Ohio State Football: Buckeyes and Tigers top 2 teams

4. Oklahoma

Oklahoma has many of the similar attributes that define the teams above them on these rankings – good offense, Heisman quarterback contender, strong metrics and convincing wins.

However, Oklahoma has a defense that has been noticeably worse than its offense. I know that LSU is in the same position, but I still go back to the number of quality wins and that’s why the Sooners come in at No. 4.

The other thing I want to see is what happens when Oklahoma plays a real defense. The best defense they have played so far according to ESPN’s Team Efficiencies model is Texas Tech.

For reference, Ohio State has played three teams – Cincinnati, Northwestern and Michigan State – that are ranked better than Texas Tech and Indiana is very close to Tech.

Moral of the story, its hard to get too worked up about Jalen Hurts and the Sooners offense when they don’t play defenses with a pulse. It’s hard to know if a team deserves to be in the College Football Playoff when they have not faced a team even close to the level that will be in the semifinals.

Speaking of Jalen Hurts, he is a tremendous quarterback. Do I think the Heisman voting is unfair since the Big 12 doesn’t play defense which in turn means his numbers will be crazy good? Yes.

But his numbers are crazy good. He, just like Justin Fields, has accounted for 30 total touchdowns this year as he has continued to tear up the Big 12.

Rounding out the top 5 is…