I tried something a little different this week. I took notes about some of these teams as I was flipping around and watching their games. Those notes will be reflected in my comments about each team. Here it is. There's been a little shuffling this week, some disappointments. Three teams dropped out of my Top 25. And that means three new teams are here. Let's see how it shakes down.
1. USC - They picked apart a decent Washington State team. This, along with LSU's close game against South Carolina, helps clear the way for USC at #1.
2. LSU - They remain number two this week. South Carolina, a good team themselves, played them close. LSU came out on top. I think the final score was closer than the game actually was. This one was never in doubt.
3. Oklahoma - Oklahoma pasted another opponent. This time it was Tulsa. The big win against Tulsa, along with Florida's poor performance against Ole Miss, cements this team as number three, in my opinion.
4. Florida - Florida did not look impressive against Ole Miss, who is not a great team to begin with
5. WVU - Ripped up East Carolina, a team who played Virginia Tech tough. I thought East Carolina might hang around in this game. But, West Virginia showed how good they really are. If the big wins continue, they may leapfrog a Florida team who remains unimpressive.
6. Cal - Big win against Arizona. Final score, 45-27. Game not as close as that. Arizona scored some bonus points late in mop up time. Cal has looked good so far.
7. Ohio State - Destroyed Northwestern. Clearly the class of the Big Ten at this point. I was impressed with this win. Northwestern isn't that great, but Ohio State isn't known to exactly blow teams out of the water like this.
8. Wisconsin - Close win against Iowa. This seems to be another team that doesn't really blow anybody out. Letting teams hang around will eventually lead to a collapse. I see a loss in this team's future. Don't know how long they'll remain this high. This is another team I'm not impressed with.
9. Rutgers - No game this week. They move up a spot by virtue of PSU's humiliating loss against Michigan.
10. Texas - Obliterated Rice. This is what I expect from this team. That close game against UCF last week was not the real Texas. This is the real Texas.
11. Boston College - Beat Army 37-17. This team has looked real good so far. I see a Top 10 in their future.
This represents a clear break in my poll. These teams, to me, were the easiest ones to rank. From here on out, your guess is as good as mine. After #11, I haven't really been too impressed with any of these teams.
12. Clemson - Doubled up NC State 42-20. They move into the #12 spot because I simply don't know who else to put there.
13 - Penn State - Dropped like a sack of bricks by Michigan. Offense is horrendous. Morelli is worse. This team will lose again if they don't make some changes on offense.
14. South Carolina - Can't fault them too much for losing a close game against LSU. This team is pretty good.
15. Virginia Tech - Finally looked like Virginia Tech, albeit against William and Mary. Some say this team is ranked too high. I say #15 is not a bad spot for them, compared to the rest of the field.
16. Hawaii - Beat Charleston Southern (??) 66-10. Offense continues to impress. What more is there to this team?
17. Georgia - Beat Bama in OT 26-23. Bama's a good team. Georgia was a little better on this day. Middle of the pack is a good place for Georgia right now.
18. Kentucky - Wow!! This team looked good against a good Arkansas team. The game was close until the fourth quarter, when Kentucky made itself some separation. Final score, 42-29. The offense is putting some points on the board. I'd like to see some defense. They've looked better than some of these other teams, which is why I've moved them up to #18.
19. Oregon. Beat Stanford 55-31. PAC-10 isn't exactly known for defense. This is a representative score of that conference. Oregon has looked pretty good so far this season. I would've been more impressed if they'd held Stanford to fewer points.
20. South Florida - Continues to impress. 37-10 against North Carolina. Starting to look like a legitimate top 20 team. I'm really interested to see how this team plays in some marquee conference matchups.
21. Missouri - Beat Illinois State 38-17. Not overwhelming, but they move up by virtue of some other teams losing or looking bad.
22. Arizona State - Beat Oregon State 44-32. Again, no defense. I'd like to see some of that. This team climbs by virtue of others' poor performances.
23. Alabama - Played Georgia tough, losing in overtime. No change since last week. They're new to the rankings, so I'll be keeping an eye on them.
