College Football: The Top 10

No one can complain

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 03:55:00 +0000

It's amazing that we can go through this BCS mess every year and nothing changes. Some say Michigan got robbed and some say Florida obviously deserves it, but most rational people admit they have no idea.

I think Pat Forde gets it right in his article. He says no one knows which team deserves to go, but everyone thinks that the way it worked itself out was messed up. Last night Kirk Herbstreit was screaming about how people didn't really think Florida was the second best team, but they voted them in anyway because they didn't want to see a rematch.

It's a good point, but Chris Suellentrop makes a interesting argument in his blog. He says that even playoff systems don't necessarily pit the two best teams against each other in the final game, because many times the two best teams play in the earlier rounds. However, no one complains because every good team gets a shot.

In college football the entire season is your shot. No team who has a loss should complain about not getting to the title game. If you lost a game, you blew your chance. You had a shot at the beginning of the season to win every game and you didn't. If you do go in spite of a loss, consider it a gift.

Two years ago Auburn went undefeated and didn't go to the championship game. They had a legitimate reason to complain. They won every game they played against a tough schedule and got unlucky in the end. This year, Michigan had their shot and blew it. Likewise, Florida had their shot and blew it. They just got lucky. The only team that really earned a trip to Glendale is Ohio State.

Tommy Tuberville is right

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 14:36:00 +0000

Although he ate his own words soon after he said them, I have to agree with what Tommy Tuberville said a long, long time ago. Before Auburn lost to LSU, he said he didn't think any SEC team would be able to make it to the national championship game without a playoff system.

After watching this season, I have to agree with him.

The SEC is the toughest conference this year. There is no argument about this. They beat each other up, they lose to each other, they make each other look bad. This is not the way to produce a national championship team.

Look at Florida this year, for example. They've had what everyone has considered to be the toughest schedule in the nation, they only lost one game, and yet they're not even in the discussion to go to the BCS championship. Why? Because they haven't looked "good" in any of thier big games. They've sqeaked by but continued to win.

If you need an example, look at Gene Wojciechowski's column. In it, he talks about how ridiculous it is to pick between USC and Michigan to go to the national championship game based on style points. Yet, in the same article, he dismisses Florida, saying he hopes they don't "squirm in" to the big game. Wait, so they played the hardest schedule in the country and have the same record as USC, but if they make it in it would be ridiculous?

I'm not saying that I think Florida is better than USC or Michigan. I don't know. What I'm saying is that they don't have the same opportunities to make themselves look good as Michigan or Ohio State because they play so many tough games.

If you want to go to a national championship, schedule yourself 2 or 3 tough games and to look legitimate and then a bunch of mediocre games to make yourself look good. Definitely don't play in the SEC.

No wonder the Big Ten and the PAC Ten go to the national championship so often.

Why the BCS Exists

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 04:42:00 +0000

Every year in college football, without fail, we have a BCS controversy. Every year some team screams, often deservedly so, about how they deserve to go to the national championship game but don't get a chance. Although this list will be whittled down, this year you have USC, Michigan, Florida, Arkansas and Notre Dame clamoring for one spot.

No one is surprised by it. We would actually be shocked if there was no controversy. And we would be right. The only situation in which there would be no controversy in the BCS is if two teams from major conferences with good schedules have undefeated records. Any other scenario and you have multiple teams with good arguments.

So if this happens every year, why doesn't it change?

The answer, of course, is money. Don't listen to schools talking about saving their students from extra games and distractions. They don't care.

In this fantastic blog post from the University of Illinois' Business Law Society, the author explains very clearly why the BCS remains in place even though everybody wants a playoff system. Basically, the current system allows the major conferences to control who goes to the big bowl games and keeps them in their superior position. No teams from mid-major conferences can win the national championship, and the major conferences want to keep it that way.

While I agree that this is the way the BCS conferences think, I disagree with their conclusions. The author of the post says that if there was a playoff system, the smaller conferences would eventually catch up to the big boys, like in college basketball. I have a couple of issues with that.

First, football is a different animal than basketball. Any team can get hot and take down a better team in basketball. That doesn't happen in football.

