Week 11 Top 25- Gary Danielson edition

Clearly, Bob Davie has taken a good deal of flack on here.  The truth is though, it's just because he's an easy target, and if you filter through the nonsense he spews, he does provide good analysis.  Gary Danielson, on the other hand, has to be the worst in the business.  Fortunately, due to the number of crappy teams in the SEC this year, I've managed to pretty much avoid having to suffer through a CBS broadcast.  That came to an end on Saturday with the Bama/LSU game.  In honor of Gary, who taught us all that the SEC is unique because offensive tackles have to both run and pass block in that league (and only in that league), all coaches will be referred to by just their first names this week.

Week 11
1. SEC	Leslie did it again, and the Tigers are in the driver's seat for the SEC West and national title.  If ever there was an example of the importance of special teams, we saw it in Tuscaloosa Saturday night.  The last time the Tigers sat in this position, they lost to Houston Nutt's Arkansas team.  Who is left on the schedule this year?  Houston's Ole Miss and the Razorbacks.
2. Stanford	Andrew Luck did what he does, Stanford did what they do, and Oregon State did what they do.  The next big game is upon us as Oregon comes to Palo Alto this week.  Stanford took a big hit when Chris Owusu went down with a concussion against the Beavers.
3. Oklahoma State	…and the old Cowboys defense is back.  Despite how good the offense is, it's hard to consider Oklahoma State to be a real threat for the national title as long as they can't stop anybody.  LSU and Bama didn't set the world on fire offensively, but does anybody think they can't get one more stop on defense than Oklahoma State?
4. SEC	Place right hand around throat.  Place left hand over right hand.  Squeeze.  Nick's Crimson Tide perfected those steps on Saturday night.  The Tide had a physically better team, but neither the players nor the coaches could handle the pressure.
5. Boise State	Unless something extraordinary happens, you can count me as someone who won't be voting Boise over a one-loss team for the BCS title (since my vote counts, of course).  You can't screw around with teams like UNLV and be considered a real national title contender.
6. Oklahoma	Despite the final score against A&M, something just isn't right about Oklahoma right now.  A team expecting to compete for the national title with a Heisman candidate at QB doesn't suddenly start rotating Blake Bell into the game in November.  Ryan Broyles's great career is over, and Landry Jones will miss that go to receiver when they need to win a shootout with Oklahoma State.
7. Oregon	Oregon beat UW just about how they should have, even if it was unspectacular.  The Ducks clearly aren't clicking on offense like they were last year, but the defense is making plays.  The Ducks will need to force turnovers off of Andrew Luck, or Chip's offense may not get enough possessions to get rolling against Stanford.
8. Houston	I would go ahead and chalk up another W against Tulane this week for Houston, and you should probably take the over.  The last two weeks of the season, however, get interesting with SMU and Tulsa (who is undefeated in conference) on the schedule.
9. SEC	There was absolutely nothing remarkable about Bobby's win over Steve.  If anything, it showed that the Razorbacks still have issues on defense, because the Gamecocks should not be scoring 28 points on anybody right now.
10. Penn State	Penn State had a week off, so there's nothing new to say on the football front, though their two game division lead may quickly disappear with Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Ohio State left on the schedule.  The real news, for those who haven't heard, comes about Jerry Sandusky (who I had forgotten was even alive).  If you don't know the story, there's this cool interweb thing called a Google that has all the answers.
11. Clemson	After a week off, Dabo faces a must win game against Wake.  The winner of this game controls its own destiny in the Atlantic division.  A loss here after starting undefeated, and Dabo will have to start trying on clown shoes again.
12. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	Speaking of controlling your own destiny in the ACC, here we go again.  Assuming Virginia loses to one of FSU and VPISU, the winner of Thursday's VPISU/GT game will have control of the Coastal.  Good news for the Turkeys is that Frank had a weekend off to start coming up with things to whine about.