24. Nebraska - Hanging on by a thread. On life support. Any other cliche you like. This team did not look good against Ball State. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt by saying it was a let-down after that USC game. If this team plays poorly next weekend, you won't see them here next week.
25. Cincinnati - This was a real dilemma for me. I looked at about 20 different teams for these last few spots. Others that I looked at for this particular spot included Purdue, Kansas, and Michigan State. I went with Cincinnati because they were ranked higher in some other polls I looked at. Plus, I like giving some new teams a look. Michigan State was a close second and will overtake the Bearcats if they slip up.
Like I said, from #12 on, your guess is as good as mine. I'll readily admit that I'm not too sure in the second part of my poll. This was my interpretation of what I've seen so far. Let's hear yours.
It's a little simpler this week. My Top 25 this week is simply based on last week's rankings, taking into account this weekend's performances (or non-performances).
1. USC - USC was ranked number one last week. They retain by virtue of their win over Idaho. That's right, their win over Idaho.
2. LSU - LSU leapfrogs Texas up to #2 because of the convincing win over Miss. State.
3. WVU - WVU also leapfrogs Texas as a result of their 62-24 pasting of mighty Western Michigan.
4. Wisconsin - Up one spot from #5. Wisconsin looked good against a decent Wazzu team. They move up.
5. Florida - Up one spot from #6. Florida took care of business against Western Kentucky. At this point, that's all you can ask for.
6. Texas - Texas took a tumble from their lofty #2 ranking as a result of their poor showing against a weak Arkansas State team. This is the reason I don't like preseason rankings.
7. Louisville - Up from a previous #9. Lousville looked sharp, albeit against Murray State. 73-10. I'd call that "takin' care of business".
8. Nebraska - Nebraska climbed up two spots. They looked good against Nevada.
9. Oklahoma - Oklahoma's up two spots as well due to their demolition of North Texas. 79-10 is total destruction. It was against North Texas. But, still, sharp performance all around. That's what we're looking for.
10. Virginia Tech - Tech looked plain bad against East Carolina. Or, East Carolina looked amazing. Either way, Virginia Tech dropped 3 spots this weak.
11. Cal - Cal looked really good against Tennessee. The defense left something to be desired. But, the offense looked good and the special teams was fantastic. Cal climbs 3 spots
12. UCLA - The PAC is back! UCLA was sharp in a 45-17 win over Stanford. Looking forward to watching this team. It'll be interesting to see if they can maintain over the course of an entire season.
13. PSU - PSU is up two spots this week. The defense looked good. But, the offense was disgusting. Yeah, I think that's the appropriate word. If Penn State's gonna contend for anything this year, Morelli and Co. need to step their game up.
14. Auburn - Auburn loses two spots this week. Could've been a lot worse had they not pulled it out in the end against Kansas State. I think minus-two is generous here.
15. Georgia - Georgia's up one spot. 21 points over Oklahoma State is pretty convincing. But, I still think Auburn's going to be better over the course of the season.
16. Ohio State - OSU's up a spot this week also. They took care of business against Youngstown State. About what I expected. I like Georgia a little more, though.
17. Rutgers - The Scarlet Knights are up two spots, beneficiaries of Tennessee's loss to Cal. They looked solid against Buffalo, 38-3.
18. Hawaii - Hawaii's up two spots also. What can I say about this team? Colt Brennan is a beast. 18 looks good on them, right now. I don't want to get overly excited about them yet. Look for them to climb, though.
19. Tennessee - Tennessee drops a couple spots this week. They were one of only two teams in my previous Top 20 to lose this week (can you guess the other one?). As a result, they just have to fall a little. They looked alright against Cal, played them tough. But, a loss is a loss.
20. Arkansas - Arkansas is the beneficiary here, thanks to Michigan. I only went to 20 last week and Arkansas got left out. Not this time. They beat up Troy, they move up.
21. Boise State - Boise State pounded Weber State. Some might say 21 is too low for them. I put them in the same boat as Hawaii. I don't want to get overly excited yet. You can rest assured, though, that I'll be keeping an eye on this team.
22. Texas A&M - A&M beat up Montana State. That's about all I can say about it. They won convincingly enough to join my rankings. I like this team, and I'll be watching them.
