Luke’s Locker Room
Nine weeks into the college football season, we are finally starting to see which teams are setting themselves apart from the rest in their march to the College Football Playoff.
You may call it SEC bias since I am from the South, but the Alabama Crimson Tide are head and shoulders above every other team in college football. It’s not even close.
Nick Saban is the best coach in the country who recruits the best high school players in the country and now fields the best team in the country.
Saban has won four national titles at Alabama since 2009, and this is the best team he has had since he took over the program.
As much as I hate to say it — since I am a Tennessee Volunteers fan — Alabama is the clear favorite to win the national championship.
Behind Alabama, it gets a little trickier.
Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines currently sit at No. 2 in the country. Harbaugh is a good coach, but Michigan has not played the toughest part of its schedule yet.
The Wolverines still have to travel to play a tough game on the road at Iowa before heading to the Horseshoe to play the Ohio State Buckeyes.
The season finale against Urban Meyer in Columbus could very well be for a playoff spot when all is said and done.
The Clemson Tigers sit at No. 3. The Tigers fought their way back this past weekend to beat a tough Florida State team in Tallahassee thanks in large part to their ferocious play from their defensive line.
Deshaun Watson pulled off another clutch performance to keep his Tigers in the hunt for a national championship.
The Tigers have had some close calls this year, narrowly beating North Carolina State and Troy at home, two teams that are nowhere near the talent level of Clemson.
The Tigers did hand a talented Louisville squad, led by Heisman trophy front-runner Lamar Jackson, their only loss of the year so far, and they should finish the season undefeated, earning a spot in the playoff.
A lot can happen between now and the end of the season, so the fourth playoff spot will most likely be up for grabs until the season is over.
Right now, the Washington Huskies sit at No. 4, but I am not so sure they deserve such a high ranking.
Head Coach Chris Petersen joined the Huskies a few years ago and has turned the program around, just as he did with the Broncos while he was at Boise State.
There he lead the Broncos to a 2007 Fiesta Bowl victory over the Oklahoma Sooners in what was one of the greatest college football games ever played.
The most difficult game remaining on the schedule is a trip to long-time rival Washington State, who cracked into the top-25 rankings this week.
If the Huskies leave Pullman with a victory, they will play for the Pac-12 championship and probably win, because there is not a team in the conference that is close to Washington right now.
If one of the top four teams does slip up, Jackson and his Louisville Cardinals will most likely slide up from their No. 5 position in the rankings and take the fourth spot.
If Ohio State beats an undefeated Michigan team in the last week of the season, the Buckeyes would probably slide right back into the playoff picture.
My college football playoff bracket is as follows: No. 1 Alabama versus No. 4 Louisville and No. 2 Clemson versus No. 3 Ohio State.
I hate to write this, but I think Alabama will beat Clemson in the title game for the second year in a row. The Crimson Tide is just too talented.
Watson and his offense will not play a better defense all season than the Crimson Tide, and the Tide will win all the marbles for the second year in a row.
DILLARD is the sports editor.