Tuesday, September 21, 2010

NCAA Top 25

This week's Top 25, with last week's ranking in parantheses

1. Ohio St.(1)
2. Alabama (2) A real test at Arkansas
3. Oregon (3) Arizona St. did put up a tough fight against Wisconsin. That might say more about the Badgers being overrated. Still, ASU has much more speed on defense than anyone else Oregon's faced. Not sure if the ASU offense can do anything against the Oregon defense though.
4. TCU (4) An interesting matchup with SMU this weekend. I'm sure TCU prevails, but it could be close
5. Boise St (5) I'll be really curious about this Oregon St. game this weekend. I think Boise needs to win fairly convincingly to go to the title game, assuming they can also beat Nevada in Reno.
6. Nebraska (9) Complete dominance over Washington, arguably the nation's most overrated team coming into the season.
7. Oklahoma (6)
8. Arizona (17) Huge win over Iowa, though they nearly blew it in classic Mike Stoops fashion.
9. Texas (13) I was skeptical about the Longhorns but they proved themselves with a tough win in Lubbock.
10. LSU (10)
11. Arkansas (11) Nice win at Georgia. If they beat Alabama, I'll be a true believer.
12. Wisconsin (8) A win is a win but they looked very unimpressive against Arizona St.
13. Florida (14) Still not convinced Continued to struggle in the first half against mediocre opponents.
14. Stanford (18) Bludgeoned Wake Forest. Now a trip to South Bend. A win at Notre Dame means they could be a top 10 team. 
15. Utah (15)
16. South Carolina (16)
17. Iowa (7) Still a good team, but they played poorly for much of the game against Arizona.
18. Auburn (22)
19. Miami (21)
20. West Virginia (23)
21. USC (24)
22. Michigan (12) Pathetic near loss against UMass. Never dropped someone 10 points for a win before. Defense is sketchy. Nonetheless, 3-0.
23. Michigan St. (NR)
24. Nevada (NR) Fantastic win over Cal. Could challenge Boise.
25. Air Force (NR) I almost had them in this list last week and then they almost won in Norman. Very tough team and a good boost for the Mountain West.

Out: Oregon St., Houston, California

3 Games to watch this week:

1. Alabama at Arkansas. Enormous SEC matchup. Everything thinks Alabama is going to win but Arkansas is a very good football team.
2. Oregon St. at Boise St. The big primetime matchup in Boise. Oregon St. got dropped despite a win against Louisville because their defense is poor. Bad defense vs. great offense is a tough combination.
3. South Carolina at Auburn. Two teams I don't quite believe in but that are winning early in the season. Particularly impressive comeback for Auburn against Clemson.