Arguing season approaches. In two weeks, the first College Football Playoff rankings will be released, and we'll be re-immersed in terms we spend the first half of the season attempting to ignore. Strength of schedule. Strength of record. Best win. They'll all be used in abstract and, because it's impossible to rank teams without getting messy, sometimes contradictory ways.
One thing we can't really start arguing about just yet: quality of loss. There haven't been enough of them!
Eleven unbeaten teams remain in the FBS ranks. At this point last year, there were nine. And while last year's list included upstarts like Syracuse, UCLA and Ole Miss, this year's list mostly includes two categories: mid-majors and heavyweights. Air Force, James Madison and Liberty continue to represent (and dominate) their respective Group of 5 conferences, but of the other eight, seven have won national titles in the past 40 years, and six began the season in the AP top 10. Some of them have already survived huge top-15 clashes -- Florida State over LSU, Ohio State over Notre Dame, Oklahoma over Texas, Washington over Oregon -- and others, like Michigan and Georgia, await their first marquee tests. But while the arguing is only beginning, there is common ground among the Elite 11: zeroes at the end of their record.
Let's rank Week 8's unbeatens (starting at No. 11)!
11. Liberty Flames
Last week's ranking: 14th