One more week in the books and Notre Dame still keeps you wondering if they're for real.  At times inconsistent and at other times brilliant the Irish managed a big comeback to take down the Spartans Saturday scoring 19 points in the fourth quarter.  What will the next week bring?  Here are my top 10 for week 5.

1. Auburn - The Tigers are still my pick for the top spot.  Call me a bit biased but the SEC is just too strong and Auburn is the best team in the conference on any side of the ball.  They had a week off against Buffalo and Saturday should be no different.  They face a South Carolina team that got shut out by Georgia and only beat Wofford by a TD.

Prediction: Auburn 38  South Carolina 10

2. Ohio State - The Ohio State University is an amazing team with a quarterback that is making NFL scouts drool.  Troy Smith has to be the frontrunner for the Heisman so far and one need only look at his stat line to understand why.  Next week won't be easy as they travel to Iowa, also undefeated, and Smith will have his hands full.  He handled Penn State at home and proved that he could win the big game when he took the team into Texas where they manhandled the horns.  I expect them to run the table until they come up against Michigan in November.

Prediction: Ohio State 17 Iowa 14

3. Michigan - Michigan steamrolled Wisconsin who usually gives them a tough game.  Chad Henne didn't look great throwing 3 interceptions but somehow they still managed to win by two TD's.  The Wolverines should have no problem next week when they go into Minneapolis to take on the Golden Gophers.

Prediction: Michigan 34 Minnesota 24

4. USC - They managed to beat Arizona after a slow start but that is typical USC football. Booty is a young QB and while the team is loaded with talent I don't think that he'll be able to bring them out of that brutal three game stretch against Oregon, Cal, and Notre Dame unscathed.  This week, however, they will demolish Washington State.

Prediction: USC 42 Washington State 7

5. Florida - The Gators have the opportunity to prove to the world that they're great starting next week against the Crimson Tide.  For the Tide, it will be their first true test of the season after choking against Arkansas last week.  Can the Tide defense stop Leak from throwing the ball all over the field? Probably not.  I plan on posting a bigger analysis of this game later this week.  After the Tide, Urban Meyer gets to take on LSU, Auburn at Jordan-Hare, and finally Georgia.  If his offense is going to work in big time college football, now is the time to prove it.  With a veteran quarterback who is in contention for the Heisman, the only excuse for Urban Meyer's system not working will be...well...Urban Meyer.

Prediction: Florida 34 Alabama 17

6. West Virginia - As highly touted as the Mountaineers have been one would've thought that they would've destroyed East Carolina.  While they did beat them by 17 points, a blowout by any measure of the chains, it probably should have been a lot more.  They'll go undefeated until they take on Louisville at least.

Prediction: bye week

7. Louisville - While Kansas State is a mere shadow of what it used to be a few years ago, it is still very promising for Cardinals fans that they were actually able to beat the wildcats in the manner they did on the road.  They probably have the best shot of anyone in the Big East of running the table with only West Virginia and Rutgers standing in their way.

Prediction: bye week

8. Virginia Tech - The Hokies had a slow start against Cincinnati but were able to pull out the W.  One has to wonder just how good they really are.  Next week's game against Georgia Tech may be some indication of that.  While they lost a close one to Notre Dame, Georgia Tech has been blowing their opponents away ever since.  True enough two of those wins came against Samford and Troy, but they will at least give the Hokies a good game.

Prediction: Virginia Tech 17 Georgia Tech 14

9. Georgia - Last week was simply an embarrassment for the SEC. Colorado almost pulled out what would have been the biggest upset of the year.  It took two fourth quarter touchdowns to seal the deal for the Bulldogs.  Next week they travel to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium to take on the Ole' Miss Rebels which should be an easy win.

Prediction: Georgia 37 Ole' Miss 3

10. LSU - LSU crushed Tulane and they'll crush Mississippi State next week as well.  Again, don't be fooled by the Auburn game; this team is loaded with talent.  If Auburn stumbles this year, we could very well see LSU in the SEC championship game.  Of course, Auburn would really have to stumble for that to happen.

Prediction: LSU 48 Mississippi State 0

John Parker Wilson used and abused the Arkansas defense Saturday throwing for 241 yards and 3 TDs without a single interception.  The Tide defense was able to frustrate young Arkansas QB Mitch Mustain into throwing three interceptions, one in overtime which probably should have cost the Hogs the ball game.  Even though the Hogs managed to sack Wilson five times, he still managed to keep his composure for most of the game, the one exception being when he tried to force a pass which led to a fumble and a return TD for the Hogs.  So how then did the Crimson Tide lose after dominating the Hogs in almost every category?  There were two factors that led to the double overtime loss.  First of all is the obvious reason: Leigh Tiffin missed three field goals and an extra point.  Tiffin is a walk-on freshman for the Tide and took over the job as kicker after Christensen, the hero in several of the Tide's games last season, was sidelined early on with a groin injury.  Christensen is obviously healthy again as he has started punting for the Tide yet for some reason, Tiffin is the primary option.  How is this possible?  How do you allow a freshman walk-on to completely take over for an experienced kicker who is darn near a legend himself?  Tide fans kept asking the question and will keep asking the question.  Tiffin had a chance to seal the deal for the Tide after they intercepted Mustain in the first overtime.  Shula called the plays to set Tiffin up for a right-down-the-middle field goal which would have won it and Tiffin choked.  So after missing three field goals, one which could have been the game winner, the Tide score a TD in the second overtime and, even though Christensen was warming up, Tiffin came in to kick the extra point...and missed.  The rest is history. 

The Tide's poor performance in the kicking game was not the only factor in this loss.  McFadden rushed for 113 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries.  Bama's defense allowed 173 yards on the ground.  In other words, the Hogs ran it down their throats.  Personally, I think this was the biggest factor in the loss.  While the secondary played well, the fact that the Hogs were able to accumulate so many yards on the ground is scary considering the fact that the Crimson Tide always pride themselves on a strong defense which is able to stop the run.

 Many will try to blame Shula for this loss.  Why was he playing so conservatively in the first overtime trying to set up a kicker who was having a bad day?  Why didn't he allow Christensen to come in and save the day as he has done so many times before?  Ultimately, while the kicking game was horrible, the real reason the Tide lost comes down to defense.  Sure Tiffin missed the extra point in overtime but the Tide defense allowed the Hogs to come back and score on their possession which led to the loss.  Shula has to consider putting Christensen back into the lineup for Florida next week and if the Tide wants any chance for redemption, they'll have to work hard on the defensive side of the ball this week in practice.