Well, here we are Week 4. And what a lovely week it is. Where the contenders start---- errrrrrrr (cut to sound of a record being scratched).

That’s right, I didn’t just go where you expected me to, did I? Because for everything we think we know about college football right now, there is still plenty more to learn. Sure there are a handful of teams like LSU that have already been tested. Of course there are plenty more like Arkansas that haven’t. Sure there are some like Florida who’ve totally blown expectations out of the water. There are also some like Virginia Tech, USC and Texas A&M that we’re still not sure what to make of. Yes Stanford had a nice win over Arizona, but is that more an indictment of how good Stanford is, or how bad the Wildcats are? Same with South Carolina-Georgia, Auburn-Clemson and Baylor-TCU. We just, don’t know.

We’ve learned a lot through three weeks of college football, but there is still plenty more to learn.

Starting with…

Let’s just go ahead and call this “Ja Rule Week,” with my OnsideKick.com College Football Top 25 Poll.

Why would I name poll after one of the worst rappers of the past 25 years? Simple, really. Much like one of my least favorite Ja Rule songs, this poll wasn’t there when you called yesterday, but it was on time. And I apologize for that. Plus, I figured this was a nice excuse for me to Google Ashanti, and see what she’s been up to lately (Think she's fallen far enough where I have a chance at a date with her?)

Anyway, by now you’ve probably noticed that I pushed back the release of the poll this week to today from its normal Monday spot (again, the whole “not always there when you call, but always on time” thing). Understand it had nothing to do with me being lazy, disinterested or being behind schedule because I had to bail Stephen Garcia out of jail Sunday night. Nope, instead it’s late because I decided yesterday to write about the crumbling Big East, and thought it might be better to wait a day to do this instead. So to any of you who came here looking for the poll (which I’m pretty sure is no one), I apologize.

Either way, below is this week’s Top 25. Just like I did last week, I’ve provided a “News and Notes,” segment at the bottom, explaining why I ranked the teams the way I did.

As always, whether you agree or (more likely) disagree, you’re encouraged to chime in, in the comments section below, or by e-mailing in at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Let’s go…

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Over the past several months, my professional and personal lives have been in direct conflict. The two have battled it out for my football soul, like two dogs fighting over a chew toy.

What do I mean? Well, on the professional side, I’ve carved out a nice little niche as sportswriter on this website and beyond, someone with opinions on all things college sports. And over these past few months, as much as I’d wanted to sit here and talk about the games on the field, all anyone wants to talk about is conference expansion and realignment.

The questions are constant and change by the day: Where are the Texas and Oklahoma schools going? Who is going to join Texas A&M in the SEC? Will Notre Dame ever give up its independence? Is Baylor’s lawsuit have any credence to it? The questions are never ending, and unfortunately I have little more information than anyone else. Ultimately everyone in college sports- from fans and writers to coaches and players- have no say in this mess, and are instead being held hostage by school Presidents and Trustee members. Sadly, the future of the thing that we all care about the most, is being determined by people that know and care little about actual college sports.

On the personal level, expansion has of course hit closest to home with my beloved UConn Huskies. While I’ve sat here and discussed A&M and Oklahoma, Texas and Missouri, one question always stood square in the back of my mind: What’s next for UConn? As things stood coming into the weekend, my Huskies were in a conference- the Big East- that seemed shakier than Sarah Palin’s marriage. The Big East had eight schools that played football (with another one coming) and the eight schools that didn't, a situation that led to just about the biggest conflict of interest in all of college sports. There were just too many entities, in too many different parts of the country, with too many independent agendas. Eventually something had to give.

Well this weekend, it gave. What started as a new story reported by the New York Times Pete Thamel on Friday evening, went official by Sunday afternoon: Syracuse and Pittsburgh were leaving the conference, and doing it as soon as they possibly could. The two schools would be members of the ACC, maybe as early as next year, depending on if they can get out of contract clause with the Big East. Ultimately though, it doesn’t matter when they are allowed to leave, just that they are in fact leaving. The Big East as we knew it, is officially done.

Since I may be touching on realignment a bit this afternoon, I’m going to cut this college football Sunday preview a bit short.

And by short, I mean “Only 2,500 words, instead of the standard 3,500.”

In no particular order:

Oklahoma: Above all, there is only takeaway I have on Oklahoma after Saturday night’s win over Florida State, and that’s this: Oklahoma is the No. 1 team in the country right now. No ifs, ands or buts about it. The Sooners weren’t always pretty on Saturday, but proved effective when they needed to be. In the process, they got the most impressive win anyone has had so far this season.

Like most of you, I had plenty of worries about Oklahoma coming into this game. I knew about their problems on the road. I knew that at times, Landry Jones was more inconstant late in games than Sarah Palin is with her alibies. And I knew that for whatever Bob Stoops had done to earn the nickname “Big Game Bob,” he’d probably done enough to lose it by this point too. One has to wonder if he’s been able to hold onto the nickname for so long, simply because it rolls off the tongue so well (After all, “Big Game Bob,” sounds a lot better than “Big Game Gene,” or “Big Game Les,” doesn’t it?).

