NMP Week 6
Oregon
Ohio St
Georgia
Texas
Miami
Penn St
Tennessee
Indiana
Notre Dame
Boise St
BYU
LSU
Alabama
Ole Miss
Texas A&M
Iowa St
Clemson
SMU
Army
Colorado
Pittsburgh
Kansas St
Vanderbilt
Arizona St
South Carolina
Others Getting Votes: Louisville, Washington St, Tulane, UL Lafayette
Added: South Carolina
Dropped: Memphis
Biggest Winners: Alabama (6), LSU (5), BYU (5)
Biggest Losers: Kansas St (11), Clemson (11), Pitt (6)
This weekend had its fair share of upsets and games that shook up conference and playoff races. With all the shake up and a rather large amount of teams on bye weeks this week, I figured it was a good time to take a deeper dive into teams and do a full reevaluation of the top 25. Oregon, undefeated beat OSU, simple. Ohio st beats PSU @PSU and Georgia once again looks like 2 different teams the 1st and 2nd halves. Texas still slots in at 4, pretty simple there too I think. Miami again stays undefeated after a slight scare, defense needs to carry a little more weight, but is enough to hop TN after they also start very slow again. Indiana, while they may have played rather weak competition, the games aren’t even close, what they have been able to do on O and D this season is really remarkable. Notre Dame still just chilling there at 9. Boise St continues to run Jeanty but now Madsen is really rounding into form, could be a real threat in the 1st round of the playoffs if they make it. BYU… they keep winning games, they keep moving up, just really hard to keep them behind multiple 2 loss teams now. Now you get the 4 SEC teams who can both look dominant and very beatable all in the same game, sometimes even half. Could really have them in any order and I wouldn’t really complain either way. Put A&M last purely because of the QB situation and the unknown week to week of who you’ll get. While Ole Miss is probably the most complete out of the bunch, they just can’t seem to put it all together. Alabama has the most potential and highest ceiling out of the 4, but also has the lowest floor… by a lot. LSU, thus far, has put together the best season so far, justtttt slightly, and are the least volatile. Iowa St lost to a very sneaky good Texas Tech team, could be a harsh drop, but only time will tell. Clemson, I was probably too high on them, looking back at their schedule and seeing that they really weren’t too competitive with the biggest games on their schedule, a justified huge drop (ACC Mizzou???) SMU just absolutely smokes a really good Pitt team, in the drivers seat for an ACC champ game spot. Colorado on a bye week, have a heisman front runner, arguably the best college QB, and actually a pretty solid defense too, look to see them in the Big 12 champ game if they can hold their own the rest of the year. Pitt, really sad to see them lose, especially the way they did. Holstein and the O just could not put anything together whatsoever. K St I still think is pretty good, but you just can’t be losing to this years Houston team… And to round out the top 25 this week, 3 teams no one wants to see on their schedule the rest of the season, Arizona St and Skattebo, Vanderbilt and Pavia, and South Carolina and Sellers. Very tough, very good teams, these are the type of teams you would absolutely love to play for.
Heisman Race:
Travis Hunter, Colorado
Ashton Jeanty, Boise St
Cam Ward, Miami
Jeanty is starting to slip off his blistering pace, can definitely claw it back. Travis takes my #1 spot, just barely. Ward is the only reason Miami doesn’t have 2-3 losses. Daily, from Army, falls off due to injury, no timetable on return currently. Gabriel, from Oregon, will probably end up in New York this year but I just get a sense he’s getting the Trevor Lawerence treatment and is on peoples’ boards as more of a career award than a current season award.
