| 31 October 2011
According to my highly unscientific calculations, we are now roughly five days, four hours and 35 minutes until kickoff of LSU-Alabama. Or as I like it, “the game which might make the world spin off its axis.” Needless to say, it’s gonna be a fun one. So grab a seat and enjoy Saturday with Verne Lundquist.
Of course as it relates to this week’s OnsideKick.com Top 25, well, I’m not totally sure anyone cares (its ok, you can admit it. I already know what you’re thinking). With Clemson’s loss on Saturday night, we are officially down to six undefeated teams (including the 73-point scoring Houston Cougars) and a hodgepodge of one and two loss teams behind them. Which of course, makes my job fun. After all, if Team A beats Team B, and Team B beats C, and Team C beats Team A, well how the hell do you rank these teams? My point exactly.
Luckily it doesn’t matter right now. We’ve got No. 1 vs. No. 2 Saturday night, and that’s all anyone cares about right now. After that, everything else will get sorted out eventually.
1. LSU Tigers (8-0, 5-0)
2. Alabama Crimson Tide (8-0, 5-0)
3. Oklahoma State Cowboys (8-0, 5-0)
4. Stanford Cardinal (8-0, 6-0)
5. Boise State Broncos (7-0, 2-0)
6. Oregon Ducks (7-1, 4-1)
7. Clemson Tigers (8-1, 5-1)
8. Oklahoma Sooners (7-1, 4-1)
9. Arkansas Razorbacks (7-1, 3-1)
10. Nebraska Cornhuskers (7-1, 3-1)
11. Kansas State Wildcats (7-1, 4-1)
12. South Carolina Gamecocks (7-1, 5-1)
13. Virginia Tech Hokies (8-1, 4-1)
14. Michigan Wolverines (7-1, 3-1)
15. Georgia Bulldogs (6-2, 5-1)
16. Houston Cougars (8-0, 4-0)
17. Arizona State Sun Devils (6-2, 4-1)
18. Penn State Nittany Lions (8-1, 5-0)
19. Michigan State Spartans (6-2, 3-1)
20. USC Trojans (6-2, 3-2)
21. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (7-2, 4-2)
22. Cincinnati Bearcats (6-1, 2-0)
23. Wisconsin Badgers (6-2, 2-2)
24. West Virginia Mountaineers (6-2, 2-0)
25. Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (7-1, 3-1)
Notes:
- First things first, I want to give some disclosure and say that because of a nasty power outage, I watched virtually no football on Saturday. I saw about a quarter of Michigan State-Nebraska before my power went out, then went to the bar and caught a play or two of Oklahoma-Kansas State before their power went out, and then got to my family’s house to see the final few minutes of Georgia-Florida before their power went out. In other words, a lot like WAC Commissioner Karl Benson, I’m pretty much powerless.
(And if you’re wondering, yes, I’m more upset about missing the best weekend of college football this season, than I am that I don’t actually have power. Forget the downed power lines, and downed trees in my backyard. I wanted to see USC-Stanford!)
Anyway, with me seeing such little football this weekend, I ask that you please take these rankings with a grain of salt. If anything, feel free to chime in and tell me what I did right and wrong, and which teams I’ve misinterpreted.
Now, let’s get to the rankings.
- As I mentioned, one of my toughest tasks is trying to figure out what to make exactly of these ranked, one loss teams.
I’ve been saying for weeks that I think Oregon is probably the best one-loss tem in the country, and even as teams continue to fall, that seems to remain the case. After all, how bad can they be when their only loss was to LSU, on a neutral field? Could the Indianapolis Colts have even beaten the Bayou Bengals that night?
Speaking of which, I’ve got a question or ya’ll. As we all know, regardless of who wins Saturday, we’re going to be inundated with “should we get an LSU-Alabama rematch in the BCS title game. (For the sake of sanity, I’ll save my opinion on that for a later time.)
But let’s say hypothetically LSU wins this weekend, and wins out for the remainder of the season. Let’s say Oregon wins out too, beating Stanford and USC in the process, as well as Arizona State for a second time in the Pac-12 Championship Game. Given that Oregon lost to LSU on a neutral field, and Alabama would’ve lost to the Tigers in T-Town, how could anyone argue that Alabama is a more deserving one loss team than the Ducks? Especially since- given the average state of the rest of the SEC- the Tide’s schedule isn’t all that more impressive than what the Ducks’ would be (other than Arkansas and Penn State, could they finish the season without beating another ranked team? It’s possible, depending on how Auburn finishes up).
There’s plenty of football that stills needs to be played, but it’s a fun debate none the less.
- As for the rest of the one-loss teams, I gave Clemson the slight advantage to Clemson, courtesy of an otherwise pretty tough schedule. They still hold better wins overall than Arkansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas State, South Carolina and Michigan. Not to mention Penn State and Cincinnati.
By the way, did I mention that we’ve got a whole heck of a lot of one-loss teams right now? Has there ever been this many at this point in the season?
- Of all the one-loss teams, the toughest to rank in my opinion could very well be Arkansas.
I mean seriously, what do we do with Bobby Petrino’s boys? They’re 7-1, with their only loss coming in Tuscaloosa; a place that I’m pretty sure half of the NFC West couldn’t get a win. At the same time, they’ve looked God awful the last two weeks, and have nearly lost to two of the worst teams in the conference (Ole Miss and Vandy). Not to mention that if Tyler Wilson takes any more body shots, I’m pretty sure his kidneys may stop functioning.
Simply put, they’re not playing like the ninth best team in the country, but it’s hard to put most teams ahead of them. I think we learn a lot about the Hogs this weekend when they host South Carolina.
- I’m just gonna throw it out there: I have no idea what to make of Michigan.
Actually, I take that back. I have no idea what to make of the entire Big Ten.
- Speaking of which, hey, what about Penn State? Yes their defense is fantastic, but can anyone remember an uglier, less efficient offense on a team that is 7-1 at this point in the season? As I joked on Saturday, at this point, asking someone “What’s your favorite moment of the Matt McGloin era,” is a lot like asking someone “What’s your favorite communicable disease.” In other words, there probably isn’t one. Yet despite it all, the team is 7-1, and in position to… gulp, potentially go to the Rose Bowl.
And while we’re on the subject, let me throw one more thing out there: Let’s say Penn State had taken the safe route a few years ago, and rather than scheduling Alabama decided, “Ehh, screw it. The Big Ten is tough enough, we need an easy out of conference game to pad the schedule.” Had that happened, we could literally be looking at a 9-0 Penn State team that’s in the mix for a BCS National Championship Game spot.
Unbelievable, huh?
- Wrapping up, I’d like to go ahead and welcome the Southern Miss Golden Eagles to the poll for the first time, as they enter at No. 25. Currently, Southern Miss is 7-1, and is setting up for an interesting Conference USA Championship Game with Houston.
Speaking of “Houston,” could Larry Fedora be angling his way to Nutt’s job down at Ole Miss? Would be an interesting scenario, I must admit.
- And finally, “Fight on,” to USC, who I suspect played the game of their lives Saturday night at the Coliseum. Again, I didn’t get to watch the game, but anyone who knows me, knows I’ve got a soft spot for Lane Kiffin. And even with the loss, it was hard for me to drop them out of this poll, after losing to an undefeated top five team. they held strong at No. 20.
Quietly, I think Kiffin is doing one of the better coaching jobs in college football.
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