NCAA Top 25

Close one for the Ducks. Shows that they can still win when their offense isn't working, which just strengthens my feelings about them. A pretty staid week though.

1. Oregon (1)
2. Auburn (2)
3. TCU (3)--a tough win against San Diego St. They are being punished for this in the polls, but SDSU is a very good team. Certainly better than anyone Boise has played in their conference.
4. Boise St.  (4)
5. Stanford (7)--Stanford moves ahead of Wisconsin and Ohio St. not because those Big 10 teams did anything wrong, but because Stanford has looked phenomenal all year, has only lost to the #1 team, and plays a tough schedule. I see no reason to say they are not the best 1 loss team in the country. Yet they will probably end up playing in the Alamo Bowl. 
6. Wisconsin (5)
7. Ohio St. (6)
8. LSU (8)
9. Nebraska (9)
10. Alabama (10)
11. Michigan St. (11)
12. Oklahoma St. (12)
13. Arkansas (15)
14. Oklahoma (16)
15. Virginia Tech (17)--I still have trouble ranking a team that lost to James Madison this high, but they keep winning.
16. Missouri (19)
17. Nevada (21)
18. Miami (22)
19. Iowa (14)
20. South Carolina (23)--beating Florida always makes me happy
21. Texas A&M (24)
22. USC (NR)
23. Mississippi St. (20)
24. Arizona (18)--they looked pretty good wiping up the dregs of the Pac-10. Now they've lost to Stanford and USC back to back weeks.
25. Utah (13)--total flop against Notre Dame. Did they just have a hangover from being blasted by TCU? Or were they frauds all along?

Out: Penn St.

Top Games This Week:

1. Nebraska at Texas A&M--A pretty big game. A&M has risen fast the second half of the year. Are they elite? We'll find out this week. Meanwhile, Nebraska needs to win in order to essentially clinch a BCS bid if they can't win the Big 12 championship game. So it's a big game all around. Best of the week.

2. Ohio St. at Iowa--an Iowa win would provide some clarity to the Big 10 race that is so jumbled at the top. After a tough loss to Northwestern, I don't know if they can pull it off. Meanwhile, I don't really trust Ohio St. on the road at a tough team. Should be good.

3. Arkansas at Mississippi St.--while hardly a game with BCS implications at this point, these are 2 ranked teams in a key conference battle.

4. Virginia Tech at Miami--Important game for the weak ACC. Should even be fairly entertaining. And how often can you say that about the ACC?

5. Utah at San Diego St.--Is Utah a fraud? Is San Diego St. the real deal? This game should decide those questions. I'm definitely picking the Aztecs.