The beauty contest is coming. In last week's Monday After, I wrote about how the surprise of the 2019 season isn't that there are challengers to Alabama and Clemson for the 2019 national title, but that there are so many of them. Two of them took a hit this weekend. While Florida's 42-28 loss to LSU shouldn't remove it from the class of "title contender," it does remove it from the "Who is No. 1?" conversation of the moment. Georgia's 20-17 loss to South Carolina in double-overtime, however, is the kind of defeat that a team has to wear on its chest like a scarlet letter.

It doesn't matter what Georgia does from this point on in 2019, people will invariably say "yeah, but it did lose to South Carolina."

Still, as we reach the halfway point of the regular season, we are left with nine undefeated Power Five teams. They're all 6-0, and four of them received first-place votes in both major polls. So, even if the College Football Playoff is still a few weeks off from putting out its first rankings of the season, I figured this would be a good time to start comparing those resumes. As I said, the beauty contest is coming, but our contestants shouldn't wait until they're on stage in front of the judges to prep their answers.

Alabama remained at No. 1 in both polls this week following another easy win. This one came against Texas A&M in a 47-28 victory. The polls were split on LSU and Clemson. LSU moved up to No. 2 in the AP Top 25 poll following a 42-28 win over Florida, but Clemson held on to the No. 2 spot in the Coaches Poll top 25 after beating Florida State 45-14. While the coaches merely removed Georgia from their top five and replaced it with LSU, the Tigers shoved Ohio State down a spot in the AP Top 25. The Buckeyes had a bye week, but while they dropped a spot, they did still receive nine first-place votes.

But who truly deserves to be No. 1 right now? If we were basing the rankings on what each of these teams have done to this point, and not taking into account our preseason expectations, would Alabama still be No. 1? Would Clemson be in the top three if it wasn't the defending national champions?

Let's break out the resumes and then make some judgments!

Team

Top 25 Wins

Top 20 Wins

Top 10 Wins

Average Margin of Victory

Best Win

Alabama

0

0

0

34.0

Texas A&M, 47-28

LSU

2

2

1

31.3

No. 9 Florida, 42-28

Clemson

0

0

0

26.8

Texas A&M, 24-10

Ohio State

1

0

0

40.5

No. 24 Cincinnati, 42-0

Oklahoma

1

1

0

29.8

No. 15 Texas, 34-27

Wisconsin

1

1

0

37.7

No. 16 Michigan, 35-14

Penn State

1

0

0

33.8

No. 23 Iowa, 17-12

Baylor

0

0

0

20.0

Iowa State, 23-21

Minnesota

0

0

0

11.7

Nebraska, 34-7

I mean, if we're honest with ourselves, it's pretty clear that LSU deserves to be No. 1 right now, isn't it? It's hard to look at that table and convincingly say that Alabama or Clemson deserves to be ranked ahead of LSU this week, right? Of the nine teams, LSU is the only one with a win over a team currently ranked in the top 10. It has as many wins against teams still ranked in the top 20 as the other eight teams combined, and it owns a third of the wins over top 25 teams shared between the nine schools. Furthermore, the Tigers have done all this while winning their games by an average of 31.3 points per game.

So, if we look at this from a completely unbiased perspective, it seems clear that LSU should be No. 1 right now. That's not to say there aren't arguments for other teams, but the Tigers have the best case. They've done more to this point.

Who deserves to be No. 2 then? I think that between Alabama and Clemson, the Tide have the stronger case right now. Neither has a win over a ranked team, and both share the same best win in Texas A&M. The difference is that Alabama beat the Aggies by 19 in College Station, while Clemson beat them by 14 at home. Also, Alabama is winning its games by an average of 34 points per game, which is more than a full touchdown better than Clemson's 26.8 points per game margin. So Alabama is more deserving than Clemson for No. 2, but is Alabama more deserving of No. 2 than Ohio State, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, or even Penn State?

Right off the bat, I'll say, yes, Alabama deserves it more than Penn State. The Nittany Lions have a win over Iowa, which is ranked, but I'm not willing to say there's a discernible difference between a 4-2 Iowa and a 3-3 Texas A&M with losses to Alabama, Clemson and Auburn. Iowa deserves to be ranked more than the Aggies do at the moment, but that's more circumstantial than anything.

I'm not as sure Alabama deserves it over the other three, though. Ohio State has been dominant, winning by 40.5 points per game, and it beat a ranked Cincinnati team 42-0. Based on the eye test, I think you'd say Ohio State has been better than Oklahoma but has it been better than Wisconsin?

