College Football Top 25 Heading into Bowl Season

A little bit of a shakeup in the Top 25 this week after a great weekend of College Football. These will be the last rankings until after the National Championship game in January.

1.     Alabama (13-0) (3): The Tide went out and earned this number 1 ranking. Just beating Florida in every aspect of the game. Extra points for making Tim Tebow cry.

2.     TCU (12-0)(4): TCU is a great team and I’m not sure what more they have to do to prove to everyone that they are for real. Unfortunately the BCS won’t allow them to go out and beat one of the traditional big powers but beating Boise State will have to be a consolation.

3.     Texas (13-0)(2): Texas didn’t do anything that warrants them playing Alabama in January. Though they were completely unimpressive, they better be more prepared for Alabama than they were for the Huskers, or the National Title game will be a snoozer.

4.     Cincinnati (13-0)(5)

5.     Boise State (13-0)(6)

6.     Florida (12-1)(1)

7.     Oregon (10-2)(9)

8.     Ohio State (10-2)(7)

9.     Iowa (10-2)(8)

10.  Georgia Tech (11-2)(11)

11.  Penn State (10-2)(10)

12.  Virginia Tech (9-3)(13)

13.  BYU (10-2)(15)

14.  LSU (9-3)(16)

15.  Miami (9-3)(18)

16.  Pittsburgh (9-3)(12)

17.   West Virginia (9-3)(NR)

18.  Oregon State (9-3)(14)

19.  Stanford (8-4)(23)

20.  Oklahoma State (9-3)(21)

21.  East Carolina (9-4)(25)

22.  Northwestern (8-4) (24)

23.  Nebraska (9-4)(22)

24.  Wisconsin (9-3)(NR)

25.  Central Michigan (11-2) (NR): The Chippewas won the MAC Championship this weekend and are led by Dan LeFevour. LeFevour will certainly become a notable draft prospect, as the draft experts will call him the likely sleeper of the draft.

Dropping Out: USC (17), Houston (19), California (20)

College Football Top 25 Heading into Week 14

It's Championship weekend for the major conferences. The Pac-10 gets a pseudo championship game with Oregon and Oregon State, here's the rankings:

1. Florida (12-0)(1): The Gators put together an all around impressive performance against Florida State. They look to be prepared for Alabama this weekend.

2. Texas (12-0)(2)

3. Alabama (12-0)(3): Took a comeback and some resillency but the Crimson Tide pulled it out and remain undefeated. They have some work to do but they’ll be prepared for the Gators.

4. TCU (12-0)(4): Complete the first undefeated season in school history and the Horned Frogs have likely become the only Nebraska fans in the state of Texas this weekend. A Texas loss puts TCU in the National Title game.

5. Cincinnati (11-0)(5)

6. Boise State (12-0)(6)

7. Ohio State (10-2)(8)

8. Iowa (10-2)(10)

9. Oregon (9-2)(11): The Ducks face off with Oregon State this weekend and the winner gets to play in the Rose Bowl.

10. Penn State (10-2)(13)

11. Georgia Tech (10-2)(7)

12. Pittsburgh (9-2)(8)

13. Virginia Tech (9-3)(15)

14. Oregon State (9-2)(16)

15. BYU (10-2)(18)

16. LSU (9-3) (12)

17. USC (8-3)(19)

18. Miami (9-3)(21)

19. Houston (10-2)(23)

20. California (8-3)(22)

21. Oklahoma State (9-3)(14)

22. Nebraska (9-3)(NR)

23. Stanford (8-4)(NR)

24. Northwestern (8-4)(NR)

25. East Carolina (8-4)(NR)

Dropping Out: Utah(24), North Carolina (25), Mississippi(20), Clemson(17)

A Possible Playoff Format

Well with the college bowl season fast approaching the cry for a playoff system in college football is starting to grow stronger. I for one am a big fan of a playoff system and here's my idea for a possible playoff format. It's a very elaborate plan that I doubt will ever happen, but maybe way in the future something close to this will take place.

First off every major conference must have a championship game so every major conference needs 12 teams and 2 divisions. Notre Dame will join the Big Ten, Utah and Boise St. join the Pac-10, Navy, Army, UCF, and Buffalo join the Big East. So all 6 major conference have 12 teams and can have a championship game.

