LSU claims the #1 spot in the minds of fans With this past Saturday’s victory over Florida, LSU has amassed arguably the most impressive resume in college football as the Bayou Bengals now own victories over two AP top 15 opponents: Texas and Florida. The Tigers moved to #2 in the AP, but in the MaxDiff Poll, they surpassed Alabama to claim the #1 spot. It’s easy to see why fans feel this way. No other team so far has looked as dominant against top tier competition as the LSU Tigers. However, LSU still has massive tests on its schedule to overcome if it wants to punch its Playoff ticket for the first time. LSU faces both Auburn and Alabama in the next three weeks. The massive showdown with Alabama is looking more and more like a play-in game for The Playoff.

There are now six contenders in the minds of fans Georgia’s unforeseen loss to SEC East divisional rival South Carolina was the biggest surprise in Week 7. With this loss, the Bulldogs dropped out of the Contenders Tier, leaving six top contenders in the minds of fans. Fans still do not agree yet on the ordering of the contenders as was the case in last week’s Poll and the week prior. I suspect that Georgia’s loss will not be the last time this season we see a contender take an unforeseen loss to an inferior opponent.

Clemson is still the contender fans think is getting too much credit Clemson has not looked as strong this season as many had projected. After barely squeaking past unranked North Carolina in Week 5, the Tigers rebounded this past Saturday with a dominant 45 – 14 victory over traditional rival Florida State in a game that was never competitive. However, the victory did not do much for fans, who now view Clemson as the weakest contender. While Georgia, fell out of the Competitors Tier, Clemson did not move up in the MaxDiff Poll, as Wisconsin passed the Tigers after a dominant, 38 – 0 win over Michigan State. At this point, the ACC Tigers have to hope they are able to finish the season unscathed, because if they take an unforeseen L, I’m not sure The Committee will give them the benefit of the doubt when making Playoff selections. The Tigers do not have any opponents currently ranked in the AP top 25 left on their schedule, and their most challenging remaining test will be on November 30 when they face rival South Carolina in Columbia, SC. As we found out this past weekend, the Gamecocks should not be overlooked.

Penn State is now the Wild Card The Florida Gators looked strong in a competitive outing versus LSU this past Saturday, so the loss did not move the Gators down in the MaxDiff Poll. However, Penn State has now passed the Gators for the Wild Card spot – the team closest to joining the Competitors Tier. In last week’s Poll, Florida and Penn State were ranked as members of the same tier, suggesting that fans perceive these teams similarly. I was interested in who fans would choose in a hypothetical matchup between these squads, so I put out an informal poll on Twitter, which gave the edge to the Nittany Lions. If Florida and Penn State were to play right now on a neutral field, which team do you think would be more likely to win? @RedditCFB — FanJuicer.com (@fanjuicer) October 9, 2019 Penn State took home a quality win on the road this past Saturday, besting the Iowa Hawkeyes 17 – 12. While the Nittany Lions have looked reasonably strong throughout the season, they have yet to pick up a signature, defining victory. They will get a chance this weekend to pick one of these up as they host Michigan with ESPN College GameDay in attendance. While Vegas currently favors Penn State by 9 points, fans in this research predict an even more dominant win with a median predicted score of 14 – 27 in favor of Penn State.



Fans still have no love for Arizona State In last week’s Poll and the previous week’s Poll, Arizona State was rated by fans as one of the most overrated teams in the AP. That trend continues for a third week in a row, despite this past Saturday’s impressive 38 – 34 victory over Washington State. The Sun Devils continue to receive little respect from fans despite being 5 – 1 and owning quality wins over California, Michigan State, and Washington State. The Sun Devils face their biggest test to date on Saturday as they go on the road to take on Utah. It will be interesting to see if fans finally give the Sun Devils their due if they are able to upset the Utes.