The Badgers beat Michigan State 38-0 on Saturday. The same Michigan State that was beaten by Ohio State 34-10 last week. Now, maybe if Wisconsin had played the Spartans first, it wins 34-10 and Ohio State beats it 38-0 a week later. Or maybe Wisconsin is just a juggernaut right now and we're afraid to admit it. The Badgers have shutout four of their six opponents and have a 21-point win over a top 20 team in Michigan. The 14 points the Badgers let Michigan score came after they'd already built a 35-0 lead. It's not like there was ever even a whisper of Wisconsin being in trouble against the Wolverines.

The problem Wisconsin faces is that it's not sexy enough. There isn't flash, nor is there a five-star quarterback for the world to focus on. In a beauty contest, these things matter, but I'm here to tell you that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. Based on what we've seen in 2019 happen on the field, Wisconsin has a better case for No. 2 than anybody else does at this moment.

So our No. 1 and No. 2 should be LSU and Wisconsin.

I think that after that I'd put Ohio State at No. 3 due to a combination of its dominant play and its resume. I'd follow them up with Alabama at No. 4 because, even if the resume isn't quite as strong, it's been dominant itself, and that matters.

After that? Well, I'd have Oklahoma at No. 5, and I'm probably putting Clemson at No. 6, though if somebody wanted to argue that Penn State should be ahead of the defending champions, I wouldn't agree with them, but I wouldn't dismiss their argument out of hand, either.

Thankfully we've still a lot of time left to look over our contestants before we make a final judgment. A lot of them even have to play one another -- the only one of the nine teams who isn't scheduled to play one of the other nine is Clemson -- and that will make our decisions for us.

Of course, once these teams start losing games, it will allow other one-loss teams like Florida, Auburn and, yes, even Georgia -- but it did lose to South Carolina -- to re-enter the conversation. But we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Questionable Decision-Making of the Week

While we're on the subject of supposed title contenders, Georgia -- which did lose to South Carolina -- was the team I considered to be the biggest threat to Alabama or Clemson in the preseason. The Bulldogs seemed like the sensible pick, after all. They'd already reached the title game once and forced Alabama to overtime before yielding. They've also been close to beating Alabama in the SEC Championship.

They also have the kind of talent a team needs to not only reach the College Football Playoff, but win two games once there. There was one concern I had about Georgia when it came to these games, though, and it wasn't the players. It was its head coach. Kirby Smart has done a lot of wonderful things at Georgia to put it in the position its currently in, but he's also done some odd things. Things like this.

So I can't say I'm surprised by what I saw happen on Saturday when Georgia did lose to South Carolina. First, I thought Will Muschamp had handed salvation to Smart and the Dawgs on a silver platter. I have no idea why Muschamp decided to try a 57-yard field goal with a kicker who had never made one longer than 50 yards. I know he was down to his third-string QB, but with so much time left, you're setting Georgia up in terrific field position to beat you when you miss the kick, and you are going to miss that kick.

And South Carolina did. And Georgia had great field position, which it squandered with mistakes and questionable decisions. Long story short, Georgia found itself with a chance to kick a 55-yard field goal to win the game. Not an easy kick, but Georgia kicker Rodrigo Blankenship had drilled a 50-yarder earlier in the game. This a week after he made one from 50 against Tennessee. Oh, and he also made a 55-yard field goal against Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl a couple of years ago. He's clearly capable.

But instead of attempting the 55-yarder with time left, Georgia decided to try and get a few extra yards. No problem with that decision, but a penalty pushed it back five yards. Still, given Blankenship's resume, a 60-yard field goal attempt had a higher chance of success than a Hail Mary, but Smart chose the Hail Mary. It didn't work.

Then, in overtime, South Carolina faced a fourth-and-1 at the Georgia 16. The Gamecocks were scrambling and looked disjointed before the play. The play clock was below 10 seconds, and the Gamecocks hadn't even lined up yet. That's when Smart decided to use his team's lone overtime timeout. It gave South Carolina time to compose itself and pick up the first down, and eventually kick the field goal that would win the game.

Now, don't get me wrong. Smart didn't lose this game. His team turned the ball over four times, and while Jake Fromm's overtime interception wasn't his fault, the other two were. Fromm and the players have to shoulder most of the blame. But this was another situation in which I felt Smart made some questionable decisions at crunch time that hurt his team more than it helped them, and that's a legitimate concern for me going forward when it comes to judging how good this Georgia team can be.

Land Grab of the Week

Do what it says, Michigan, and nobody else has to get hurt.

Stat of the Week

Rutgers was shutout by Indiana 35-0 on Saturday. It was the third time Rutgers has been shutout this season, with all three coming against Big Ten opponents. The Knights have managed one touchdown and have been outscored 165-7 in four conference games.

It's the 10th time Rutgers has been shutout in a Big Ten game. Going back to the 2000 season, Rutgers' 10 shutouts in conference games is more than any other Big Ten program. Of course, Rutgers didn't join the Big Ten until 2014, and it has still been shutout two more times than Minnesota.

If we just go from 2014 when Rutgers became a member of the Big Ten, Rutgers accounts for nearly half the shutout losses in Big Ten play. There have been 21 total, and, again, 10 of them have come by Rutgers.

That alone is not your Stat of the Week.

The stat of the week is that, while being shutout by Indiana, Rutgers managed 1 yard passing. It was the ninth time that Rutgers has passed for 50 yards or fewer since 2016. Rutgers has played 42 games in that time. That means since 2016, Rutgers has passed for 50 yards or fewer in 21.4 percent of its games. Since 2016, the only schools who have had this happen more often are Army (22) and Navy (13). They are both option offenses. Air Force, which is another option offense, has had it happen nine times as well. Georgia Tech, which was an option team until this season, has only done so eight times.

That -- all of that -- is your Stat of the Week.

Tom Fornelli Team of the Year Dropouts of the Week

Beginning in 2019, The Tom Fornelli Team of the Year Award, presented by The Tom Fornelli Foundation For Football Exceptionalism, is to be given out to one incredible football team that best displays the values of The Tom Fornelli Foundation For Football Exceptionalism. Every week, teams will be eliminated from the running for reasons. Those reasons are at the sole discretion of Tom Fornelli and The Tom Fornelli Foundation For Football Exceptionalism, which is comprised of Tom Fornelli and nobody else. Here are the teams eliminated from consideration in Week 6.

Eliminated Team

Reason

Army

These are not My Troops.

BYU

You confuse me, BYU.

Eastern Michigan

Play in the wrong conference, clearly built for the B1G but not the MAC.

Florida State

I honestly thought I'd already eliminated you.

Fresno State

My Moneyline Sprinkle was a tease.

Georgia

It did lose to South Carolina.

Memphis

I just don't trust Brady White, man.

Michigan State

You get shutout, you're gone.

Mississippi State

You let that Tennessee guy get off the roof.

Ohio

Not looking like the Bobcats' year.

Texas

The backdoor cover was unnecessary, in my opinion.

Texas Tech

Should've gone for two in OT.

Toledo

Lost to Bowling Green as a 27-point favorite.

Teams remaining: 60 / 130
Teams eliminated last week: Air Force, California, Connecticut, Duke, Iowa State, Kent State, Miami, Navy, Oregon, Temple, Tulsa, UTEP, Vanderbilt.

For a full list of eliminated teams and the respective reasons, click here.

Stat of the Week II

How?

AP Voters of the Week

I've done plenty of resume breakdown already this week, so I'm not going to get too in-depth here. Still, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out two of this week's AP voters. This week, The Monday After is honoring the San Diego Union-Tribune's Bryce Miller and the Albuquerque Journal's Steve Virgen.

We'll start with Miller, who had 3-3 Texas A&M on his ballot at No. 23. Now, I get a good loss argument for the Aggies. Their losses have come to Alabama, Clemson and Auburn. All three of those teams are currently in the top 11, so if you want to argue that we shouldn't hold those losses against them, I get it. But let's look at Texas A&M's wins, shall we? The Aggies have beaten a 2-4 Texas State 41-7, a 2-4 Arkansas 31-27, and Lamar 62-3 to this point. Exactly which one of those wins was the one that said "oh yeah, I'm definitely ranking this team?"

Now, even if that's weird, it's not as weird as Virgen's decision to put USC at No. 22. The Trojans have lost three of their last four, including a loss to a BYU team that is 2-4. USC's other two losses are good losses to Washington and Notre Dame, and there's a win over No. 13 Utah, but at the end of the day, it's a 3-3 team.

Maybe I'm just old fashioned, but I've always felt that to be one of the 25 best teams in the country, you should have more wins than losses. 

College Football Playoff Projection of the Week

Seems a little redundant this week, but remember this is what I think the committee would do right now, not what I would do.

  1. LSU
  2. Alabama
  3. Ohio State
  4. Oklahoma

Until the next Monday After!