Second, a playoff system in football would still be very small and elite, and would allow the conferences to keep their power position. If only eight teams fight it out for the national championship, how is it that different than what happens now? We know who the top eight teams are, and none of them are from small conferences (sorry, Boise State). I don't think that if those top eight teams all played each other it would have any effect on the smaller conferences.

Honestly, there's no way the small schools catch up with the big boys. Football is just too expensive. I actually think that the increased revenue from the hype of a playoff system and the extra games would actually make more money for the big schools and conferences.

I just wish the BCS conferences thought like I do.

The Apocolypse Is Upon Us

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 14:51:00 +0000

Welcome to the Apocolypse, the game we've all been waiting for for the last six weeks. Tomorrow, No.1 Ohio State will play No.2 Michigan in what I think is the biggest regular season college football I have ever seen. Based on the ridiculous amount of coverage ESPN is giving it, I think they agree with me. Check out this page for a look at everything they've got to offer.

Here at the Top 10, I'm focused on what this game means for the rest of the people in the championship race. Many people around the country are clamoring for a rematch of this game in the national championship in Glendale. Their argument makes a lot of sense.

These two teams have obviously been the best two in college football this year, so why should one of them get dropped below another one-loss team if they lose. It shouldn't matter when you lose in the season, you need to look at the season as a whole.

Maybe these people are right, and it shouldn't matter when you lose. But it just does. Teams are playing different football in the early weeks than they are at the end of the season (check out Arkansas). If you are in the national championship hunt at the end of the year and you lose a huge game, then I don't think you deserve another shot. You need to take care of business.

In this excellent article by Pat Forde, Jim Tressel (Ohio State's coach) agrees with me. He says is you don't win your conference, you don't deserve to go the big game. It's about stepping up to the plate and earning a chance to play for the championship. It's the chance the Louisville blew last week against Rutgers.

Anyway, I like the Buckeyes tomorrow. They're at home.

What Just Happened? part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 19:55:00 +0000

Let's go over the rest of the teams that still have a chance:

Florida- Believe me, a lot of people in the Gator Nation are ticked that USC jumped Florida in the BCS. They have a good point. USC barely scraped by some of the bottom-dwelling PAC-10 teams earlier in the year, and lost to Oregon State. While the Gators have played a much tougher schedule, they have looked pretty pathetic in the last few weeks. I don't think either team deserves to be No. 3. That honor should go to...

Arkansas- Amazingly enough, these guys look like the best team in the SEC right now. They are dominating games with a versatile running attack. I know they lost to USC earlier in the year, but that wasn't the same team. Darren McFadden didn't even play. They've got their toughest competition coming up in LSU and then Florida. But the way they're playing right now, they deserve to be No. 3.

Notre Dame- You think Rutgers has an easy schedule? After the Irish play Army on Saturday, they will have played all three military schools, North Carolina, and Stanford. This happens every year, but they always end up ranked higher than they should. There's no way they should be No. 4. If they actually beat USC in the last week and go to the national championship game over Michigan, Ohio State or an SEC school, I don't know what I'll do.

Rutgers- There's no way the polls will let the Scarlet Knights get to Glendale. Still, if they beat West Virginia, I can't wait to see what happens when they get to their bowl game. Will they be like Utah two years ago where this little school comes in and whoops up on a major conference team? I hope so. Go Scarlet Knights!

What Just Happened?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 14:46:00 +0000

Last week I talked about how this season seemed like one of the craziest, most confusing college football seasons in recent memory. That was before four national title contenders went down in flames in one long weekend. Louisville, Auburn, Texas and Cal all blew their chances for the big game. Like this story from ESPN.com says, that's why they play all the games.

So this season is definitely crazy, but hopefully the national title race has become a little less confusing. Let's take a look at the surviving national championship hopefuls in the Top 10 and their chances to win it all.

Ohio State/Michigan- The winner of the Apocolypse game on Saturday will go to the big game in Glendale, but the question is whether the loser deserves a rematch. Many people around the country argue that if the game is close, both teams should get a chance to play it again. I'm going to be writing a more comprehensvie answer to this question in my next blog post, so I'll wait a few days to offer my opinion.

