1 Oregon (8-0) – Ducks offense might be the best we've ever seen in college football. The real test will be when a team gets a full month to prepare. This offense failed against elite defenses twice in that situation last year.
2 Auburn (9-0) – Cam Newton probably shouldn't even play this week as Auburn hosts a disgraceful game against Chattanooga. When I was a student there I hated the annual 1AA patsy and I hate it even more now. You're telling me Louisiana Tech wasn't available this year?
3 Boise St. (7-0) – Broncos continue to win and continue to fall further out of the national title race. Really need Virginia Tech to continue playing good football as it hits the meat of its schedule.
4 TCU (9-0) – Baylor's continued strong play propped TCU up past Boise St. in the BCS a week earlier than expected. The question now is can they hold it by winning one of the biggest games of the season so far.
5 Wisconsin (7-1) – Why are they top one-loss team? Beat Ohio St., also beat Iowa on road (not much better than that this season) and Michigan St. just got killed by Hawkeyes making head-to-head loss less relevant. They also have a one-two punch at running back that is having a better season than the one at Alabama.
6 Alabama (7-1) – They are good, but the resume isn't great yet. Florida and Penn St. fell off the map making Arkansas the only win of note thus far. Win out over LSU, Mississippi St. and Auburn and the resume will be in line with the ranking.
7 Utah (8-0) – Utes have still played nobody, but the test from Air Force will help a lot when the TCU game is close in the 4th quarter.
8 LSU (7-1) – Tigers should be ready to play as Alabama comes to town, but the 230 CT start hurts as does the lack of any real offense should they need to come from behind.
9 Nebraska (7-1) – Get a lucky bump because of head-to-head win over Missouri and my belief that Missouri is still pretty good. The loss to Texas is garish.
10 Missouri (7-1) – Gave a good effort after being run out of the building in the first quarter, but a good effort doesn't always win games, especially when the execution is bad.
11 Ohio St. (8-1) – Buckeyes blew up Minnesota as expected. Everything rides on the Nov. 20 game at Iowa for them.
12 Oklahoma (7-1) – Sooners smoked Colorado at home (who doesn't) and now await winner of Oklahoma St.-Baylor game to determine co-front runner in Big 12 South. Yes it really has come to that.
13 Stanford (7-1) – Andrew Luck has looked flawless most of the season so far. He was even good in the loss at Oregon. I don't expect this week's big home test against Arizona to be any different.
14 Arizona (7-1) – The question in that Stanford-Arizona game is who will be the Arizona quarterback and will he be effective. Matt Scott has been good, but Washington and UCLA are among the worst in the conference on defense while Nick Foles is still hurt but may play Saturday night.
15 Iowa (6-2) – I think the Hawkeyes are better than this, but they can't be ranked in front of a team they lost to who also has a better record.
16 Oklahoma St. (7-1) – I am starting to believe after this team won without its star receiver and with its defense.
17 Michigan St. (8-1) – Sparty finally got nailed at Iowa. Now they need to refocus and smoke the teams they need to. Style points are now necessary to win a BCS tiebreaker that will be likely.
18 South Carolina (6-2) – Marcus Lattimore is the offense and he was needed after the defense took the second half off allowing the inept Tennessee offense back into the game.
19 Mississippi St. (7-2) – It is a legit question: how will the team react to the death of teammate Nick Bell? The Bulldogs are in the midst of a bye week to grieve right now before playing Alabama.
20 Virginia Tech (6-2) – There are some making good points that Va. Tech hasn't played anyone of note during its six game winning streak. While that may be true, the streak has been impressive as the Hokies offense has exploded for the first time since Michael Vick was the quarterback.
21 Arkansas (6-2) – Ryan Mallett broke the school record for passing yards again. This is either a sign that there is no passing tradition at all at Arkansas or the Razorbacks are playing way too many patsies.
22 Baylor (7-2) – Four wins from one of the most improbable conference title seasons ever. Of course, a case can be made these are all tougher than anything the Bears have seen other than TCU.
23 NC State (6-2) – Gut check win at home for Wolfpack throws ACC Atlantic into chaos and puts NC State in control of the division.
24 Florida St. (6-2) – Seminoles may have just coughed up the Atlantic division with Christian Ponder's fumble. Ouch. Same old ACC.
25 Illinois (5-3) – Best three loss team in country is surprising Illinois. Beat Michigan on Saturday and its likely the Illini will finish with nine wins. A shocking development since coach Ron Zook used the hire a new staff to keep a job for an extra year plan in the off season. This appears to be a rare time where it will work for longer.
Others Considered
USC (5-3) – The loss to Washington is awful so, despite playing well in every other game, the Trojans can't be ranked with three losses.
Hawaii (7-2) – Carrying a loss to USC and one bad one to Colorado. Ouch.
Nevada (7-1) – The best case of any of these teams, but a home win over Cal is virtually worthless right now.
Maryland (6-2) – The West Virginia loss looks worse right now and while Clemson is probably forgivable considering the schizo nature of that program, 31-7 is not.
Florida (5-3) – The debacle in the swamp on offense against Mississippi St. is still too fresh to re rank the Gators, especially since the win was over Georgia and that almost shouldn't count.
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