Key Games:
3 Georgia @ 14 Ole Miss
13 Alabama @ 12 LSU
Michigan @ 8 Indiana
20 Colorado @ Texas Tech
25 South Carolina @ 23 Vanderbilt
11 BYU @ Utah
NMP Week 5
Oregon
Georgia
Penn St
Texas
Ohio St
Clemson
Tennessee
Miami
Notre Dame
Texas A&M
Kansas St
Indiana
Iowa St
Boise St
Pittsburgh
BYU
LSU
Ole Miss
Alabama
Army
SMU
Colorado
Vanderbilt
Arizona St
Memphis
Others Getting Votes: Navy, Virginia Tech, Washington St
Added: Arizona St, Memphis
Dropped: Navy, Illinois
Biggest Winners: Texas A&M (3), Indiana (3), Colorado (3)
Biggest Losers: LSU (8)
Honestly, kind of a boring week. Lots of pretty decent games entering the week, just no fireworks when the games were actually played. Oregon rolls Illinois, actually looking like the surefire #1 right now. Penn St avoids the trap to set up a monster game in Happy Valley next weekend. Texas stops the field storm in Nashville. Notre Dame forces 6!!! turnovers vs Navy, really sad to see them lose honestly. Texas A&M is looking scary, Reed needs to start the rest of the year, they’re a completely different team with him in the game. Indiana wins rather comfortably with their backup QB in. Boise wins a close one on Friday night on a Jeanty off night. Pitt puts up 21 off of pick 6s in the first half vs Syracuse. LSU was looking like they were gonna win pretty easily until Elko made a QB change; season is still in front of them, huge matchup vs Bama in a couple weeks. Ole Miss avoids the upset vs Oklahoma… really shaky start. Alabama looks like Alabama again, looks like they heard what I was saying last week. Best moment of the game was Womack and the whole defense locking down Mizzou on the goal line and going nuts for keeping the shutout on 4th and goal. SMU somehow wins after having 6!!! turnovers against Duke. Colorado keeps rolling. Vandy proves the Bama game was not a fluke, loses a very close game vs Texas. Arizona St and Memphis, welcome back. Memphis… better watch out, a loss is coming in the future, let Henigan free and let him ball out before you need a comeback.
Heisman Race:
Ashton Jeanty, Boise St
Travis Hunter, Colorado
Bryson Daily, Army
Cam Ward, Miami
Key Games:
5 Ohio St @ 3 Penn St
Duke @ 8 Miami
18 Ole Miss @ Arkansas
1 Oregon @ Michigan
2 Georgia vs. Florida
15 Pitt @ 21 SMU
NMP Week 4
Oregon
Georgia
Penn St
Texas
Ohio St
Clemson
Tennessee
Miami
LSU
Notre Dame
Kansas St
Iowa St
Texas A&M
Boise St
Indiana
Pittsburgh
Ole Miss
BYU
Alabama
Army
SMU
Vanderbilt
Illinois
Navy
Colorado
Others getting votes: Memphis, Duke, Syracuse, UNLV
Added: Illinois, Navy, Colorado
Dropped: Arizona St, Nebraska, Missouri
Biggest Winners: Indiana (6), Army (5)
Biggest Losers: Alabama (11), Texas (2)
A pretty quiet week this week honestly, not much movement in the poll from about 5-20. Alabama with the second largest drop in NMP history (LSU dropped 12 spots in 2023 after losing to Ole Miss). Oregon holds onto #1 after Texas loses to Georgia. Every team now has shown weaknesses this year, it’ll be fun down the stretch for sure. Clemson hops Tenn even after Tennessee beats Bama, they are just more impressive to me at this point. Miami escapes, again… Iowa St and TAMU in tougher games than expected but pull out the win to keep their impressive seasons intact. Indiana absolutely destroys a Nebraska team that I thought was a pretty good team this year. BYU almost proved why I have given them such a lower rank compared to others vs OK St, but they get a game winning touchdown in the last 30 seconds of the game. Alabama… such a poor string of performances from them, no passion, no hunger, no fight. Defense can’t stop the run to save their lives, the most undisciplined Alabama team I’ve ever seen, maybe even just straight up team. Milroe goes from Heisman race to fans calling for him to be benched in less than a month. Offense is far too predictable, refuses to run the ball with the running backs consistently, has gotten away from RPOs, WR pop passes, and moving the pocket that we’ve been accustomed to seeing since Lane Kiffin took over and revolutionized the Bama offense. Not to mention very questionable time management decisions in 4Q and late game situations. Army and Navy are on a collision course. Illinois gets a win over a poor Michigan team, but is enough to get them back in the top 25. Colorado is showing signs of actually having a really solid team, beat up on Arizona, out rushed UCF @UCF — impressive — and had a chance to beat K St late as well. I don’t normally give commentary on teams dropped from the poll, but I can’t in my right mind rank this Mizzou team after what I have seen this past month from them, they have a chance to hop right back in next week @Bama… Really sad to see ASU go if I’m being honest. A really fun team to watch, QB didn’t play due to injury and lost by 10 to Cincy, I hope to see them back in the top 25 soon.
