This Week in College Football 9/21 - 9/23

[Slayer 0]

As a Michigan fan I am a card-carrying ND hater... and I didn't think we had any ND fans here

 

At least not any serious ones

[Vern Gagne 0]

I'm a media hater, not an ND hater. At least since Weis went there.

 

I'm pretty much the same. So far the media's been much more criticial of Michigan St. than I would have thought.

[gWIL 0]

As a Michigan fan I am a card-carrying ND hater... and I didn't think we had any ND fans here

 

At least not any serious ones

 

I'm a big ND fan, but I hate some of the ND fans myself.

[iggymcfly 0]

Did some new rankings. It got tough after the Top 10, but I ended up with a list I'm pretty happy with.

 

(Previous week's ranking in parenthesis)

 

1. Ohio State 4-0 (1)

2. USC 3-0 (2)

3. Michigan 4-0 (3)

4. Florida 4-0 (4)

5. Auburn 4-0 (5)

6. LSU 3-1 (6)

7. Louisville 4-0 (7)

8. West Virginia (8)

9. Texas 3-1 (10)

10. Tennessee 3-1 (12)

11. Notre Dame 3-1 (15)

12. California 3-1 (NR)

13. Oregon 3-0 (11)

14. Virginia Tech 4-0 (14)

15. Clemson 3-1 (13)

16. Oklahoma 3-1 (17)

17. Georgia 4-0 (9)

18. Nebraska 3-1 (23)

19. TCU 3-0 (19)

20. Boise State 4-0 (16)

21. Florida State 3-1 (20)

22. Georgia Tech 3-1 (22)

23. Iowa 4-0 (21)

24. Missouri 4-0 (NR)

25. Michigan State 3-1 (25)

 

Close: Texas Tech, Penn State, Miami

 

I know theoretically, Michigan State should fall out of the rankings after folding like a house of cards against the Irish, but there's just no one more deserving to take their place.

[Guest]

3. Michigan 4-0 (3)

4. Florida 4-0 (4)

5. Auburn 4-0 (5)

17. Georgia 4-0 (9)

NO. Auburn is better than Michigan and Florida, and Georgia is not worse than half the teams that you put them behind. Until Florida shows me that they can dominate offensively, I'm not sure that the spread option offense is going to work in the SEC. Michigan beat a very overrated Notre Dame team, and what. Georgia had one bad offensive game. Colorado was bound to come ready to play eventually, and it happened to be against Georgia. The overlooked thing about that game, is that Georgia dominated defensively! They just had a rough time integrating the new QB.

[Art Sandusky 0]

Ahh, 3-1 after a very solid win over Marshall. Haven't been able to enjoy this feeling in a while. The game with Georgia in a couple of weeks is going to be spectacular. Get your seat on the couch now. It may have only been against Marshall, but seeing Tennessee running the ball again feels right.

[iggymcfly 0]

Colorado's not just bad; they're awful. One of the very worst major-conference teams in all of college football. It was easy for Georgia's defense to dominate because Colorado has no offense whatsoever. Colorado's offense got dominated by Arizona St. last week and we saw how good that defense was today. They also got dominated by Montana State's defense that gave up 45 to UC Davis two weeks later.

 

I think Georgia should be punished for that win more than Oklahoma should be punished for their cheap loss to Oregon or Clemson should be punished for their OT loss to BC.

 

Also, Georgia's beaten almost no one so far. Their best win is over a really sketchy South Carolina team. Don't get me wrong, if they beat Tennessee, they'll be skyrocketing back to the Top Ten in no time, but I can't justify putting them ahead of teams that have actually accomplished something.

[Jorge Gorgeous 0]

Did some new rankings. It got tough after the Top 10, but I ended up with a list I'm pretty happy with.

 

(Previous week's ranking in parenthesis)

 

1. Ohio State 4-0 (1)

2. USC 3-0 (2)

3. Michigan 4-0 (3)

4. Florida 4-0 (4)

5. Auburn 4-0 (5)

6. LSU 3-1 (6)

7. Louisville 4-0 (7)

8. West Virginia (8)

9. Texas 3-1 (10)

10. Tennessee 3-1 (12)

11. Notre Dame 3-1 (15)

12. California 3-1 (NR)

13. Oregon 3-0 (11)

14. Virginia Tech 4-0 (14)

15. Clemson 3-1 (13)

16. Oklahoma 3-1 (17)

17. Georgia 4-0 (9)

18. Nebraska 3-1 (23)

19. TCU 3-0 (19)

20. Boise State 4-0 (16)

21. Florida State 3-1 (20)

22. Georgia Tech 3-1 (22)

23. Iowa 4-0 (21)

24. Missouri 4-0 (NR)

25. Michigan State 3-1 (25)

 

Close: Texas Tech, Penn State, Miami

 

I know theoretically, Michigan State should fall out of the rankings after folding like a house of cards against the Irish, but there's just no one more deserving to take their place.

