The D1scourse 30

While I was covering a blowout, a much more severe rout was occurring in the Midwest.

And thanks to Oklahoma demolishing Texas Tech, the national title chase is an absolute scrum.

SEE RELATED:

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At this stage, quality performances and records and star players and everything under the sun gets compared. Everyone argues why they should be included in the festivities, as well they should.

But here’s a quick rundown of the blemishes against the top nine teams nationally —- all of the power-conference one-loss teams plus the three most notable unbeatens:

* Alabama: Unbeaten, but needed OT to win at Louisiana State. Won’t matter if the Tide wins out

* Texas: Lost at Texas Tech on a last-second touchdown; would have won if DB held on for INT a play earlier

* Oklahoma: Lost to Texas on a neutral field; Longhorns controlled things for much of the day

* Florida: Lost to Mississippi at home; next-best team with a home loss is Ohio State

* Southern California: Lost at Oregon State; Pac-10’s bottom half is as soft as the Pillsbury Dough Boy

* Texas Tech: Routed at Oklahoma; also needed OT to dispatch Nebraska at home

* Penn State: Lost at Iowa; overall schedule was not daunting

* Utah: Unbeaten, but schedule doesn’t warrant higher placement

* Boise State: Just like Utah, except WAC is worse than Mountain West

Remaining schedule for top nine:

WEEK 14

Texas A&M at Texas (Thur.)
Fresno State at Boise State (Fri.)
Florida at Florida State
Baylor at Texas Tech
Oklahoma at Oklahoma State
Auburn at Alabama
Notre Dame at Southern California

WEEK 15

Alabama vs. Florida in Atlanta
Southern California at UCLA
Big 12 championship game (with Oklahoma, Texas or Texas Tech)

Onto the full top 30, where as usual overtime games of all stripes are treated like ties:

No./Team	Adj. record	AP	Pvs.	Notable Wins/Head-to-Head
1. Alabama	10-0-1	1	2	* Georgia (A); OTW at LSU
2. Texas	10-1	4	3	* Okla. (N); Okla. State (H); lost at TT
3. Oklahoma	10-1	3	5	* TCU and Texas Tech (H); lost to Texas
4. Florida	10-1	2	4	* LSU (H) and Ga. (N); lost to Miss. (H)
5. Southern Cal	9-1	5	6	* Ohio State (H); lost at Oregon State
6. Texas Tech	9-1-1	7	7	* Texas and Okla. St. (H); lost at Okla.
7. Penn State	11-1	6	7	* Ohio St. (A), Oregon St. (H); lost at Iowa
8. Utah	12-0	8	8	* Oregon State , TCU and BYU (H)
9. Boise State	11-0	9	9	* Oregon (A)
10. Oklahoma St.	9-2	11	10	* Missouri (A); lost at Texas and TT
11. Ohio State	10-2	10	11	* Michigan State (A)
12. Missouri	9-2	12	12	* Losses to Texas (A) and Okla. St. (H)
13. Georgia	9-2	13	13	* LSU (A); lost to Bama (H) and Fla. (N)
14. Texas Christian	10-2	14	17	* BYU (H); lost at Oklahoma and Utah
15. Ball State	11-0	15	16	* Navy (H), Central Michigan (A)
16. Oregon State	8-3	17	18	* USC (H); lost to Penn St. and Utah (A)
17. Cincinnati	8-2-1	16	19	* Pittsburgh (H); OTW at West Virginia
18. Brigham Young	10-2	T20	14	* Losses at TCU and Utah
19. Georgia Tech	8-3	18	26	* Florida State (H), Boston College (A)
20. Boston College	8-3	T20	27	* Florida State (A); lost to GT (H)
21. Florida State	8-3	23	28	* VT (H); lost to GT (A) and BC (H)
22. Oregon	7-3-1	19	25	* Can spoil Oregon State’s season
23. Michigan State	9-3	22	20	* Iowa (H) and Northwestern (A)
24. Mississippi	7-4	25	NR	* Florida (A) and Louisiana State (A)
25. West Virginia	7-1-2	26	29	* OTL vs. Cincinnati (H) and at Colorado
26. Pittsburgh	6-3-1	27	25	* Lost to BGSU and Rutgers (H)
27. Louisiana State	7-3-1	29	15	* OTL vs. Alabama
28. Northwestern	9-3	24	30	* Iowa (A)
29. Iowa	8-4	28	NR	* Penn State (H)
30. Virginia Tech	7-4	NR	NR	* Honorary D1scourse 30 ACC slot

—- Patrick Stevens