College football top 10 before the CFP rankings: Miami, then Georgia

Who is No. 1 in college football right now?

1. Miami Hurricanes, 8-0. Nobody else has a case. Miami is No. 1 in the AP Top 25 with 62 first-place votes. It won at Wake Forest 33-20 and at Clemson 41-13. Darian Mensah has been the best quarterback in the country. It also needed everything to get past North Carolina 38-35 on Saturday, and Notre Dame is next.

2. Georgia Bulldogs, 7-1. Georgia went into Alabama and won 20-17, and it just beat Florida 27-8 with four forced turnovers. The one loss is 27-24 to Auburn at home. The Bulldogs go to Ole Miss on Saturday.

3. Indiana Hoosiers, 8-1. This is our spot that starts the argument. The AP has the defending national champions sixth. We have them third. Their only loss is 19-15 to Ohio State, and they just won at Michigan 13-6 and beat Minnesota 23-16 in overtime. Indiana is also eighth in ESPN FPI, ahead of Utah at 10th and UCLA at 28th.

Where do Notre Dame, Utah and UCLA rank?

4. Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 7-1. ESPN FPI has them No. 1 in the country at 26.8. The only loss is 28-24 at BYU. They host Miami on Saturday night, and that game decides a lot of this list.

5. Utah Utes, 8-0. The AP has them third. We have them fifth. Utah beat Houston 21-13 and won at Cincinnati 49-25, and it has not played a team as good as the four above it. BYU comes to town Saturday, and that fixes the argument one way or the other.

6. UCLA Bruins, 8-0. Undefeated is undefeated, and a 17-15 win at Oregon counts. But FPI has UCLA 28th. The Bruins have not given us a reason to put them above any of these teams yet.

Why BYU and Texas Tech make the top 10

7. BYU Cougars, 7-1. BYU beat Notre Dame 28-24, and that is a win over the team we have fourth. The 39-31 loss at UCF is why it is not higher.

8. Texas Tech Red Raiders, 7-1. The AP has Tech 13th. We do not. The Red Raiders beat Houston 28-26 and Arizona State 53-25, and their only loss is 37-24 at Cincinnati. Their 16.8 FPI ranks 13th, and they keep winning.

Why Alabama and Texas are in and Ohio State is out

9. Alabama Crimson Tide, 6-2. Both losses came to good teams: 20-17 to Georgia and 26-10 at Tennessee. Alabama also won at Kentucky 45-17, and that is why AP No. 8 Kentucky is not on this list. LSU is next.

10. Texas Longhorns, 6-2. Texas beat Ohio State 24-23 and Ole Miss 34-27. The two losses were 27-24 to Oklahoma and 27-24 to Florida.

Ohio State fell from No. 2 to No. 11 in the AP poll in one week and does not make our top 10. Two losses, one of them to Texas, one of them 30-18 to an unranked USC team, and Julian Sayin is hurt. Luke Fahey made his first career start against the Trojans.

The case against our top 10

Here is the fair side. Ohio State went to Indiana and won 19-15, and we have Indiana third with the Buckeyes out. ESPN FPI has Ohio State second in the country. CBS Sports projected the committee to put Indiana seventh, with Kentucky fourth on a No. 2 strength of record.

That is fine. The first College Football Playoff rankings come out tonight at 7pm ET on ESPN. Check us against the committee. Save this for later.