As we near the end of the regular season:
1. (-) Florida (10-0)- I'm not sure why people seem so concerned about their failure to dominate offensively. Their only obstacle is Alabama, a team that's clearly more offensively challenged, and their defense is good enough to stick it to any offense in the country.
2. (-) Texas (10-0)- A ho-hum drumming of Baylor keeps them on track.
3. (-) Alabama (10-0)- See above, but replace "Baylor" with "Mississippi State".
4. (-) Boise State (10-0)- I Still like them better than TCU.
5. (-) Cincinnati (10-0)- So they didn't start Tony Pike, they just brough him in the red zone? I'm so confused. Stop with your use of two amazing quarterbacks, damnit, and give me one.
6. (-) TCU (10-0)- I still like them less than Boise State (see what I did there?).
7. (-) Georgia Tech (10-1)- Could be a shootout with Georgia this weekend, but I don't see Joe Cox being able to keep up. GT makes it to the ACC title game with ease.
8. (+1) Pittsburgh (9-1)- They get West Virginia this weekend, who can still be dangerous, but it's more than likely that it'll all come down to next week's game vs. Cinci for all of the marbles. If Wannstedt wins that I may vomit.
9. (+1) Ohio State (9-2)- And Sweatervest is going back to the BCS, probably against Oregon. God damnit.
10. (+1) Oregon (8-2)- If they make it past Arizona and Oregon State the Pac 10 is theirs. However, the loss to Harbaugh has shaken my confidence in their ability to not fuck up.
11. (+1) LSU (8-2)- There's absolutely nothing remarkable about this team. The SEC right now consists of two leviathans, one well-rounded but unimpressive team (LSU), and then 9 teams that can each only play one half of the ball.
12. (+5) Oklahoma State (8-2)- They're at least talented enough to be the #12 team? Even though they've lost the only two tough games they've played.
13. (+3) Penn State (9-2)- See my last comment about OK State.
14. (-6) Iowa (9-2)- Woops. I hath committed the faux pas of ranking Iowa below a team they beat. I'm too lazy to fix it. Have fun in the Capitol One Bowl, boys.
15. (+7) Stanford (7-3)- Harbaugh is an unstoppable machine.
16. (NR) Clemson (7-3)- Similar to my Texas Tech clause, Iggins! demands that I rank Clemson whenever possible.
17. (+4) Wisconsin (8-2)- It all sucks from here on out.
18. (+2) Virginia Tech (7-3)- They're just too talented to have three losses. I'm disappointed in you, Frank Beamer.
19. (NR) Oregon State (7-3)- And they're back! Every single time I've ranked them they've lost their next game. Sorry Beavers, I hath jinxed you again.
20. (-5) USC (7-3)- The guys over at Every Day Should Be Saturday compared USC's losses to Oregon and Stanford this year to Nebraska's blowout loss to Colorado in 2001, which signalled the beginning of the end for the Cornhusker's decades long reign of asskickery. I think that's crap. USC is undeniably mediocre this year, but they have a true freshman quarterback who has shown flashes of serious potential, their usual stack of young blue chippers, and an offensive staff that's slowly gaining experience. They'll be back next year.
21. (-13) Miami (7-3)- What happened to the 'Canes being "back"?
22. (+1) Temple (8-2)- 8 wins, people. Temple. 8 wins. This is a school that hasn't been to a bowl since 1979. In the last 20 seasons before this one they've won a grand total of 48 games, (an average of 2.4 wins per season). Hell, Ron Dickerson, who coached the team for 5 seasons from 1993-1997, won 8 games Total in that time. What Al Golden has done is nothing short of amazing.
23. (-5) Utah (8-2)- Sorry Utah, you may have won a BCS bowl last year, but you aren't a Cinderella story, so you get to sit behind Temple.
24. (+1) Central Michigan (8-2)- Dan Lefevour is still a really good quarterback.
25. (-11) Houston (8-2)- There we go.