13. Wisconsin	This conference is a mess right now.  Penn State somehow has a two game lead in whatever stupid division name they are in, and Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Michigan State are turning into a rat king.  So, how have I come up with this ordering?  Wisconsin killed Nebraska, and both of its losses came on ridiculous last second touchdowns.  Nebraska, while getting drilled by Wisconsin, also killed Michigan State.  Their second loss to Northwestern came by just three points.  Finally, though Michigan State beat Wisconsin and Ohio State (who beat Wisconsin and almost beat Nebraska), both of their losses came in blowout fashion against Notre Dame and Nebrsaka.  I will not be taking questions.
14. Nebraska
15. Michigan State
16. Texas	Texas had a chance to make a statement, and, after two years, they finally did.  Texas Tech have a well below average defense, but Texas has struggled to run the ball against air for a few years now, and they ran right over the Red Raiders.
17. Kansas State	Colin Klein has to be the MVP of college football this year.  Klein has carried this team on his back all year, including 29 carries in the 52-45 loss to Oklahoma State.  No player has taken his further with less help this season.
18. Southern Miss	Southern Miss all but clinched a spot in the Conference USA title game by beating up on ECU.  If the Eagles and Houston both win out, this could turn out to be a really interesting game.
19. SEC	Runningbacks are overrated.  While there was apparently plenty of smoke in Athens last week, there is no fire on Mark's seat.  Given the weakness of the SEC East, it's not hard to believe the dogs are now in control of the division.  The hedges at Sanford Stadium are clearly a safety hazard.  They should be uprooted.
20. Georgia Tech	Georgia Tech had a weekend off to prepare for VPISU.  Surely, Paul had his team working on perfecting their signature dirty cut blocks so as to injure as many Turkey legs as possible.
21. Michigan	Michigan might have gotten screwed against Iowa.  Watching Denard Robinson run the two minute drill, however, it's hard to feel sorry for them when they couldn't complete a pass at the goaline.  Seriously, though, how successful can we expect them to be when Norm from Cheers is the head coach?
22. Cincinnati	Somebody has to win the Big East, right?  Could we maybe change the title of "Big East Champion" to "Big East Team With the Fewest Losses or Winner of Ricidulous Tie Breaker?"
23. TCU	We get to see just how far TCU has come from their loss to SMU.   They also have a chance to play hero or villain against Boise this week, depending on who you ask.  They didn't exactly have an awe-inspiring win over Wyoming this week.
24. Florida State	FSU was left for dead after losing three in a row earlier this year.  In terms of winning anything meaningful this year, they're still pretty much dead.  Jimbo has won four in a row, however, and none of their losses are to bad teams.  Of course, whenever an ACC team enters the rankings, you can pretty much guarantee a loss will ensue.  So, you may want to take Miami this week.
25. An Ohio State University*	I really wish there was an alternative here, but I couldn't find one…not even the Miami Dolphins.  This is still not a highly functioning football team, but they've won three in a row, and Braxton Miller is starting to make some plays.  Odds are still good an Ohio State will be looking for a new coach soon.

Week 10 Top 25

Week 10
1. SEC	We're about to settle the great debate of this season. I don't know if there has ever been this much build up for a regular season game.  I will refrain from making any predictions and just enjoy the game on Saturday.
3. Stanford	Andrew Luck continues to be unbelievable.  If there was any question about Luck, it was if he could perform under pressure.  Completing 3/4 of his passes in a triple OT game against USC probably answers that.
4. Oklahoma State	Oklahoma State just may be the real deal.  It took years, but the Cowboy defense showed up big time in jumping out to a 49-3 lead over Baylor.  The upcoming games with Kansas State and Texas Tech suddenly don't look as tough, so we could be in for some real drama by the time the Sooners come to Stillwater on December 3.
5. Boise State	Kellen Moore is still stuck on 45 wins.  Clearly he's letting the chance at the record get in his head.  Or maybe it's just that Boise had a bye week.
6. Nebraska	Nebraska has found their answer to physical opponents: Rex Burkhead.  It was easy to think that Michigan State would come down from their high and fall to Nebraska, but the Cornhuskers physically dominated a Spartan team that had made its living on being more physical than all of their other opponents.  In big games, the Huskers are best served by getting the ball out of Taylor Martinez's hands.
