The weather definitely played a factor in most games across the nation this past weekend, creating a wild weekend of upsets and great games.
Beyond Florida, Texas, you could argue for any one of 12 teams that could fall into place behind them. As conference play continues over the next few weeks, the top pretenders should be weeded out. We don't think LSU will stay there over the next 2 weeks, but we also aren't sold on Virginia Tech.
The good news is Ohio State is back in the top 10 and we will switch Cal and Oregon on the final ballot. The teams that are 12-25 are all a wild guess, but we would love to hear what teams you think deserve better or need to drop.
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| 1 |  |
Jumped out to a 31-0 lead after one quarter, en route to a 41-7 win over Kentucky. The Gators gained 362 yards on the ground, lead by Timmy's 123 yards and 2 TD's on 16 carries, before he got knocked out of the game and eventually taken to the hospital. Next up: at LSU 10/10 | -- |
| 2 |  |
Destroyed UTEP 64-7, after leading 47-7 at the half. The Horns racked up 335 through the air and 304 on the ground, while holding UTEP to 9 yards rushing. Next up: Colorado 10/10. | -- |
| 3 |  |
Bama held Arkansas to just 2-14 on 3rd downs, routing the Razorbacks 35-7. Ryan Mallet was only 12 of 35 for 160, while Greg McElroy was 17 of 24 for 291 yards and 3 TD's. Defense looked impressive once again. Next up: at Kentucky, 12:20. | -- |
| 4 |  |
Survived a scare at Mississippi State, 30-26. The Tigers got a pick 6 and a 93-yard punt return to help offset the offense's 263 total yards. Florida looms in 2 weeks. Next up: at Georgia, 3:30. |  3 |
| 5 |  |
Shut out Washington St. for 59 minutes in their 27-6 win at home. The defense only gave up 229 total yards, while Barkley threw for 247 yards and 2 TD's on only 13 completions. Next up: at California, 8:00. | 3 |
| 6 |  |
Came to Ohio and shut down BGSU, 49-14. The Broncos racked up 529 yards (262 in the air, 267 on the ground) and caused 3 Falcon TO's. Next up: UC Davis, 8:00. | 4 |
| 7 |  |
Bye Week. Next up: at Miami, FL., 8:00. | 4 |
| 8 |  |
Second straight shutout for the Silver Bullets, limiting the Illini to 170 total yards in their 30-0 victory. D-Line might be tops in the country and the O-Line looks much improved from game 1. Next up: at Indiana, 7:00. | 1 |
| 9 |  |
Weather conditions had a hand in V.Tech's 31-7 win over Miami. We don't think that Tyrod Taylor could beat Ohio State though, but Ryan Williams has 3 straight 100 yard rushing games. Next up: at Duke, Noon. | 3 |
| 10 |  |
Hung on to take down a pesky Fresno St. team, 28-20. Tony Pike continued his fantastic start by throwing for 300 yards and 3 TD's. Next up: at Miami (OH) , 1:00. | 4 |
| 11 |  |
The surprise team of 2009 came back at home to win 29-28 over Texas Tech. Case Keenum was 38-58 for 430 yards, throwing for a score and running for the winner with 49 seconds left in the game. Next up: at UTEP, 9:05. | -- |
| 12 |  |
Went on the road and took down Clemson, 14-10. The Horned Frogs held Clemson to 117 yards in the 2nd half and stopped them twice inside the 20. Next up: SMU, 8:00. | 6 |
| 13 |  |
The Hawkeyes have shaken off the rough start in week one, taking down PSU 21-10. Iowa picked off Clark 3 times and returned a blocked punt for the go-ahead score in the 4th. Their defense will keep them in the top tier of the B10. Next up: Arkansas State, Noon. | -- |
| 14 |  |
The Tigers are 4-0 after they beat Ball State, 54-30. Auburn is 3rd nationally, averaging 45 points a game, including wins over Miss. St. and WVU. Next up: at Tennessee, 7:45. | -- |
| 15 |  |
Blaine Gabbert passed for 414 yards and 3 TD's, as the Tigers beat Nevada, on the road 31-21. Danario Alexander caught 9 for 170 and 2 TD's. | 1 |
| 16 |  |
Lost to V. Tech in a class 5 hurricane, 31-7. The U could only muster 209 total yards, as Jacory Harris went 9 for 25 and 150 yards. Get a chance at redemption this Saturday when they host Oklahoma, their 4th straight top 25 team to start the season. Next up: Oklahoma, 8:00. |  3 |
| 17 |  |
Dropped a 21-10 game at home against Iowa. Both rushing and passing games struggled against the Hawkeye defense, as Royster managed only 69 yards on 17 carries. Next up: at Illinois, 3:30. | 11 |
| 18 |  |
Another undefeated Big 12 team, after holding off Southern Miss. 35-28. Todd Reesing connected on 30 of 41 for 331 yards and 3 scores. Have a chance to be 6-0 going into the Oklahoma match up. Next up: Iowa State, 10/10. | 3 |
| 19 |  |
Turned up the defense in their 20-17 home win against Arizona State. Still struggled running the ball, gaining 92 yards on 31 carries, but ASU totaled just 204 total yards. Next up: LSU, 3:30. | -- |
| 20 |  |
Got help from the refs late, in holding off Indiana 36-33. Forcier hit Martavious Odoms for a 26 yard score with 2:29 left to eek out the win. The Hoosiers gained 467 total yards. | -- |
| 21 |  |
Dismantled Grambling State 56-6, rushing for 321 yards (on 41 attempts) and throwing for another 266. Next up: at Texas A&M, 10/10. | 2 |
| 22 |  |
Got embarrassed by Oregon 42-3. The Golden Bear defense was a sieve, giving up 524 total yards. Next up: USC, 8:00. | 18 |
| 23 |  |
Shut out LA-Lafayette 55-0, gaining 433 total yards and holding the Ragin Cajun's to 222. Next up: at Missouri, 10/08. | 1 |
| 24 |  |
Lost on the road at South Carolina, 16-10. Jevon Snead continued to struggle in big games this year, going just 7 of 21. Next up: at Vanderbilt, 7:00. | 19 |
| 25 |  |
Crushed Cal a home, 42-3 and will be flip flopped with the Bears in the final ballot. Jeremiah Masoli connected on 21 of 25 passes for 253 yards and 3 TD's, while freshman LaMichael James toted it 21 times for 118 yards. Next up: Washington State, 9:15. | -- |
Dropped Out: North Carolina (#15), Pittsburgh (#17), Florida State (#22), UCLA (#25). (Last Week's Ballot)
Comments
I'd swap OSU and OU. OU gets beat by BYU, which is annihilated by FSU, which is in turn beaten by a Grothe-less USF. Bradford looks like he's pressing a bit by going to Alabama to see that famous orthopedic surgeon. OU hasn't done much to validate a #8 ranking besides beating Tulsa and Idaho state and currently resides at that spot on reputation alone. They might earn that ranking after the U-Miami game, but until them I'd switch OSU and OU.
