As October sneaks up on us, it's time to dream a little.
In a little over a month, the College Football Playoff Selection Committee will release its first set of rankings. That's where the dreaming comes in.
If the playoff started today -- per this week's Power Rankings -- two Big Ten teams would not only be in but would play each other.
Ohio State-Wisconsin would be a regular-season rematch. Louisville vs. Alabama would be the other semifinal. Tell me you wouldn't hit the secondary market for tickets to those games.
Lamar Jackson vs. Alabama's defense. Urban Meyer vs. Wisconsin with a chance to meet Nick Saban again.
This late-September fantasy was made possible by the Badgers moving up five spots after a fairly shocking win at Michigan State.
Other fast risers in this week's Power Rankings were No. 14 Baylor (up nine spots), No. 17 Washington and No. 18 Utah (both up seven), and No. 16 Ole Miss (up five).
A tip of the headset to No. 25 Western Michigan for checking in with the MAC's first appearance this season.
Biggest Movers
9
Baylor
10
Georgia
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | The best thing said about a 48-0 win over Kent State is Nick Saban didn't humiliate his alma mater. The worst thing: Tailback Damien Harris and is day-to-day. Do we really need to be concerned? Harris' replacement, freshman Joshua Jacobs, went for 97 yards and two touchdowns. | -- | 12-2 |
| 2 |  | Bye. Deep breath after a monumental win at Oklahoma and the opening of the Big Ten season against Rutgers. | -- | 11-2 |
| 3 |  | Perhaps only Alabama has accomplished more this season. The Badgers have beaten two top 10 teams (at kickoff) away from home. The latest win, 30-6 over Michigan State, may have been the second-biggest Big Ten statement this season. (Ohio State over Oklahoma was first). | 5 | 7-6 |
| 4 |  | Lamar Jackson is on pace to account for 75 touchdowns. His season total went to 25 after going for seven against Marshall. Let's put that in perspective. Seven teams scored less than 25 all of last season. Yikes! | 1 | 10-4 |
| 5 |  | Tom Herman had no mercy on his old employers at Texas State with a 64-3 win. The serious part of the schedule resumes Thursday with UConn, the only team to beat the Cougars last season. | 1 | 4-8 |
| 6 |  | The Tigers aren't as dominating offensively, but they are a bitch defensively. Clemson goes into the Louisville game third nationally in total defense. Only five teams have given up fewer touchdowns than the Tigers' five. | -- | 9-4 |
| 7 |  | You never got the feeling UCLA had things wrapped up Saturday at Rose Bowl. The Cardinal led for less than nine minutes the whole game until Ryan Burns game-winning touchdown pass. Defensive end Solomon Thomas had an All-America performance (three tackles, a sack, two TFLs and a touchdown). | -- | 3-9 |
| 8 |  | Trevor Knight had a Lamar Jackson-like performance vs. Arkansas -- 382 total yards, four touchdowns. With a 21-point win, the Aggies are back in the top 10 for the first time since last year's 5-0 start. This 4-0 start is the third consecutive matching the previous best run from 1939-41. | 4 | 7-6 |
| 9 |  | The Vols rid themselves of a 12-year hangover in beating the Gators. The difficult slate continues -- at Georgia, at Texas A&M and Alabama in the next three weeks. | 4 | 9-4 |
| 10 |  | In Week 5, the Big Ten favorite (to some) plays its first ranked team (Wisconsin). To get there undefeated, the Wolverines forced two turnovers and recorded seven sacks against Penn State. | -- | 15-0 |
| 11 |  | Nice get-well game by the Noles. Dalvin Cook woke up with 267 rushing yards en route to a clubbing of South Florida. Cook still has a ways to go to be the self-proclaimed best back in the game. The Noles remain an ACC sidebar with Clemson-Louisville this week. | 3 | 13-1 |
| 12 |  | Coming off the worst home loss since 2009, the Spartans must rebound quickly. "Now we'll take some shots," Mark Dantonio said after a 30-6 loss to Wisconsin. Ominous sign: That was also Michigan State's last losing season. | 7 | 4-8 |
| 13 |  | In a program that's had a few notable running quarterbacks, Tommy Armstrong is making his mark. Armstrong went for a career-high 132 yards rushing in a workmanlike win at Northwestern. In the last two weeks, Armstrong has had 12 runs of at least 11 yards. | 4 | 5-7 |
| 14 |  | There's a book somewhere to be done on the 2016 Bears. This Big 12 championship dream is gaining legs despite the firing of their coach. The Bears moved to 4-0 after beating Oklahoma State 35-24. Ishmael Zamora in his first game since being suspended for beating his dog had a career-high 175 receiving yards. | 9 | 3-9 |
| 15 |  | Bye. Three nonconference wins over teams that are 3-9. Now comes big-boy football. ACC season opens this week at Georgia Tech. | 1 | 7-6 |
| 16 |  | That's how you rebound. The SEC's best quarterback, Chad Kelly, threw for 282 yards in routing Georgia to show the Rebels ain't dead yet. Ole Miss hadn't beaten Georgia in 10 years. | 5 | 11-2 |
| 17 |  | What did the Huskies expect after playing their first legitimate opponent? Washington survived in overtime at Arizona, 35-28. A first-team defense that hadn't allowed a touchdown gave up four. Stanford comes to Washington on Friday in an early Pac-12 North showdown. | 7 | 14-1 |
| 18 |  | The Utes rallied back from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat USC. Quarterback Troy Williams, who grew up 15 minutes from USC, threw the winning touchdown pass with 16 seconds left. | 7 | 8-5 |
| 19 |  | That escalated quickly, didn't it? One week after a coming-of-age win at Missouri, Jacob Eason and the Dawgs were run out of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium 45-14. There will be more days like this for Eason, a freshman (137 passing yards, three sacks). | 10 | 13-1 |
| 20 |  | Fifth consecutive loss to Texas A&M (45-24) clouds the remainder of the season. The Hogs snapped it 20 times inside the Aggies' 20 and came away with 17 points. Not enough. | 9 | 4-8 |
| 21 |  | Bye. Longhorns had a hand in the firing of Notre Dame defensive coordinator Brian Van Gorder. The 50 points against the Irish earlier this month was the only second time in 31 years Notre Dame's D gave up at least half a hundred. | 2 | 12-2 |
| 22 |  | Never have the fortunes of a team switched so dramatically. Tennessee scored 38 straight Saturday to beat Gators for the first time in 12 years. Florida now needs help to win the East. | 4 | 5-7 |
| 23 |  | The 14-7 win at Rutgers was a 60-minute advertisement for Sominex. The Hawkeyes try to wake up this week against Northwestern. | 3 | 10-4 |
| 24 |  | Bye. Aztecs face New Year's Six Group of Five competition from Navy, Air Force and Western Michigan. All are undefeated as well. | 2 | 4-8 |
| 25 |  | The Fightin' Flecks have done something no Big Ten team has done so far -- go 2-0 in the Big Ten. The Broncos have won at Northwestern and Illinois. Coach P.J. Fleck (20-10 since 2014) has to get a few calls this offseason, doesn't he? | NR | 4-8 |