7. Oklahoma	I think Oklahoma was pissed, and Kansas State had the misfortune of being in their way.  The Sooners still have a chance to get back in the national title race if they win out, but they suffered a big loss with their best runningback Dominique Whaley going down for the season.
8. Oregon	Oregon was far less than spectacular against Washington State.  In fact, QB Darron Thomas even got benched in the 2nd half.  The Ducks can still win out, but they have some pretty serious issues to solve.  UW and UsC won't be easy, and we all know what Stanford can do.
9. Houston	Holy Case Keenum, Batman!  I'm usually very against any sort of running up the score, but we all wanted to see Keenum stay in to get his 10th touchdown pass.  I'm pretty sure even Rice wanted to see it.
10. SEC	You can't put lipstick on a pig, and that's what celebrating that victory over Vanderbilt would amount to.  Chances are that Petrino will finish 10-2 and one game out of 2nd in the SEC West, but the on field results will show that to be a very distant 3rd.
11. Penn State	The Penn State offense is just bad, but it has been just good enough to get to 8-1. Joe Paterno passed Eddie Robinson to become the all-time wins leader in Division I, but the Lions are going to need to start scoring points if he is going to get many more wins this season.
12. Virginia Polytechnic Institute  and State University	Continuing our trend of "a win is a win even if you suck," VPISU was extremely fortunate to come away with a win over Duke.  The Turkeys don't have an easy road the rest of the way with GT, UNC, and a surprising tough UVA team left on the schedule.
13. Clemson	You can cross chest bumping off the list of magic answers to stopping the option.  The pressure finally got to Taj Boyd, and he did not respond well at all.  Brandon Thompson probably still hasn't found the ball carrier.
14. Michigan State	The dam finally broke for Michigan State.  They were bound to lose again eventually, but the way it happened was the surprise.  The remaining schedule is not particularly difficult, so the Spartans still have a shot in the Big 12.
15. Wisconsin	Bishop Morlino of the Diocese of Madison may just outlaw the use of the Hail Mary.
16. Michigan	Michigan got the win they needed against Purdue.  We will find out how much better Michigan has really gotten in November with Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, and Ohio State left.
17. Arizona State	What's the best way to get over a tough loss to Oregon?  Play Colorado.  Arizona State beat up on the Buffalos like everybody should.  The schedule gets tougher by default the rest of the way, but any loss before the Pac-12 title game would be a major upset.
18. Kansas State	Finally, K-State goes down like they should have.  Running Colin Klein every down could only take them so far.  Now they have to respond, because this loss could quickly turn into a four game losing streak in November.
19. Texas	Only putting up 43 points on Kansas may actually be a cause for concern for Texas, but they did get the shutout.  Texas Tech will be the first chance the Horns have this year to separate themselves from the middle of the conference.  Clearly, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State should be treated as outliers.
20. Southern Miss	Southern Miss continues to beat up on Conference USA.  There's nothing remarkable about their 31-13 win over UTEP, but a win over ECU this week will give the Eagles a firm grip on the C-USA East.
21. SEC	Any win over the Gayta is a good win for the dogs, no matter how bad the Gayta are right now.  A victory over Auburn (who is somehow ranked again in the media polls…seriously, anybody should be able to watch that team and understand they aren't good) should put to rest any notion that Mark Richt is on the hot seat this year.
22. Georgia Tech	Paul Johnson is a genius.  His offense is unstoppable, and Georgia Tech will never lose again.  Clemson may have written their own death sentence by running the spread, thus forcing GT nickleback Jemea Thomas to stay on the field and take over the game.
23. SEC	7-1 is 7-1, so you have to give credit to the Gamecocks, but, similar to Auburn, it's easy to look at this team and see tons of issues.  They snuck by with ugly wins over two bad teams in Mississippi State and Tennessee, but it gets a lot tougher with Arkansas up next.  Spurrier will have to find a way to score points without Marcus Lattimore.
24. Cincinnati	After last season's disaster, Cincinnati is inexplicably 6-1.  Actually, it's pretty easy to explain: they haven't played anyone good.  That said, losses are starting to add up for other teams, but the Bearcats still have just that one.  We really don't know much about this team or where they may finish because the Big East completely backloads the schedule.
