| 17 October 2011
Well, we are officially here: College football’s halfway point. Seven weeks into a 14 weekend season (not including the separate Saturday for Army-Navy, as well as bowl games), every team in college football has now played at least six regular season games, some, much more memorable than others.
So what have we learned? Well, to me in particular, the one thing I’ve learned is that this college football season is more top-heavy than a Playboy model. Truthfully, beyond the first nine or so teams, there really isn’t all that much to get excited about. After you get past Oregon and maybe Arkansas, there is a fall so steep that I’m pretty sure Dana Holgorsen might try to sky-dive into it.
Still, despite it, the OnsideKick.com Top 25 must go on.
Here’s the ballot I submitted yesterday, with a “notes,” section at the bottom, explaining all of my rankings.
Enjoy!
1. Alabama Crimson Tide (7-0, 4-0)
2. LSU Tigers (7-0, 4-0)
3. Oklahoma Sooners (6-0, 3-0)
4. Wisconsin Badgers (6-0, 2-0)
5. Boise State Broncos (6-0, 1-0)
6. Oklahoma State Cowboys (6-0, 3-0)
7. Clemson Tigers (7-0, 4-0)
8. Oregon Ducks (5-1, 3-0)
9. Stanford Cardinal (6-0, 4-0)
10. Arkansas Razorbacks (5-1, 1-1)
11. Kansas State Wildcats (6-0, 3-0)
12. Nebraska Cornhuskers (5-1, 1-1)
13. West Virginia Mountaineers (5-1, 1-0)
14. South Carolina Gamecocks (6-1, 4-1)
15. Virginia Tech Hokies (6-1, 2-1)
16. Michigan State Spartans (5-1, 2-0)
17. Michigan Wolverines (6-1, 2-1)
18. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (6-1, 3-1)
19. Auburn Tigers (5-2, 3-1)
20. Georgia Bulldogs (5-2, 4-1)
21. Arizona State Sun Devils (5-2, 3-1)
22. Houston Cougars (6-0, 2-0)
23. Washington Huskies (5-1, 3-0)
24. Illinois Fighting Illini (6-1, 2-1)
25. Texas A&M Aggies (4-2, 2-1)
Notes:
- First things first, I’d like to welcome three new teams into the poll, including Washington, which is making their first appearance all year.
I'd like to get more emotional about Washington's addition to the poll, but well, I think it might be a pretty short stay. The Huskies travel to Palo Alto to face Stanford this weekend, and just as quickly as they've entered the poll, they could make their way out of it too.
- The other two other new teams to this week’s poll are actually both "old" teams, with Auburn and Texas A&M rejoining us after a brief sabbatical.
For Auburn, I kept them out of the poll last week only because I felt like their two losses (to Arkansas, and to South Carolina, in a game which Stephen Garcia set back the quarterback position by at least 15 years), weren’t nearly as acceptable/explainable as Florida’s two losses, which just so happened to come against the top two teams in the country.
Still, with Auburn, it’s not just that they beat Florida head-to-head which put them back in the poll, but how they did it. I know it was ugly, and I know it was thanks to a bad day by Florida’s special teams, but still. I continue to be impressed with Gene Chizik’s ability to win close games, which at this point, is nothing short of phenomenal. Occasionally we see Chizik's teams lose against opponents who are just plain better than them talent wise (like Arkansas a few weeks ago). But we never see Auburn lose to anyone, ever because they're simply not prepared.
- On the opposite end of the spectrum, Baylor, Texas and Florida all dropped out of the poll this week.
Florida is explainable, and to a degree, so is Texas. As much as I think Mack Brown (and his staff), have this team going in the right direction, it’s hard to keep them ranked after back-to-back double-digit losses, especially when they don’t have a big win to hang their hats on. I mean seriously, who is the Longhorns best win? Iowa State? UCLA? I expect Texas to eventually make their way back in the Top 25, but still. It might be nice if they beat someone who'll eventually be bowl eligible first.
- Speaking of “they need to beat a team who might eventually get bowl eligible,” I present to you the Stanford Cardinal. Has there ever been a team that’s 7-0 (and 4-0 in conference) that we collectively know less about than this team? I can’t think of anyone.
Anyway, after moving Clemson ahead of them last week, I went ahead and bumped Oregon above them too. As I mentioned in my column yesterday, Oregon’s loss to LSU in Week 1 because more excusable by the day, and really, I think Oregon’s win over Arizona State Saturday was more impressive than anything Stanford has done so far this year.
Now, if Stanford beats Washington this coming weekend, I might reconsider. But until then…
- Teams who took a tumble this week include Michigan, Georgia Tech and Illinois, who all suffered their first losses of the season.
Really, ranking those three teams is like trying to rank your favorite Pauley Shore movie; essentially, I haven’t been very impressed with any of them. I actually think that Georgia Tech is the best of the three, but considering that Michigan’s best win (Northwestern) was on the road, as opposed to Tech’s at home (North Carolina), I gave the Wolverines a slight edge. Not that it matters much, since I expect each to have at least another 2-3 losses before the end of the regular season.
As for Illinois, I know some of you are probably wondering, “Hey fool, how can Illinois be ranked below Arizona State when they beat them head-to-head.” To which my response is, “Umm, did you see Illinois on Saturday?” Forget Ron Zook’s boner at the end of the game, how do you lose to a team…which completed one pass the ENTIRE GAME!!
How!
…HOW!!!!
- Staying in the Big Ten, and switching to teams that can complete passes, how about Michigan State? Was it just me, or did that team look really good Saturday?
Also, there’s this: With Wisconsin coming to town Saturday, and the rest of the Big Ten looking, ahem, mediocre, are the Spartans the last team standing between the Badgers going undefeated this season?
(Agree with the rankings? Disagree? Let me know by commenting below, or e-mailing in at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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