Gopher Football
Heading into the conference portion of the schedule, the Big Ten is looking wide open, with at least three (and up to possibly five) teams having a legitimate shot at the title. Ohio State has been a huge disappointment so far, at least compared to pre-season expectations. After making the national championship game last year and returning most of their starters (including having several potential NFL draft picks opt to RETURN to Ohio State, an unusual occurance for them), the Buckeyes were expected to be one of the top two or three teams in the nation. OSU took care of business in their opening-week win against FCS team Youngstown State, the Buckeyes have struggled badly in their three games against FBS teams. Everyone remembers the blowout loss in primetime to USC, but perhaps even more alarming is the Buckeye’s performance in their other two two games “” a 26-14 win against Ohio Univerisity and a 28-10 win against Troy (a game which was 14-10 going into the fourth quarter). In both of those games the offense struggled more often than not; they accumulated just 272 yards against Ohio U. and just 309 against Troy. In the Troy game, they needed 2 fourth quarter TD’s to put the game away. The loss of Beanie Wells surely has something to do with this, so with him in the lineup OSU’s offense will be helped immeasurably. If he does not return though, it could be a long year for the OSU offense.
On the other hand, Penn State has had no such problems, putting up at least 35 points in the first half of every game so far this year. Maybe Jo Pa was on to something when he said that this years Nittany Lion offense was more talented than the 1994 team. We’ll know just how good Wisconsin is and how bad Michigan is after this weekend. I wouldn’t be totally surprised to Michigan spring the upset though “” I do think their defense can give Wisconsin fits, so if the Wolverines can keep the game low-scoring they just might have a chance.
Big Ten rankings:
Top: Penn State
2-3: Ohio State, Wisconsin
4-5: Michigan State, Illinois
6-10: Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern
Bottom: Indiana
National update
Even though they’ve played just 2 games, USC has looked every bit their #1 ranking. They demolished both Virginia and Ohio State, giving up just 10 points in the two games. At this point it would be a huge upset if they lose this year.
One of the biggest stories nationally is the Mountain West Conference. The conference has gone 5-0 against the Pac 10 this year (with Utah winning at Michigan as well), with Utah, BYU and TCU all ranked, has more team in the AP Top 25 than the Pac 10 and ACC.
Poll Head scratcher: The premier matchup in college football last weekend was #6 LSU playing at #10 Auburn. LSU won thriller on an 18 yard touchdown pass with 1:03 remaining in the game. When the polls came out SUnday, Auburn dropped from #10 to #15. Why?? