In a weekend full of upsets, who made out the best? That’s easy, it’s Boise State. The Broncos are now one Texas slip away from controlling their own destiny to Pasadena, and I don’t mean for the Rose Bowl. The Broncos are #5 in the county (higher than that in the poll that matters), and they are guaranteed to pass two of the three SEC teams ahead of them as long as they keep winning. LSU has Georgia and Florida next. ‘Bama is losing to Florida in the SEC championship if not sooner. Texas still has the Red River Shootout, a trip to Stillwater and Kansas twice. The Broncos could turn into the biggest Sooner fans in the country come Oct. 17. Meanwhile, Chris Peterson is making everyone on the team write personalized thank you letters to the Penn State offense for leaving Happy Valley after the first play. On to the rankings…
1) Florida Gators (4-0) – What’s bigger, #4, 5 and 6 all losing in one weekend, or Tim Tebow getting hurt? I’ll go with the first one. Florida doesn’t need Tebow to run the table, although the bye week comes at a perfect time.
2) Alabama Crimson Tide (4-0) – Saban’s boys look good. Arkansas put up 41 on Georgia, then did squat against the Tide. Greg McElroy had three more touchdown passes. The Virginia Tech win looks huge now.
3) Texas Longhorns (4-0) – For the first time this season, the ‘Horns put together two good halves of football. Two really good halves. The defense gave up just 53 yards and zero points. No BCS nonconference opponents could hurt them.
4) Boise State Broncos (4-0) – How good does that win over Oregon look now? The Broncos have steamrolled everyone since then, and have put themselves in legitimate title contention. Could this be the year a non-BCS school goes?
5) Cincinnati Bearcats (4-0) – They aren’t the same ‘Cats we saw put up 115 points the first two weeks, but Cincinnati is winning, and winning against legit opponents. Fresno is no joke, and they won at Rutgers and at Oregon State.
6) Oklahoma Sooners (2-1) – I said I wouldn’t move any teams with bye weeks up or down the first four weeks. Otherwise OU would be #5. No word on whether Bradford will go against Miami, but it won’t matter. OU will roll either way.
7) Virginia Tech Hokies (3-1) – I picked Virginia Tech to beat Miami, but not by 24. Defensively, the Hokies held Miami to 209 yards, while offensively, they ran it down Miami’s throats. The rain played right into Va Tech’s style.
8) Houston Cougars (3-0) – The Cougars have done it again. For the second time in as many games, Houston knocked off a legitimate Big 12 opponent. The offense racked up 579 yards against Texas Tech, and Case Keenum threw for 435.
9) LSU Tigers (4-0) – This team is disgusting. Another opponent blunder keeps LSU undefeated, but for how long. They beat Mississippi State by four, Washington by eight and Vanderbilt by 14. Georgia and Florida are next.
10) California Golden Bears (3-1) – The Bears were absolutely embarrassed by Oregon. They were outgained 524-207 in total offense, and Jahvid Best had 16 carries for just 55 yards. Impressive early season wins keeps them in the top 10.
11) USC Trojans (3-1) – Matt Barkley’s first game back was pretty good. He went 13 for 22 for 247 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. But after a 20-0 first quarter, they didn’t do anything against a bad Wazzu team.
12) Kansas Jayhawks (4-0) – The offense is really good and can score on anyone. Southern Mississippi is a good team and played tough, but KU had enough to end SMU’s eight game win streak – the second longest in the nation.
13) Ohio State Buckeyes (3-1) – The Buckeyes haven’t given up points since USC’s winning drive on Sept. 12. The defense forced three Juice Williams interceptions Saturday in the shutout. Final score against Penn State: 4-2.
14) Oklahoma State Cowboys (3-1) – Their only loss was to a good Houston team, and they have a nice win over Georgia, but fans were expecting more from Zac Robinson. He has just 791 yards and six touchdowns through four games.
15) Georgia Bulldogs (3-1) – The ‘Dogs have had one of the toughest schedules in the country, and it doesn’t get any easier with LSU in town Saturday. They’ve played four BCS schools already, and have seven more on the schedule.
16) Iowa Hawkeyes (4-0) – I’ve been saying Iowa is overrated all year, but after the performance at Penn State, I may have to shut up. If not for that one point win over Northern Iowa, they may be in my top 10. They go to the Shoe Nov. 14.