USC- USC seemed effectively out of the national title discussions after their loss to Oregon State, but now everyone, including the BCS, loves them again. They're the No. 3 team in the country after a big win against Oregon. I have to say that I'm still not convinced. If they can get through Cal, UCLA and Notre Dame, maybe I'll come around.

We'll finish the rest of the teams tomorrow...

My Playoffs

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 14:56:00 +0000

How about them Scarlet Knights? I stopped watching at halftime and didn't even find out they had won until the game was over. Check out this story from ESPN in case you missed it, too.

This puts the BCS in a ridiculous spot, because I don't think Rutgers has enough steam to get past the big one-loss teams, and there are so many of them that look good. Which leads us to the point I made earlier this week: college football needs a playoff system.

If I was going to make a college football playoff system, I would go with the eight-team playoff. You don't even have to change the current ranking system, which already makes the top eight teams go to BCS bowls. Just have those teams play each other. I like the system because if there were 16 teams it would take too long, and if there were only four teams then I think it there would still be lots of controversy.

People say that playoffs would make the regular season less meaningful, but I don't see that. If that's a huge concern, the four-team system might actually work better.

The only real obstacle to this is the conferences thinking that they will lose money. All these excuses about not wanting to take up too much of the students' time is complete crap. It's all about the money. But I don't see how a playoff system doesn't make more money. There are more big games than just the four BCS ones, and it would be such a huge deal.

So please, for everyone's sake, let's make a playoff system.

We Need Playoffs!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 14:32:00 +0000

In his most recent column, Mark Schlabach at ESPN.com defends the Big East and decries what he sees as a double standard in college football. He makes an excellent point. Why is it that last year's championship game was 41-38 and everyone said it was a fantastic game, and this year's West Virginia vs. Louisville game was 44-34, and everyone (including me) said it was an example of bad defense? Louisville's coach Bobby Petrino said people were looking to find something to complain about. In this case it was the defense, but if there were only a few points scored people would have complained about the offense.

Obviously football fans do this because we have no way of knowing who would beat who. I still stand by my statement that Michigan, Ohio State, or any of the top SEC teams would beat Louisville. But could I be wrong? Absolutely. I'm basing my judgement off of what I've seen these teams do on the field and how good I thought their opponents were. A lot of that has to do with my preconceived notions from the beginning of the season.

In another article on ESPN.com, Ivan Maisel writes that it seems harder to figure out who the good teams are than any other year. I think he's right.

We all thought that the Big East was a joke before the season, but they've been beating a lot of teams from other conferences. However, most of those games were against some of the weakest teams in those conferences.

We all thought the SEC was ridiculously strong before the season, but they've looked pretty ugly this year. Is that because their defenses are so good that they make each other look ugly or because they're just not as good as we thought?

There's no way to know the answers to these questions until it's too late. If Louisville goes to the championship game and gets stomped, people (like me) will say that they never belonged there in the first place. But if they go to a lesser bowl game and look really good, then we will say that they should have been able to play for the title. Either way, it's too late to change it.

There's only one solution. I haven't written about it all year because sports fans beat this topic to death, but I just can't help it this week:

College football needs a playoff system!

Congratulations, Cardinals

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 16:33:00 +0000

I have to offer my congratulations to the Louisville Cardinals for winning probably the biggest football game in school history last night. They got some breaks and took advantage of them, and, unlike last year, their offense stepped to put the game out of reach toward the end. The offense looked dyamic, the crowd looked excited, and it was a lot of fun to watch.

Congratualtions are owed to the Big East as well. I was as down on them as anyone at the beginning of the year, but I admit I was wrong. This isn't the worst BCS conference in football. At the very least, they are above the ACC, and you could make the case that they're better than the PAC-10 and the Big-12 as well.

However...

I have to say there's still no way I'm buying into the hype that these guys belong in the national championship game. I have one word for you: defense. Where was the defense last night? Sure the offenses looked unstoppable, but both defenses looked just porous last night. It seemed like every play each team ran went for at least 10 yards.

I'm sorry to rain on the Big East's big day but there is no way any of the teams in that conference are competing with Michigan, Ohio State, Florida, Auburn or Tennesse. Niether Louisville, West Virginia or Rutgers have seen a defense that came come close to running as fast or hitting as hard as those teams.