 

I think you're over-reacting about Cal a little bit. They had a good game against a porous ASU defense, but 12th? I'd keep them behind Georgia.

[Carnival 0]

My Top 25

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Here are the hottest players in I-AA right now.

QB

Scott Knapp (Duquesne): 6'3", 230 lbs. 75/115 (65.2%), 1069 yards (9.30 YPA), 11 TD vs. 3 INT.

 

Jason Murietta (Northern Arizona): 6'1", 215 lbs. 64/94 (68.1%), 872 yards (9.30 YPA), 10 TD vs. 2 INT.

 

Liam Coen (UMass): 6'2", 205 lbs. 55/84 (65.5%), 831 yards (9.90 YPA), 7 TD vs. 3 INT.

 

Wes Marshall (Southern Utah): 6'1", 210 lbs. 67/100 (67%), 801 yards (8 YPA), 10 TD vs. 3 INT.

 

Josh Johnson (San Diego): 6'3", 195 lbs. 59/87 (67.8%), 776 yards (8.90 YPA), 8 TD vs. 1 INT.

 

Ricky Santos (New Hampshire): 6'2", 215 lbs. 52/72 (72.2%), 612 yards (8.50 YPA), 9 TD vs. 0 INT.

 

RB

Rashad Jennings (Liberty): 6'1", 235 lbs. 79 carries, 542 yards (6.86 YPC) and 8 TD.

 

Emmanuel Marc (Delaware State): 5'10", 205 lbs. 41 carries, 365 yards (8.90 YPA) and 3 TD.

 

Clifton Dawson (Harvard): 5'9", 210 lbs. 49 carries, 351 yards (7.16 YPC) and 6 TD.

 

Herb Donaldson (Western Illinois): 5'11", 220 lbs. 58 carries, 405 yards (6.98 YPC) and 5 TD.

 

Arkee Whitlock (Southern Illinois): 5'10", 195 lbs. 60 carries, 377 yards (6.28 YPC) and 3 TD.

 

WR

Steve Ogden (Valparaiso): 6'4", 190 lbs. 22 catches, 515 yards (23.41 YPC) and 6 TD.

 

Alex Watson (Northern Arizona): 5'10", 180 lbs. 30 catches, 468 yards (15.60 YPC) and 5 TD.

 

Bruce Hocker (Duquesne): 6'4", 190 lbs. 18 catches, 382 yards (21.22 YPC) and 9 TD.

 

Wes Doyle (San Diego): 6'4", 205 lbs. 16 catches, 277 yards (17.31 YPC) and 5 TD.

 

Jerome Simpson (Bethune Cookman): 6'3", 190 lbs. 15 catches, 309 yards (20.60 YPC) and 4 TD.

[dh86 0]

pisses me off how West Virginia is ranked so high given their cupcake schedule and I really dont think they could beat another top 10 team...maybe Louisville

[cabbageboy 0]

Carnival, I don't see how Texas right now should be #4. Maybe they can work their way back up that far but as of right now they have to be put lower due to getting waxed at home.

 

Just wondering but what's with the trashing of Syracuse on here? They're already 2-2 and very well could beat Wyoming, Cincy, maybe UConn. They seem more like a 5-7 type team rather than a 2-10 team predicted here.

[CanadianChris 0]

I follow Syracuse. They're bad, very bad. Easily the worst team in the Big East. They beat Illinois and Miami (OH), both miserable teams, and caught Iowa on their worst day imaginable and still couldn't beat them.

 

I don't see them beating Cincinnati on the road, and I don't see them beating Wyoming. They might beat UConn, but I'm skeptical even of that. 3-9 is likely, 2-10 would be unsurprising, 4-8 is quite optimistic. 5-7 is a fantasy.

[MFer 0]

Well, Stanton played like a Heisman contender for three quarters. As a Michigan fan, I usually don't have a clue who to root for whenever ND plays MSU. In this case, I was going for the Spartans due to the Irish hype machine. I left to go to a party and when I checked out the T.V. there, ND was ahead. I was so pissed it almost ruined my night. Almost. On another note, did anyone else check out the Florida/Kentucky game? Tim Tebow looked good out there the few plays he was in at QB, especially running the ball. He really got the crowd into it. He was on one of the H.S. teams that played on ESPN last year. The Gators shouldn't miss a beat when Leak graduates.