Heisman Race:
Ashton Jeanty, Boise St
Travis Hunter, Colorado
Cam Ward, Miami
Key Games:
Syracuse @ 16 Pitt (Thursday)
14 Boise St @ UNLV (Friday)
Missouri @ 19 Alabama
10 Notre Dame @ 24 Navy
23 Illinois @ 1 Oregon
4 Texas @ 22 Vanderbilt
9 LSU @ 13 Texas A&M
21 SMU @ Duke
NMP Week 3
Oregon
Texas
Penn St
Georgia
Ohio St
Tennessee
Clemson
Alabama
Miami
Notre Dame
LSU
Kansas St
Iowa St
Texas A&M
Boise St
Pittsburgh
Ole Miss
BYU
Missouri
Nebraska
Indiana
SMU
Vanderbilt
Arizona St
Army
Others getting votes: Navy, Illinois, Syracuse
Added: Army, Arizona St, Vanderbilt, BYU
Dropped: Illinois, Oklahoma, Utah, USC
Biggest Winners: Oregon (4), Texas A&M (4)
Biggest Losers: Ole Miss (8), Ohio St (3)
(Originally ranked on 10/14, posted on 10/20)Oregon gets a huge win at home vs Ohio St sending them over Texas. I still think Texas is the best team but they just have not been tested yet, that changes this weekend. TN and Bama are shaky once again to inferior opponents setting up a very interesting game on Saturday. Clemson continues to impress, really struggled with the order of them, Bama and TN this week. USC puts up a stinker… again. not Big 10 worthy currently, shocked I still had them this high looking back on it. TAMU gets reevaluated on the bye week, pushing them above Boise and Pitt. Ole Miss collects a second loss sending them plummeting, even to a good LSU team. Welcome Vandy, Army, and Arizona St. Vandy of course has a win over Bama and now gets a very solid win over Kentucky to see them in the poll for the first time in NMP history. ASU man, tough, tough team. I saw it last year but just didn’t have the results, this year they do. Very solid team, led by Skattebo. Army stays hot running over literally everyone on their schedule, Army Navy going to be insane this year.
Heisman Race:
Ashton Jeanty, Boise St
Travis Hunter, Colorado
Cam Ward, Miami
Jalen Milroe, Alabama
Key Games:
4 Georgia @ 2 Texas
8 Alabama @ 6 Tennessee
9 Miami @ Louisville
20 Nebraska @ 21 Indiana
11 LSU @ Arkansas
NMP Week 2
Texas
Ohio St
Georgia
Penn St
Oregon
Tennessee
Alabama
Clemson
Ole Miss
Miami
Notre Dame
LSU
Kansas St
USC
Iowa St
Boise St
Pittsburgh
Texas A&M
Missouri
Nebraska
Indiana
Utah
Oklahoma
SMU
Illinois
Others Getting Votes: BYU, Arizona St, Army, Navy
Added: Texas A&M, Nebraska, SMU
Dropped: Michigan, Louisville, Rutgers
Biggest Winners: Pittsburgh (8), Boise St (6), Iowa St (6)
Biggest Losers: Missouri (8), Alabama (6), Miami (5), USC (5)
What a weekend. Wow. On paper it was supposed to be a stinker, naturally, it wasn’t. Lots of movement this week with all the upsets, teams just outside the top 25 looking pretty good, and just an overall reevaluation with another game on tape in the first half of the season. Bama couldn’t stop a nose bleed, Tenn loses to a backup QB, RB, and Kicker, Miami gets bodied by Cal (I wrote this in the 3rd quarter), Mizzou gets bodied by TAMU, and USC and Michigan lose in close, cross country conference matchups. Welcome a new #1, Texas. Top 5 is pretty self explanatory. Alabama has one of the best wins of the year, but Tennessee is just a better team right now. Clemson continues to soar against a brain dead FSU, Ole Miss gets right vs SCAR. Miami escapes… Again. Notre Dame, LSU, and K St slide up on bye weeks. Iowa St is still very under the radar. Boise St at this rate will have a Heisman, and once again dominate, as they should. Shoutout Pitt and Eli Holstein, man. Highly impressed with Pitt and Eli this year, continue to win and Eli arguably the best ACC QB this season. TAMU soars after just utterly dominating a very poor Mizzou team. Nebraska and Indiana continue to play well and win. Utah, Oklahoma, and Illinois hold serve pretty much with bye weeks. SMU looked very shaky early on with a close win vs Nevada and loss to BYU, but both are proving to not be as bad as initially thought, with the win vs Louisville, welcome to the top 25.