17) TCU Horned Frogs (3-0) – TCU stayed undefeated – barely – at Clemson this week. That’s two wins at ACC schools. The defense looked good again despite not recording a sack for the first time in 27 games. Things get easier until BYU.
18) Oregon Ducks (3-1) – The Ducks strung together a very impressive nonconference schedule with Boise State, Purdue and Utah. Smacking Cal by 39 is a huge boost. Jeremiah Masoli might be off the hook for now.
19) Penn State Nittany Lions (3-1) – They are still the favorites to win the Big 10, but a national title is dim after a double digit home loss to Iowa. The team went to sleep after scoring on the first play, had a punt blocked and gave up a safety.
20) Miami Hurricanes (2-1) – The rain really hampered Miami’s ability to do anything offensively. They are not a running team and became predictable when the rain started falling. It doesn’t get any easier with the Sooners next week.
21) BYU Cougars (3-1) – Harvey Unga had three rushing touchdowns from inside the five as BYU got back to business in a win over Colorado State. The Cougars can still sneak into the BCS picture with some help and an 8-0 finish.
22) Nebraska Cornhuskers (3-1) – This is a scary team, especially defensively. That Virginia Tech team that put up 31 in the rain against Miami needed a miracle to down the Huskers. They get a bye week before Big 12 play begins.
23) Mississippi Rebels (2-1) – I’m not sure what all the fuss about Jevan Snead is. He has completed fewer than 50 percent of his passes and has just six touchdowns against three unranked teams. Alabama and LSU are both at home.
24) Auburn Tigers (4-0) – Gene Chizik has Auburn playing well, though they havent left home yet. They go to Tennessee and Arkansas thev next two weeks, and after that we’ll have a better idea of how good they are.
25) Michigan Wolverines (4-0) – Rich Rodriguez has this team off to a 4-0 start – they were just 3-9 last year. However, an embarrassing near-loss to Indiana should have Michigan fans worried. The Wolverines travel to East Lansing next.
Jaryd…Jaryd…Jaryd…Jaryd…you can’t see me right now but I am shaking my head. I know that you love Boise St. and love saying that non BCS teams have a shot all the time. Last year you were all over BYU and East Carolina before they lost. I’m sorry but Boise St. doesn’t play a tough enough schedule to be in the Title game. I know that they’re ranked fifth in both the USA Today and AP Polls. I know that they made Oregon look stupid. But, other than Oregon (at home), their schedule is very pedestrian (aka Mizzou could probably run it although they struggled with Bowling Green at home). I know you have them pegged at number 2 by season’s end. But the BCS standings will have something to say about that. If they want to be a play with the big boys, they must schedule the big boys. Their conference schedule is a BCS non conference schedule. If they want to ever make the Title game, they need to schedule four BCS (good not necessarily great) BCS opponents with at least two or three on the road. They need to play Oregon, then Florida St., then Pittsburgh, then Oklahoma St…etc. The BCS will laugh at their pathetic schedule. Boise St. needs to hope that everyone has two losses and then run the table if they want a shot. I think there is a better chance that Florida and Alabama go undefeated, one of them loses to the other in the SEC Championship game, and then they rematch each other. The BCS isn’t giving a spot to a WAC (third worst conference team of all). Ask Coach Pinkel next time you go to a Media Day. He’ll tell you…Yes Boise St. can beat Oregon in a given week. But can they beat Nebraska at home, then go to Oklahoma St., then Texas at home. Can they beat USC, then Cal, then Oregon. Can they beat Florida, then LSU, then Georgia, then Alabama in consecutive weeks. We’ll never know…until they play a better non conference. I guarantee you the big wigs in college football will do whatever it takes to urk that computer system to make sure that a WAC team from Idaho doesn’t make it to the championship game. It’s gonna be two one loss teams and Boise in the Fiesta Bowl. I’ll put any money on it. You name it, buddy. That is all…I gotta study now.
Oh…and Southern Miss is USM, not SMU. SMU would be Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
Kyle,
I understand your argument, and you could be right. But do keep in mind that Boise State is ranked #5 in the country after just 5 weeks. When BYU won it all in 1984, they were not ranked #1 until week 12. Boise’s high ranking should be enough…Texas does need to lose of course.