SB Nation User Blog: Poseur

OU, Texas, and the BlogPoll

Poseur — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 01:20:06 -0000

It seems it is the right of every football blogger and talking head to weigh in on the Big XII FUBAR, so please indulge me. I know that no one from Texas or Oklahoma cares what a bunch of LSU fans think. But, opinions and assholes and all that…

There is a three-way tie in the Big 12 South. It is not a head-to-head tie. If it was, it would clearly be Texas over OU. But it’s not. So the Big 12 has a series of tiebreakers and it eventually reaches BCS ranking, which is a stupid tiebreaker but it’s not my rule. Texas’ real gripe isn’t with the pollsters or the computers, it is with the Big 12 who created such an asinine tiebreaker.

Honestly, the best tiebreaker after head-to-head (all 1-1) and record vs. common opponents (all 5-0) is the strength of conference schedule. Those 7-1 marks aren’t equal. Texas had to play Mizzou, Kansas, and Colorado. Tech played Kansas, KSU, and Nebraska. OU played Kansas, KSU, and Nebraska as well. Believe it or not, that works out to the same record of North opponents. I’d give Texas the nod by virtue of playing the North champ, but I’m not sure how that rule would be written. But the rule is the rule: BCS standings.

And the BCS is not a two-way tie between Texas and OU. I’d look at all of the one-loss BCS conference teams plus Utah as one tier. And I rank teams on two variables: who I think would win and on resume. And resume voting for me weighs one factor above all else: who did you beat? Here are the quality wins over bowl eligible teams of each of the contenders for #2 behind Bama:

OKLAHOMA: TCU, Cincinnati, Nebraska, Texas Tech, Oklahoma St
TEXAS: Oklahoma, Mizzou, Oklahoma St
TEXAS TECH: Nebraska, Texas, Oklahoma St
FLORIDA: LSU, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida St
USC: Ohio St, Oregon, Arizona, Cal, Notre Dame
PENN ST: Wisconsin, Ohio St, Michigan St
UTAH: Air Force, Oregon St, TCU, BYU

First off, who else thinks it’s funny Air Force is a better win for Utah than Michigan?

Some things jump out: Penn St didn’t play ANYBODY. They ducked both Minnesota and Northwestern, the other two bowl eligible Big Ten teams. Utah actually has a pretty good resume. USC’s wins outside of Ohio St aren’t that special. None of Florida’s wins are that great, really. Texas only beat three bowl eligible teams, and their quality wins don't look all that different from Texas Tech's.

But what really jumps out is how much better OU’s resume is than everyone else. TCU has one of the best defenses in the country and might be the best team in the Mountian West. If they play Utah 100 times, they probably win 60 of them. Unfortunately for them, the real one was one of the 40. Cincinnati won the Big East and OU beat them when Cincy still had a healthy QB. Nebraska went 8-4. Okie St is 9-3. They beat a one-loss team. Their only loss is to a one-loss team.

I’m all for head-to-head to break a tie, but there simply isn’t a tie. It’s not really that close in my eyes. As far as ranking these teams in a poll, not thinking about breaking a tie in the division, it’s clear to me that OU has the best overall resume. Which is why I ranked OU ahead of Texas. Now the BlogPoll doesn’t count for the BCS, but hopefully this gives you insight into creating a ballot. The problem is not with the poll, the problem is using the poll to break a tie in the Big 12 North

I can’t justify voting Texas ahead of OU despite my personal belief they should win the Big 12 South by virtue of beating Mizzou. The problem is not the BCS (well, there are plenty of problems with the BCS but this isn’t one of them), it is the big 12 using the BCS to break the tie.

Without further ado, the rest of my BlogPoll after the jump:

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Alabama	--
2	Oklahoma	1
3	Florida	1
4	Texas	--
5	Penn State	--
6	Southern Cal	--
7	Utah	1
8	Texas Tech	1
9	Boise State	--
10	Ohio State	--
11	TCU	--
12	Georgia Tech	5
13	Cincinnati	2
14	Oklahoma State	2
15	Boston College	3
16	Georgia	3
17	Michigan State	3
18	Ball State	3
19	Pittsburgh	3
20	Northwestern	3
21	Missouri	7
22	Oregon	4
23	Florida State	7
24	West Virginia	--
25	Mississippi	--

Dropped Out: Oregon State (#19).

