Note: I was lazy this week and didn't manage to get these ranking up until Friday, so the Miami and GT game will be reflected in them...
1) Florida Gators: Check this stat out: Jeffery Demps and Chris Rainey are averaging 14.7 and 12.4 yards per carry respectively. Jesus Tebow Christ! Lane Kiffin and the Vols better pray to, well, Tim Tebow himself if they hope to stay in this game.
2) Texas Longhorns: The Longhorns played their worst half of football since the first two quarters of that Texas Tech game you might remember from last year. Then they remembered they're Texas and they're playing Wyoming and went 28 points to zero after the break.
3) USC Trojans: Yeah, yeah, they beat Ohio State...in The Shoe...AT NIGHT! But let's not go anointing this team or ESPN lovechild Matt Barkley just yet. Their vaunted offensive line got manhandled by the Buckeye front four and Barkley hardly looked impressive dumping the ball off to wunderkind tailback Joe McKnight.
4) Alabama Crimson Tide: Bama found yet another great tailback in blue chip recruit Trent Richardson. Interesting game this week as the Tide host North Texas and Head Coach Todd Dodge, who also coached Alabama signal caller Greg McElroy and Mean Green QB Riley Dodge (who's out with a separated shoulder) at Texas high school juggernaut Southlake Carroll.
5) Penn State Nittany Lions: 28 points was all the Nittany Lions needed to get by still-struggling Syracuse. Daryll Clark keeps his under-the-radar Heisman campaign on track with 240 passing yards and three TDs.
6) California Golden Bears: Jahvid Best is averaging 10.4 yards per carry and so far looks damn near unstoppable. Cal is looking more and more like a team that could end USC's seven year run as Pac 10 champions.
7) Ole Miss Rebels: The Rebs were one of the few top-ranked teams with a bye last week. Mississippi has one more chance to tighten up their spotty opening-game play when they take on Southeastern Louisiana this weekend. The season begins in earnest the following week at South Carolina.
8) Boise State Broncos: The Smurfs will quietly keep moving up the rankings as long as they continue taking care of business throughout the season. On the road against Pat Hill's Fresno State giant killers looks intimidating, but this isn't the team that nearly knocked off USC four years ago.
9) BYU Cougars: The Fighting Mormons' brutal non-conference schedule continues with a home game against Florida State. BYU looked SHARP in their 54-3 blowout of Tulane.
10) LSU Tigers: Another ho hum win for the Bayou Bengals shows once again that nobody does less with more than LSU coach Les Miles. The mediocre performances the Tigers have put on the past two weeks won't cut it against SEC powers Florida, Georgia, Bama, and Ole Miss, nor resurgent Arkansas and Auburn.
2) Texas Longhorns: The Longhorns played their worst half of football since the first two quarters of that Texas Tech game you might remember from last year. Then they remembered they're Texas and they're playing Wyoming and went 28 points to zero after the break.
3) USC Trojans: Yeah, yeah, they beat Ohio State...in The Shoe...AT NIGHT! But let's not go anointing this team or ESPN lovechild Matt Barkley just yet. Their vaunted offensive line got manhandled by the Buckeye front four and Barkley hardly looked impressive dumping the ball off to wunderkind tailback Joe McKnight.
4) Alabama Crimson Tide: Bama found yet another great tailback in blue chip recruit Trent Richardson. Interesting game this week as the Tide host North Texas and Head Coach Todd Dodge, who also coached Alabama signal caller Greg McElroy and Mean Green QB Riley Dodge (who's out with a separated shoulder) at Texas high school juggernaut Southlake Carroll.
5) Penn State Nittany Lions: 28 points was all the Nittany Lions needed to get by still-struggling Syracuse. Daryll Clark keeps his under-the-radar Heisman campaign on track with 240 passing yards and three TDs.
6) California Golden Bears: Jahvid Best is averaging 10.4 yards per carry and so far looks damn near unstoppable. Cal is looking more and more like a team that could end USC's seven year run as Pac 10 champions.
7) Ole Miss Rebels: The Rebs were one of the few top-ranked teams with a bye last week. Mississippi has one more chance to tighten up their spotty opening-game play when they take on Southeastern Louisiana this weekend. The season begins in earnest the following week at South Carolina.