Check out this post by the guys at Her Loyal Sons, who have some great stats about Louisville's defense and strength of schedule. Although it is ironic that Irish fans are complaining about how easy another team's schedule is.

The 1-Loss Logjam

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 02:53:00 +0000

After last weekend, dubbed "Comeback Saturday" by many, the landscape of college football didn't change much. That includes the ridiculously long amount of quality teams with only one loss.

While the two best teams in the country are as clear as day (as I wrote on Monday), sorting through the glut of all the one-loss teams is murky business. Pat Forde from ESPN has a great overview of every one of these teams, but I'm here to offer up my opinions.

Here's the list of the top one-loss teams from worst to first:

8. Clemson- This shouldn't count because as I'm writing they're 3 minutes away from being a two-loss team. Thanks for making my decision easy, Tigers.

7. Cal- Come on, they play in the Pac 10. Still, they've got some great athletes and have the best chance to take down the "We're lucky to be undefeated" Trojans.

6. Notre Dame- You've got to respect a team that finds a way to win, however ugly they may be. Bonus points for their only loss coming to dominant Michigan.

5. Arkansas- Currently ranked No. 1 in the SEC, but with some tough games to get through. I say they don't sneak up on anyone and fall to either LSU, Tennessee or both.

4. Texas- Last week I would have put them at No. 3, but the Cornhuskers made them look very beatable on Saturday. So beatable that they had to be handed the game on a platter.

3. Tennessee- Their only loss was a one-point heartbreaker to a tough Gators team. The Vols could finish the season with just the one loss, assuming Fulmer can beat Spurrier this weekend (I think he will).

2. Florida- It's a credit to them that they have come out of this stretch of games with only one loss. Still, I can't pick them over...

1. Auburn- Beating the Gators took the Tiger's season 180 degrees. What a statement game, to come out and beat your biggest opponent after a devastating home loss. If Arkansas loses a couple (very possible), look for a rematch between Florida and Auburn in the SEC title game.

The Big Two

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 18:05:00 +0000

It's nice that, for the first time this season, the two best teams in college football hold the top two spots in every major poll. With Michigan moving to No. 2 in the BCS, the Buckeyes and Wolverines are the undisputed heavyweights of the country.

You have to give credit to Michigan and Ohio State. These two schools have been the only teams to look truly dominating for the entire year. USC should have lost two games by this point. West Virginia and Louisville haven't played anyone. And all the top SEC teams have beaten each other.

While the SEC may be the toughest conference to get through unscathed, the Big Ten isn't exactly a cakewalk. But Michigan and Ohio State have played well every week, showing almost no signs of weakness. Ohio State started at No. 1, won a huge game over Texas, and hasn't looked back. Michigan is playing well in every aspect of the game, even though the cast hasn't changed much from last year's 7-5 team. Read Pat Forde's article about Michigan for a look at how they're doing it.

And the best part about it is that they both stand in each other's way.

Nov. 18, when the two meet in Columbus, should be the biggest regular season game in a long time. Not only will it be No. 1 vs. No. 2, but it also happens to be the biggest rivalry in college football.

Let's just call it Armageddon.

BCS Rankings Unveiled

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 05:53:00 +0000

The Bowl Championship Series released its rankings on Sunday, giving college fans another list to debate over. I will gladly join the fray. Here's the list on ESPN.com with all of the computer rankings and such, but the simple list goes like this:

1. Ohio State
2. USC
3. Michigan
4. Auburn
5. West Virginia
6. Florida
7. Louisville
8. Notre Dame
9. Texas
10. Cal

No big shockers in the placement of the first three teams, but I was surprised that the computers picked USC as the No.1 team. Only something that doesn't actually watch games could pick this Trojans team as the best in the country. These guys just barely got past Arizona St., who had one of the worst defenses in the country going into the game.

The big differences in the BCS rankings and the AP rankings are Auburn, Florida and Texas. The Tigers and the Gators both found much more favor in the BCS than in the AP. Florida is a situation where the computers' objectivity comes in handy, as voters always knock teams that come off big losses down too far. Auburn is also loving the computers this year, coming in at a surprising No. 4. Not bad for a team that was ranked No. 11 in the AP poll last week.