25. TCU	Lost in the huge dropoff on defense is the fact that TCU's offense is putting up major points this year.  The Frogs are a long way from winning the Rose Bowl again, but they are still hanging in there and represent the only potential threat remaining for Boise.

Week 9 Top 25

Week 9
1. SEC	I love watching Derek Dooley coach.  Not because he's a great coach or makes exciting play calls, but because nobody's facial expressions say "I hate my job" quite like Derek Dooley's.
2. SEC	Maybe this will be the loss that finally keeps Auburn out of the media rankings for good.  On a much more intersting note, follow this link to learn about what synthetic marijuana actually is:  Synthetic Cannabis
3. Stanford	Stanford finally got to play a quality team and promptly beat the coffee beans out of them.  I know what you're thinking: "Andrew Luck must have had a huge game if Stanford scored 60-something points."  Wrong.  Luck did complete 76% of his passes, but the real story is that the Cardinal rushed for 446 yards...presumably not all by Andrew Luck.
4. Oklahoma State	Oklahoma State's 45-24 win over Mizzou was a predictable result.  This team is really clicking right now, and the receiving corps is much more than just the Justin Blackmon show this year.  I should note that Blackmon was injured against Mizzou, though ESPN leads me to believe it's not that serious.
5. Boise State	Finally, I get to ding Boise for showing imperfections.  The Broncos will in all likelihood go undefeated, but they really don't belong in the National Title discussion this year.  Kellen Moore is now tied with Colt McCoy for the record of 45 career wins.  One might say that Moore has grown up to be just like Colt McCoy:
6. Clemson	Clemson would be an average team if football games only lasted 30 minutes.  As it is, they last 60, and Clemson seems to be very fond of those final 30.  The defense is still holding this team back from being a real championship contender.
7. Michigan State	Shame on anybody who missed this game.  I'm feeling generous though, so here you go:
8. Wisconsin	See above.
9. Oregon	There's nothing notable about blowing out Colorado.  That is, unless the final score is 45-2.  How did Colorado achieve those 2 points?  No, not on an Albert Pujols home run.  Not on a blocked punt or a sack either.  Cliff Harris was tackled after running backwards into the end zone on a punt return.
10. Oklahoma	Big Game Bob strikes again.  For those that didn't stay up until 2AM like I did to watch the end of this game, don't let the final score fool you.  Texas Tech led 31-7 in the 3rd quarter, and Oklahoma was only able to get back in the game after a couple of long touchdowns on blown coverages.
11. Kansas State	Kansas State is starting to look for real.  Suddenly the Oklahoma game this week looks a lot more interesting.
12. SEC	29 was a strange choice for number of points to score on Ole Miss, but it proved to be just enough for Petrino.  Uninspiring victories are allowed, but a real top level team should not struggle with the Black Bears.
13. Nebraska	Nebraska blew out Minnesota.
14. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	Here we go again VPISU has reached the meat fodder portion of the schedule that land them right back in the ACC Championship game again.  This is an ultimate failure on behalf of the Coastal division.
15. Penn State	JoePa finally handed the reigns to Matt McGloin for a full game, and look what happened.  Penn State will not be mistaken for an offensive powerhouse anytime soon, but that was a good showing against Northwestern.
16. Texas A&M	A&M is getting back on track and will probably look back on the Oklahoma State and Arkansas games and say "what if."  It's not clear sailing, though, with Oklahoma, Kansas State, and Texas still left on the schedule.
17. Michigan	Michigan had an off week, and Denard Robinson probably spent every second of it sitting in an ice tub.  Purdue is up next, and they will be fired up after upsetting Illinois to move over .500.
18. Houston	Houston continued to do what they do by beating Marshall 63-28.  Congratulations to Case Keenum for setting the NCAA record for total offense.
19. Arizona State	There's only so much you can say about a team with a bye week.  The schedule is really soft for ASU the rest of the way, so they should be able to sleepwalk into the Pac-12 title game.
20. Texas	Hopefully Texas has made steps toward figuring out their quarterback situation during the off week.  Kansas will provide a good opportunity to practice what they've worked on.
