The "Real" Top 25 in College Football
It was another great weekend for college football thanks to this new found balance. As was previously mentioned on the web site, how does USC only drop to No. 7 in two of the three polls, and No. 10 in the other after an embarrassing loss to Stanford? You got me, I am just glad that these BCS computers are a part of the formula (none have the Trojans in the top 10, according to espn.com. Ahhh, life without biases.
I also wonder how Georgia can still be ahead of Tennessee after the demolishing the Bulldogs took, and how Texas can be ahead of both after losing to an iffy at best Kansas State team. Boy do I hate pollers and band-wagon jumpers.
Enough of the crap, here is how it should be, from a man who watched every televised game from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. central time.
1. LSU (6-0) (1): It proved to be the best team in the country after its come-from-behind win over last year's champs, who were on the ropes. The schedule doesn't get much easier with a trip to Kentucky this week. The clear cut No. 1, but can and probably will be beaten at some time this year (UF, SEC Championship game).
2. California (5-0) (2): Not only did the Bears get a bye week, they got to watch USC go down and Tennessee win big to help their strength of schedule. They always have a chance with their offense, but the defense will cost them at some point.
3. Ohio State (6-0) (6): The Buckeys were the most impressive team Saturday in my mind, after I predicted them to lose before the season started. Looked awesome early, but only on defense after the first quarter. The good news for OSU is that one good quarter on offense may be good enough with that D. They have the best chance in the country to go unbeaten.
4. South Florida (6-0) (4): Say what you want about the Bulls problems with Florida Atlantic. This year any win on the road is a good one. Wins over Auburn and West Virginia still look good, and so does Matt Groethe.
5. Boston College (6-0) (8): Probably the worst top five team in college football history, but you could say the same about USF. Matt Ryan can beat most teams by himself, but he will need help at Virginia Tech in a couple weeks.
6. Missouri (5-0) (11): All of a sudden people are starting to talk about the Tigers, although still not ranked in the top 10. My Tigers (yes I am a Tennessee fan, but I am a fan of theirs too, I even drove to their game with OU last year) have the best offense in the country and their defense finally showed up against Nebraska. The question is if they can do it again at Oklahoma. Both teams are coming off of emotional wins, and a win puts Chase Daniel at the top of the Heisman race.
7. South Carolina (5-1) (13): The Cocks defense looked good again against Kentucky, knocking Andre Woodson from the Heisman race. Chris Smelley did the job at quarterback, and with the duo at RB, they can beat anyone.
8. Oregon (4-1) (10): The Ducks move up thanks to the bye week. Can't count them out of the National Championship picture, but they could end up out of the top 25 as well.
9. West Virginia (5-1) (14): I will grant them a mulligan because it nearly came back to win at South Florida without Pat White. However, the Mountaineers need him healthy if they want to make a run for any title.
10. Florida (4-2) (9): Yes, I know the Gators have two losses, but boy did they look good at LSU. If it was canadian football, they would have won the game. If there is a rematch at a neutral site, the more experienced Gators will know how to pull it off. Have to be ranked ahead of VT in my mind because of how much better they played against LSU.
11. Cincinnati (6-0) (19): This week's biggest jumper, the Bearcats once again impressed in their win over Rutgers. Ben Mauk is a solid leader, and boy can that defense force turnovers with the best in the country. I wouldn't be surprised to see this team in it until the end.
12. Virignia Tech (5-1) (18): The Hokies looked very impressive in their win at Death Valley, thanks in large part to their special teams, one of Frank Beamer's specialties. Switch to Taylor at the helm helped too. I can't forget about their performance at LSU, though.
13. Oklahoma (5-1) (17): I really thought they would dominate Texas, so it was a bit of a disappointing win to me. I still think this team can be the real deal, but they will have to show me that this week against Mizzou. Any size win will put the Sooners back in the top 10. The fact that they haven't beaten anyone truly good (big names don't count) keeps them out for now.
14. Arizona State (6-0) (15): Struggled mightily with a bad Washington State team and didn't impress me at all (unlike 95% of voters, I watched this game). Howver, like I said earlier, a win is a win, especially on the road. Schedule and coach is in their favor, but what about talent?
15. Kentucky (5-1) (5): A poor performance at South Carolina drops them this far. Actually had several opportunities to win the game, which shows how good the Wildcats can be, but can't shoot themselves in the foot the way they did. LSU game should be awesome if they can avoid turnovers.
16. USC (4-1) (3): Ugly. That is all I can say about the Men of Troy's performance against Stanford. Thanks to the biased pollers, they are not out of the championship race.
17. Florida State (5-1) (24): Not only did it beat Alabama, but I forgot to mention the win at Colorado, something Oklahoma couldn't do. Didn't look very good against NC State, but moved up thanks to losses. Interesting game at Wake Forest Thursday night.
18. Illinois (5-1) (-): I have to give the Illini the nod, esepcially with their only loss coming to undefeated Mizzou. We will see how they handle success at Iowa this week, before another big home game against Michigan next week. A sandwich game this week, perhaps?
19. Wisconsin (5-1) (7): Illinois has to be ranked higher because of its win, and the squeaker over MSU looks even worse now. You can never count this team out, but the Badgers need to play better to beat Penn State. Luke Swan's injury will hurt.
20. Auburn (4-2) (22): This team is hot right now after smoking Vandy. Big test the next two weeks at Arkansas and at LSU, which will make or break its season. A split would be pretty darn good with a win already over Florida.
21. Kansas (6-0) (25): I had the Jayhawks ranked heading into the week, while the polls didn't, and now the polls have them ranked higher than I do. Obviously, they watch standings, while I was watching the game on Fox College Sports (they had some good games on last week, see ASU, Texas A&M). The team looks talented, but not being able to catch the ball consistently will cost a team against a good team (sorry, Kansas State, you stink).
22. Tennessee (3-2) (-): If only these Vols would have shown up in the other big games. I guess the bye week and home field were a big help though. It will be almost impossible to work their way much farther up the polls with a still daunting schedule ahead (as if Florida, Cal and UGA wasn't hard enough).
23. Hawaii (6-0) (-): It just keeps beaten up on the weak.
24. Texas Tech (5-1) (-): A big game with Texas A&M looms for the second best offense in the country.
25. Texas A&M (5-1) (-): A big comeback victory for coach Fran over OSU. A loss and it was probably over for him. A loss to Tech, and it still may be.
Best of the rest: Purdue, Georgia, Connecticut, Texas, Michigan, Clemson, Rutgers.