College Football Poll, Part 4 (Score One for Evil)

Real life intervened last week, so I started the poll but never finished it.  Here it is a bit late, but without comments.  New poll up shortly.

With the East Carolina loss, we the proletariat of college football lose another possible ally in breaking down the evil junta of the BCS.  I can’t really talk about it…it’s just gonna make me angry.  On a positive note, James Madison finally defeated Appalchian State last night, in a 35-32 thriller that saw JMU down 21-0 at halftime.  Unbeleivable.

25. Ball State                                     Last Week: NR

24.  Oregon                                       Last Week: 7

23.  Northwestern                             Last Week: 24

22.  Kentucky                                    Last Week: 21

21.  Connecticut                               Last Week: 23

20.  East Carolina                              Last Week: 2

19.  Texas Tech                                Last Week: 18

18.  Oklahoma State                        Last Week:  15

17.  Texas                                         Last Week:19

16.  Texas Christian                         Last Week: 16

15.  Georgia                                      Last Week: 20

14.  Utah                                          Last Week:  14

13.  Boise State                                 Last Week: NR

12.  South Florida                            Last Week: 13

11.  Penn State                                 Last Week:  12

10.  Oklahoma                                 Last Week: 10

9.  Wisconsin                                   Last Week: 8

8.  Vanderbilt                                  Last Week: 6

7.  Wake Forest                                Last Week: 9

6.  Missouri                                     Last Week: 4

5.  Alabama                                     Last Week: 5

4.  Florida                                      Last Week:  11

3.  LSU                                            Last Week: 25

2.  Brigham Young                           Last Week: 3

1.  Southern California                    Last Week: 1

College Football Poll, Part 3 (You come from out of nowhere)

I doubt Faith No More was talking about the Maryland Terrapins, but it serves as an appropriate lead-in to this week’s poll.   I could not have been more wrong about the occurrences of the past weekend.  I don’t know why I was fooled once again by the perpetually Soft Batch Cal Golden Bears.

25.  LSU                                            Last Week:  NR

LSU had their last tuneup over the weekend, throttling North Texas.  They now face the offensively-challenged Auburn tigers.  I really have nothing else to say about this team, as they’ve showed us nothing thus far, but Appalachian State is better than 1/2 of the teams in Division 1-A, and the Tigers are the defending champs….so here they remain for now.

24.  Northwestern                             Last Week:  NR

Nice to see the Wildcats get off to a 3-0 start, even if it is against an assortment of clowns.  I don’t think it will last, but they should certainly reach a bowl with the state of the Big 10 this year.

23.  Connecticut                               Last Week:  NR

See:  Northwestern.

22.  Air Force                                    Last Week:  NR

This team is pretty legitimate.  I love what Troy Calhoun has done with them – sticking with the triple-option whilst adding a few quirks.  The schedule is quite manageable (they get both Utah and BYU at home), and it would not surprise me to see the Falcons win 10 games this season.

21.  Kentucky                                    Last Week:  NR

The Wildcats are currently ruling over the also-rans of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia with an iron fist.  They should continue their tyranny with a thorough annexing of Western Kentucky this weekend.

20.  Georgia                                      Last Week:  NR

The Bulldogs finally played a decent team over the weekend…though I suppose decent is a relative term…in any case, Georgia has still failed to impress me – though a convincing win at Arizona State this weekend would certainly get the ball rolling.

19.  Texas                                         Last Week:  19

Texas is an anomaly to me.

18.  Texas Tech                                Last Week:  25

Sticking to the theme of the bottom half of the poll we’ve got a few more weeks before the Red Raiders play anyone decent.  It’s fun to watch that offense, though.

17.  Auburn                                      Last Week:  20

Good gravy, that was a terrible offensive showing against Mississippi State.  I can’t really justify moving them up three spots after that…but they were probably underranked to begin with.  The LSU game will define them.

