets a little bit more clear.

And this was certainly a weekend where it got a little clearer.

Here is this weeks top 5.

5. Michigan State Spartans

There has been a lot of talk about how Mel Tucker rode one big win to a massive extension Michigan State is going to regret.

Which makes sense. The Spartans came into Champaign, Illinois at 3-5 to take on the 7-1 Fighting Illini.

And they won easily.

Does that win turn the tides in East Lansing for the future considering this year has been a struggle? Maybe.

Regardless, it’s good to see the Spartans are still playing hard for Mel Tucker.

4. Kansas Jayhawks

Kansas is bowl eligible.

Let me say that again.

Kansas is BOWL. ELIGIBLE.

And it happened before Kansas basketball season even started!

And they beat a tough Oklahoma State team with a backup quarterback!

What an awesome year for Kansas.

3. Georgia Bulldogs

There were some questions about Georgia.

They destroyed Oregon, and then didn’t exactly look tremendous against some pretty weak opponents.

That’s why Saturday when they faced off against Tennessee, it was a big opportunity to make a statement.

And a statement is exactly what they made.

I know the score says Georgia won 27-13, but don’t be fooled.

This game was not close.

Georgia controlled from the get go, and took their foot off the gas at the end simply because they could.

There’s no question now.

Georgia is the undisputed top team in the country.

2. LSU Tigers

This was not the season LSU was supposed to have.

It was year one under Brian Kelly, who is a very good coach, but they didn’t have a tremendous amount of talent and a lot of people thought it would take a year or two to get there.

Those people, including me, were very wrong.

LSU is here already.

Brian Kelly has the Tigers ahead in the SEC West, and most importantly had his team take Alabama down in overtime with a gutsy two point conversion try.

Even if LSU doesn’t win the SEC title or go to the playoff this year, fans in Baton Rouge have to be ecstatic about where they are headed with the former Notre Dame coach.

1. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

And the fans in South Bend have to be ecstatic about where they are headed with the new Notre Dame coach.

It was a bumpy start for Marcus Freeman.

They hung in there against Ohio State but didn’t have the offense for it. Then they lost to Marshall. Then they somehow lost to Stanford.

It looked like Marcus Freeman was in over his head.

But then his Irish went and beat down Syracuse on the road and then took down #4 Clemson at home.

And this wasn’t even close.

This wasn’t a game like in 2020 where Notre Dame surprised a shorthanded Clemson squad in South Bend.

They dominated from the get go.

The fact that the Irish are 6-3 with significant question marks at quarterback still is a very good sign of what’s to come in South Bend.

If the Irish take care of business against Boston College and Navy, they’ll head into the last game against USC with an 8-3 record.

That’ll be a must watch game.