23. TCU - TCU's is also a new addition, due to the expanded rankings. #23 seems like a good spot for them, based on what I've seen elsewhere. We'll get a better idea of just how good they are on Saturday, when they meet the Longhorns.
24. Clemson - Clemson hops into my Top 25 with a tough win over FSU. They dominated early in the proceedings, then held on in the end. I was a little disappointed, to say the least, with their second half performance. But, they held on (and dominated early), so I give them credit.
25. Georgia Tech - Either they are pretty good, or Notre Dame is pretty bad. I'm leaning towards the former. They join the rankings by virtue of their pasting of Notre Dame. If you're judging by the way the media props up Notre Dame, you'd say that's pretty significant. I'll stick with them for this week.
Notable removal: Michigan. I couldn't keep them Top 25. I was surprised when I found out they fell out of the AP and Coaches Polls. I guess those guys do get something right on occassion.
That's it. There's the Top 25. You may proceed to pick it apart in great detail. I look forward to attempting to defend my rationale.
Alright. Here it goes. I was a little weary of posting a preason pick list. I find it hard to gauge teams that I haven't seen yet. Preseason polls are based too much on opinion. I'm not too crazy about picking a number one team, based only on my opinion, before a single game has been played. So, I took my poll in a bit of a different direction. I took a look at various polls that are already out there. Some of these polls came from other bloggers on this site and some came from polls I found on other sites. I first counted how many times each team appeared in each poll. I gathered up the teams that appeared the most times throughout the polls and these teams became my teams. Next, I looked at each team's ranking within each poll. I added up the rankings of each team in each poll and divided by the number of polls to arrive at a composite score for each team. This filled out most of my rankings for me. There were, however, several ties that needed breaking. In order to break a tie, I looked at each team's schedule. Teams with what I deemed a tougher schedule were bumped down (assuming they would lose one of those tough games). Teams with easier schedules were bumped up. I took all the emotion out of my poll, and based it solely on averages. That being said, here's what I came up with:
2. Texas - Composite Score = 2.8. This was my first tie, Texas and LSU. I gave it to Texas because LSU has to face a killer SEC schedule. Sorry, LSUFan!
3. LSU - Composite Score = 2.8. See above for reasoning.
4. WVU - Composite Score = 4.2. Tough games against South Florida, Rutgers, and Louisville. Other than that, not too much competition.
5. Wisconsin - Composite Score = 5.8. Tough conference matchups against Penn State, Ohio State, and Michigan could hurt them. I put them high early, expecting them to fall later.
6. Florida - Composite Score = 7.4. Here was another tie, Florida and Virginia Tech. I went with Florida here because Virginia Tech plays a load of tough games this season.
7. Virginia Tech - Composite Score = 7.4. V-Tech's schedule includes the likes of LSU, Clemson, BC, Georgia Tech, FSU, Miami, and a rivalry game against Virginia. All tough games in my book. I think it'll be tough for Tech to stay this high all season.
8. Michigan - Composite Score = 8.4. Games against Notre Dame, Penn State, Ohio State, and Wisconsin pose problems. I expect Michigan to win three of those games.
9. Louisville - Composite Score = 10.6. Not many tough opponents for Louisville, not much help from the pollsters either. But, they get the nod over Nebraska.
10. Nebraska - Composite Score = 10.6. Another tie, Nebraska and Louisville. I gave the nod to Louisville because of the easier schedule. Tough games against USC and Texas pose particular problems for Nebraska.
11. Oklahoma - Composite Score = 11.4. Oklahoma's toughest matchups will come against Miami, Texas, and a rivalry match-up with Oklahoma State. If they can make it through those, they'll be set for good things.
12. Auburn - Composite Score = 13.8. Another killer SEC schedule. Can't wait to watch this team play.
13. UCLA - Composite Score = 14.4. Believe it or not, their toughest match-ups will come in-conference against the likes of USC, Cal, and an up-and-coming Arizona State team. UCLA also has a tough match-up against Notre Dame.
14. California - Composite Score = 14.6. Ended up just behind UCLA. I probably could've gone either way with these two teams.