16.  Texas Christian                         Last Week:  NR

The Horned Frogs are a surprise team this season.  I was quite impressed by their Stanford win, but now their New Mexico win is starting to look better as well.  Their defense has looked impressive thus far, but it will take quite an effort to slow down Oklahoma in two weeks.

15.  Oklahoma State                        Last Week:  11

I definitely overranked the Cowboys last week.  That is all.

14.  Utah                                          Last Week:  13

Did ANYONE play a legitimate team over the weekend?!?!?

13.  South Florida                            Last Week:  23

They looked awful coming out of the gate against Kansas, but Matt Grothe rallied the troops (despite courting disaster at every turn).  The defense looks like they’ve taken a step back, but in a weak Big East…

12.  Penn State                                 Last Week:  15

Their inability to stay out of jail worries me, but they have looked dominant thus far, and getting rid of Morelli seems to be addition by subtraction.  They look like the best team in the Big Ten.

11.  Florida                                      Last Week:  10

We’ll see what they’re made of against Tennessee.

10.  Oklahoma                                 Last Week:  17

The Sam Bradford Heisman campaign continues…I still think they’ll fold in the big game, though.

9.  Wake Forest                                Last Week:  7

I can’t believe there are people out there who think they’re losing to Florida State.  It’s not happening.

8.  Wisconsin                                   Last Week:  NR

This does not look like a good team on either side of the ball, but they won a tough road game at Fresno State.

7.  Oregon                                       Last Week:  12

Almost made me recant all the great things I said about them last week.  Good road win, though.

6.  Vanderbilt                                  Last Week:  9

If you ask me, they looked better against South Carolina than Georgia did.  They’re half-way to a bowl game!

5.  Alabama                                     Last Week:  2

They’ve looked considerably less impressive every week, but I just can’t forget that beatdown of Clemson.

4.  Missouri                                     Last Week:  5

Biding their time….

3.  Brigham Young                           Last Week:  16

Here’s another team I was dead wrong about.  These guys are good.

2.  East Carolina                              Last Week:  1

ALMOST let the season slip through their fingers, but they held on.  A let down was understandable after those first two games.  A thorough smiting of NC State would look pretty good.

1.  Southern California                    Last Week:  6

Made Ohio State look like…well…like they’ve looked all season.

College Football Poll, Part 2 (Conference USA’s finest hour!)

The top 25 is still quite muddled, but I do feel that there is an obvious choice for who should be the #1 team in the country.  This week I’m changing the format a bit (only in terms of presentation), and as promised, I am offering more justification.

25.  Texas Tech                                          Last Week:  NR

Their stock is still low from having beaten a 1-AA team week one (and looking sloppy while doing so), but they did beat a solid Nevada team on the road, which is no small feat, as Nevada was 19-5 at home over the last 4 seasons.  Tech is a trendy pick to sneak into the Big 12 Championship game, but their defense still needs to improve (they allowed Nevada QB Colin Kaepernick to pass for 264 yards and 68% completion while running for 92 yards).

24.  Kansas                                                 Last Week:  25

Nice job trouncing Louisiana Tech, who looked completely satisfied in their win against Mississippi State.  I still don’t know what to make of this team, but I will after they travel to South Florida this Friday.

23.  South Florida                                       Last Week:  NR

They almost gave that game against Central Florida away, but they held on, and the defense looked solid (barring a few lapses).  I have zero faith in Matt Grothe, but if Mike Ford comes back and the defense proves to be as formidable as last year, they should easily win the Big East.  If USF wants any National Title consideration this year, then defeating Kansas this Friday is a must.

22.  Rice                                                     Last Week:  NR

This is presumably where the eyes start rolling.  Rice’s offense has looked excellent.  They’ve outgunned two high-powered offenses thus far.  They travel to Vanderbilt next week in what is actually a mildly intriguing game.  Win that, and 10 wins is a possibility.

21.  Arizona State                                       Last Week:  NR

Nice win against Stanford.  I really would like to write this team off, because I don’t think Rudy Carpenter is particularly good, but they’ve earned a spot in the rankings thus far.  They should continue to coast until the September 20 matchup against Georgia…then they’ll have their chance to impress me.