[Guest Princess Leena]

Wyoming might be winnable at the dome. Pittsburgh, you never know with the Stache. Other than that, no.

[Urban Warfare 0]

On another note, did anyone else check out the Florida/Kentucky game? Tim Tebow looked good out there the few plays he was in at QB, especially running the ball. He really got the crowd into it. He was on one of the H.S. teams that played on ESPN last year. The Gators shouldn't miss a beat when Leak graduates.

 

Yeah, Tebow was spectacular, but make no mistake, Leak will be missed next year. Tebow isn't nearly as good a passer as Leak is. I'm just as excited as any other Gator fan to see Tebow run this offense, but Leak is the starter.

 

On another note, I did hear the boo's rain down when Leak came back in after Tebow made all those runs and I'm pretty surprised to hear this kind of shit going on. Although I believe the booing was directed at the decision to take Tebow out of the game, it is still very disappointing to hear this stuff going on.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

I know Iggy's top 8 teams didn't change, but I still don't get Auburn at #5.

 

1. Ohio State - dominant wins, road win over Texas, Troy Smith's ridiculous TD pass yesterday, and a frighteningly good defense.

2. Auburn - the ability to win blowouts and tough defensive struggles, another ruthless defense, the win over LSU.

3. USC - deepest team in the country, still developing a bit, but never seem overmatched at any point. No wins against great teams yet, but two wins against decent teams.

4. Michigan - almost #3. ND ass-whooping and confident, collected win yesterday bodes well for Big 10 season. Finally developing a #1 receiver in Manningham.

5. Florida - tremendously athletic. Love Dallas Baker, Tebow, Percy Harvin, etc. Urban Meyer's schemes are working better this year. Win at Tennessee is one of the best of the year, but let Kentucky hang around a bit too long.

6. LSU - handed out plenty of ass-whoopings, barely lost at Auburn. Need to get a win against top-level SEC opponent to stay here with impressive teams coming up behind.

7. Texas - lost only to the best team in the country and rocked everyone else, including a pretty good Iowa State team. Running game is fearsome.

8. Louisville - moving them up over WVU because Hunter Cantwell did just fine yesterday. Good win on the road, impressive ability to recover from shitty early-game mistakes. Even without Michael Bush, the running game is fine.

9. WVU - tendency to slow down their game after getting out to a hot start almost bit them in the ass last night. ECU played really well, but it's still ECU.

10. Georgia - Still think they're solid, if a bit of a question mark. Colorado game was a near-disaster but they survived. Get the spot mostly by default because I'm less impressed with everyone below them. Another close call against a shitty team and they get overtaken.

 

Tennessee's right there too. Notre Dame is too Jekyll and Hyde right now to get back in the top 10. Clemson is getting really close, and Virginia Tech can get up there with a good win over GT next week. Cal feels more like a a #15/16 team at this juncture.

[Urban Warfare 0]

New Poll

[CanadianChris 0]

Georgia fell two spots. I figured that might happen.

 

I'm also impressed that they dropped Notre Dame a spot.

[Bored 0]

AP Poll

 

1) Ohio State 2) Auburn 3) USC 4) West Virginia 5) Florida 6) Michigan 7) Texas 8) Louisville 9) LSU 10) Georgia

11) Virginia Tech 12) Notre Dame 13) Iowa 14) Oregon 15) Tennessee 16) Oklahoma 17) TCU 18) Clemson 19) Florida State 20) California 21) Nebraska 22) Boise State 23) Rutgers 24) Georgia Tech 25) Missouri

 

26) Boston College 27) Miami 28t) Arizona State 28t) Purdue 30t) Michigan State 30t) Texas A&M 32) Penn State 33) Texas Tech 34t) Arkansas 34t) Washington 36) Wake Forest 37) Wisconsin 38t) Houston 38t) UCLA 40) Alabama

 

Georgia drops one, Notre Dame holds, Oregon drops one spot while Oklahoma moves up one spot, they managed to move Clemson ahead of FSU this week, and yes Rutgers is ranked in both polls.

