1) Boise State (7-0) Last Week, Win Vs. San Jose State 48-0
2) Oregon(6-0) Last Week, Idle
3) Oklahoma(6-0) Last Week, Win Vs. Iowa State 52-0
4) TCU(7-0) Last Week, Win Vs. BYU 31-3
5) Auburn(7-0) Last Week, Win Vs. 12 Arkansas 65-43
6) Ohio State(6-1) Last Week, Loss Vs. 18 Wisconsin 18-31
7) Michigan State(7-0) Last Week, Win Vs. Illinois 26-6
8) Alabama(6-1) Last Week, Win Vs. Ole Miss 23-10
9) LSU(7-0) Last Week, Win Vs. McNeese State 32-10
10) Utah(6-0) Last Week, Win Vs. Wyoming 30-6
11) Wisconsin(6-1) Last Week, Win Vs 1 Ohio State 31-18
12) Florida State(6-1) Last Week, Win Vs Boston College 24-19
13) Iowa(5-1) Last Week, Win Vs. Michigan 38-28
14) Nebraska(5-1) Last Week, Loss Vs. Texas 13-20
15) Stanford(5-1) Last Week, Idle
16) Missouri(6-0) Last Week, Win Vs. Texas A&M 30-9
17) Oklahoma State(6-0) Last Week, Win Vs. Texas Tech 34-17
18) Arizona(5-1) Last Week, Win Vs. Washington State 24-7
19) Arkansas(4-2) Last Week, Loss Vs. 7 Auburn 43-65
20) South Carolina(4-2) Last Week, Loss Vs. Kentucky 28-31
21) West Virginia(5-1) Last Week, Win Vs. South Florida 20-6
22) Texas(4-2) Last Week, Win Vs. 5 Nebraska 20-13
23) Kansas State(5-1) Last Week, Win Vs. Kansas 59-7
24) Virginia Tech(5-2) Last Week, Win Vs. Wake Forest 52-21
25) Nevada(6-1) Last Week, Loss Vs. Hawaii 21-27
****
This was an extremely telling week in College Football as several ranked teams went down, including 3 teams ranked in the Top 10. The Poll setters are going to have fun this week.
The first question is obvious. How far does Ohio State fall? Well, if you look to last week when top ranked Alabama lost to then 19th ranked South Carolina you'd see pretty much what's going to happen to Ohio State after losing to a physical Bret Bielema squad coming into Saturday night's game ranked 18th. 'Bama fell 7 spots in the polls, I have Ohio State dropping 5 spots leaving them in 6th. This loss will inspire this Ohio State squad and the only game I can see them possibly losing is to Iowa on the 20th of November.
I might have Michigan State a little high, but I believe this is a very strong Spartan team. Besides the Notre Dame game, where they won the game on a fake field goal, they have won fairly decisively. Their Wisconsin's only loss. They beat a pretty dangerous Michigan team in Ann Arbor and just last week defeated Illinois, whom I believe are pretty underrated. I believe Michigan State will lose when the travel to Iowa City in two weeks though.
Auburn, for me, like LSU, is very hard for me to get a grasp on. I'll be honest, I haven't seen very much of them thus far. I know they're pretty good football teams, but both have had to win some very close games. Auburn beat Mississippi State, Clemson, and Kentucky by 3. LSU hasn't been much better. They ousted North Carolina by 6, Tennessee by 2, and the Gators(who got beat by Mississippi State this week) by 4. You can only survive these types of games for so long. It'll never last. Just ask the 2009 Iowa Hawkeyes. It especially wont last when these two teams play each other, which happens next week, in Auburn. I like the home team in that game.
I had a very hard time ranking teams 12-15. All four teams have a loss to a good football team. (Nebraska's loss being the only one to an unranked opponent. Don't let that fool you, Texas is TOUGH. But I'll have more on that later.)
I have Florida State ranked ahead of the other 3 simply because they are shellacking teams. They had a bad loss to Oklahoma in Norman, but other than that they're outscoring their opponent 227-66. You have to wonder how much of that is the product of the poor play of their fellow ACC conference-mates though. But still, they're winning like a top team is suppose too.
I have Iowa next at 13. This is a very good, sound, well coached, veteran, battle-tested team. Like Florida State, they're winning like they're suppose too. I watched their only loss Vs. Arizona and I can tell you, that wasn't Iowa football. And the chances of seeing that again are slim. With that said, Iowa still hasn't got to the meat of their schedule yet. They've got 3 incredibly tough games left, but they're all at home. Wisconsin travels to town next week, followed by Michigan State after that. The cherry on top is the aforementioned Ohio State Buckeyes on the second to last week of November.
Next up is my Nebraska Cornhuskers, which I should have an article on, so just jump over there
Finally, I have the Stanford Cardinals, whom I like a lot. I'm a fan of Jim Harbaugh and Andrew Luck. And honestly, had they beaten USC more decisively, they would've most likely been higher than Nebraska and perhaps a little higher than that. Their only loss was to Oregon and they hung with Oregon for awhile in that game. Going forward, Stanford has a fairly manageable schedule, with games they 'should' win, but only one that appears to be a cakewalk(if that really exists anymore) in Washington State. After that, they've got to travel to Seattle to take on the Huskies. Washington has been coming on as of late, so that could be tough. Then Standford ends their schedule with games against Arizona, Arizona State, California in Cal, and Oregon State. Not easy, but games they, again, 'should' win.
Undefeated Missouri(lead by a stingy defense that ranks 2nd in the nation with 10.8 points allowed per game) and Oklahoma State(which has an explosive offense ranked 2nd in the nation in scoring offense with 49.5 points per game) both are ranked pretty low for being undefeated but for good reason. They haven't played anyone yet and compound that by not having a 'signature' win. They've also struggled a bit with lesser opponents, albeit neither very lately. Good news for them is, they'll have their shot at good teams. Mizzou has Oklahoma next week, followed by Nebraska. And Oklahoma State has Nebraska next week, Oklahoma the final week, and Texas sandwiched right smack-dab in the middle of those two. Both teams will be tested and both teams will have ample opportunities to capture the College Football world's attention and move up the rankings.
I put Texas back on the map. They were down, but boy they've got to be sky high after that victory in Lincoln. If they had confidence issues, I doubt they remain. Perhaps I'm overreacting, but I believe Texas is once again very dangerous. It remains to be seen, however, if Mack Brown and Will Muschamp can keep their players playing at that high of a level.
I have Kansas State at 23. They were on the verge of being ranked last week before Nebraska rolled into town, demolished them, and removed them from the class of unbeatens. But they must've taken note because they beat Kansas worse than Nebraska beat them the week before. That's an impressive win, no mater how bad Kansas is.
And lastly, I have the Virginia Tech Hokies in at 24th. They really dropped the ball when they lost to FCS 's James Madison. That coming of the heels of an opening week loss to Boise State. But since then, they've played some good football. They've won their last 5 games by an average of 21.4 points. Again, you have to question the competition the ACC provides, but they look like the team everyone was expecting out of the gate.
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