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2017 TipTop 25 Week Ten

 Clemson is the first school picked at random from my hat

Welcome back to the college football ranking system that began with a preseason top 25 that was based solely on picking teams at random out of a hat, as shown above. You can see that Clemson was selected first, thereby securing our preseason #1 slot, and they held on to that spot for 6 weeks, beating 3 ranked opponents along the way. But then they took an upset loss at Syracuse, finally giving up their hold on #1.

As the games are played, I am also ranking teams completely blind to their histories and "name" value, so that they are ranked solely based on what they do this season and, for now at least, on where they were ranked in the preseason. Eventually, where teams were ranked in the preseason should have little or no impact on their current rankings.

Georgia Remains #1

MS Paint of Georgia player 2017

Georgia started the season ranked #17. They beat #29 Appalachian State 31-10 in their opener, while a bunch of other teams took upset losses, and Georgia moved up to #11 after the first week. They beat #13 Notre Dame 20-19 on the road in their next game, but fewer teams ahead of them took upset losses that week, so they only moved up to #9.

Georgia has not beaten a ranked team since, but they rose to #4 as other teams took upset losses, and then they waited at #4 for a couple of weeks before all 3 of the teams that had been ranked ahead of them took upset losses, enabling Georgia's rise to the top. Bolstering Georgia's rating is Notre Dame, who has won each of the rest of their games by more than a touchdown. The Irish are now ranked right behind Georgia at #2.

TipTop 25 After Week Ten Games

Last week there were a lot of upsets, so we saw a huge reshuffling of the rankings. This week only 4 of our ranked teams took upset losses, so there is less reshuffling. This week's TipTop 25 is as follows:
Team Record LW This Week's Result
#1 Georgia 9-0 1 Won 24-10 over #40 South Carolina
#2 Notre Dame 8-1 3 Won 48-37 over Wake Forest
#3 Wisconsin 9-0 5 Won 45-17 at Indiana
#4 Central Florida 8-0 2 Won 31-24 at 6-3 Southern Methodist
#5 Alabama 9-0 4 Won 24-10 over #34 Louisiana State
#6 Miami (Florida) 8-0 6 Won 28-10 over #13 Virginia Tech
#7 Clemson 8-1 7 Won 38-31 at #42 North Carolina State
#8 Washington 8-1 8 Won 38-3 over Oregon
#9 Auburn 7-2 9 Won 42-27 at #37 Texas A&M
#10 Texas Christian 8-1 19 Won 24-7 over Texas
#11 Oklahoma 8-1 10 Won 62-52 at #20 Oklahoma State
#12 Oklahoma State 7-2 20 Lost 62-52 to #10 Oklahoma
#13 Virginia Tech 7-2 13 Lost 28-10 at #6 Miami (Florida)
#14 Michigan State 7-2 15 Won 27-24 over #12 Penn State
#15 Penn State 7-2 12 Lost 27-24 at #15 Michigan State
#16 Michigan 7-2 16 Won 33-10 over Minnesota
#17 West Virginia 6-3 21 Won 20-16 over #18 Iowa State
#18 Northwestern 6-3 14 Won 31-24 in OT at Nebraska
#19 Iowa 6-3 17 Won 55-24 over #11 Ohio State
#20 Iowa State 6-3 18 Lost 20-16 at #21 West Virginia
#21 Ohio State 7-2 11 Lost 55-24 at #17 Iowa
#22 Memphis 8-1 23 Won 41-14 at Tulsa
#23 Toledo 8-1 (35) Won 27-17 over 6-3 Northern Illinois
#24 Mississippi State 7-2 (33) Won 34-23 over Massachusetts
#25 Southern Cal 8-2 (27) Won 49-35 over #25 Arizona

Notes on Changes to This Week's TipTop 25

I moved Wisconsin up a bit because their win over Northwestern looks much better this week. Not because Northwestern performed well this week: they didn't. However, Iowa's huge 55-24 win over Ohio State boosts Northwestern, since Northwestern has already beaten Iowa, and that boosts Wisconsin.

Texas Christian moves way up because of Iowa State's loss at West Virginia. That frees TCU from needing to be ranked behind ISU (who beat TCU). TCU has been much more impressive than Oklahoma against common opponents, so I moved TCU ahead of the Sooners. Oklahoma State, who has previously lost to TCU, moves up with the Horned Frogs, but they remain behind Oklahoma, who beat them this week.

Toledo has finally beaten a decent opponent, and their only loss has come to #6 Miami, so I moved them into the top 25. They had been ranked #13 in the preseason. Also moving into the top 25 is Mississippi State, as they also have not taken an upset loss, while many of the contenders for the bottom of the top 25 have taken upset losses. LSU was also impressive against #5 Alabama this week, and LSU is the one good team Mississippi State has beaten.

Close to the Top 25

The following teams are next in line to be ranked:

#26 Washington State
#27 Arizona
#28 Louisiana State
#29 Boise State
#30 Fresno State
#31 San Diego State
#32 Stanford

Looking Ahead to Next Week's Games

The previous 2 weeks were pretty great for matchups between teams ranked in the TipTop 25, but this week tops both, and is the best week of the year by a country mile. We have a huge 7 games matching ranked opponents: #1 Georgia at #9 Auburn, #2 Notre Dame at #6 Miami (Florida), #19 Iowa at #3 Wisconsin, #5 Alabama at #24 Mississippi State, #10 Texas Christian at #11 Oklahoma, #12 Oklahoma State at #20 Iowa State, and #14 Michigan State at #21 Ohio State. In addition, #8 Washington visits #32 Stanford.

Join me next week as we continue to hone the top 25 that was born from my magic hat.

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