The Miles Referendum

Poseur — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:29:49 -0000

I’ve written this post about ten times. It never says exactly what I want it to say, so I hit the delete key and I start from scratch. I’ve tried analytical, philosophical, whining, slapping a happy face on it, and coldly dispassionate. I’ve tried it all and it never works. So now I’m going to write what feels right. Throw it up against the wall and see what sticks. It’s time for incoherent ranting, so sorry if this makes no sense. I don’t know where it’s going either.

The Hallman/Dinardo Era sucked. And I think a lot of the LSU fanbase lives in terror of us going back to those days, when going to the Independence Bowl was a cause for celebration. And our reaction to this year is premised on that memory. Some fans have internalized the lesson of being eternally vigilant against any sign of malaise. For them, Miles is the next Mike Archer and he needs to be fired before we have six straight losing seasons. Other fans, like me, view the Hallman Era as a karmic penalty for firing coaches for going 8-3 every year and then learning that, well, 8-3 is sort of awesome. For us, Miles is the second coming of Bill Arnsparnger, only waiting for the next Mike Archer when we can our coach because he’s winning but he’s not winning enough.

We’re both wrong. Les Miles is Les Miles. History doesn’t repeat itself. LSU has far better facilities, more money, and a better pipeline to high school talent to go back to losing season after losing season. On the flip side, there’s no guarantee we’re going back to national title contention. This offseason and the next season will define Les Miles. Is he a guy who just walked into a great situation, and managed a title before it all fell apart? Or is he a great coach building his own power in Baton Rouge? I don’t know. Neither do you. But this next year will go a long way to answering that question, as we find out how Miles deals with adversity.

Honestly, the early returns aren’t good. I’m okay with our team getting beat, but I’m not okay with the team quitting. And this team quit. The receivers quit on Lee. Lee quit on himself. The defense quit. The defensive line couldn’t create pressure. The secondary couldn’t cover. The linebackers couldn’t tackle. The offensive line quit. The running backs quit. The senior leaders refused to lead. The youngsters refused to follow. This team is a mess right now. Losing happens. Quitting should not. And that’s why I’m pissed off.

And while the ship hit the iceberg, Miles stood on the sidelines, arms folded, doing nothing. OK, that’s not true. We don’t know what happens behind closed doors, but it certainly didn’t show up on the field. Miles just kept throwing Lee out there to get killed until he had no confidence left without even seriously attempting to play Jefferson. He doggedly stuck to players (cough) (Bowe) (cough) who were a cancer to the team and should’ve been forced to grab pine for their crappy attitudes. He never defined a role for Jones until he had no role whatsoever and became an ineffective and confused player. The defense never got a shakeup other than Peterson getting a starting gig.

We lost to Arkansas because we stopped trying to win midway through the quarter. We lost to Ole Miss because the team came out flat. On Senior Day. This team thought it would eventually win by virtue of its talent. This just in: every team has talent. LSU has a talent advantage over a lot of teams, but it is not so massive that LSU can just show up and win. Hopefully, the team has learned that this year. It’s time to go back and start working again. Because this is a complacent football team that deserved to get its ass kicked. Because we got outworked, outhustled, and outfought in almost every game. Even in our wins. This team didn’t give a good damn all season. I’ll embrace the team after it loses because it is my team. But I demand that the team that represents my alma mater plays hard. I don’t think that’s asking for the world. I was embarrassed after these last two weeks.

People need to be fired. To use the Dinardo analogy, the mistake wasn’t hiring Lou Tepper, it was refusing to fire the guy. Mallory and Peveto’s reign as co-defensive coordinators is a disaster. This is the worst LSU defense in nearly a decade. Is it their fault? I don’t even think that matters anymore. The fanbase is demanding a scalp, and rightfully so. They have almost no credibility with me, and I’m hardly a “fire the coach” kind of guy. Also, we need a quarterbacks coach. A guy to come in and just work with the QB’s because we can’t afford another year like this.

