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Wow.

No mere words can really describe the first weekend of college football in 2007, so I won’t bother trying. We were treated to a great Cal-Tennessee showdown, a nail-biter when Auburn hosted K-State, and the ninth annual Bowden Bowl.

Oh yeah, the biggest upset in college football history was thrown in there too.

How do these games affect the weekly Top 15? A lot. I think the biggest problem with the AP and Coaches polls is that they stick by their preseason rankings so much they forget to reward the teams who are actually showing something. I’ll do my best to avoid falling into the same trap, so expect violent changes, at least until the conference schedule starts.

This week’s Top 15 is brought to you by the number 12: the maximum number of games left in Lloyd Carr’s collegiate coaching career.

No. 1 – USC Trojans (1-0, def. Idaho 38-10) Last Week: 1

Not the most impressive outing by the Trojans, but I’d be lying to myself if I said I thought anybody was better. Teams don’t show much against inferior opponents too often, there’s no reason to let future opponents scout your good stuff if you don’t need to.

No. 2 – Louisville Cardinals (1-0, def. Murray State 73-10) Last Week: 6

I thought Brian Brohm was the best quarterback in the country going into week 1, and 375 yards and five touchdowns (one rushing) later, I don’t see any reason to waver from that prediction.

No. 3 – Cal Golden Bears (1-0, def. Tennessee 45-31) Last Week: NR

DeSean Jackson is fast, but Justin Forsett was the best player on the field Saturday. Combining an impressive blend of speed and power with a hard running style, he’s definitely on my Heisman watch.

No. 4 – Florida Gators (1-0, def. Western Kentucky 49-3) Last Week: 9

An impressive showing against newly 1-A Western Kentucky wouldn’t normally do much for me, but so many other teams struggled I had to put them up here. Tim Tebow’s passing stat line (13-17, 300 yards, 3 TDs) was the other reason.

No. 5 – Wisconsin Badgers (1-0, def. Washington State 42-21) Last Week: 12

Holding a Pac 10 offense in check is no small task, and WSU quarterback Alex Brink is as underrated as they come. After struggling early, the Badgers rolled off 21 straight points to put the Cougars in their place.

No. 6 – West Virginia Mountaineers (1-0, def. Western Michigan 62-24) Last Week: 4

The offense did what it was supposed to do, but allowing 24 points to an inferior WMU squad costs them a few spots in my book. I’m already geeked for the UL-WVU match up, and it’s not until November 8.

No. 7 – Ohio State Buckeyes (1-0, def. Youngstown State 38-6) Last Week: 7

Todd Boeckman is the guy at quarterback, but the offense isn’t out of the woods yet.  Chris Wells carried the ball eight times inside the 10-yard line. Total yardage? Four. Fortunately for OSU, the schedule doesn’t pick up until late October.

No. 8 – LSU Tigers (1-0, def. Mississippi State 45-0) Last Week: 8

As ridiculous as it may sound, this was not an impressive 45-0 win for the Tigers. MSU quarterback Michael Henig is the only reason this game wasn’t close. Case in point? LSU led by only 17 at the break despite Henig’s four first half interceptions.

No. 9 – Oklahoma Sooners (1-0, def. North Texas 79-10) Last Week: 14

Last week I said that without Adrian Peterson, the Sooners were a longshot to contend. DeMarco Murray apparently reads ColumbusSports.com, and his five touchdowns disagree with my previous assessment. Point taken DeMarco, point taken.

No. 10 – UCLA Bruins (1-0, def. Stanford 45-17) Last Week: 11

Not a bad start to a pressure packed year for the Bruins. They certainly outshone rival USC over the weekend, though I’m not too sure Stanford is much better than Idaho.

No. 11 – Arkansas Razorbacks (1-0, def. Troy 46-26) Last Week: 5

Darren McFadden (24 carries, 151 yards) did his job, but the defense gave up 26 points to Troy. There’s unimpressive, and then there’s giving up 26 points, at home, to Troy. I expect better from you Razorbacks.

No. 12 – TCU Horned Frogs (1-0, def. Baylor 27-0) Last Week: 15

A good start for TCU, though Baylor is hardly top-flight competition. Still, a shutout’s a shutout (unless you play in Louisiana, it’s one of my rules). The Frogs might need to improve on their 3-15 third down percentage though, because I seem to remember them having a big game coming up…

No. 13 – Texas Longhorns (1-0, def. Arkansas State 21-13) Last Week: 2

Texas! That’s the team TCU faces next week, and the way the Longhorns looked over the weekend, the Frogs might find their offense. Eeking out eight point wins against Arkansas is ok, but when it’s Arkansas State, 38 points is more fitting.