15. Penn State - Composite Score = 16.4. Toughest match-ups will come in-conference against Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ohio State. Also play Notre Dame.
16. Georgia - Composite Score = 16.8. Brutal schedule including Oklahoma State, Florida, Georgia Tech, Auburn, and Tennessee. I'll be surprised if this team is ranked at season's end.
17. Ohio State - Composite Score = 17.4. There was actually a three-way tie here, Ohio State, Tennessee, and Rutgers. Ohio State came out on top of the heap. Tough conference matchups against Michigan, Penn State, and Wisconsin. If they can survive these, I expect them to end higher.
18. Tennessee - Composite Score = 17.4. Tennessee came out of the heap in second. Tennessee meets the likes of Cal, Florida, Georgia, and Arkansas. Tougher schedule means they fall below Ohio State.
19. Rutgers - Composite Score = 17.4. Rutgers fell to the bottom. They still have much to prove. I couldn't rationalize placing them above the likes of Ohio State and Tennessee.
20. Hawaii - Composite Score = 18.6. Hawaii rounds out my Top 20. If they start the season here, and win all their games, they could potentially finish quite a bit higher. This team is always fun to watch.
That's how the numbers played out. I'd appreciate any feedback you might have. I'm looking forward to the college football season, and also to making my weekly picks in Hogfan's poll. Should be a lot of fun!
I caught this obscure story while watching the news this evening, thanks to the wonderful news scroll that flows across the bottom of my television screen. This story whizzed across the screen, and I just had to comment on it. Here's the story:
This story is about a small school known as Northwestern Oklahoma State University. It's located, you guessed it, somewhere in Northwestern Oklahoma. A place called Alva, OK to be exact. The Rangers, as the team is known, play in the Central States Football League. After missing the playoffs last season, they won the league championship this season. However, team officials would later find out that one of the players, who helped the team win the championship, was academically ineligible to play. The team would respond by forfeiting their league title, along with six wins against opponents that the team played after the point when the player was declared ineligible.
In a perfect world, this would not be newsworthy, as this would be the standard response by any sports team caught with rule-breaking players. However, here in the real world, this is a big deal. In fact, this is the first time (that I can recall) that a team has ever forfeited a title due to a player breaking the rules during the season. Feel free to prove me wrong, if you've got any other examples. I admire the people who had to make this decision, and respect them for making the correct decision.
I know what you might be thinking. It was only one player, and he just wasn't making good grades. First, grades are ther reason for college in the first place. These kids are students first, and athletes second (which is a point that's been pretty much killed on this site). So, not making grades is a pretty big deal. Second, allowing this to go unpunished sets a precedent. By not punishing this violation, you'd be telling the next poor student that grades don't matter as long as you're good at catching or throwing a football. I don't see that as a message we should be sending to our young student-athletes.
I read this story at SI.com, and just felt the need to comment on it. It struck me as something worth writing about. This is the correct decision, in my opinion, and I applaud the folks at NW Oklahoma State for making it.
I have seen so much debate recently about who should be the number 2 team in the country, and earn the chance to play Ohio State for the National Championship. With USC’s loss to UCLA last night, the race basically comes down to two teams: Michigan and Florida. Over the last 24 hours, I have seen some pretty ridiculous arguments from both sides. Michigan fans have talked about how the field was sloppy at Ohio State, and how the fans in the stands were so loud that the Michigan players just couldn’t concentrate. Apparently, the Michigan players asked the fans to be a little more quiet (they even said please), but the fans simply refused. I’ve heard Florida fans say that Florida plays in the SEC and that’s why they lost. Apparently, the SEC is so good that even a championship-caliber team like Florida can’t beat a team that lost two games.
All these arguments are fun to participate in, but that’s all they are. They are just arguments, which ultimately prove nothing. When comparing two teams, there is only one way to do it, look at what they did on the field. Fans can compare statistics, make excuses, and whatever else they want to do. But, ultimately, nothing is going to be solved in that way. You’ve got to look at the results on the field.