The worst thing about this season is that the team got worse as the season went on. That should not have happened, and speaks volumes about the job the coaching staff has done. I’m not writing off Les Miles or anything, but he is on the clock. This team has got problems. He needs to fix them, and quickly. Expectations have been raised around these parts, and going 3-5 in a down year of the SEC is simply not going to cut it.

BlogPoll Returns

Poseur — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 02:34:44 -0000

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Texas Tech	25
2	Alabama	24
3	Florida	23
4	Texas	22
5	Oklahoma	21
6	Southern Cal	20
7	Utah	19
8	Penn State	18
9	Boise State	17
10	Ohio State	16
11	TCU	15
12	Michigan State	14
13	Oklahoma State	13
14	Georgia	12
15	Missouri	11
16	Cincinnati	10
17	Maryland	9
18	North Carolina	8
19	Boston College	7
20	Georgia Tech	6
21	Florida State	5
22	Miami (Florida)	4
23	Ball State	3
24	Pittsburgh	2
25	LSU	1

Dropped Out:

I was admittedly depressed last week and didn't submit a blogpoll. That was my bad, people. I just couldn't bring myself to talk about football after the Bama game. I did, however, get this poll in on time, I'm just posting it late because I was more interested in talking about our fan meltdown. So let's break this thing down.

The top two. I'm choosing Texas Tech over Bama because I am more impressed by their wins. I had been selling Tech short all season and was very reluctant to put them in the top ten due to their truly awful OOC schedule. But now that they have beaten Texas and blown out Okie State, i'm a believer. Even if they lose to OU, Tech is legit.

The lurking powers. Florida is playing better than anyone in the country, but they did lose to Ole Miss. UT gets ahead of OU by virtue of the head to head win and the fact UT played a brutal four-week stretch and went 3-1. USC looks good not great, but they get the 6 slot.

The mid-majors and Big Ten. I think there are some legit teams here. Utah has proven themselves, and I'm still a huge believer in TCU. Boise St has earned the benefit of the doubt. There's the trio of Big Ten teams which are yet to completely sort out: PSU, OSU, and MSU.

The flawed. Oklahoma St is a good team who has proven that they aren't as good as the monster teams in the Big 12 South. Mizzou and Georgia have beaten the teams beneath them and lost to the teams haead of them. And I love Cincinnati and the way they are fighting through injuries.

The ACC. Throw a dart to rank the top six ACC teams. I honestly have no clue. It's guesswork.

Lucky to be ranked. Ball St is undefeated but has played a joke of a schedule. Pitt has finally lived down an embarrassing opening loss. And LSU could very easily not be ranked. I thought long and hard about BYU or Oregon St. The difference is that I still think LSU hasn't lost to a poor team and they d have some good wins. I'm anti-BYU, as no good team should need a miracle to beat Washington. And OSU? i'm running out of excuses not to rank them. I probably should have. I'm a shameless homer, I guess.

Assorted Grumbling

Poseur — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 02:44:08 -0000

HAVING FUN

I said last week I haven’t enjoyed this year that much. And it’s true. And I was going to take this week off, hanging out with some old friends who couldn’t care less about LSU. Then that score popped up on the screen: Troy 31, LSU 3. I scrambled to find a computer, loaded up LSU Sports Net, and listened to the fourth quarter. And it was awesome. That was an enormously exciting game, especially when you don’t suffer through the whole falling behind part. Rude? Yes, but this is LSU’s season on the brink.

By the end of the game, it was like we had won the national title again. OK, we never should have been that far down to Troy, but I just enjoyed the hell out of that comeback. It showed heart. The team had their backs against the wall and the season looked like it was about to spiral out of control, and instead the team rallied and launched a huge comeback. You can question the talent or the play-calling, but don’t question this team’s heart. This was gut check time and the team came through.