The one team that's really not happy with the BCS right now is Texas. Ranked a lowly No.9 in the BCS, the Longhorns are four spots down from their No. 5 perch in the AP, which will make it tough to compete for a national title.

And just for the record, I will still be counting the AP poll as my official list of the Top 10 teams, even though it doesn't factor into the BCS picture this year. Call me old school, but I'm going with the poll that everyone has looked at for the past 80 years.

The Dominant SEC

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 13:53:00 +0000

Another Saturday, another big SEC matchup. Why is it that every gameday for the last four weeks there has been a big game in the Southeastern Conference to talk about?

That would be because the SEC has more quality teams than any other conference in the nation. In this week's Sports Illustrated cover story (which isn't currently on the web), Phil Taylor makes the case for the SEC's supremacy.

This conference has six teams in the Top 25, far more elite teams than any other conference. The parity in the South is ridiculous, and typically causes national championship hopes to fall, because there's just so many tough games to play. Even the next tier down from the elite teams, including South Carolina and Kentucky, aren't that bad. The SEC has a 26-7 record against nonconference opponents.

Put that in the context of a conference with more NFL prospects than any other and the top four defenses in points allowed per game, and it's just hard to go undefeated. The Gators in particular have a tough road, playing every top team except for Arkansas, who they might meet in the SEC title game.

For this week, I'm picking Florida over Auburn, even though they're on the road. Auburn just looked too shaky last week, even though scout.com diesagrees.

Wild Week 6

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 12:36:00 +0000

Finally, six weeks into the season, we have our first big upset. Auburn loses to Arkansas in a game that absolutely no one saw coming, with the exception of the Razorbacks. Arkansas' route of the No. 2 team in the country was the biggest upset of the season and threw the Top 10 rankings (not to mention the SEC rankings) for a loop.

Eight teams have new spots in the Top 10, and three teams (Auburn, LSU and Georgia) dropped out completely. Does three SEC teams falling out of the Top 10 mean this conference was overrated? I don't think so, I think it just goes to show the parity and depth of football being played in the SEC. Either LSU or Florida had to lose, as they played each other, and Tennessee took over Georgia's spot with a huge win over the Bulldogs in Athens.

Not only was Florida's win over LSU impressive, but now their win over Tennessee looks even better. Their two-quarterback system is running smoothly (read about it at ESPN.com), and their defense looks formidable. Voters responded by moving them from No. 5 to No. 2, the fourth No. 2 team this year. USC stays at third with an unimpressive win against Washington, while Michigan jumps over West Virginia to grab the No. 4 spot.

No. 8 Tennessee, No. 9 Notre Dame, and No. 10 Cal are the newcomers to the Top 10 this week. Let's see how long they can stay.

Proving ground in the SEC

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 13:46:00 +0000

It's time to see how good some of these SEC teams really are. Here's my predictions for Saturday:

No. 9 LSU at No. 5 Florida
Florida's schedule is beyond ridiculous this year. Besides playing every good team in the hardest conference in the nation, these next three weeks have them playing three Top 10 teams. LSU will probably pose their toughest challenge so far. The Tigers' defense has looked nasty, especially their front four. JaMarcus Russell looks very impressive as well. But, as scout.com points out, apart from Auburn, LSU hasn't played a single quality opponent.

While many of the experts at ESPN and elsewhere picked the Tigers, I like the Gators in this one, for the simple fact that the game is in the Swamp.

No. 13 Tennessee at No. 10 Georgia
This is another game where each team can prove how good it really is. Georgia's offense has looked impotent in their last two games, so we'll see how they play against a big, fast Tennesse D. This is the Bulldogs' first chance to really make a statement to the country.

Tennessee is another team that is hard to judge just how good they are. Against Cal they look amazing, then Air Force nearly embarasses them, then they play tough in a close loss to Florida. I expect the Vols to take this game from Georgia, because Ainge is coming into his own and Georgia can't find a quarterback to save their life.

