Southern Football Report: Top Four after Week 4

Here is our Top Four after this week’s games:

1. Ohio State Buckeyes 4-0 – In today’s what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world, many feel that the Buckeyes aren’t deserving of a number one ranking but if you take them away who has done enough to earn the top spot over the Buckeyes? Ohio State is 4-0 with four pretty good defensive performances and are only allowing 253 total yards of offense per game. Their signature win over Virginia Tech took a hit on Saturday after the Hokies lost on the road to East Carolina. The other three wins for the Buckeyes will look better later in the season when Hawaii, Northern Illinois & Western Michigan all do well in their respective conferences. This Saturday will surprisingly be a matchup between undefeated teams in Bloomington when the Buckeyes hit the road for the first time since Labor Day. Next Up: at 4-0 Indiana

2. Georgia Bulldogs 4-0 – There have been two games against quality teams for the Dawgs this year and two games against teams that they should have beaten by forty points each. In all of the games combined Georgia has an average margin of victory of over 30 points and defensively have the 14th ranked defense in the country. Every game in September was a tune up for the first game in October this Saturday when the Crimson Tide come the Athens. The winner of this game will be in the forefront of the College Football Playoff chase and the loser will be behind the eight ball moving forward in their division & the conference. The Dawgs need to win in order to keep pace with Florida who is a surprising 4-0 on the season. Next Up: v. 3-1 (13) Alabama

3. Michigan State Spartans 4-0 – The further we get from Michigan State’s season defining win over Oregon in Week 2, the less impressive their three point win over the Ducks looks. The Spartans have reached the number two spot in the polls but will need to win their remaining games impressively and will also need some of those opponents to ‘perform admirably’ as Mr. Spock would put it. Two convincing wins over MAC teams and another against a service academy will not keep the Spartans in the Top Four but back-to-back games against Michigan and Indiana makes their schedule look a lot tougher than it did before the season started. Even with those two teams being better than expected so far, we all know that the season & the College Football Playoff hinges on their November 21st contest in Columbus, Ohio. Next Up: v. 1-3 Purdue

4. UCLA Bruins 4-0 – There’s nothing like a 36-point conference road victory over the reigning division champ to propel a team into the Top Four and that is exactly what the Bruins did on Saturday night in Tucson, Arizona, against the Wildcats. They dominated Arizona from the opening whistle and never let off of the throttle despite having lost four key defensive players already in 2015. The Bruins already have two wins over Power 5 teams and another against an Independent and quality BYU team (despite their 31-0 loss to Michigan last week). UCLA has snuck into the Top Four on their own performance but needed some poor ones from teams ahead of them to make it but watch out, this could be a team to watch in October when they play back-to-back Thursday night games against Stanford on the road and California in Los Angeles. Next Up: v. 2-2 Arizona State

JUST MISSED THE CUT

TCU Horned Frogs – Some people say that a team that allowed 52 points in a game can’t be considered one of the best teams in college football and to that I say ‘Frog Wash’ because TCU did score 55 points on the road in an underrated Jones AT&T Stadium against what will end up being a pretty good Texas Tech team. With that being said, the Horned Frogs should blow the doors off of Texas, Kansas State & Iowa State the next three weeks and if they don’t the critics will become louder and louder. Next Up: v. 1-3 Texas

Notre Dame Fighting Irish – All the Irish have done is beat three Power 5 teams in the first month of the season which is something only one other team in America can claim (more on that below). The Irish offense continues to roll and the defense continues to play well. Plus all of a sudden, Notre Dame’s October looks a lot more daunting than anticipated with road games at Clemson & Temple bookending home dates with USC & Navy. If The Irish exit October undefeated, there are going to be a front runner for a spot in the College Football Playoff. Next Up: at 3-0 (12) Clemson

LSU Tigers – The other team who has beaten three Power 5 opponents already resides in the bayous of Louisiana and are led by the best running back in captivity in Leonard Fournette. The Tigers played rough and tumble football against Mississippi State, ran over Auburn and continued that momentum through the Carrier Dome on Saturday but will need better quarterback play if they want to be a true title contender. Although, with the way Fournette is running it doesn’t have to be that much better. Next Up: v. 1-3 Eastern Michigan