8) Boise State Broncos: The Smurfs will quietly keep moving up the rankings as long as they continue taking care of business throughout the season. On the road against Pat Hill's Fresno State giant killers looks intimidating, but this isn't the team that nearly knocked off USC four years ago.
9) BYU Cougars: The Fighting Mormons' brutal non-conference schedule continues with a home game against Florida State. BYU looked SHARP in their 54-3 blowout of Tulane.
10) LSU Tigers: Another ho hum win for the Bayou Bengals shows once again that nobody does less with more than LSU coach Les Miles. The mediocre performances the Tigers have put on the past two weeks won't cut it against SEC powers Florida, Georgia, Bama, and Ole Miss, nor resurgent Arkansas and Auburn.
11) Miami Hurricanes: The Canes' 33-17 shellacking of Georgia Tech wasn't as close as the score indicated. Jacory Harris has star written all over him after completing 80% of his passes for 270 yards and 3 TDs, most of which came in the first half.
12) Oklahoma Sooners: OU blew out a terrible Idaho State team last week. Tulsa and their high-powered offense will provide a stiffer test for the Sooners before they travel to Coral Gables to take on a scorching-hot Miami team.
13) TCU Horned Frogs: Yeah, yeah, they only beat possibly the worst ACC team of all time (Virginia) by 16 points. But the Frogs are a defensive team and they let up in the second half--not good for the BCS aspirations though...
14) Houston Cougars: It remains to be seen whether Houston is ready for the big time, but beating the number five ranked team in the nation on the road is a good start. QB Case Keenum is one to watch for week in and week out.
15) Oklahoma State Cowboys: Don't say I didn't warn you. The Pokes looked lackluster on both sides of the ball against a mediocre Georgia team. No surprise they got manhandled on offense by Houston, but the offense isn't clicking like usual either.
16) Cincinnati Bearcats: Tony Pike and Cincy just went bananas on Southeast Missouri State. I know it's Southeast Missouri State, but 70-3? These guys are clicking.
17) Ohio State Buckeyes: The front seven dominated a USC O Line that gored them last year, but dinosaur Jim Tressel's miserably simple offensive scheme left the Buckeyes high and dry.
18) Virginia Tech Hokies: The Hokies might have rediscovered themselves against Marshall last weekend as both Ryan Williams and David Wilson ran for 160+ yards. We'll see if they can run on a tough Nebraska defensive front led by All-American tackle Ndamukong Suh.
19) Nebraska Cornhuskers: The Huskers get their first real test of the year in Blacksburg this Saturday in what's probably the game of the week. Nebraska's offense has looked sprightly so far, but the Hokies defense is just a tad better than the ones NU has seen from the Sun Belt.
20) Kansas Jayhawks: Kansas and Duke historically makes for an excellent basketball matchup, but in football not so much. Whatever the prognosticators set the line at for KU to win, I'll take the over.
21) Michigan Wolverines: Don't look now, but after a thrilling victory over arch rival Notre Dame, Rich Rod and the Wolverines are on a roll. Sports writers are already starting to pimp true freshman quarterback Tate Forcier for the Heisman. It may be a little early for that, but make no mistake, Big Blue is back, baby!
22) Texas Tech Red Raiders: I don't expect Tech to last in the rankings too long with a revenge game in Austin coming up, but the Raiders are better than all the teams that are about to be listed below them.
23) North Carolina Tar Heels: After an embarrassing 12-10 win over Connecticut (another game that should have been played on the hardwood), UNC doesn't really deserve to be ranked. But this part of the top 25 is just SOOO weak. Defense wins championships...I guess?
24) Georgia Bulldogs: Will the real Georgia Bulldogs team please stand up? They limit offensive juggernaut Oklahoma State to 24 points, but only score 10. Then they give up 37 to anemic South Carolina, but drop 41. The Dawgs better find a happy medium soon--they travel to Fayettville to face an Arkansas team led by talented QB Ryan Mallett.
25) Notre Dame Fighting Irish: The Domers suffered a heart-breaking loss to Michigan, but quarterback Jimmy Clausen is for real. Notre Dame lost its chance to woo the nation for a BCS game, though.
--Blake Borron
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