Predictions for Saturday

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 05:30:00 +0000

Three Top 10 teams have moderately difficult challenges this week, so let's take a look at them.

No. 1 Ohio State at No. 13 Iowa
This is going to be one of Ohio State's biggest challenges this year. If they can take care of Iowa, the only teams to worry about are Michigan State and Michigan. Personally, I think the Buckeyes looked weak against Penn State last week. I don't care about Troy Smith's crazy play or his "poise;" his numbers stunk (115 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT) and he needs to look better this week to win the Heisman.

Ohio State's defense has been nothing but impressive, but this might be their biggest test yet. Iowa's Drew Tate knows what he's doing and also knows that this is the biggest game of his career.

I don't think Ohio State is as good as they're cracked up to be, but I don't think Iowa is either. This one goes to the Buckeyes.

No. 2 Auburn at South Carolina
Road wins in the SEC are always tough to come by. Auburn's defense has looked extremely tough so far but their offense has not. While South Carolina doesn't look like much on paper, it's never a good idea to count out the Ol' Ball Coach when he's playing at home.

I think the difference here is Kenny Irons. Auburn's star running back transferred from South Carolina and has an extra incentive in this game. Add to that the fact that he is coming up against a less than stellar defense and we might be looking at a huge day for No. 23 and a win for the Tigers.

No. 5 Florida at Alabama
Florida has the nation's toughest stretch of games coming up with Alabama, LSU, Auburn and Georgia all in a row. The College Gameday announcers said the Gators' schedule this year is possibly the hardest one in the history of college football.

Alabama should be the easiest team for the Gators to take down for several reasons. One, they're at home. Two, they have the incentive after getting whupped by Alabama last year. Three, Alabama isn't the same team they were last year. I don't see the Gators making it through this stretch undefeated, but I don't think that loss will come against the Crimson Tide.

For more in-depth analysis of these games, check out these scout.com articles:
Big 10 Predictions
SEC Predictions

Freshmen-crazed fans

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 13:26:00 +0000

The only change in the Top 10 this week was No.10 Georgia switching spots with No. 9 LSU. Georgia fans can thank highly touted freshmen quarterback Matthew Stafford for this drop in prestige. The blue chip recruit threw for just 76 yards on 8-of-16 passing and lost a fumble against winless Colorado. The Bulldogs needed redshirt freshman Joe Cox to come in and save the game for them.

As Brad Edwards writes at the end of this ESPN.com article, fans love to place all of their hopes on big name recruits at quarterback. They see them as the solution to all of their offensive woes, even though true freshman quarterbacks typically struggle in their first year.

The harsher truth is that even if one of these blue chippers does well later in his career, fans can still forget their old trust and latch on to the next big thing. Take the example of Chris Leak and Tim Tebow at Florida. Four years ago Leak was the golden boy, the top high school quarterback in the nation. Now, Leak is a senior Heisman candidate who leads the nation in touchdown passes. So who do Gators fans want to see at quarterback? That would be Tim Tebow, the running wonderboy. On Saturday Florida fans booed Leak after he replaced Tebow during a drive in the second half.

I just hope, for Tebow's sake, that Florida doesn't recruit a blue chip quarterback until after he graduates, or the same thing could be happening in three years.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 13:36:00 +0000

Without any huge games to preview for this weekend, I thought I'd give my list of conference rankings. Starting with the worst conference...

6. Big East
I know that everyone (inlcuding ESPN.com's Jim Donnan) is down on the ACC and the Big 12 right now, but come on. Everyone knows that this conference is a half step away from being the Sun Belt. I give West Virginia and especially Louisville credit, and Rutgers is having a feel-good time so far. But after that this conference's quality drops off like a cliff.

5. ACC
This is not the ACC's year. Their normal powerhouses FSU and Miami are falling apart, and only Virginia Tech and Boston College have held their own this year. Currently they have an abysmal record 2-5 record against other BCS conferences. It's so bad that I almost considered making them last, but I think by the end of the year they'll improve.

4. Big 12
I can't believe I'm putting them behind the PAC 10, but they were 0-6 last week in non-conference play. I know that includes Oklahoma being robbed in Oregon, but 0-6 is indefensible. Even they're top teams, Texas and Nebraska, have lost to other top teams.