20.  Auburn                                               Last Week:  17

*Yawn*…Auburn hasn’t really played anybody, but Southern Mississippi is sorta alright, and they’ve looked good winning, which helps.  They should slaughter Mississippi State this week, but you never can tell which MSU team will show up.

19.  Texas                                                 Last Week:  18

They allowed UTEP to hang around for longer than they should have, but at least Colt McCoy looks like a Big 12 quarterback again.  The defense was problematic last year, and I’m still not sold on it.

18.  Arkansas State                                   Last Week:  14

WHA?!?!  After upsetting Texas A&M, the Red Wolves hung 83 (!) points on Texas Southern.  ASU had a mind-boggling 441 rushing yards in the game.  They go on to play Southern Mississippi, Memphis, and Middle Tennessee, all of whom are okay teams.  If they emerge unscathed from that stretch, ASU could take its place among the top mid-major programs in the country.

17.  Oklahoma                                          Last Week:  NR

Cincinnati hung around for a while, but Bradford proved to be too much for them.  ESPN loves this team, but when was the last time they won a big game?  If they go undefeated, I’ll eat my hat.

16.  Brigham Young                                  Last Week:  NR

They looked servicable against Washington, and now they should be favored in every game left on the schedule (unless Utah is also undefeated).  That late showdown against the Utes could be a classic between two 11-0 teams!

15.  Penn State                                          Last Week:  NR

They absolutely dismantled Oregon State.  This team has me oscillating, but after a performance like that, you have to take them seriously.  Should be in the clear at least until Illinois on September 27.

14.  Georgia Tech                                     Last Week:  NR

Paul Johnson’s flexbone experiment seems to be working!  The Yellow Jackets were sloppy on offense, but still managed to gut out a conference road win, which do not tend to come easily (especially against Boston College).  They can really make a statement by going on the road again and beating Virginia Tech this weekend.

13.  Utah                                                  Last Week:  8

Utah probably receives a higher boost that it should from beating Michigan, but it was a road win at a tough venue (and they were repeatedly hosed by the refs), so it is here that they remain for now.  I don’t really love this team as much as I should love the #13 team in my poll, but they have beaten two FBS opponents.  They should thoroughly demolish Utah State, but then Air Force could provide some problems.  The rest of the schedule is more or less a cakewalk though until BYU.

12.  Oregon                                              Last Week:  9

Through the first two weeks of the season, it’s safe to say that Oregon has the scariest offense in the nation.  Losing Dennis Dixon and Jonathan Stewart does not seem to have slown them down one bit (though I think Dixon may have actually held them back a bit).  The defense has looked solid as well.  The Ducks have an interesting matchup against another high-powered offense this weekend when they travel to Purdue.  Trouncing the Boilermakers will look good, but OU’s real test will come October 4th against USC.

11.  Oklahoma State                                 Last Week:  NR

This is another team that I have ranked surprisingly high, but they beat Washington State in what was essentially a road game, and then defeated Houston in fine form.  Zac Robinson has proved solid in leading the offense thus far, and they should be 5-0 heading into the showdown at Missouri.

10.  Florida                                               Last Week:  16

Florida destroyed a punchless Hawaii team, and then when their offense appeared lifeless against Miami, the defense clamped down and allowed 1.6 yards per carry.  Florida gets a bye this week, but Tennessee looms on the horizon, and the Gators will need to look sharper than they have the first two weeks to win in Knoxville.

9.  Vanderbilt                                            Last Week:  19

This has been the most impressive coaching job this season.  Bobby Johnson just does what he needs to do to win.  The victories have been close, but they are tied for the lead in the SEC, and have enough winnable games to make it to their first bowl since 1982.  Rice should prove to be a challenge this weekend, but the Commodores should be favored to come out of that game 3-0 heading into a huge game against Ole Miss.

8. Fresno State                                          Last Week:  7

The Bulldogs are still riding high after the road win over Rutgers.  This weekend they can make some serious noise with a win over a vulnerable-looking Wisconsin team at Camp Randall.  All signs point to this team being for real.