21. Texas Tech	Texas Tech's win over Oklahoma did not look like a fluke.  The Red Raiders dominated for most of the game before Oklahoma started chucking it deep.  The defense is not good enough to make them a real contender, but Seth Doege is the real deal at QB.
22. Syracuse	Let's be honest, Syracuse really isn't that good, but beating up on WVU like that was a great win.  It's not worth spending much more time on the Orange, so I ask you which of these three men is WVU coach Dana Holgorsen?
23. Southern Miss	Southern Miss has quietly put together a really solid campaign, including blowout wins over SMU and Navy.  With Houston not on the schedule, they could be 11-1 going into the Conference USA title game.
24. SEC	Why have the dogs been sitting stagnant at the bottom of the top 25 for three weeks now?  They haven't beaten anybody good.  This team has made a solid turnaround after a horrible start, but they haven't beaten anyone good yet, and looking at the schedule, they may not have a chance to do so until the SEC Championship game.
25. Miami Dolphins	I can't for the life of me find another Division 1-A team who has done enough to warrant being ranked this week.  By my estimation, however, the Miami Dolphins would be about the 25th best team in college football right now.

Week 8 Top 25

Week 8
1. SEC	Ladies and gentlemen, we have our first new #1 of the season, and you can thank the Kansas Jayhawks.  Trent Richardson is surpassing "beast" status to another level for which I'm not sure we have a word.
2. SEC	The two-headed monster of Jarrett Lee and Jordan Jefferson once referred to the Tigers' abysmal QB situation.  Now, they are rolling over SEC speed every week.  In other news, we have our first Less Miles sighting of the season.  Losing a challeng on an extra point?  Really?
3. Oklahoma	Uninspiring wins over Missouri are acceptable.  Uninspiring wins of Kansas are not.  In the end, it won't matter as long as OU keeps winning, but their inability to just roll over Kansas is reminiscent of recent Sooner teams who have lacked the fire to win a championship.
4. Boise State	Boise may all of a sudden hold the key to conference destruction.  If they go to the Big East (which would be absurd), then life should continue more or less as normal.  If they stay in a joint MWC/Conf-USA (also absurd), the Big East will again be facing eminent demise, and Notre Dame will be back in play again.
5. Stanford	Stanford didn't exactly blow away Wazzou early on, but they eventually got to an appropriate margin of victory.  It gets a lot more interesting now with Washington, USC, and Oregon coming up in the next four games.  This is where Andrew Luck makes his money.
6. Wisconsin	We now have a competition between Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson.  Luck made a one-handed catch on the sideline, but he didn't score.  Wilson scored but wasn't nearly as acrobatic.  This is clearly the most important determinant in the Heisman race right now.
7. Oklahoma State	There's nothing really new to say about Oklahoma State.  The offense is what it is, but, unfortunately, so is the defense.  The Cowboys will score on anybody but will not be a real threat to the Sooners until they can stop teams consistently.
8. Clemson	The Clemson/Dabo let down finally happened…then Sammy Watkins stepped in.  Clemson has proven they can score, but allowing 45 points to Maryland is worse than poor.
9. Oregon	Arizona State was a really solid win for Oregon.  Oddly enough, the Ducks were able to pull away only once Darron Thomas went out.  Bryan Bennett's speed clearly caught the Sun Devils off guard.  We also learned a very important lesson: leave Chip Kelly alone when he's talking to Erin Andrews.
10. Michigan State	Maybe it was the uniforms, but Michigan State had a nasty demeanor about themselves on Saturday against Michigan and physically beat Denard Robinson into submission.  They better bring that same attitude if they want to compete with Wisconsin.
11. SEC	Bobby Petrino got an off week which was probably spent planning one of two things: His next job or how many points to score on Ole Miss, because the Hogs should be able to name their score this week.
12. Kansas State	…and they just keep winning.  This time, it was the offense that stepped up to beat Texas Tech.  With KU up next, it's probably safe to count on 7-0 before Oklahoma comes to town.
13. West Virginia	There doesn't appear to be a lot of competition on the horizon for WVU with Syracuse and Rutgers up next.  West Virginia and Clemson would make for a really entertaining Orange Bowl.