I have done just that. I have looked at the results of the games that have been played. I have just looked at the results. I have not made excuses for anybody. I have not skewed any statistics to support my argument. I have only looked at what has happened on the field. In doing so, I have been able to determine who is the better team.
Let’s look at what I have found:
Michigan beat Notre Dame, who beat UCLA, who beat USC, who beat Arkansas, who beat Tennessee, who beat Georgia, who beat Auburn, who beat Florida. So, Michigan must be better than Florida.
So, there you have it. As you can plainly see, Michigan is the better team. It’s all really that simple. There’s just no argument here.
Sure, Florida won the SEC. And, yes, they pounded a highly under-rated Western Carolina by the score of 62-0. Absolutely, they beat LSU by nearly two touchdowns. And, sure, they’re a good football team.
But, they lost to Auburn. So, Auburn must be better than Florida.
Auburn got throttled by Georgia. So, Georgia must be better than Auburn, and therefore also better than Florida (even though Florida beat Georgia, you just nevermind that).
Georgia lost by 18 to Tennessee. So, Tennessee must be better than Georgia, and by default, also better than Auburn and Florida.
Tennessee lost by 17 to Arkansas. So, Arkansas must be better than Tennessee, and so also better than Georiga, Auburn, and Florida (even though Florida beat Tennessee, again nevermind).
We all know what USC did to Arkansas. So, USC must be better than Arkansas, and also Tennessee, Georgia, Auburn, and Florida.
The whole country saw UCLA beat USC just last night. So, UCLA must be better than USC, and so also better than Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia, Auburn, and Florida.
Notre Dame pulled out the win against UCLA a couple of weeks ago. And so Notre Dame must be better than UCLA, and therefore also better than USC (even though they lost to them, who cares?), Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia, Auburn, and Florida.
And, nobody can forget what Michigan did to Notre Dame. So, Michigan must be better than Notre Dame, and also UCLA, USC, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia, and Auburn. And since Auburn beat Florida, and Michigan is better than Auburn, Michigan must be better than Florida.
These things simply cannot be denied. And, since they can’t be denied, they are all the proof I need. So, Michigan it is. Case Closed!
After a brief hiatus, Check Out These Blogs has returned for another installment. Another vote has been received, so I will highlight the chosen ones. Here they are, in no particular order.
First, we have a post from Cuzzifer. I haven’t highlighted one of his posts until now. But, he definitely deserves it. He’s a unique blogger, with a unique perspective on the sports world. He hails from Wisconsin, and likes to take jabs at the local teams sometimes. But, it’s all in fun.
Let’s check out the post. It’s called, " hey WVU fans...what happened?" As you can probably guess, it’s a jab at WVU and their recent loss to Louisville. Cuz makes light of the fact that several fans have been talking up WVU recently on the blogosphere. These fans brought up WVU’s win over Georgia last year as proof of how good WVU was. Cuz, as do many others, feels that WVU fans have been leaning on that victory since it happened, as the one true sign of WVU greatness. He says that they can lean on that crutch now, since their title dreams have been shattered. Lots of comments have been generated already by this post. So, if you haven’t stopped over yet, stop on by Cuz’s place and leave him a comment.
The next post comes from ShooterB. ShooterB was a finalist in the NGS II competition, but didn't bring enough cowbell to win. He is the chairman of the National Sarcasm Society, as well as the author of the Blogosaurus. Finally, he will read anything, as long as it's well-written. So, put your stuff out there. ShooterB is out there, and he'll be around.
Let's look at the post. It's titled, "The Dreamer". It's about "dream jobs", of a slightly different variety. Two of the "dream jobs" involve working at Tiger Woods' house, because he has a hot, lonely wife. Another good job involves special work with Maria Sharapova. I won't ruin the surprise, so you'll have to stop over to ShooterB's blog and find out for yourself. It's already gotten alot of comments, so I see that many of you have already been there. If you still haven't yet, go check it out. It's a quality post, for sure.
Here's a link to the post: The Dreamer by ShooterB
The last post comes to us from The Sports Intellectual. TSI was around in the very beginning of this site, but hasn't been around for a while. Just recently, he came back with a ####. During his first go-round, TSI quickly gained a reputation for humorous, and intelligent, posts. He gathered quite a following befor e he left. Now that he has returned, his many fans are back to read his work.