[naiwf 0]

Is there any particular reason Texas is so highly ranked considering they got their asses kicked at home by the one real team they've played thus far? With their cupcake schedule they could easily make it to the Nat'l title game without beating one good team.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Probably because their loss was to the #1 team in the country, and they're still the defending champs, which is good for some early-season goodwill even if it shouldn't be. They're no different than any of the other questionable 1-loss/zero loss teams like Georgia, OU, Iowa, and Virginia Tech, but those two factors keep them a bit higher. I rank personally rank them higher than those teams just because what I've seen of their actual games makes me thing they're a bit stronger than all of them right now.

[iggymcfly 0]

The reason I don't have Auburn higher is that they're offense looked really sketchy and vulnerable against LSU, (forget the 7 points, they had -2 yards of total offense in the first quarter), I don't think they would have beaten LSU on the road, and I don't think they would have beaten LSU if the ref had made the correct pass interfence call on 4th down.

 

Florida beat a very good team on the road in Tennessee, and it seems like the offense is getting better and better as Meyer adjusts to using Tebow to run the spread in running situations. Also, that Tennessee win looks a little better now that we know that Cal's legit. I don't think the Gators will win at Auburn, but I do think they'll win the SEC.

 

By the way, does anyone else think it's ridiculous that Rutgers is ranked in both polls? The best team they've beaten so far is North Carolina, and they only beat them by 6. That's the North Carolina team that just lost to Clemson by 45 and narrowly snuck by a I-AA team the week before. Putting Rutgers ahead of Georgia Tech, Missouri, and Michigan State is a total joke.

[Guest Princess Leena]

Missouri and GT haven't beat anyone either.

[lomasmoney 0]

Wow, I still can't believe that the Spartans fell apart like that. I feel so bad for the MSU fans, because they have a joke of a head coach in John L. Smith He took the ball out of Stanton's hands, and tried to sit on a lead against a team that can put up points with anyone. With a defense that bad, you have to go for the throat, not call obvious screen passes on third and 3

[Bored 0]

First Harris Poll released

 

Didn't bother posting the rankings as there is nothing notable.

[iggymcfly 0]

It's OK to not have a big win early in the season if you've been dominating the mid-level teams (like Missouri) or showed what you can do in a narrow high-profile loss (like Georgia Tech). My point was that not only was the best team Rutgers played shitty, but Rutgers almost lost to them as well.

 

For the record, CFN's got Rutgers at #45, I think that's a lot better spot for them.

[lomasmoney 0]

I wouldn't put any stock in CFN's polls. They had USC at number 1, considering they've beaten an average Arkansas team, and an average Nebraska team that had a pet monkey coaching them. How anyone could look at who they have played, and then look at Ohio State's duct taping of the opposition this year and consider USC the better team is just insane. USC has more talent, but Ohio State is just a terrifying team on both sides of the ball. LSU with a loss is ahead of Michigan, Florida, Louisville, and West Virgina. Now let me get this straight, everyone one of those teams but Florida has been very impressive this season, but LSU was more impressive with an inept offensive performance against Auburn (overrated) than Michigan was when they killed Notre Dame, or Louisivlle beating everyone in sight without their two best players. CFN has no clue what they are talking about with these rankings

[Guest Princess Leena]

It's OK to not have a big win early in the season if you've been dominating the mid-level teams (like Missouri) or showed what you can do in a narrow high-profile loss (like Georgia Tech). My point was that not only was the best team Rutgers played shitty, but Rutgers almost lost to them as well.

 

For the record, CFN's got Rutgers at #45, I think that's a lot better spot for them.

 

That high-profile loss ain't looking so hot now. But, ND has basically clinched their BCS birth, so that goes for naught.

 

And Missouri was close with New Mexico. Who lost to a I-AA team.

 

Not that I think Rutgers is one of the 25 best teams in the nation. But, they can't control their opponents sucking so much. NC and Illinois were usually at least not horrible teams most years. And this is going to continue, as Rutgers has a good shot of going 8-0 until their Louisville game.

[lomasmoney 0]

I disagree, Illinois has been awful for about 5 years now. The last time they were good was when they game out of nowhere with Kurt Kittner and Brandon Lloyd to win the Big 10 and ended up in the Sugar Bowl in like 2001 or 2002. Since then, they've been so bad that the times they have played Michigan or Michigan State turn into drinking contests with a football game as the background entertainment. Zook is getting better players there, but this program has fallen on hard times. Another reason why CFN sucks balls is that they have Missouri as the #18 team in the land and have Michigan State still ranked after one of the biggest chokejobs in school history, which says alot about a team that has been known for its chokejobs. State could rebound and end up a top 25 team, but Missouri is not the 18th best team in the country now, they won't be next week, and even if they win the Big 12 North, they still will be like 7-5 when they do it.