Head-to-Head...Who Are The 5 Best Teams?

Submitted by MaizeBlueA2 on November 28th, 2023 at 11:29 PM

Hypothetical. 

Take the top 8 in the CFP...and let's say all teams have to play each other on a neutral site, best of 7 series.

All *current* major injuries are turned "on." (meaning Zinter is out, Johnson is 100%).

Any *future* injuries are turned "off." (meaning no one can get hurt in this best of 7 against each team).

 

Not most deserving. Not best record. Flat out...rank the 5 best teams in the country, solely based on "who would win?"

 

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MRunner73

November 29th, 2023 at 11:32 AM ^

It's basketball on grass when both teams can score more than 45 points in one game. Better yet, 50 or more as the vast majority of plays are passes that more than 20 yds a pop.

Rich Rod's philosophy was we'll outscore you, you will be unable to score as much as us.

Also, if total offense is 500 yds or more for each team. 

Just my opinion.

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Blue Vet

November 28th, 2023 at 11:34 PM ^

1. Michigan

2. Michigan

3. Michigan

4. Michigan

5. Michigan

(Your question is a good and interesting one but I couldn’t help myself.)

Go, Blue! Beat Iowa.

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vanarbor

November 28th, 2023 at 11:37 PM ^

I did my own extrapolation from Vegas odds yesterday and this is what I got in the order of most favored to least favored:

Georgia (-2) over

Michigan (-1) over

Oregon (-0.5) over

Ohio St (-2.5) over

Alabama (-3) over

Texas (-4) over

Washington (-3) over

Florida State

Edit: This also involves some educated guessing, so it's not an exact science, to be clear.

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OSUMC Wolverine

November 28th, 2023 at 11:42 PM ^

I know it wont be popular, but...

5. Texas

4. Alabama

3. Georgia

2. Michigan

1. Oregon

Michigan is the most solid team, no weakness, the safest bet to win it all. But Oregon has it, not sure what it is, but when I watch them play they scare me. Loss was early, stumble here and there, but i fear that only Oregon can stop Oregon's offense.

Edit: it scares me even more that a number of others feel the same way....

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Perkis-Size Me

November 29th, 2023 at 8:41 AM ^

I'm willing to give Dan Lanning the benefit of the doubt on that one. Seeing as how he was one of, if not the chief architect of that generational Georgia defense two years ago that completely shut Michigan down in the semis from start to finish. 

I don't know if Oregon's defense is fully operational yet in the way Lanning would want it to be, but he sure knows how to coach a defense. All the same, Oregon may be the last team I want to play in the CFP. 

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Cali Wolverine

November 29th, 2023 at 12:11 AM ^

Oregon scares me the most…but the best team they played, Washington, they lost to.  Their best wins are against scrappy Oregon State and Utah, and this isn’t a Michigan 2000’s team playing an Oregon 2000’s team.  Georgia and Michigan have been the best two teams in the country for 3 years, I think we beat them on a neutral field, but I won’t put Michigan ahead of them until we beat them.

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csmhowitzer

November 29th, 2023 at 8:33 AM ^

Well in my head-to-head, teams cannot be "in" if they've already lost to one of the teams in the bracket. So Oregon, OSU and Bama, buh-bye. Then you'd move up Missouri, but they lost to GA so buh-bye. Then move up PSU, they lost to M so buh-bye. Ole-miss, nope. LSU, nope.

Alright Lousiville, Iowa, Oklahoma State! Come on down (price is right music plays in my head).  

So you got 

1) GA 2) M 3) W 4) FSU 5) TX 6) Lousiville 7) Iowa 8) Oklahoma St.

In this scenario
1. Michigan 7-0 (very close game with GA)
2. Georgia 5-2
3. Texas 4-3
4. Washington 4-3
5. Iowa 2-5

Edit: forgot OR lost to W
 

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RealElonMusk

November 29th, 2023 at 8:59 AM ^

Washington is way overrated-  they are 11 on SP+ rating and almost lost to a 2-6 team.

Michigan

Georgia

Ohio State    

Oregon

Michigan just beat the 3rd best team in the country after beating the #5 SP+ team 2 weeks earlier.

Go Blue

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bronxblue

November 29th, 2023 at 9:14 AM ^

I think people are sleeping on UW a bit, though.  PSU is not #5 in the country; they just aren't.  PSU's offense is as bad at UW's defense IMO.  Also, FSU at #6 is with Travis baked in; he's not there anymore and they struggled mightily against a bad Florida team to win.  Congrats on them for pulling it off but they've been a paper tiger for a while and escaped against some mediocre ACC teams.  Same with Bama, who's tried to lose some games this year (Auburn, A&M, Arkansas) but just couldn't pull it off because those teams were bad.  

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bronxblue

November 29th, 2023 at 9:08 AM ^

Honestly, it's Michigan, Georgia, and Oregon basically all as coin-flips and then a gap to everyone else.  I'd say UM is probably the best but we don't really know how the team looks without Zinter and that's a huge deal.  Are they weaker inside but strong outside because Trente Jones is a road-grater at tackle while Barnhart's limitations are less apparent closer to the ball?  Maybe, or it's a huge hole now that Michigan can't really fix easily with the current roster.  It's just a big unknown that the other teams with big losses (e.g. Travis at FSU) have at least played a full game dealing with.

With that in mind, Top 5 are:

  1. Georgia
  2. Michigan
  3. Oregon
  4. Texas
  5. Washington

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rob f

November 29th, 2023 at 9:45 AM ^

I think we're still pretty darn good on the O-line. Barnhart at guard, while a step down from Zinter, means he's playing the position he's more naturally suited for.  He was playing tackle primarily a) because none of the other options at tackle had the combination of overall experience, talent, and consistency; and b)because though talented enough at guard to start for any team in the B1G, he wasn't going to displace Zinter or Keegan at the guard positions.

My hope is that Trente Jones has been coached up to the point that's he's an improved version of what and where he was at the start of the season.  With Sherrone Moore being in charge of that unit, I'm confident Jones is ready and will step up to the opportunity.

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Nickel

November 29th, 2023 at 9:18 AM ^

I think it's really close at the top 3 (Oregon, Georgia and Michigan), but I feel like Oregon wins this scenario. They've got speed and athleticism on both sides of the ball, they have a quarterback with JJ's accuracy but more running willingness (future injuries turned 'off' so no worries from me there). So for me it's 1a - Oregon, 1b - Georgia, 1c - Michigan, 4 - Alabama and 5 - Texas.

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leidlein

November 29th, 2023 at 11:51 AM ^

I think the committee got it right last night. At least the top 4. I don't like the "who the best team RIGHT NOW" is argument. Too much talk of FSU being jumped even if they win since their QB is hurt. Not fair to punish them for that. If they win this weekend, they should be in. To me rankings and playoff spots should be a reward for a season's worth of accomplishments, not who we think has the hot hand at the end of the season. This is part of what screwed us in 97 with Nebraska. Just because they played their best game against Tenn we had to share the championship.

As I said, I feel like the committee got it right. But historically they are cowardly when it counts. I hope they don't act cowardly this coming Sunday if there is chaos and do something stupid like let the SEC have two teams, OSU backs in again, etc.

IMO OSU should not get a spot under ANY condition. And if Bama wins I can conceive a situation where the SEC is shut out, but they won't let that happen. As I said they tend to be cowards when it counts. 

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