The 6 conference champs get automatic bids to the playoffs and then there will be 2 play-in games containing the top 4 BCS teams that did not win their conferences or play in a mid-major conference, and no conference can have more than 2 teams in the playoffs. A selection committee will decide the seedings for the tournament.

With each conference having a championship game then the season will last the same amount of time for everyone going a week after Thanksgiving. The 6 conference champs will then get a week off while the 2 play-in games are played in that off week. Then there will be 3 weeks of College Football going from 8 teams to 4 teams to 2 teams to a National Champion.

Top 25 heading into week 13, the Big Ten is done with league play but everyone else still has big football remaining:

1. Florida (11-0) (1)

2. Texas (11-0) (2)

3. Alabama (11-0) (3)

4. TCU (11-0) (4)

5. Cincinnati (10-0) (5)

6. Boise State (11-0) (6): The Broncos have been campaigning very hard so the BCS Bowls don’t forget about them come
selection time, but if they aren’t careful they could lose against Nevada this weekend.

7. Georgia Tech (10-1) (7)

8. Ohio State (10-2) (8)

9. Pittsburgh (9-1) (10)

10. Iowa (10-2) (11)

11. Oregon (9-2) (12): Won a great game against Arizona on Saturday night. If the Ducks can beat Oregon State in the Civil War, they will represent the Pac-10 in the Rose Bowl.

12. LSU (8-3) (9)

13. Penn State (10-2) (14)

14. Oklahoma State (9-2) (15): The Cowboys are still alive for a BCS Bowl if they beat Oklahoma this weekend and Texas
keeps winning.

15. Virginia Tech (8-3) (17)

16. Oregon State (8-3) (19)

17. Clemson (8-3) (NR)

18. BYU (9-2) (18)

19. USC (7-3) (20)

20. Mississippi (8-3) (NR)

21. Miami (8-3) (24)

22. California (8-3) (NR)

23. Houston (9-2) (22)

24. Utah (9-2) (25)

25. North Carolina (8-3) (NR)

Dropping Out: Rutgers (23), Arizona (21), Wisconsin (16), Stanford (13)

Week 12 College Football Picks

We’ve got big games in the Pac-10 and Big Ten this weekend and the rest of the schedule is full of rivalry games that might not end up being as entertaining as rivalry games are supposed to be:

#12 Oklahoma State over Colorado

#6 Boise State over Utah State

#1 Florida over Florida International

#2 Alabama over Chattanooga

#3 Texas over Kansas

#4 TCU over Wyomimg

#8 LSU over Mississippi

#10 Ohio State over Michigan

#13 Iowa over Minnesota

#15 Virginia Tech over N. Carolina State

#16 Wisconsin over Northwestern

#17 Stanford over #25 California

#19 Oregon State over Washington State

#20 Miami over Duke

#21 Utah over San Diego State

#22 BYU over Air Force

#23 Clemson over Virginia

#24 Houston over Memphis

Michigan State over #14 Penn State: In the battle for the Land Grant Trophy, MSU pulls the upset. Penn State has flopped in their two previous games against serious opponents and I just don’t see them going into East Lansing and pulling off a victory.

Arizona over #11 Oregon: Arizona and Oregon both control their own destinies to get to the Rose Bowl to face off with Ohio State. Arizona and its 20th ranked rushing defense finds a way to stop the running attack of the Ducks and the Wildcats put themselves in the drivers seat for the Pac-10 Championship.

College Football Top 25 Heading into Week 12

The top nine have remained the same but here is the Top 25 heading into week 12:

1. Florida (10-0) (1)

2. Texas (10-0)(2)

3. Alabama (10-0)(3)

4. TCU (10-0)(4): TCU is proving to be just a dominate team in my mind. I wish they had the chance to play for the National Title but it doesn’t look like it’s going to work out that way.

5. Cincinnati (10-0)(5)

6. Boise State (10-0)(6)

7. Georgia Tech (10-1)(7)

8. Ohio State (9-2)(8)

9. LSU (8-2)(9): Talk about bad luck, if LSU wins out their only two losses will be against two of the top three teams in the nation and they’ll be left out of the BCS. This is why we need a playoff folks.