Let's look at the post. It is titled, "Former NFL Player Criticizes Today's Game". It's a fictional story about a fictional former NFL player. The former player, Gene Snodgrass, makes fun of today's players, calling them sissies and wimps. He makes fun of "all that equipment" they wear. He criticizes the quarterbacks for sliding on the ground, instead of taking the hit. He pokes fun at domed stadiums, and how they keep the players warm in bad weather. This post is another of TSI's works of humor. He's really good at what he does over there. Go check out his work and leave him a comment. He deserves it.
Okay. I wasn’t planning on writing a post today. But, I received another vote, so here it is. Thanks again to DetroitSports for voting.
The first post comes to us from PsychoPyro80. He is a disgruntled fan of the Denver Broncos. He’s tired of "the old Jake Plummer" and tired of Shanahan thinking Plummer will be okay. Of course, I’m sure he’ll be a little happier as a Broncos fan if they can take down the undefeated Colts today.
Let’s look at the post. It is titled, "How Bad is the BCS?" He approaches the BCS from the perspective of Ohio State and Michigan. He believes that there’s a chance that both Ohio State and Michigan could play for the championship if their November 18th meeting is close. Based on the losses by Auburn and USC yesterday, that’s become more of a possibility overnight. PsychoPyro80 wonders if the Big Ten is really that good. He also wonders if Ohio State and Michigan might actually be the best two teams in the country. C’mon. I know you have an opinion about this. Stop over to PsychoPyro80's blog and leave him a comment to let him know your thoughts on the subject.
The second post comes from SportsInACan. Based on his bio, I’m assuming he’s a Patriots fan. He has his own website at www.SportsinaCan.com He also is a contributing writer at Patriot’s Insider, http://patriots.scout.com/ So, go check out his work there after you check out this post.
Let’s look at the post. It’s actually one of the more creative posts I’ve seen. In this post, SportsInACan compares each NFC team to a television show. For example, the Eagles are compared to ER and the Cardinals are compared to Desperate Housewives. After each comparison, there’s a short comment on why the show and team are linked. If you’re a fan of an NFC team, go check out which show your team was compared to. If you’re a fan of an AFC team, go back to SportsInACan’s previous post, where he did the same thing for the AFC teams. Seriously, everyone, go check out this post. If you only check out one of these three highlighted posts, make it this one. It’s very creative and really good.
The final post comes to us from tigress4life. She’s another one of those rare lady bloggers. She’s from Western Michigan and loves blogging on this site. Obviously, she’s a fan of the Detroit-area teams, the Tigers, Lions, Wings, and Pistons. She also writes columns and articles, although her bio doesn’t say where these can be found.
Let’s look at the post. It’s titled, "Let’s Go Lions???" Actually, it’s about the Tigers recent World Series loss, and the next available options for viewing sports in the Detroit area. She mentions the Lions (hopefully not the best available option), Red Wings, and Pistons as viable sports-viewing options. Then, she gets to the good one, the Michigan Wolverines. She even lists the Detroit Shock of WNBA fame, also the defending champions apparently. If you’re a fan of the Detroit sports teams, go check out her post. If you’re not a fan of the Detroit sports teams, go poke fun. Either way, stop over to tigress4life’s blog and leave a comment to let her know you visited.
Those are my highlights for the day. Thanks again to DetroitSports, who left the votes for all three of these posts. If anyone else out there would like to vote, feel free to do so in the comments section below. Now, Check Out These Blogs!!!
I am a teacher living in sunny South Florida. I'm originally from Pittsburgh, hence my loyal devotion to all things 'Burgh. I follow the Steelers like they're a religion. My Terrible Towel sits on top of the T.V., just like they did it back in the day. You might say I'm Old School. My favorite sports, in order, are: Football, Baseball, Hockey, Soccer, Basketball (college). I live for fourth quarter comebacks, underdog miracles, and the little guy playing big. You can find me anywhere there's a competition. But, above all, I am a proud American who realizes just how great we have it here.
