College Football Top 25, Week of Sept. 27

The upsets continued en masse last week as #4 Ole Miss lost in a flat-out ugly game in South Carolina, #5 Penn State played a nightmarishly bad fourth quarter at home against Iowa and choked for the second year in a row, #6 Cal got crushed by a rejuvenated Oregon (replete with hideous uniforms), and #9 Miami got dismantled by Va Tech (despite "Hurricane" type weather).

Three teams are still shining bright as the poster children of college football's elite, but one took a potentially heavy blow last week.

1) Florida Gators: Florida's game against Kentucky was over by the end of the first quarter, but Urban Meyer might have left Tim Tebow in just a little too long--Jesus got knocked out in the third quarter and sustained a concussion. That may force him to miss the Gators' toughest test of the season, a showdown against a potentially undefeated #4 LSU team in Baton Rouge.

2) Texas Longhorns: Wow. Texas played its most dominating defensive game since the 2005 national championship team whacked Colorado in the Big 12 conference championship. They also garnered the largest yardage differential in school history (639-53).

3) Alabama Crimson Tide: Bama held a very good Arkansas offense to a single touchdown, but this Tide team can score too. The offense, led by quarterback Greg McElroy, racked up 425 yards and 35 points. Things should only be easier against Kentucky this weekend.

4) Boise State Broncos: This is where the rankings get screwy, as my #4-7 teams all fell in a pitiful manner this weekend. The Broncs move up in a war of attrition and look like a lock for the BCS right now.

5) LSU Tigers: Raise your hand if you think LSU deserves to be ranked this highly. Nobody? Yeah, me neither. But winning is more important than looking good (unless you're Oklahoma), and the Tigers have done that so far. That could come to an end this week in Athens against a sporadic Georgia team.

6) Oklahoma Sooners: OU's probably the fourth best team in the country right now, but the horrendous loss to a mediocre BYU team still sits in the back of everybody's mind. Both the Sooners and the U have marred what could have been a top five showdown in Coral Gables this weekend. Landry Jones will start for the Sooners.

7) Houston Cougars: The Cougs proved me wrong against Texas Tech in the best game of last week. If he wasn't before, Case Keenum is certainly on everybody's Heisman watch list now.

8) Cincinnati Bearcats: After a red-hot start, the Bearcats' games keep getting closer and closer. Give these guys some credit, though, they already have three quality wins in Rutgers (road), Oregon State (road), and Fresno State.

9) Virginia Tech Hokies: Now that's the kind of game I've been expecting to see from Virginia Tech for, oh, about four years. The Hokies quickly extinguished whatever talk of a Miami resurgence has been going around the last few weeks. They aren't nearly as good as they played Saturday, but two big wins over Nebraska and Miami cements their spot here.

10) TCU Horned Frogs: Meh, TCU escapes South Carolina with an extremely lackluster 14-10 win over a Clemson team that just isn't very good. Some people have TCU as the best of the three BCS busters (Boise State and Houston being the others), but I just don't see it.

11) USC Trojans: USC's playing a decent opponent in Cal this weekend, so don't expect another Washington-like performance. If Oregon's defense can limit Jahvid Best to less than 60 rushing yards and Cal to three points, USC may shut both of them out.

12) Ohio State Buckeyes: If defense wins championships, then the Buckeyes are back on the right track. Ohio State posted its second straight shutout, this time over supposedly talented Illinois. Jim Tressell still understands less about the offensive side of football than the Midwest does about Mexican food.

13) Oklahoma State Cowboys: OSU has had a bunch of injury problems at key positions, including WR Dez Bryant and RB Kendall Hunter. An easy-going throttling of Grambling State and a week off before Texas A&M is just what the Pokes need.

14) Kansas Jayhawks: As suspected, Southern Miss gave KU a tough game. The Jayhawks should stomp Iowa State and Colorado to start the Big 12 season and head into a huge game against OU at 2-0 in the conference.

15) Iowa Hawkeyes: A huge, albeit ugly, win on the road at Penn State means the Hawkeyes are legitimate players in the Big 10 title race. The Hawkeyes have a terrible offense, but that defense is tough, tough, tough.

16) Miami Hurricanes: So maybe the hype about Miami's return to greatness was a little premature. The U laid a big egg in Blacksburg and the Hokies ran the ball at will. It doesn't get any easier against OU and their two-headed monster of Chris Brown and DeMarco Murray.

17) Nebraska Cornhuskers: The Huskers have a bye to rest up before a huge rivalry game in Missouri one week from today. Roy Helu, Jr. could be the best running back in the conference, but quarterback Zac Lee isn't too shabby either.

18) Penn State Nittany Lions: Kirk Ferentz and the Hawkeyes really have JoePa's number. Iowa has now won seven out of eight over the Nittany Lions, and, for the second straight year, done college football fans a big favor by putting an end to Penn State's shot at the national championship game.

19) Michigan Wolverines: Big Blue nation is still undefeated, but a close win at home to a poor Indiana team doesn't bode well for the Wolverines. Freshman QB Tate Forcier is playing at an extremely high level. The same can't be said for the UM defense...

20) Oregon Ducks: A highly criticized Jeremiah Masoli threw his first touchdown pass of the season against Cal last weekend. He tossed in numbers two and three for good measure in leading the fighting Phil Knights in a romp over the Golden Bears.

21) Georgia Bulldogs: UGA has been living on the edge every game this season, and generally seems to be a team without much direction or leadership. They certainly aren't consistent. The Dawgs need to put it together this week with LSU coming Between the Hedges.

22) California Golden Bears: Cal lost a whole lot in not a lot of time after their blowout to Oregon. A good shot at the Pac 10 title, Jahvid Best's chance at a Heisman trophy, and, of course, a shot at the national championship game. Any remaining chance at the Pac 10 title evaporates if the Bears lose to USC this weekend.

23) BYU Cougars: The Cougs are still trying to get back on track after the devastating defeat at the hands of Florida State (who's not looking so good right now) a couple weeks back. Brigham Young can hang around this area in the rankings for a while until they face off against TCU in a few weeks.

24) Ole Miss Rebels: So...the Rebs were an utter sham. Jevan Snead has looked terrible so far this season and Mississippi's offense can't get off the ground. All the hype from last season's impressive wins over Florida and Texas Tech is a distant memory.

25) Missouri Tigers: Blaine Gabbert has been sensational for the Tigers--he's yet to throw an interception in four games. Like Nebraska, Mizzou has an extra week to prepare for their big game next week.

--Blake Borron