3. PAC 10
Only ranked this high because all the other conferences are stinking it up and they have USC.

2. Big 10
The top two conferences are far above any of the other ones. It's not even worth talking about them other than compared to the SEC, but...

1. SEC
I've got to give the no. 1 spot to the conference with the best top to botom quality. The SEC has four teams in the top ten, and that's not including Tennessee, South Carolina, Alabama, or Arkansas. The only knock on this conference is that they might be too strong, so that no team is going to come out undefeated.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 12:54:00 +0000

Well, at least Separation Saturday lived up the the hype. With some major games came some major changes in the AP Top 10.

Notre Dame dropped out of the Top 10 completely with their "shocking" loss to Michigan (which I called). Michigan jumped all the way up to no. 6, and on ESPN SportsNation users even voted them in at no.4. LSU dropped from no. 6 to no. 10 in a tough loss to Auburn, and the bottom fell out for FSU as they wind up at no. 18 after an embarrassment against Clemson.

As it stands now, this is what the AP Top 10 looks like, with my personal Top 10 rankings beside it:

AP: Me:
1. Ohio State 1. Ohio State
2. Auburn 2. Auburn
3. USC 3. USC
4. West Virginia 4. Florida
5. Florida 5. Michigan
6. Michigan 6. West Virginia
7. Texas 7. Louisville
8. Louisville 8. Georgia
9. Georgia 9. Texas
10. LSU 10. LSU

I feel like West Virginia is living off of what they did last year. So far they have played Marshall, Eastern Washington and Maryland, so I'm putting them below Florida and Michigan, both of whom have now beaten quality opponents on the road. I'm tempted to stick Louisville ahead of them as well after seeing what the Cardinals did to Miami.

Speaking of Miami, they and the rest of the ACC are totally out of the Top 10 (although Virginia Tech is no. 11). It's not looking like a pretty year for the Atlantic Coast Conference, as Chris Clark writes in his blog from a Raleigh radio station.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 13:49:00 +0000

Reggie Bush

With everyone excited about what ESPN.com has dubbed, "Separation Saturday," a black cloud has formed on the horizon for USC. In a report filed last night by Yahoo! Sports, it appears that Reggie Bush and his family received benefits from potential agents totaling over $100,000. The story seems pretty straightforward and clear, even though Yahoo! Sports has never had anything this exclusive before. The NCAA is currently investigating the situation.

Since the infractions go all the way back to 2004, USC could potentially lose its national championship, and Bush might lose his Heisman Trophy. This would be a huge blow to USC, who has been marching through college football since Pete Carroll took over, and could drastically affect the top ten. We’ll see if this affects their play today against Nebraska.

This blog brings up the point that Bush has almost nothing to lose at this point, while USC stands to lose quite a lot, even though they might have had nothing to do with Bush’s decisions. He says that the NCAA should cut a deal with the NFL to allow players to be suspended, but there’s pretty much no chance of that happening. Plus, the loss of a Heisman Trophy seems like a decent punishment to me.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 13:14:00 +0000

Welcome to College Football: The Top 10, where each week I'll be looking the at the top ten schools in the AP poll, why they're ranked the way they are, and what the current issues are the might affect the landscape of the top ten.

Was there a major game on Saturday the changed the outlook of the national championship race? Come here to get some analysis and discuss it. Why are the teams currently ranked the way they are, and does anyone really think that West Virginia deserves the #5 spot? This is the place to read about and discuss these things.

For this week, it's a little late to talk about the whole Ohio State-Texas thing. So everyone agrees Ohio State is now the definitive #1. Sounds good. Instead let's take a look at what a big day next Saturday is.

Here's the major games for the top 10:
#11 Michigan at #2 Notre Dame
#6 LSU at #3 Auburn
#19 Nebraska at #4 USC
#7 Florida at #13 Tennessee

ESPN writer Mark Schlabach did a great job analzying what this day means to the SEC, so check it out. Personally, I can't wait to see what if Notre Dame deserved their jump to the #2 spot last week. Most are calling Michigan a lame duck this year, but I have a feeling Notre Dame is in for their first real test of the season.