Heisman race:
Ashton Jeanty, Boise St
Travis Hunter, Colorado
Jalen Milroe, Alabama
Eli Holstein, Pitt
Cam Ward, Miami
Key Games:
1 Texas vs 23 Oklahoma
4 Penn St @ 14 USC
Cal @ 17 Pitt
2 Ohio St @ 5 Oregon
9 Ole Miss @ 11 LSU
12 Kansas St @ Colorado
3rd Annual NMP Week 1 Release
Alabama
Texas
Tennessee
Ohio St
Miami
Georgia
Penn St
Oregon
USC
Clemson
Missouri
Ole Miss
Notre Dame
LSU
Louisville
Kansas St
Michigan
Utah
Oklahoma
Rutgers
Iowa st
Boise St
Illinois
Indiana
Pittsburgh
Others Getting Votes: BYU, Colorado, Arizona, Nebraska, UNLV, Texas A&M
Welcome to the 3rd year (1st year on the website) of the NMP. As usual, a few games have now been played, resumes are starting to take shape, fake teams have been exposed, looking at you Ole Miss, and we’re finally playing ball. Every week, normally on Sunday, I drop a new poll with my thoughts and explanations right after it. Will also have a Heisman race tracker and games to look out for for the upcoming week following the explanation. As for the Others Getting Votes teams, those are teams who I was considering and evaluating to put in the top 25, but just missed out. Just like other polls out there. Now that the refresher is done with, lets get into some football.
The top 8 are pretty clear in my mind, theres a decently large drop off from 8 to 9. Bama with a huge win, almost choke job, vs Georgia this weekend is enough for them to start off at #1. Texas is probably the most complete team I have seen so far, so we will see how long they stay at 2. I have been very very impressed with Tennessee this year, and not so much with Ohio St. OSU just can’t get fast starts and its led to these inferior teams hanging around for a lot longer than they should. Miami maybe should have lost, but, they didn’t so they debut at 5, just ahead of Georgia. Even with the loss, I still think the Georgia is just a better team than Penn St and Oregon. This Penn St does not look like PSU of the past. They have an offense this year that actually functions. Oregon has been sleep walking so far. Now, the fun begins. After Oregon, its really just whoever, I can see arguments for a lot of different lineups of teams. This USC team is similar to the PSU situation but with defense. Clemson figured something out finally and has been roaring back since getting bodied vs Georgia week 1. Ole Miss and Missouri are just untested, and when they were tested, they failed for the most part. (Kentucky and Vandy, respectively) Yes, I know Notre Dame lost to NIU, yes they may still be pretenders, but they have had really good results since the loss and have talent to actually be really good. LSU is pretty much last years team, so expect the same minus a Heisman winner. Louisville arguably should’ve won vs Notre Dame, but they didn’t. Did show a lot of fight and proved that they can overcome a talent gap. K St had a fluke loss to BYU, best Big 12 team as it stands. Michigan is a gross team, not good, Donovan Edwards needs to be the backup RB; worse offense than Iowa last year. Utah desperately needs Cam Rising back or else they will lose again. Also basically Iowa of last year without him. Oklahoma given all of their struggles and injuries put up a great defensive game vs Tennessee and came back to beat a very tough Auburn team, once healthy and the freshman QB gets more reps, they’ll be a really solid team. Rutgers, Indiana, and Pitt. I have been so impressed with them so far this year. Monangai and Holstein are absolute studs right now. Illinois and Iowa St are really well rounded teams that will be a tough out all year and really could be sneaky conference contenders. Boise St has a real good chance of winning out and snagging a playoff spot, keep feeding Jeanty. This season has been exciting so far, can’t wait to see what else it has in store. Oct 12 and 19 can’t come soon enough.
Heisman Race (no order):
Jalen Milroe, Alabama
Cam Ward, Miami
Travis Hunter, Colorado
Ashton Jeanty, Boise St
Key Games:
11 Missouri @ Tx A&M
SMU @ 15 Louisville
12 Ole Miss @ South Carolina
20 Rutgers @ Nebraska
2024 College Football Predictions
Conference Champs
Big 10- Ohio St beating Oregon
Big 12- Kansas St beating UCF
ACC- Miami beating NC State
SEC- Georgia beating Ole Miss
American- Memphis beating UTSA
MAC- Miami (OH) beating Bowling Green
C-USA- Liberty beating Jacksonville St
Mountain West- Boise St beating Fresno St
Sun Belt- James Madison beating App St
Playoffs
Byes: Ohio St, Georgia, Miami, Memphis
5 Oregon vs 12 Kansas St
6 Ole Miss vs 11 Alabama
7 Texas vs 10 Penn St
8 Notre Dame vs 9 Tennessee
——
1 Ohio St vs 9 Tennessee
2 Georgia vs 7 Texas
3 Miami vs 11 Alabama
4 Memphis vs 5 Oregon
——
1 Ohio St vs 5 Oregon
2 Georgia vs 11 Alabama
——
2 Georgia vs 5 Oregon
——
2 Georgia National Champs
Award Winners
Heisman- Cam Ward, Miami
Doak Walker- Devin Neal, Kansas
Biletnikoff- Isaiah Bond, Texas