10. Pittsburgh (9-1)(12)

11. Iowa (9-2)(11): James Vandenberg showed a lot of poise going into Ohio Stadium for his first career start. It’s unfortunate
Kirk Ferentz didn’t give him the chance to win the game, but they know now they have a viable backup if Stanzi has another 5 interception game.

12. Oregon (8-2)(14)

13. Stanford (7-3)(25)

14. Penn State (9-2)(18)

15. Oklahoma State (8-2)(19)

16. Wisconsin (8-2)(20)

17. Virginia Tech (7-3)(23)

18. BYU (8-2)(22)

19. Oregon State (7-3)(24)

20. USC (7-3)(10): This is clearly not one of Pete Carroll’s better teams and he didn’t like Stanford running up the score late in
the game. If you don’t like it, you have to stop it. USC is struggling but I have a feeling it won’t last a long time.

21. Arizona (6-3)(13)

22. Houston (8-2)(17)

23. Rutgers (7-2)(NR)

24. Miami (7-3)(15)

25. Utah (8-2)(17)

Dropping Out: West Virginia (23)

Week 11 College Football Picks

Here are the picks for week 11, there are some pretty interesting games on the docket this weekend:

South Florida over Rutgers: I wouldn’t be surprised to see Rutgers win but I really like South Florida and if they didn’t lose their starting QB a few weeks ago their season could have been really special.

Florida over South Carolina

Alabama over Mississippi State

Texas over Baylor

Boise State over Idaho

Georgia Tech over Duke

LSU over Louisiana Tech

USC over Stanford

Pittsburgh over Notre Dame: Charlie Weis needs to win this week and once more to probably keep his job at Notre Dame, I don’t think he does it and let the Urban Meyer to South Bend rumors begin!

Oregon over Arizona State

Miami over North Carolina

Houston over UCF

Arizona over California

Penn State over Indiana

Oklahoma State over Texas Tech

Wisconsin over Michigan

Virginia Tech over Maryland

BYU over New Mexico

Oregon State over Washington

Cincinnati over West Virginia: in a game that will go a long way in determining the Big East champ I think Cincinnati continues their undefeated season but they still have games against Illinois and Pittsburgh left

Iowa over Ohio State: Here’s the game that determines the Big Ten Champ. I think the Hawkeyes will once again rise above adversity and pull out its fourth win on the road in arguably four of the toughest places to play in the Big Ten.

TCU over Utah: TCU is probably the best team after the top 3 and I don’t think they’ll lose this weekend. It should be a good game but TCU is just so good on defense and their offense is no slouch either.

College Football Top 25 Heading into Week 11

Here’s the top 25 for the week, the analysis has a Big Ten flare to it as the Big Ten title and Rose Bowl berth is on the line this weekend in Columbus:

1. Florida (9-0) (1)
2. Texas (9-0) (2)
3. Alabama (9-0) (3)
4. TCU (9-0) (5)
5. Cincinnati (9-0) (6)
6. Boise State (9-0) (7)
7. Georgia Tech (9-1) (11)
8. Ohio State (8-2) (14): The Buckeyes have become the team to beat in the Big Ten, a big test remains this weekend with Iowa coming to town.
9. LSU (7-2) (9)
10. USC (7-2) (12)
11. Iowa (9-1) (4): Heartbreaking loss for the Hawkeyes, but they still control their own destiny and must fight adversity again this week against Ohio State without quarterback Ricky Stanzi.
12. Pittsburgh (8-1) (13)
13. Arizona (6-2) (16)
14. Oregon (7-2) (8)
15. Miami (7-2) (18)
16. Houston (8-1) (17)
17. Utah (8-1) (15)
18. Penn State (8-2) (10): Many questioned how good Penn State was this year thanks to their nonconference schedule being about as difficult as playing in the North Suburban Conference and in their two tests of the season they come out short.
19. Oklahoma State (7-2) (22)
20. Wisconsin (7-2) (21)
21. Virginia Tech (6-3) (23)
22. BYU (7-2) (NR)
23. West Virginia (7-2) (NR)
24. Oregon State (6-3) (NR)
25. Stanford (6-3) (NR)

Dropping out: California (19), Notre Dame (20), Oklahoma (24), South Florida (25)

Week 10 College Football Picks

#23 Virginia Tech over East Carolina

#7 Boise State over Louisiana Tech

#1 Florida over Vanderbilt: Apparently Urban Meyer feels that Vandy will give his team a more difficult time that most believe. Why else would he only suspend his best defensive player for only a half? (Brandon Spikes has since suspended himself for the entire game to avoid being a distraction.) With or without Spikes, the Gators should roll.

