Welcome to the MVP Chase, where I, James Leroy Wilson, rank players and teams using objective data.
My second computer poll for the 2023 college football season saw some surprising teams like Rutgers and Duke continue to roll near the top.
This isn't a ranking of the "best" teams, as in "I think Rutgers would beat Georgia." It is a chase in which teams improve their ranking by building their resumes. Teams that are most dominant against the toughest schedules rise to the top.
Conventional polls might have Georgia, Michigan, and Florida State in the top four instead of Notre Dame, Rutgers, and Duke. And they may end up in my top four at the end of the season. But this ranking isn't predictive, it is about which teams have had the best start to the season in how they dominate opponents and/or have played a tough schedule.
Notre Dame played in Week 0 and will have an off-week on October 21; they're number 1 primarily because the Irsih played one more game than most others and therefore have a better resume at this point. If they keep winning, they might retain their #1 spot until then, after which most other teams will have caught up in playing as many games. But it's very possible they'll be overtaken before then, especially if they start losing by close margins.
Here are the rankings:
James Leroy Wilson writes The MVP Chase (subscribe) and JL Cells (subscribe) and is a monthly columnist at Meer. Thank you for your subscriptions and support! You may contact James for writing, editing, research, and other work: jamesleroywilson-at-gmail.com.