Anyway, the Sooners impressed me enough for me to say that they are unequivocally the No. 1 team in the country. To go into that stadium, against that team, under those circumstances and pull out a win, proved to me that as long as nothing funny happens, they’ll be a worthy challenger for whomever comes out of the quagmire that is the SEC in the BCS title game.

There’s a lot going on in college football right now, most everything that you already know.

The latest chapter from the “Stuff You Already Know Chronicles,” came last night, in LSU’s straight beat down of Mississippi State. Simply put, the more I watch this team, the scarier they become. The defense is world-class, and the offense has evolved to the point that even if Jordan Jefferson were to come back today, I’m not sure he’d even see the field (except, maybe as a kicker. What, too soon?). Not to mention that it’s only going to get better with the return of Russell Shepard next week, although really, the Tigers seem to have found replacements for him at receiver too. Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham both had excellent games Thursday night. In the end, I don’t know if LSU is going to win the BCS National Championship in January, but they’ve definitely won the championship of the first three weeks of the season.

(By the way, speaking of “winning,” how about the guy to the left from last night’s LSU-Mississippi State game? As reader Mat Davis pointed out, if anything, that guy was the true winner of the award for “Guy most likely to go home without a girl on Thursday night.” Although in the poor kid’s defense, he was probably going home by himself long before he ever made the decision to buy that t-shirt)

As for what else is going on in college football and on this website, well you know the deal. I release my new poll on Monday, my previews on Friday and a recap Sunday, with some fun podcasts mixed in as well. And for those who don’t know, you can submit your opinions on the biggest weekend games, and get them printed in this article, as you’ll see below in the “Fan’s Take,” section.

And finally remember, Amazon.com is a sponsor of this site, so if you’re doing any shopping over there, just click here, or the ad to your right-hand side, and a small percentage of your purchase goes to the site. It helps more than you can imagine.

Anywayyyyyy, enough blabbing, let’s get to this weekend’s picks. Home teams are listed in CAPS, and remember, I am picking against the spread, not necessarily who I think will win straight up.

Enjoy, and as always, tell me why I’m an idiot in the comments section below.

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Well, well, well. Hello everyone and welcome to my Week 2 college football Top 25 poll. Go ahead and give the maître d' your coat, and we’ll seat you momentarily. Our specials are…

Ok, I’ll shut up now and just talk some football.

As I mentioned last week, this season I’ve been asked to take part in a Top 25 college football poll on a new website known as OnsideKick.com, along with a number of other outstanding bloggers around the web. Last week I revealed my first poll, as well as my criteria for judging these teams, and ranking them as such.

Well, this week I’m obviously back, and with quite a few changes across the board. The great thing about this time of the year in college football, is that we’re finally starting to get past all the preseason, non-sense hype, and figure out who these teams really are. We are done speculating, done trying to figure out which transfers and coordinator changes will impact what teams, and instead, have real tangible results to work with. And I for one, couldn’t be happier.

So with that, let’s get to this week’s Top 25. But first, there’s a quick change from last week.

At this time last week I revealed my first Top 25, along with a sentence or two on why I placed each team where I did. Well this week I won’t waste your time with a sentence or two, since it’s pretty explainable why most teams are ranked where they are. After all, do you really need me to tell you that Arkansas is ranked No. 8, because they beat New Mexico by forty-whatever points last week? Of course not. You’ve got more productive ways to spend your time on a Monday morning. Like ignoring your bosses e-mails, for example.

Instead, what’ll I’ll do is list my Top 25, and then provide a “notes,” segment at the bottom. There, I’ll go ahead and further explain anything which needs clarification. If a team makes a big leap up a poll, or unexpectedly drops out, that’s where you’ll find the reasoning why.

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Let’s get right to it, with this week’s recap:

Michigan-Notre Dame: Quite frankly, I don’t know how we’ll look back on Michigan-Notre Dame in time. I don’t know if in a month, or a week, or a season from now, we’ll remember it as an instant classic, or just another football game between two decent to fairly decent teams. I really have no idea.

But what I can tell you is this: After everything that’s happened in the last few months, all the scandal and off the field controversy, college football needed this game. It needed the excitement and suspense, and Brian Kelly turning 11 shades of purple while looking like a McDonald’s drive-thru attendant with his headset on. For all that can be sometimes wrong about college football, my God was that game everything right about the sport.

Now obviously, I don’t think anyone is ever going to argue that Michigan-Notre Dame was the most well-played gave they’ve ever seen. That doesn’t happen when one team gives up 28 fourth quarter points, and allows the opposing quarterback to throw for over 30 yards per completion, like Notre Dame did. It also doesn’t happen when most fans spend the first 40 minutes of the game watching Denard Robinson sail the ball over receivers heads, and say to themselves “Wait, isn’t Brady Hoke misusing his offensive personnel just like Rich Rodriguez did three years ago?”