7.  Wake Forest                                         Last Week:  15

The Deacons completed a nice last-minute drive to beat Ole Miss, but the fact that Ole Miss nearly beat them is troubling for the ACC.  That said, Wake Forest won’t have to see Houston Nutt’s quirky offense again.  They now have two weeks to prepare for Florida State, who will still be missing several key players due to suspensions (shocking, I know).  At this point, Wake has to be considered the favorite in the ACC.

6.  Southern California                             Last Week:  5

The Trojans were idle this week, so we have only their thrashing of Virginia on the road to judge them.  Now, don’t get me wrong, UVA is horrendous, but I just can’t penalize a team that goes on the road for a week one game against a team that went to a bowl last season.  All eyes will be on USC’s game against Ohio State this weekend.  Should the Trojans win, they’ll be in the driver’s seat for the National Championship.

5.  Missouri                                               Last Week:  1

The Tigers suffer a slight fall after beating Southeast Missouri State.  Mizzou has two more warmups against Nevada and Buffalo before things start getting interesting in conference play.  There is much to love about this team, Chase Daniel (my early Heisman frontrunner) not being the least of which.

4.  California                                             Last Week:  11

Cal has beaten two middling BCS teams.  After a so-so start against Michigan State, the Golden Bears throttled Washington State 66-3…on the road, no less!  Such a door-knob-sack-beating has to be rewarded, and with few other teams stepping up in week two, Cal checks in at the #4 spot.  Cal should bludgeon a very below-average Maryland team this weekend, and really won’t be tested again until they host Arizona State on October 4th.

3.  UCLA                                                   Last Week:  3

The Bruins are still riding high on their victory over Tennessee.  A tough game against Brigham Young in Provo looms this weekend.  A victory would turn some heads, and show that Rick Neuheisel is unparalleled when coaching other people’s recruits.  However, remembering how poorly Kevin Craft played against Tennessee…at home…suggests that he may struggle against the Cougars.

2.  Alabama                                               Last Week:  2

The Crimson Tide came back down to earth against Tulane (to the surprise of no one).  That was a sloppy performance by the offensive line and by John Parker Wilson.  I am still not buying Wilson as an elite quarterback, or even a serviceable quarterback when he gets hit a few times.  Alabama will win on defense and special teams this year, and that should be enough in the next two games against Western Kentucky and Arkansas, but probably not on the road against Georgia on September 27th.

1.  East Carolina                                        Last Week:  4

This team has been unbelievable.  I saw the Virginia Tech upset coming, but I was completely unprepared for their performance against West Virginia.  Patrick Pinkney’s efficiency has been remarkable, and the defense has been SAVAGE.  That is the only word that seems to adequately define the ferocity the Pirates have displayed thus far.  Their remaining schedule is by no means a cakewalk, but they have already beaten their two most difficult opponents this season.  In my mind, if ECU finishes the season 13-0 and is not granted a National Championship berth, it will be a travesty.

College Football Poll: Part One (The Revision)

I resisted the urge to do a preseason poll, as it always seems pointless to predict the merits of 120 college football teams.  However, now that games have been played, I shall hold back no longer:

1. Missouri
2. Alabama
3. UCLA
4. East Carolina
5. Southern California
6. Stanford
7. Fresno State
8. Utah
9. Oregon
10. Bowling Green
11. California
12. Colorado
13. Louisiana Tech
14. Arkansas State
15. Wake Forest
16. Florida
17. Auburn
18. Texas
19. Vanderbilt
20. Wisconsin
21. South Carolina
22. Ole Miss
23. Buffalo
24. LSU
25. Kansas

 After some thinking, I decided to COMPLETELY revamp my rankings and to rank solely on accomplishments.  I know, that completely contradicts be previous diatribe, but such is life.  Anyway, I’ve said enough, analysis and justification will be bountiful in weeks to come as the picture gets more and more clear/diluted.