My first Top 25 of the year came out last week. Unfortunately, my blog did not yet exist. Numbers in parentheses indicate previous rankings in my poll, not the official polls. My summations in these posts will be year-in-recap summaries, which I feel will help to justify my rankings. Note about this week: Because of the missed posting for last week's Top 25, I've essentially taken the recap that I had typed for last week and added an additional sentence in some cases. This is where I most invite the debate I previously mentioned. KRiv69: I'm looking squarely at you!
1. (1) LSU: Smacked around Oregon and West Virginia, stifled Mississippi St.
2. (3) Alabama: Convincing win against Penn St. Smacked around Arkansas and Florida.
3. (2) Oklahoma: Tulsa comfortably, then Florida St. and Mizzou.
4. (7) Clemson: I'd hate to have to play in Death Valley, SC. Consecutive upsets against Auburn and Florida St. But then on the road and smacking around Virginia Tech?! Might Tahj Boyd be in the chatter of Heisman hopefuls?
5. (4) Boise St.: Beat UGA by 14, routs in everything else. Despite not having lots of big results against big names, I still believe they can run with anybody.
6. (5) Oklahoma St.: Rolled Arizona and Tulsa, outlasted Texas A&M.
7. (11t). Wisconsin: Russell Wilson favorite for Heisman? The only thing that could keep the Badgers out of the Rose Bowl Game might be a BCS title game invite.
8. (7) Stanford: Rolling in every game, but no big names save for Arizona on the résumé so far.
9. (10) Oregon: Gotta love the Ducks, but they still can't handle a strong D.
10. (14) Georgia Tech: Beat UNC by 7. You wanna know how dangerous the triple option can be. Ask Turner Gill at Kansas after giving up 604 rushing yards.
11. (9) Florida: Tennessee by 10. Three cupcake games combined score of 128-13. Smacked around by 'Bama, but the Tide is a beast, you can't hate on that loss too much.
12. Texas (18): The near-loss to BYU is still looming in my head. ... But you've gotta love the way they handled upstart Iowa State.
13. (13) Virginia Tech: Powerful team, but hasn't played anyone yet. They've won but failed to cover against all three FBS teams they've played this year ... make that four. I guess Clemson is for real. Definitely a good team,but not even close to elite level. With the losses this week, they move up one in spite of the loss to Clemson. #Rare
14. (16) Illinois: Possibly the surprise of the year. That was one heck of a comeback against Northwestern this weekend: down 28-10 in the third quarter and pulling out a win. Memo to RG3: you might not be the only Heisman darkhorse. Keep your eyes on Illinois' QB Sheelhaase (somehow pronounced "Scheelhouz").
15. (15) Arizona St.: Beat Mizzou, hammered USC. I guess Dennis Erickson really wants to keep his job. The hot seat is cooling off.
16. (17) Michigan: After last season, how can Shoelace still be running over people? I'd rank them higher if their D can prove themselves against stiffer competition.
17. (22) Auburn: Survived a week 1 scare against Utah St. Defeated Mississippi St. but suffered a convincing loss to Clemson. Defeated South Carolina in a close game of which I predicted "the ineptitude is too close to call." They're in my 25, but I have reservations about that.
18. (11t) Nebraska: Chugging along, but hasn't played anyone yet. Welcome to the Big Ten. I guess Wisconsin wanted to establish themselves as the big brother in the conference.
19. (6) South Carolina: Beat UGA and Navy, sizeable win over upstart Vanderbilt. However, they looked atrocious in the loss to Auburn. Garcia was supposed to be the savior. Why else would you bring someone back from five suspensions?
20. (20) Baylor: Three words: R-G-3 [sic]. No hangover after the shootout win aginst TCU. I can't hate on the Bears after their loss to K-State. It was only by 1, they're playing lights out, and K-State is 4-0 and has a win over Miami this year, which included a "put up or shut up" last-second goalline stand.
21. (24) Florida St.: The definition of why I hate preseason polls. You have to like the talent and recruiting classes, but they played a cupcake, and FCS team, and failed to deliver in against Oklahoma and Clemson.
22. (NR) West Virginia: Don't sleep on QB Geno Smith and Dana Holgorsen's high-powered offense. Eeked out a win against Maryland and saw that LSU was the real deal.
23. (NR) Arkansas: Still in awe that A&M blew that big of a halftime lead two weeks in a row. Very impressive comeback by the Razorbacks. Only one loss on the year, but was destroyed by Bama in that game.
24. (NR): Kansas St.: "Put up or shut up" goalline stand against Miami? First pick of the year against RG3? I feel like that's enough said.
25. (NR) Houston: 5-0. Absolutely soft schedule so far, but 5-0 is 5-0.
Also-rans:
- Notre Dame: I truly believe Notre Dame to be a top 15 to 20 team, but they haven't preformed well this year, with penalties and turnovers galore, thus they're not in my 25.
- Michigan St. Big loss to ND hurts. Could Sparty actually be rooting for ND until they play some big games?
- Vanderbilt: has played well this season. Lost last week, but playing 'Bama next week will show if they're for real, Penn St.: I can't hate on a 4-1 record with the only loss being to 'Bama, but I can hate on how they got there. A last-minute TD to beat Temple and a 16-10 win against Indiana?
- Missouri: 2-2 but their 2 losses came against Oklahoma and Arizona St. by a combined 17 points. also ran
- SMU: What keeps them as an also-ran is how A&M has played the last 2 weeks.
No comments:
Post a Comment