Games like this are why we are fans. LSU turned what looked to be the most depressing loss since UAB into a pretty magical night. In five years, you’ll be able to meet 100,000 people who were at the game and were one of the few who didn’t leave early. I was proud to be an LSU fan because the team showed grit. They didn’t throw in the towel. They didn’t let themselves be embarrassed.

I was proud of this team.

OUR HISTORY AS FANS

Pittman and I went to LSU at the same time. We were there for the end of the Curly Hallman Era and the beginning of the Gerry Dinardo Era. I think it is safe to say, we were students during the absolute nadir of LSU football history. And I went to every game and cheered my fool head off for the Tigers.

I don’t think this makes me a better fan than anyone else or anything silly like that, but those losing years have definitely shaped my attitudes towards rooting for LSU. Somewhere around the sixth straight losing season, I made a promise to myself that I would never, ever bitch about an LSU team that wins eight games. Because, frankly, that’s what got us into the Archer/Hallman mess. The fans demanded LSU fire a coach who went 8-3 every year and then we ended up praying one day we would go 8-3 just once ever again.

It’s a scene that has been repeated at other programs as well (ask an A&M fan about RC Slocum). Going 8-3 and being ranked in the top 25 every year is a very healthy program. Would I rather we win a national title every year? Of course. But that doesn’t happen most places, and it’s never been the case at LSU until this last half decade. I’m not saying we shouldn’t complain about 8-3 because we shouldn’t demand excellence, I’m saying going 8-3 every year IS excellence.

The sense of entitlement our fanbase has acquired in such a short period of time is truly staggering. I can understand the student body not getting it, but they have actually been the same rowdy student body we should expect. It’s the alumni in the stands who are leading the boo birds and leaving games early (yes, I understand people leave early sometimes – but three-quarters of the stadium? What about the Georgia game when people left in droves as well?). Who the hell are these 30+ year old fans with no memory of losing games in the 1990s. We’re not talking like it was eons ago. The bring back the Magic Game was a mere thirteen years ago. You’d think we’d remember the losing years a little more clearly.

I can't bring myself to be upset over a team headed towards a New Year's Day Bowl. I live in Dallas, so if it is the Cotton Bowl... party at my place.

LEE

The comments here over the past week have renewed my faith in the LSU Nation, and I’m hoping we do represent the Silent Majority of LSU fans who are disappointed, but still go out there and cheer our fool heads off for the Tigers. We don’t take joy in the failures of players, and we certainly wouldn’t boo or harass these kids who represent our university to the best of their ability for no pay. These guys sacrifice their bodies for our enjoyment, and most of them don’t have an NFL paycheck waiting for them. The payment they receive is the cheers of the crowd and the status of being an LSU football player. We should remember that before we open up our big fat mouths to talk bad about them.

Criticizing a player is certainly inbounds, but it shouldn’t cross the line into nastiness. Personal attacks, it should go without saying, should never happen. And taking a perverse delight in a player’s misfortune is just mean-spirited. So, on behalf of Jarrett Lee, who I think has composed himself with a great deal of class and dignity this season, I will say what I’m sure he would never say to those who have booed him, made fun of him, or threatened him: f*** you, you losers.

I’ll be honest. Jarrett Lee is becoming one of my favorite Tigers ever. Because it takes a lot of strength to listen to so many boos and so much negativity only to keep coming out there. I find it hard to relate to great players, but I can relate to Lee. He has failed, sometimes spectacularly so. I hate to lay the Alabama game on one player, but he did play a pretty miserable game. But he also had a great drive in the fourth quarter of that game. He never, ever gives up. He knows there is no one to back him up, he’s the only option. In the spring, he was our third string quarterback, and now he’s the only quarterback we have. He wasn’t ready, but he hasn’t whined or complained. The fans have turned on him pretty viciously, but he still plays his heart out for them. And he has delivered. Not always, but enough. He has this team at 7-3, which isn’t too bad for a third-stringer.

I may be proud of the team, but I’m especially proud of our quarterback. I don’t care who Pittman hands out the hardware to, but Lee is my ATVSSECOSPPOW. Thanks, Jarrett. We’re cheering for you.