#2 Texas over UCF

#9 LSU over #3 Alabama: Alabama just hasn’t wowed me yet and for all the crap that people talk about the Iowa Hawkeyes, the Crimson Tide has been just as impressive as the Hawkeyes. LSU finds a way to win by stopping Mark Ingram.

#4 Iowa over Northwestern

#5 Cincinnati over Connecticut

#6 TCU over San Diego State

#8 Oregon over Stanford

#10 Georgia Tech over Wake Forest

#11 Penn State over #16 Ohio State: This is a big game in determining the Big Ten Champion. Penn State needs to win and
hopes Ohio State beats Iowa and Ohio State needs to win the rest of the season. Penn State is at home, they are playing better, and they have senior leadership at the quarterback position. Those factors will lead to the Nittany Lions to another victory and leave the Buckeyes to Capital One Bowl.

#12 USC over Arizona State

#13 Pittsburgh over Syracuse

#14 Utah over New Mexico

#15 Houston over Tulsa

#17 Miami over Virginia

#18 Arizona over Washington State

#19 Oklahoma State over Iowa State

#20 California over Oregon State

#21 Wisconsin over Indiana

#22 Notre Dame over Navy

Nebraska over #24 Oklahoma

College Football Top 25 Heading into Week 10

Not much change in the Top 10 except USC dropping out, we now have the 7 undefeated schools in the Top 7:

1. Florida (1)
2. Texas (3): They dominated Oklahoma State on Saturday night and have become the first of the “Big 3” to really start playing like a National Title contender.
3. Alabama (2)
4. Iowa (4)
5. TCU (6)
6. Cincinnati (7)
7. Boise State (8)
8. Oregon (9): The dismantling the Ducks did of the Men of Troy was something to be seen, unfortunately their loss to Boise State keeps them from soaring up the rankings. They’re a dangerous team with an outside shot at the National Championship Game as the best 1-loss team in the nation.
9. LSU (10)
10. Penn State (11)
11. Georgia Tech (12)
12. USC (5)
13. Pittsburgh (15)
14. Ohio State (16): A huge matchup for the Buckeyes this weekend as they travel to Happy Valley to take on Penn State. If Ohio State pulls out a win there will certainly be talk of them beating Iowa in two weeks and then going to the Rose Bowl instead of the Hawkeyes.
15. Utah (18)
16. Arizona (17): The Wildcats definitely hold their fate in their own hands with games still against Cal, Oregon, and USC.
17. Houston (19)
18. Miami (21)
19. California (25)
20. Notre Dame (22): A Notre Dame rout keeps the door open on a possible BCS Bowl for the Irish as the BCS would likely take a 2-loss Notre Dame squad over a Non-AQ School, however unfair that may seem.
21. Wisconsin (NR): Probably a little overrated but the Badgers are a good team and will probably being playing on January 1st come Bowl Season.
22. Oklahoma State (14)
23. Virginia Tech (13)
24. Oklahoma (NR)
25. South Florida (NR)

Dropping out: West Virginia (20), South Carolina (23), Idaho (24)

Week 9 College Football Picks

West Virginia over South Florida

Florida over Georgia: Flordia wins this game but I really do think Georgia will give them an extremely tough game but the SEC officials will make a call to help the Gators out.

Iowa over Indiana

TCU over UNLV

Oklahoma State over Texas: I just don’t think Texas is that good of a team this year, and Oklahoma State finds a way to shut down the McCoy-Shipley connection.

USC over Oregon: I really wanted to pick Oregon but I just don’t see USC and Texas both losing this weekend.