14. Nebraska	Nebraska got a week off to rest after two tough games.  Now they get another week off against Minnesota before another big test against Michigan State.
15. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	Logan Thomas may finally be arriving, and we're looking at that same familiar story.  VPISU starts off slow and is nearly written off until they win out and land in the ACC Championship game.  They're not there yet but are clearly trending up.
16. Texas A&M	A&M took a 10 point lead into halftime against Baylor (sound familiar?), and then they pulled away in the second half (sound familiar?  Didn't think so).  The Aggies will need to build on that momentum the rest of October before a rough November schedule including Oklahoma, Kansas State, and Texas.
17. Michigan	It's easier said than done, but the key to beating Michigan remains to beat up on Denard Robinson.  When he isn't making plays, Michigan is not scoring points.  This is still a solid team that must beat an Ohio State University at all costs.
18. Washington	I'd be lying if I said I've watched even one second of UW this year, but the offense doesn't seem to miss Jake Locker, and on a week when every other team nearing contention stumbled, the Dawgs rolled over Colorado.
19. Penn State	The offensive issues still remain, but Penn State is really solid on defense.  That defense will be wasted yet again, however, if they can't figure out what to do on offense.  JoePa needs to overcome his youthful indecisiveness and choose between Matt McGloin and Rob Bolden.
20. Arizona State	Arizona State was better than Oregon into the 3rd quarter, but at some point the dam broke.  In typical Dennis Erickson fashion, the Sun Devils looked more interested in trash talking than winning at times.
21. Georgia Tech	Virginia has solved the option.  Paul Johnson has been figured out and will never win another game.  After two sloppy games in a row, the Brie Cheese Eating Weenies finally made GT pay and floated them out of town on Mike London's river of tears.  Over under for Lamar Miller rushing yards: 225.
22. Notre Dame	Notre Dame is back on track after the rough start.  Before taking the week off, they ran Air Force out of the building in pretty impressive fashion.  USC is up next, and it's time for Our Lady to prove she isn't just a little girl with potential anymore (don't worry Brady, you will always be our little girl).
23. Houston	The extent of my viewing of the Houston Cougars this year has been maybe two highlights.  They are, however, undefeated with Case Keenum back to his old ways.  Holding ECU to just 3 points is nothing to sneeze at either.
24. Texas	Despite losing, Texas showed pretty well against Oklahoma State.  This team really needs to figure out its quarterback situation, and they have a good chance to do that now with a bye week followed by Kansas.  A poor performance against KU, and it will be fire sale time.
25. SEC	I don't care who the quarterback's brother is, giving up 28 points to Vanderbilt is poor.  That was one of those wins that has to feel like a loss to the dogs, especially given the horrific performance of the normally strong special teams.  Mark Richt just needs to keep Todd Grantham in the booth.

Week 7 Top 25

Week 7
1. Oklahoma	Oklahoma ran through Texas like a deep fried jalapeno-cheddar corndog from the state fair.  Count me as somebody not surprised by that result.  This may be the first time I've looked at Landry Jones and thought "no-brainer first round pick."
2. SEC	The Tide wiped out Vandy just as they should have and should do the same to the Black Bears this week.  A.J. McCarron had a big time game against a supposedly good secondary.
3. SEC	WWTTD?  He would deliver a jump pass at the goaline for the game icing touchdown.  Jordan Jefferson took note from the 2006 Gayta highlight reel and used is legs to deliver UF a real kick in the face on Saturday.
4. Boise State	I was really hoping for Fresno to test Boise so I could bump up Stanford or Wisconsin, but the Broncos gave Pat Hill an epic beatdown to keep this spot.
5. Stanford	There were no highlight reel catches for Andrew Luck against Colorado.  All he did was complete 78% of his passes for 370 yards and 3 TDs (boring, right?).  Stanford should keep rolling over the Washington schools before playing at USC in a few weeks, where they should still keep rolling.
6. Wisconsin	Wisconsin had a bye week before facing Indiana this coming weekend.  IU should be a be a good warm-up game before Michigan State, though it's not like the Badgers really need it.