Yes, all that happened. But just like your 42-year-old uncle that can’t hold down a job, aren’t all the goofy imperfections and warts of college football, what makes it so darn endearing?

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Well folks, one weekend of college football is in the books, and as Craig Kilborn used to ask at the end of every episode of The Daily Show, “What did we learn today?”

In no particular order, here’s what I learned from Week 1 of the college football season: It’s going to be a fun season in the Big XII…you know, since Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Baylor and Texas A&M can score on anyone; Will Muschamp is the real deal down in Gainesville; Charlie Weis is too. And by the way Charlie, I must say, you’ve never looked tanner; Auburn’s most valuable player last year wasn’t Cam Newton, it was Nick Fairley; If the Dos Equis guy is the “Most Interesting Man In The World,” Luke Fickell is quite possibly the most intimidating (Anyone who can pin Chris Spielman in a wrestling match is a bad dude in my book); Oregon is good, but needs plenty of work; LSU is good, and doesn’t…the more suspended players, the better!; I’m never again doubting Boise State; I’m never again not doubting Mark Richt; and Houston Nutt very well might be the luckiest man on this planet. How he still has a job is beyond me. Maybe he was part of one of those “My Wish,” campaigns on ESPN on or something.

Anyway, let’s get to Week 2.

As always, the picks are against the spread, with the home team in caps. And just like last weekend, I have allowed my readers to chime in with their opinions on what I call “The Fan’s Take,” at the bottom.

Now…let’s get to the picks!

Earlier this summer, a new football side called OnsideKick.com was launched. On it, they cover the sport of football- both at the collegiate and professional levels- about as well as anyone can. OnsideKick has breaking news, injury reports, fantasy stuff, and plenty of original content. Two of my good friends in this business, Barrett Sallee and Michael Felder are both contributors.

As the summer rolled into fall, Onside Kick decided they would put together a weekly college football Top 25 poll, and after scouring the internet for some of the sport’s better writers, for some reason, they decided to askme to join and become a voter. Why, I’m still not entirely sure. Either way, I gladly accepted, joining an impressive group of voters, including the two guys I mentioned above, and a bunch of others from the world of journalism, blogging, radio and beyond. Quite frankly, I’m flattered to be included with this group.

And now, with the first weekend of college football’s season in the books, I’ve gone ahead and submitted my first Top 25 ballot to Onside Kick. Every week from now until bowl season, I’ll post my picks in this space, as well as a sentence or two on why the selection was made. Most weeks these picks will be made Monday, but because of the long weekend, this week, it was obviously pushed back a day.

Before revealing my selections, I should probably start by saying that this particular vote was probably the toughest that I’ll have all season. Simply put, we really don’t know a ton about these teams or their competition, so it’s hard to figure out how impressive what happened this past weekend was. For example, was Florida State beating UL-Monroe more impressive than Georgia playing Boise State close? Is Oregon losing to LSU better than Stanford stomping out San Jose State? I don’t know, but clearly voting this early in the season isn’t easy.

Anyway, what I tried to do in this vote is to take everything I knew about a team coming into the season, plus what I saw Saturday and put it into some type of context. As the season goes on, I’ll obviously use my preseason opinions less, and on the field results more, but until then, I’ve tried to use a combination of both. I also found myself rewarding teams like Georgia, TCU and Oregon for playing tougher opening games (all either on the road, or neutral fields), more so than schools like Missouri and Penn State for beating up on weaker competition.

Regardless, my Top 25 is listed below, along with a sentence or two on why I ranked every team in the order I did.

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So we’re here.

By my count it’s been roughly 39,622 days since Cam Newton held up the crystal ball, Gene Chizik wore that goofy leather jacket, and Auburn was named National Champs. In actuality it might not have been quite that long. It sure seemed that way though.

But after all the off-season drama, we are indeed here. Football is upon us, with Wisconsin’s beautifully methodic beat down of UNLV last night highlighting things, and serving as an appetizer to this weekend’s full slate of games. Like you, I couldn’t be more excited.

As for this weekend preview you’re reading right now, for those of you who are new, it’s pretty straight forward: I make my picks against the spread on the biggest 10 games of the weekend, and do it in the laid-back and goofy way that only I can. College football is supposed to be fun, and I try to let these previews reflect that. At the same time, I certainly hope that along with the fun, I’m dropping opinion and insight as well (Note, I may be upping the ante and picking more games, maybe 15 or so, once conference play begins. We’ll see).

Anyway, we will get to the picks momentarily. But first, a few quick announcements.

The primary one is that for the first time, I’m opening up this preview to you, the fans. Yes, I will be posting my picks every Friday morning, but I’m really hoping that you’ll send along your thoughts too, so I can post your picks alongside mine, in a segment that I'm calling "The Fan's Take." The one thing that I’ve noticed through the years, is that when I do these previews, you all hit me with incredibly insightful and intelligent comments and e-mails, and this year, I figured that if anyone wanted to actually share their picks beforehand, why not let them?