Soccer Loses As Well

Poseur — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:11:22 -0000

LSU's women's soccer team was up 2-0 in the 60th minute in their first round matchup against Washington. The lead lasted about 20 minutes. Washington tied the game in the 83rd minute, forced overtime, and scored the game winner in the first five minutes of the extra session.

Now, I can't claim to be any sort of expert on LSU's women's soccer. But it would have been nice had they won a tourney game. Being up 2-0, you should win. So I want to treat the not quite as popular LSU sports the same as we would the big boys like basketball and football. They choked.

OK, just kidding. It was a nice season. In 2005, LSU was a below 500 team, and two years ago was the first time the team reached the 500 mark. So the team has come a long way in a short period of time. It's a disappointing loss, but the team is headed in the right direction. We are in the Golden Age of LSU Athletics. Even women's soccer is emerging as a top team.

This Isn't Fun

Poseur — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:41:57 -0000

I’ve been unable to watch football since that game. Life has gone on, and it’s not like I’m balled up in the fetal position in my bedroom or anything, but I have been completely and totally unable to watch even a moment of football since Alabama-LSU went final.

I know who won the Texas Tech game, but I didn’t watch one second of it. I skipped all of the highlight shows. I didn’t watch one snap of the NFL on Sunday. Instead I went to church, prayed to God and made no mention of football except maybe a small prayer for Jarrett Lee not have to deal with a bunch of internet jackasses giving him too much grief. It was a beautiful day and I walked in the park, read a pulp book, and then went to the movies. Anything to avoid football.

I’ve peaked in on our site here, and Pittman’s been carrying the load, but I’ve been unable to post anything, because that would mean playing the game over in my head. I’ve avoided the message boards and the football columnists. And not just LSU, all football. I’ve been in a total media blackout. That’s how much this loss hurt.

It’s time to make an admission: this season hasn’t been much fun. Pittman’s right that if we win out, LSU will be 9-3 and headed to the Cotton Bowl (Right down the street! Tailgate at my place!). That is, by any objective measure, a successful year. And as far as it goes for State of the Program, that is completely true. This has been a successful year.

But sports are entertainment. We care too much about it sometimes (and some people care way too much about it – if you know anyone who has tried to contact Lee and leave him a nasty message, do me a favor and kick that guy in the nuts for me). And the games this year have not been entertaining. Which is fair, considering 2007 might have been the most exciting season for fans of any team, ever. 2007 was nail-biter after nail-biter, capped with the euphoria of a title. So I’m a little spoiled. This year has been blowout after blowout, capped so far with a dismal and depressing loss to Alabama. Not every year is a winner.

I guess I’m gonna have to talk about Lee. He played terrible. If he even plays a merely below average game, we win. It was the worst display I’ve seen from an LSU quarterback since Melvin Hill and the purple pants game. Lee’s body language just looks terrible. It’s not that he doesn’t have the physical tools, the kid has been mentally beaten down. He’s just in psychic hell right now. Every time he touches the football, you can almost hear him thinking “what is about to go wrong?” I feel so bad for him because so many of his problems are in his head, and it’s hard to work through the bad vibes when half the fanbase is calling for your blood.

I remember when Jamie Howard was getting the same abuse heaped upon him. He said something along the lines of, “I love LSU, but apparently LSU doesn’t love me.” And Howard, for all of his faults, was a pretty good quarterback who will always be remembered as the guy who threw 6 picks against Auburn. Which is a shame. He deserves better than that. Lee is walking the same kind of career path.

I’m not enjoying this because not only are the games not close this year, I don’t enjoy watching Lee sink deeper into this pit of helplessness. It’s like watching a guy’s career go up in smoke in front of your eyes. It’s painful to watch. I hope he can turn it around. I hope he goes on to win the Heisman as an upperclassman. I hope he goes down as an LSU great and this year will be part of his legend as he put it all together. That would be nice. But watching it right now, it’s no fun for me. And I’m sure it’s even less fun for Lee.

Which is why I’m not watching football. Last night, I sat on my patio and listened to music and looked at the stars. It was a gorgeous night, and football didn’t even cross my mind.