Also, would be interested to hear you discuss LSU a bit more. They have survived scares against both Washington and Miss State, although both games were on the road. I just don't see a #4 team in LSU, and would feel comfortable with a getting more healthy USC or even Boise State ahead of LSU.
Agree with the above- OSU dominates Illinois and moves up one spot on your ballot, Oklahoma takes on the vaunted "Bye" and moves up 4 spots?
Also, why on earth does an Idaho State win over Bowling Green justify Idaho State's leapfrogging us?
You mean Boise, right? For starters, they're undefeated, and they beat an Oregon team that was at fuller strength than the one that smacked Cal. I don't think the weak schedule argument works against them just yet this year.
Personally I don't have any major issues with the poll this week. It's only WEEK 4! We've got plenty of time to work our way up as the offense continues to improve and the defense continues to just be freakish. And lets be honest, outside of the top 3 everything else is just really a crap shoot at this point. This looks like its going to be another wild year in college football.
HAHAHHAHAHA...well done on the play of the year link...well done
Would someone please explain to me how Doug Lesmerises a reporter in Cleveland can put us at 16?! This guy has a bone to pick for sure. Did Tressel piss in his Wheaties?
Ya boise state would roll the buckeyes for sure. How bout ah NO! Go Beanie Wells baby roll!
I think that this is the year when a mid major finally breaks through to the NC game. Even the obvious top two teams in the country, Texas and Florida, have glaring weaknesses and will not get through the season undefeated. Cincinnati and BSU are both teams to watch out for (although I think Cincinnati is likely to choke at some point)
either way, this is going to be another insane season and a perfect example of why I love college football.
He's trying to rank teams entirely on their achievements up until this date, no projection whatsoever. After OSU plays Iowa and Wisconsin and PSU and Michigan, assuming they win, they will likely be in his top 5.
What?
Being in a BCS conference I don't think UC is a mid major, but I do think they'll lose at least one. I really think Illinois will beat them and maybe Pitt or USF. Boise State may go undefeated but I still don't think they will have enough to make it to the BCS championship. I'm sorry but beating Oregon, no matter what they did against California, does not prove to me that they should be a top 10 team. I think LSU loses next week. Georgia is better than Mississippi State and they have some offense. LSU is not good and will lose at least 3 games this year. Contrary to ESPN's thoughts, the SEC has 2 really good teams this year, much like last year.
oh that makes sense florida has roll let me see.... oh no top 20 teams or even top 40 team. Oh and texas lets see well they beat tech who lost to f'n houston. Nice. He's a douche.
Wow did Penn State really drop. Seems a little bit too much in my opinion.
It's probably because they got greedy with the cupcakes and got exposed when they played a real team.
Even after beating the tar out of some really bad teams, Penn state showed some serious problems with their offense that got exposed further against Iowa. Iowa has a good d-line, but it's not as good as ours and unless PSU figures out their o-line at some point we are going to murder them in the trenches. Their defense should still be respected, but I'm a hell of a lot more confident about playing them now than I was a few days ago
LMAO @ 'Not Anderson Russell' having 5x more votes than TP on MVP poll
Being an Ohio State site, I think it's ridiculous that you'd have Oklahoma above us. We lost to the 5th ranked team in this poll, and Oklahoma lost to a non-BCS team that...well, isn't on the list. Oklahoma had a bye, Ohio State pitched a 2nd consecutive shut-out. Ohio State lost its past 3 BCS games, Oklahoma has lost its past 5.
It's time for the Oklahoma love-train to derail.
I think what Doug Lesmerises is doing is fantastic for college football. Only 1/3 of the preseason AP top-10 is intact, and that should say something about the system itself! By the end of the year, it might turn out that only 1/5 of the entire preseason poll was correct at all. Maybe less. So why stick to it throughout the year? Why do we have to rank Oklahoma higher than BYU? Reputation? Doug calls "bullshit."
If he has us at 16th this week, that's a huge jump from #25, where he had us last week. He was obviously not impressed with the win over Toledo because USC lost to Washington after beating us, but having 2 shutouts back-to-back has obviously convinced him the defense is for real. I bet if TP and the offense start looking like they are down with blowing people away, then the he'll reward the Buckeyes accordingly.
The guy pays attention to what happens on the field, and that's more than can be said for anyone else who votes.