No. 14 – Penn State Nittany Lions (1-0, def. Florida International 59-0): NR

Kudos to PSU for laying a beatdown on FIU, and bigger kudos to the Golden Panthers for allowing the use of the term “beatdown” to be purely metaphorical.

No. 15 – Virginia Tech Hokies (1-0, def. Eastern Carolina 17-7) Last Week: 9

Ugh. The ACC looks like a real winner when its only ranked team at the end of the first week struggled to put away Eastern Carolina. One more showing like that and Hawaii is taking this spot, and I’m not joking.

No. 121 – Michigan Wolverines (0-1, lost to Appalachian State 34-32) Last Week: 3

Normally we won’t do this, but a loss this embarrassing warrants special consideration. There’s 120 division 1-A schools, plus Appalachian State, so that drops the Wolverines 118 spots to where they currently stand.

On the Fringe:
Auburn Tigers, Clemson Tigers, Hawaii Warriors, Georgia Bulldogs, Miami Hurricanes, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Rutgers Scarlet Knights, Tennessee Volunteers

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Change of plans. Since I’m still getting used to running weekly rankings, I reserve the right to change it up. Rather than comment on various things around college football, I’ll save that for a different column later this week. Instead, we’re going to throw down our Heisman Spotlight and Conference Rankings.

Heisman Spotlight

1. Darren McFadden, Arkansas
The early favorite still reigns at the top after racking up 151 yards on only 24 carries. Throw in a 42 yard touchdown pass, and we have a frontrunner.

2. Brian Brohm, Louisville
375 yards and five touchdowns (one rushing), and it only took him a little more than a half to do it. The fact that he’s in a pro style offense is the only reason he’s ahead of…

3. Colt Brennan, Hawaii
He did Brohm 41 yards and a touchdown better, and it’s not like Northern Colorado is any worse than Murray State. The battle to be the top quarterback taken in April has already begun.

4. Justin Forsett, Cal
More impressive than his sheer numbers (26 carries, 156 yards, TD, rec. 49 yards) was the heart he displayed while running the football. This is a guy who doesn’t leave any yards out on the field, and I like that.

5. Ray Rice, Rutgers
It’s not like this guy is coming out of nowhere, so I don’t really understand why nobody is talking about him. Maybe 184 yards and three touchdowns (on only 26 carries) will get people to open their mouths.

Conference Power Rankings

Here’s where I rate the six BCS conferences based solely on how they’ve performed this season. Now, you’ll notice I’m not rating the 5 non-BCS conferences, and here’s why.

The top ranked one is always either the Mountain West or WAC, depending on who has the better top team. The second best is always the other one of those two. The MAC always weighs in at third, with Conference USA just narrowly behind. Finally the Sun Belt continues to stink up the joint. So if you want non-BCS conference power rankings, look at the team rankings, and take the highest rated small conference team. That’s #1, and the rest descend from there.

No. 1 – Pac 10 (2007 non-conference record: 6-2)
Cal finally showed up in a big game, earning the Pac 10 the top spot after the first week. Sure, Washington State lost to Wisconsin, but the Badgers are supposed to be a title contender and WSU isn’t. The Cougs hung with ‘em for longer than I thought they would.

No. 2 – Big East (7-1)
Two legit national title contenders in Louisville and West Virginia raise the profile of a conference that was once considered inferior to its BCS companions. Only a 42-12 drubbing of Syracuse at the hands of Washington kept them out of the top spot.

No. 3 – SEC (9-1)
Contrary to what the southeast may think, good football is played in other parts of the country. They had a shot at starting No. 1, but Cal made all the plays to beat Tennessee and keep the deepest conference in the country down in the third spot.

No. 4 – Big XII (8-4)
Not a great weekend down south. Iowa State lost to a MAC school, Baylor was shut out by a Mountain West Opponent, and both K-State and OK-State both lost to SEC teams on the road. The fact that they’re fourth in the ranking is more a statement about how bad the other two conferences are than how good this one is..

No. 5 – Big Ten (8-3)
One word: Michigan. When the preseason favorite to win the conference goes down to a 1-AA school, everybody looks bad.

No. 6 – ACC (5-3)
This conference is just plain bad. No real title contenders, and only a few teams that look to be better than mediocre. If the Mountain West gets much better, they might creep into the top six. It’s that bad.

Tags: ncaa football, ohio state football