Brian’s College Football Top 5: Week 10

Photo by Jeff Blake from Imagn Images

This was a hard, hard week to pick a top 5.

There were lots of teams deserving, and this may be one of the worst top fives by record I’ve done in a long time.

But like I said, it’s deserved.

Here’s the top 5.

Honorable Mention: Vanderbilt Commodores

Vandy beat Alabama and Auburn in the same season, and quarterback Diego Pavia has now beaten Auburn three straight seasons.

What a player.

And Auburn is still just treading water after firing Gus Malzahn.

5. UCLA Bruins

In year one of a new coaching regime, you simply want to see something to build off of.

It doesn’t have to be a great year. It doesn’t even have to be a good year.

But you want to just see something that, as a fan, makes you see a future in this regime.

UCLA got that something on Saturday, with a 27-20 win over Nebraska.

It’s not a great Nebraska team they beat, but if you’re 2-5 going into Lincoln and get away with a win thanks to a great defensive performance, that’s something to look towards in the future.

DeShaun Foster can use that to build.

4. Houston Cougars

And, in that same sense, Willie Fritz can use Houston’s upset win over Kansas State the same way!

Both Fritz and Foster were not dealt great hands, as UCLA and Houston did not have much going for them in terms of total talent.

But Houston now sits at 4-5 with an outside shot of a bowl game.

If you asked Cougs fan before the year if they’d take that, it’d be a resounding yes.

3. Louisville Cardinals

Clemson didn’t seem flat out unbeatable, but they did look like they were headed towards an ACC title game appearance.

Louisville didn’t seem to get the memo, however.

A dominant performance from the Cardinals completely shut down Clemson, and put themselves in the race alongside of Clemson, Miami, and SMU.

Scott Satterfield leaving Louisville for Cincy may be the best thing that’s happened to that program.

2. Rice Owls

Never question the new coach bump!

Six days ago, Mike Bloomgren was fired, and interim coach Pete Alamar took a 2-6 Rice team over to face 6-1 Navy.

Navy was red hot offensively. This was going to be a breeze.

But Rice came to play, and upset Navy 24-10 to all but end Navy’s chance at an AAC title game appearance.

Rice is a program looking for more since their move to the AAC, which is why they let Bloomgren go.

I don’t know if Pete Alamar will be the next coach in Houston, but he at least showed what Rice can do in the conference.

They shouldn’t be pushovers.

1. South Carolina Gamecocks

South Carolina was 3-3.

Two of their losses were close ones to LSU and Alabama, but one of their wins was squeaking one out against Old Dominion.

I didn’t really know if they were good or not.

I think Saturday, after the defense shut down Texas A&M’s running game, and LaNorris Sellers and Rocket Sanders ran wild, answered the question for me.

The Gamecocks are good.

The new 12 team playoff means it’s possible, albeit extremely hard, for a 3 loss team to get in.

And I don’t think they will, as they don’t have the same branding other schools have, but it’s not impossible to have 9-3 South Carolina going into Selection Sunday for the College Football Playoff with a chance to get in.