1 Oregon (9-0) – Did nothing wrong while incinerating Washington. This week's game at Cal could have been difficult except for Kevin Riley's season ending injury. Brock Mansion has no chance against these guys based on what we saw at Washington St. last week.
2 TCU (10-0) – Impressively throttled Utah just like last season. Now its wait and see if someone above them in the BCS rankings loses. Considering what is happening at Auburn right now, it is a very good possibility.
3 Auburn (10-0) – As long as they keep winning, the Tigers will be fine. The drop to number two this week is as much punishment for scheduling an FCS team at this point in the season as anything. Win against Georgia Saturday and all is fine rankings wise.
4 Boise St. (8-0) – Broncos may be getting a raw deal this season, but at least in my eyes they have a chance to prove they are as good or better than TCU. All they have to do is continue to blow everyone up, road game at Nevada included.
5 Wisconsin (8-1) – As lucky as they were early on against Arizona St., the Badgers have morphed into the Big Ten's best team since then. Because of various national opinions and perceptions, Wisconsin has no chance at the title game even with losses in front of them. Enjoy the Rose Bowl guys (as long as you beat Michigan).
6 LSU (8-1) – LSU's route to the championship game (convoluted though this would seem): get Cam Newton declared ineligible, then win out and make the argument that the only game lost was to an ineligible player and that the team is really undefeated in the SEC.
7 Ohio St. (8-1) – Not sure if I like the Buckeyes this high, but they have been mostly blowing teams out despite lacking quality wins. Missing Michigan St. really hurts the Buckeyes this season.
8 Stanford (8-1) – Cardinal probably have best frontline players among one-loss teams, but the defensive depth that caused them to capitulate at Oregon is still a potential issue. That said, the Cardinal should easily cruise to 11-1 with the remainng schedule.
9 Nebraska (8-1) – The loss to Texas is terrible, but the rest of the body of work is really quite good. That said, the Cornhuskers should be happy with a possible Big 12 title. They most certainly would get blown up by Oregon and might by the other three undefeateds as well.
10 Oklahoma St. (8-1) – Cowboys might have the best route to the championship game of any one-loss contender. Win out and avenge the loss to Nebraska along the way and see what happenes. I don't think it helps, but it is more of a chance than many of the others ranked in front of them have.
11 Alabama (7-2) – Crimson Tide's win over Arkansas is all that keeps them this high at this point. Take that one game away and the resume looks very ordinary.
12 Arkansas (7-2) – Stuck with Alabama in these rankings, the Razorbacks offense has been nearly unstoppable, especially before the 4th quarter, all season long. Too bad the defense sprung leaks at bad times against both teams from the state of Alabama.
13 Missouri (7-2) – Ugly loss to Texas Tech followed ugly loss to Nebraska. Tigers are near crisis point and are only ranked this highly because nearly everyone of consequence behind them also lost last week.
14 Mississippi St. (7-2) – Considering who the losses are against, the Bulldogs could make a case for being ranked higher. If they beat Alabama and Arkansas the next two weeks, expect to see them up with some of the elite one loss teams in these rankings.
15 Arizona (7-2) – Get the benefit of the doubt for beating Iowa still. Lose once more (other than the Oregon game) and the bottom likely falls out of this ranking.
16 Iowa (7-2) – Hawkeyes are stuck behind the head-to-head defeat at Arizona still. That said, the win over Michigan St. is strong and a win over Ohio St. would be even better.
17 Michigan St. (9-1) – Normally the record might push Spartans past Iowa despite head-to-head loss, but the depth of the beating only two weeks ago makes that difficult.
18 Oklahoma (7-2) – Sooners still have issues on the road and don't seem likely to correct them this season. That portends bad news at Oklahoma St. at the end of the season.
19 Virginia Tech (7-2) – It appears Boise St. beat the Hokies twice and that the James Madison loss was a fluke. Hokies are rolling in the ACC.
20 Utah (8-1) – With no elite wins and only three semi-quality wins (Pittsburgh, Iowa St and Air Force), Utes could be ranked nearly anywhere. I have no idea what to do with them.
21 Nevada (8-1) – Ditto Utah but with less quality wins (Cal?).
22 South Carolina (6-3) – Gamecocks looked horrible against Arkansas, but that was to be expected. Everyone knew the game meant absolutely nothing.
23 Miami (6-3) – I'm writing off the Virginia loss as a quarterback injury combined with wanting to try and save the redshirt of the obvious number two option. Steven Morris probably wins the Virginia game if he is in there from the point of Jacory Harris' injury which would have the Canes at 7-2.
24 Penn St. (6-3) – Nittany Lions have their own issue: it appears they chose the wrong quarterback to start this season. Matt McGloin's stats look very similar to Rob Bolden except one area: yards per pass. There, McGloin is good and Boldin in below average. The injury forced change has made Penn St. a much better team.
25 Florida (6-3) – Gators appear to have found their offense the last two weeks. That said, those defenses aren't exactly stellar. South Carolina is a much better test, even banged up though they are.
Others Considered
San Diego St. (7-2) – Only two plays from being undefeated, one of which was a replay call that got the officials suspended. This team is really good.
Texas A&M (6-3) – Aggies have improved considerably since Jerrod Johnson was benched. Still not sure how good they are though. May have been the beneficiary of some nice scheduling considering the opponents were inept Kansas and road challenged Oklahoma.
Michigan (6-3) – Wolverines can't stop anyone, but the offense is top five caliber. At the very least a fun team to watch.
Kansas St. (6-3) – Blowing out Texas just doesn't mean what it used to. Early Kansas St. conquest UCLA also pulled the feat off.
USC (6-3) – Trojans continue to hold their hex over Arizona St. Winning streak over the Sun Devils stretches all the way back to the Paul Hackett era.
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