Last Thoughts On Saban

Poseur — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:05:48 -0000

I wanted to throw in my two cents on Nick Saban, or maybe a buck fifty. And since I have posting privileges, I don’t have to get involved in the comment war. I can start a new one.

First, I think it’s important to sort out my feelings for Saban. I was against the hire when it happened. I believe I said something along the lines of, “why are we hiring a guy who couldn’t beat Dinardo?” I didn’t think he was all that successful at Michigan State, but I can’t say that I closely followed his career.

He got to LSU and we started winning, which is always a good way to win over a fan base. Of course I liked winning a national title and I do believe my original feelings towards him were wrong. He is a good coach, far better than I thought he was when he got hired. That said, he had a disturbing tendency to take all of the credit for wins and throw players under the bus for losses. Hey, being a rampant egomaniac doesn’t make a coach special, so it’s not really a knock. Saban constantly flirted with the NFL during his time year. And while we were successful, Saban’s teams had a knack for losing focus and losing games they had no business losing.

When he bolted for the Dolphins, my attitude wasn’t quite “good riddance”, but I can’t say I was surprised or upset. He used us, we used him, and everyone benefited from the relationship. I didn’t feel betrayed, but then again, I never truly went all-in on Saban. So I moved on to a coach I actually am all-in with, Les Miles.

My problem is not with Saban, it is with a certain section of our fanbase that openly pines for Saban. It pisses me off for two reasons: ONE: I don’t believe Saban was as great as his reputation and TWO: it assumes that Miles isn’t a terrific coach. When last year’s team lost to Arkansas, there was a murmuring that Saban wouldn’t have lost that game. Like Saban didn’t lose twice to Arkansas. When this year’s team got ripped by Florida, those who pine for Saban flooded the message boards for our weak title defense. Like Saban didn’t defend our title by struggling with Oregon State, losing to Auburn, and then getting crushed by Georgia. Saban teams were blown out, too, ya know?

This isn’t to say Saban isn’t a good coach. He is. He is a terrific coach. But he’s not our coach, and in a way, he never really was. LSU was his audition for the NFL. Thanks for the title, Nick, but don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. You always had a foot out the door. So I’m not here to rip on Saban, as a head coach using one job to springboard to another is just the way the business works. I don’t hate him for it, I’m not even mad.

What does get me mad is how we still have a part of our fanbase that wants him back. That nothing Miles ever does will measure up. Not his national title, not his recruiting efforts, not his success against top ten teams, or in the SEC. Those are the people I do hate. And that has nothing to do with Saban. Miles is the coach at LSU, Saban is not. Hopefully, Saban’s return to Baton Rouge will allow us to finally close the chapter on his tenure here. I’m just sick of hearing about him.

Lee

Poseur — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 03:03:19 -0000

I'm sure Pittman will have more on the game, but i really don't have much to say about beating Tulane. All that struck me is that this was perhaps Lee's worst game as an LSU player. He went 8 for 20 for 99 yards with a TD and yet another INT which turned into a TD for the defense. He had one nice drive to start the second half, but other than that, Lee had a bad game.

Because of this bad game, the outcome was in doubt for way too long, meaning Miles couldn't get Jefferson into the game until late, when all he did was hand off to Ridley (which he did admirably). So, going into Bama, we have a redshirt freshman QB who is coming off his worst game as a starter and worse, will probably be mercilessly booed the moment something goes wrong. To back him up, we have a true freshman who has handfed the ball off a few times.

I'm really, REALLY nervous about the Bama game.

Story Confirmed: Hatch Injured

Poseur — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 03:06:13 -0000

Well, crap.

There's a good reason why freshman quarterback Jordan Jefferson is getting ready to play Saturday against Tulane. 9-sports has learned fellow back-up Andrew Hatch suffered a leg fracture in Saturday's game against Georgia and has been on crutches this week with an injury that will sideline number-14 several weeks.

