NCAA Top 25

A week without many upsets still produces changes to the top 25, with 2 top 10 teams losing to other ranked teams. Clarity at the top has set in.

1. Oregon (1)--dominant win at USC.
2. Auburn (2)
3. TCU (3)
4. Boise St. (4)--why is there never anything to say about Boise? Oh yeah, because they never play anyone worth talking about.
5. Utah (5)--survived a tough matchup at Air Force the week before TCU.
6. Alabama (8)
7. Wisconsin (9)
8. Ohio St. (10)
9. Oklahoma (11)
10. Nebraska (12)
11. Stanford (13)--that Andrew Luck v. Jake Locker matchup proved every bit the mismatch I figured it would.
12. Missouri (6)--tough loss to Nebraska, still a quality team. But not necessarily better than the teams above it.
13. Arizona (14)
14. Michigan St. (7)--exposed as the frauds we all knew they were against Iowa
15. LSU (15)
16. Oklahoma St. (17)
17. Iowa (22)--dominant win. Still behind MSU because they have 2 losses.
18. South Carolina (18)
19. Arkansas (19)
20. Virginia Tech (20)
21. Baylor (23)
22. Mississippi St. (24)
23. North Carolina St. (NR)--nice win over Florida St. They have popped in and out of the top 25 all year, but they are back now.
24. Florida St. (16)
25. Nevada (NR)

Out: USC, Miami

Key games for next week (5 games featuring ranked teams playing each other!):

1. TCU at Utah--not only the battle for the Mountain West title, but a game for a possible BCS berth. I see no reason to believe that Boise is per se better than either of these teams and the winner will have a legitimate claim for a BCS berth.

2. Alabama at LSU--the loser of this game will basically be out of the BCS hunt. Two one-loss teams. I completely believe Alabama is going to hammer them. But it is in Baton Rouge. And I hope LSU wins, as I believe they will probably lose later on. So hurting Alabama's BCS hopes would be great for what I really want--2 Pac 10 teams in the BCS.

3. Arizona at Stanford--the battle for 2nd in the Pac 10. Oregon is clearly the dominant team. But the winner of this game, especially if it is Stanford, will be in excellent position for a BCS berth. Because of the rule forcing the Rose Bowl to take Boise or the Mountain West team this year if Oregon goes to the title game, they are facing an uphill battle. But maybe they can sneak into the Fiesta Bowl. I do think Stanford is a significantly better team--witness Arizona's struggles to beat UCLA yesterday. But it's going to be a really good game in any case.

4. Arkansas at South Carolina--very good SEC matchup.

5. Baylor at Oklahoma St.--everyone is wondering if Baylor is for real. Well, they keep winning and beat Texas in Austin yesterday. Can they keep it up in Stillwater. I think they probably can. Should be a very interesting game.