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Ohio State Football: Contender or pretender through September

By Blake Biscardi

LINCOLN, NE - SEPTEMBER 28: Quarterback Justin Fields #1 of the Ohio State Buckeyes hands off to running back J.K. Dobbins #2 in the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium on September 28, 2019 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
LINCOLN, NE - SEPTEMBER 28: Quarterback Justin Fields #1 of the Ohio State Buckeyes hands off to running back J.K. Dobbins #2 in the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium on September 28, 2019 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images) /
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GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA – SEPTEMBER 28: Keon Zipperer #9 of the Florida Gators celebrates a touchdown with Kyle Pitts #84 and teammates during the fourth quarter of a game against the Towson Tigers at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on September 28, 2019 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA – SEPTEMBER 28: Keon Zipperer #9 of the Florida Gators celebrates a touchdown with Kyle Pitts #84 and teammates during the fourth quarter of a game against the Towson Tigers at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on September 28, 2019 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images) /

The Ohio State football team is a serious contender for the CFP, but who else in the AP Top 10 joins them in that elite category?

The first five weeks of the college football season are behind us. Ohio State, Alabama, and Oklahoma have been fully dominant whereas a contender like Clemson has struggled a bit. But unlike recent years, there were not many upsets nor any major upsets involving the Top 10.

The “Who’s In” the College Football Playoff talks have already sparked intense premature debates. The Top 6 feel arguably interchangeable with some teams finally starting to create some separation.

Let’s take a look around the country and evaluate which of the top ranked teams are legitimate contenders for the CFP or just pretenders making some early noise.

I’ll list the teams two at a time.

Teams ranked via the Week 6 AP Poll.

No. 10:  Florida Gators 

The Gators did not impress the country all that much in their opener against Miami (FL) but still got the job done in a game where mistakes painted the picture of neither team wanting to win even though they both did.

To make matters worse, QB Feleipe Franks went down with an injury a few weeks ago and is now out for the season. Florida has Auburn this coming week and LSU and Georgia later in the year. I believe they lose all three games.

Pretender

No. 9:  Notre Dame Fighting Irish 

The Fighting Irish earned the respect of many two weekends ago in Athens as they went toe to toe with the Bulldogs. Notre Dame had the ball with a chance to tie or win it, but fell short thanks to a great defensive stand by Georgia.

Ian Book has been playing well this season, but what’s impressed me the most with the Irish has been their defense which has been elite at times. I am in the minority, but I still think the southern showdown told us more about Georgia than Notre Dame.

The Irish are also not in a conference so they do not have a thirteenth game which hurts them this year. They may end up with an argument, but I don’t see them returning to the CFP.

Pretender

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