NCAA Top 25

A fascinating week of college football. Alabama's loss shook up the college football landscape. It also puts a giant question mark at #1. Who is the best team in the country? We are halfway through the season and it's really hard to tell. Oregon didn't play like a #1 team last week; moreover, their questionable defensive scheme puts a lot of pressure on the offense which could bite them someday. Ohio St. hasn't played anyone--1 road game (which they played very poorly in) and their win over Miami doesn't look so hot now. So I don't know. Boise? TCU? Auburn? Michigan St? Many possible candidates. In lieu of making questionable judgments, I won't change too much up this week among the undefeated teams, thus making another questionable decision.

1. Oregon (2)--Didn't like all those injuries against Washington St. Great time for a bye week.
2. Ohio St. (3)--Can they win at Wisconsin in their first real road test this year?
3. TCU (4)--I don't know why no one thinks they are better than Boise. I don't know of course, but they look pretty good to me. People of Texas still don't care--5000 empty seats in a 40 odd thousand seat stadium last game.
4. Boise St. (5)
5. Nebraska (6)--I'm still not a true believer. Let's see what they do to Texas this weekend.
6. Oklahoma (7)--that win over Florida St. looks much better. Still, they've been pretty mediocre in their other wins.
7. Auburn (8)--could be #1 by the end of the year. I don't actually think this is going to happen. But they are very good.
8. Utah (11)--Nation's most underrated team.
9. Michigan St.  (12)--nice win over Michigan, could be a very very good team. They are Michigan St. so; I'm sure they'll blow it.
10. LSU (13)--Lucky
11. South Carolina (21)--I do like the idea of an Auburn-South Carolina SEC title game.
12. Alabama--Do I really believe Alabama is the 12th best team in the country?  No, even though South Carolina did wallop them. But there are 10 legitimate undefeated teams. And how can I rank South Carolina below Alabama? (1)
13. Arkansas (10)--Arkansas did nothing to fall but circumstances dictate them right here. They did lose to Alabama after all.
14. Iowa (14)
15. Stanford (15)--outlasted USC, though I thought they would blow them out.
16. Arizona (9)--Choke
17. Wisconsin (19)--I think they are going to beat Ohio St. this weekend. As an Oregon fan, I hope so.
18. Nevada (20)
19. Florida St. (24)--dominant win over Miami, probably the ACC frontrunners now. Not that this is any great shakes.
20. Oklahoma St (22)--Need a signature win for me to take their undefeated status seriously
21. Missouri (23)--see what I wrote about Oklahoma St.
22. Air Force (25)
23. Oregon St. (NR)--we've seen this story before--Oregon St. loses to tough nonconference opponents, everyone forgets about them, and then they start winning all their games. Luckily, this story also usually has Oregon beating them so they can't go to the Rose Bowl.
24. West Virginia (NR)
25. North Carolina St. (NR)

Gone: Miami (16), Florida (17), Michigan (18)

Key matchups for this weekend:

1. Ohio St. at Wisconsin--huge game with clear national championship implications. Go Badgers!!!!

2. Arkansas at Auburn--a real test for both teams. Is Arkansas a fraud? Is Auburn what they seem to be? This game will go quite a ways in determining that.

3. Iowa at Michigan--I think Iowa is going to go into Ann Arbor and show that Michigan is nothing more than the Denard Robinson game. A really key game for Michigan's season. Iowa is more defined as a upper-level if not elite Big 10 team, yet a victory is necessary for them to retain that image.

4. Texas at Nebraska--A Texas loss probably means a free fall for the Longhorns. A Nebraska win solidifies them as elite. I clearly believe Nebraska will win this game fairly easily.