So, JJ will now find his shoulder magically healed and is the first guy off the bench should something happen to Lee. With the injury to Hatch, I think Miles has almost no choice but to play Jefferson against Tulane, giving him some live game action in case he is needed for Bama. We don't want a guy who has never taken a snap in anger getting his first meaningful action against Bama.

Lee is stil lthe starter. The interceptions suck, but that's just part of playing a redshirt freshman. Matthew Stafford, the Georgia quarterback who tore us a new one who is being mentioned as a big time NFL prospect, was hardly a world-beater in his first year back in 2006. Here's his first year line:

135-256, 1749 yards, 7 TD, 13 INT

Here's Jarret Lee's:

98-169, 1328 yards, 11 TD, 9 INT

So let's stop panicking that Lee is some horrid quarterback who will never be a good SEC player. He's already doing okay right now. He's going to get better. This isn't about benching Lee, but we do need to have some insurance. Jefferson needs to get some snaps.

Burn the redshirt. Do it against Tulane. Let the Jordan Jefferson Era begin.

BlogPoll: Rise of the Little Guy

Poseur — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 21:57:20 -0000

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Texas	--
2	Penn State	--
3	Alabama	--
4	Florida	1
5	Oklahoma	1
6	Oklahoma State	2
7	Georgia	--
8	Southern Cal	--
9	Texas Tech	3
10	Utah	1
11	TCU	5
12	Boise State	6
13	Tulsa	12
14	Ohio State	3
15	Missouri	2
16	LSU	6
17	Florida State	9
18	Minnesota	2
19	Michigan State	7
20	Connecticut	6
21	North Carolina	5
22	Maryland	4
23	West Virginia	3
24	Virginia	2
25	Georgia Tech	12

Dropped Out: Cincinnati (#14), Boston College (#15), Kansas (#19), Virginia Tech (#21), Northwestern (#22), Vanderbilt (#23), South Florida (#24).

Some explanations:

Texas is pretty much a no-brainer at #1 at this point. The stretch of wins over Oklahoma, Mizzou, and OSU is the most impressive stretch of wins by anyone this season.

Penn St and Bama could go either way. I'm punishing Bama for losing focus in the second half of all of their wins, which isn't entirely fair, as they have played a tougher schedule than PSU.

#4 through #9 could essentially go in any order and I'm okay with that. Florida has hit their stride and look like the best of the bunch. OU and OSU both played the top team in the country close, so the loss isn't that bad. Texas Tech is still undefeated but now has beaten exactly one team with a pulse. Though they did look awesome doing it. But I'm reserving judgment until this week.

#10 through #13 is my pack o' mid-majors. TCU is the only one of the group with a loss, and it was to OU. Has anyone noticed how good their defense is? I'm not sold on any of these teams, and they all lack big wins, but no one else is stepping up, so we might as well reward the mid-majors. Because who else is there?

#14 through #16 all look really similar. Ohio St, Mizzou, and LSU all have two losses. And they all get blown out at least once by a top ten team. They aren't title contenders and they've all shown pretty emphatically they don't belong in the top ten. That said, who ranked beneath them look any better? Look at the contenders.

Florida St and Minnesota are both one-loss teams in a BCS conference. FSU hasn't looked great, and their best win is over an injury-riddled Virginia Tech team. What's happening in Minnesota is remarkable, but their best win was a close one against Illinois. Neither one of these teams look like they could beat the trio ahead of them, and this is pretty much the cream of the bottom half of the top 25 crop.

Michigan State got waxed by Ohio St, and lost to Cal. UConn lost to UNC and Rutgers. Though the Baylor win is looking better, and I thought highly of Cincinnati, who UConn thoroughly beat. West Virginia is slowly looking better, but they did lose to ECU and Colorado. Though don't look now, they are in first place in the Big East.

Which leaves me with a bunch of flawed ACC teams. The ACC is cannibalizing itself, and no team represents the unpredictable nature of the ACC than Maryland. The Terps dominated Cal and shutout Wake Forest. On the flipside, they got crushed by UVa and lost to loswly Middle Tennessee St. They are the most unpredictable team in football. They're also tied with FSU and UVa for the ACC lead.