College Football Rankings: Stanford and Undefeated Teams Yet to Prove Value

There are some teams across the country that have yet to lose, but yet to prove their worth as a good team.

In some cases, it is bad preseason scheduling. In other cases, it's because conference rivals are just not very good.

Whatever the reasons may be, these teams are undefeated, but still less than impressive. They will need to do well in the opportunities they have against top teams if they are going to be taken seriously as true National Championship threats.

Stanford Cardinal

Given what they did last year, there shouldn't be much doubt about how good Stanford is. Still, they haven't beaten any quality opponents this year.

The opportunity isn't really there this week, as Washington State isn't much of an opponent. Stanford has potential pitfalls that they must overcome before hosting Oregon.

Washington and USC aren't great teams, but they are potentially strong rivals. If Stanford beats them, Oregon and Notre Dame at the end of the year and whoever they play in the conference title game, their National Championship resume will be strong.

Illinois Fighting Illini

Illinois hasn't been dominant, but they are undefeated, which is all that matters. This week will really begin a test of their value.

They play Ohio State this week, and Penn State, Michigan and Wisconsin later in the year. Illinois is still a serious dark horse, even in the Big Ten. But they will need to manage that stretch of games reasonably well if anyone is going to take them seriously.

Michigan Wolverines

Michigan's best test came against Notre Dame. They did survive, but they were quite lucky to do so.

Since then, the road has been relatively smooth for the Wolverines.

Saturday will begin a much more difficult stretch for Michigan. Cross-state rivals and No. 23 Michigan State welcome the Wolverines this week. November dates against Illinois, Nebraska, and Ohio State will also test Michigan. 

As of right now, they are undefeated. But like the other teams on the list, Michigan needs another big win or two to prove just how good they are.