College Football Rankings 2015: Reviewing NCAA Week 6 Standings Before Saturday
A long week of analyzing the maddening, upset-filled opening weekend of October is in the books, and now it's time for Week 6 to shake things up again across the Top 25.
For the second straight year, October's first weekend produced upset after upset that left the top half of the rankings feeling the effects. Three Top 10 squads went down, proving parity is the name of the game in college football this season.
Week 6 has already seen its first upset, as the 17th-ranked Southern California Trojans suffered a distasteful 17-12 defeat to Washington.
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Could that be a sign of things to come? Are we in for another wacky weekend of upsets that shakes around the Top 25 again? Take a look below to get one last glimpse at the rankings before more upsets inevitably take place.
Teams to Watch
No. 5 Utah (vs. No. 23 California)
The Utah Utes have already proved they are for real. But if it's College Football Playoff aspirations they have, then a statement game Saturday is in order.
That's because the Utes welcome College GameDay to town as they get ready to face the California Golden Bears in a Pac-12 cross-divisional matchup. One of three ranked foes left on Utah's slate, the Utes will need to win convincingly to keep their spot in the Top Five.
Central to doing so will be slowing down Jared Goff, the Golden Bears' star quarterback who is lighting up college football. He matches up against Utah's biggest weakness on defense, as ESPN's Brad Edwards noted:
Utah appears to have the complete package on both sides of the ball, as told by its 62-20 thrashing of Oregon on the road that awoke the whole nation to the Utes' true potential. Quarterback Travis Wilson can make all the plays, while Devontae Booker is a workhorse running back capable of taking over a game.
It will take one of those games to neutralize Goff and the Cal passing attack.
No. 7 LSU (vs. South Carolina)
Perhaps the least surprising undefeated SEC team remaining is LSU, which just keeps trudging along and riding the hot hand of Leonard Fournette.
The Tigers running back is setting college football ablaze with his scintillating sophomore season, as he continues to stake his claim over the Heisman Trophy race and push LSU toward a College Football Playoff spot.
He can further etch his place among legends with another 200-yard performance Saturday, as SEC Network observed:
Fournette and Co. were initially pegged to travel to South Carolina for a road test Saturday, but that all changed with severe storms striking near Columbia and Williams-Brice Stadium. That has left the game to be played in Baton Rouge, giving LSU a home game it didn't realize it would have.
As if Fournette and the Tigers needed any more of an advantage over a struggling Gamecocks squad, they got it.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