7. Oklahoma State	OSU put up an appropriate number of points (70) against KU.  The Cowboys are probably a proven commodity, but the game coming up against Texas will provide a better barometer for the Horns than OU.
8. Clemson	Clemson beat down the worst BC team in a long time, but the real story is that Taj Boyd went down with an injury.  While Boyd has not exactly played on an elite level, his ability to make plays is what makes that offense go.
9. Oregon	Maybe I'm weird, but I find Oregon boring to watch.  They proved yet again against Cal that they have major issues with physical defenses.  Minus the homerun ability of LaMichael James, this team is not very special.
10. Michigan	Brady Hoke has something real going on in Ann Arbor.  Under Rodriguez, Michigan would have folded against Northwestern, but this time they came back and ran away with it.  It will be interesting to see how they respond to a tough defense like Michigan State.
11. Arizona State	I'm either a genius or an idiot, because I have kept Arizona State ranked way higher than the "experts" have all year.  The real test comes now with Oregon.  Sleep in on Saturday morning so that you can stay up late to watch this one.
12. SEC	The Pigs made a statement against the Plain Men.  The defense came to play, and Tyler Wilson has rebounded in a big way from the beating the Tide gave him a couple weeks ago.
13. Georgia Tech	Two weeks in a row GT has come away with a victory but saying "we played like crap."  They will have room for error again this week at UVA, but the schedule gets real after that.  Better enjoy the wine and cheese while you can.
14. Kansas State	Kansas State may win the Iowa award this year.  They just keep winning, and I can't explain why.
15. Michigan State	Last year's Iowa award winner had an off week before the big matchup with Michigan.  This game will go a long way towards deciding which team will face Wisconsin in the Big 12 title game.  That's right, I finally looked up who is in which division.
16. Nebraska	Let's give Taylor Martinez a big hand for bringing his team back against an Ohio State University.  Martinez and Nebraska have built a reputation of folding under pressure but shook that stigma on Saturday.  The Nebraska defense shall henceforth be known as the Popcorn Defense as long as they give up this many points.
17. West Virginia	WVU finally had a breakout performance against a reasonable opponent by blowing out Uconn.  It doesn't get any tougher against Syracuse this week, so the Hillbillies should be getting a roll pretty soon.
18. Texas A&M	They tried to do it again, but A&M finally held on to a double digit halftime lead against Texas Tech.  The defense clearly has issues that Robert Griffin could exploit on a whole new level this week.
19. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	VPISU finally showed signs of life on offense with Logan Thomas's huge game against Miami's mediocre defense.  The matchup with Wake this week is at least interesting after the Deacon's took down the quickly imploding Seminoles.
20. Illinois	I'm slowly but unsurely coming around on the Illini.  Yes, it was Indiana, but Illinois finally had a convincing win over a BCS conference team.  The next game against Ohio State will reveal a lot, as the * showed signs of life before choking against Nebraska.
21. Robert Griffin III	New week, same story.  RG3 put up huge numbers, while the defense gave up just big numbers.  You can probably wait until the final few minutes to tune into the A&M game this week.  That way you'll save a couple hours and still get to see four or five touchdowns.
22. Texas	This week on the Longhorn Network you can see exclusively Sooner highlights from the Red River Shootout.  OU shot, and Texas was out.  Texas can feel better knowing that they should at least score points against Oklahoma State while they give up another 50.
23. SEC	The Roosters rebounded well behind Connor Shaw.  Granted, it was Kentucky, but a quarterback who can play a mistake free game has to be a revelation in Columbia.
24. North Carolina	I'm going out on a limb a bit with UNC.  They have not been spectacular this year but have been very solid.  Gio Bernard is a big time player, and the front seven is full of NFL talent.  Bryn Renner's maturity growth has to accelerate if UNC is to stay here.
25. SEC	Malcolm Mitchell is the big time playmaker the dogs needed to replace A.J. Green.  If nothing else, Aaron Murray is steady and reliable.  Mark Richt's convicts (gratuitous rhyme) are suddenly the favorite in the SEC East unless Jaybo's baby bro (double rhyme) proves to be a miracle worker.