Boise State over San Jose State

LSU over Tulane

Penn State over Northwestern

Ohio State over New Mexico State

Miami over Wake Forest

Cincinnati over Syracuse

Georgia Tech over Vanderbilt

Utah over Wyoming

Houston over Southern Miss

South Carolina over Tennessee: I’m picking the Gamecocks but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Lane Kiffin pull the upset this week, his team is playing hard and it’s bound to pay off at some point this season.

Notre Dame over Washington State: For some reason this game is being played in San Antonio but the Irish win anyway.

California over Arizona State

Ole Miss over Auburn

My apologies for missing the Va. Tech – UNC game, busy week.

College Football Top 25 Heading into Week 9

Well there wasn’t much change in the top 10 of my Top 25 but TCU jumped up and Oregon joined the party.

1. Florida (1)
2. Alabama (2)
3. Texas (3)
4. Iowa (4)
5. USC (5)
6. TCU (9): The biggest win this weekend in College Football, TCU is forcing the voters to notice that it will likely be them and not Boise State as the Non-AQ school to be in a BCS Bowl.
7. Cincinnati (7)
8. Boise State (6): The Broncos will unfortunately be left out of the BCS this year and the reason is the schedule just isn’t good enough to warrant a BCS berth.
9. Oregon (12)
10. LSU (10)
11. Penn State (13): The Nittany Lions are starting to hit on all cylinders which could get the Big Ten two representatives in the BCS for another season.
12. Georgia Tech (11)
13. Virginia Tech (14)
14. Oklahoma State (15)
15. Pittsburgh (17)
16. Ohio State (22): Terrelle Pryor and the Buckeyes look like they found some offense in the second half against Minnesota, and if they did the stretch run for the Big Ten Title will be very interesting.
17. Arizona (NR): The Wildcats might be the best team no one is talking about.
18. Utah (19)
19. Houston (18)
20. West Virginia (21)
21. Miami (8)
22. Notre Dame (NR): With their 2 losses the Fighting Irish can still make a BCS Bowl much to the chagrin of the millions of fans who hate Charlie Weis and the Irish.
23. South Carolina (23)
24. Idaho (25)
25. California (NR)

Dropping Out: BYU (16), Texas Tech (20), Kansas (24)

My College Football Top 25

Well with the College Football regular season 6 weeks old I figure it's as good of time as any to lay out what I think the top 25 teams in the nation are, here it is:

1. Florida – This is really close between the Gators and Alabama, but there is just so much talent on that Florida team and combined with Tebow’s determination they would probably beat any team on any day.
2. Alabama
3. Texas
4. Virginia Tech – They certainly benefit from playing in the ACC, but in a year where it’s Florida, Alabama, Texas and then everybody else, they’re right there.
5. Iowa – Now I’ll come right out and say I’m probably biased with ranking the Hawkeyes this highly. That being said, I know how this team is capable of playing and the defense and special teams have been outstanding so far and the offense should continue to get better as most Kirk Ferentz teams do.
6. USC
7. Boise State – Being undefeated is worth something, even if you play in the WAC. They’ll be in a BCS game as long as their record stays unblemished.
8. Ohio State
9. Miami
10. TCU – Great defense and a good team, they probably won’t make a BCS bowl if Boise State stays undefeated but they’re a good team.
11. Cincinnati
12. LSU
13. Oregon – Their matchup with USC in two weeks will likely determine the Pac-10 champ. A win against the Trojans could give the Big Ten a new opponent in the Rose Bowl.
14. Penn State
15. Kansas – Undefeated gets you ahead of other schools in your conference.
16. Nebraska
17. Oklahoma State – inconsistency paired with the possible ineligibility of Dez Bryant could put a damper on the Cowboys’ season.
18. BYU – They beat an OU team with great expectations but then got blown out by a bad Florida State team, not sure what BYU can bring to the table.
19. Georgia Tech
20. South Florida – consistent success coupled with Florida State failure could vault USF ahead in terms of Florida schools.
21. South Carolina
22. Notre Dame – People hate on Notre Dame way too much. They’re 4-1, playing respectable schools, the defense still has questions to be answered but a win against USC would legitimize Notre Dame’s season.
23. Houston
24. Utah
25. Pittsburgh

Compare it to the real polls: www.espn.go.com/college-football/rankings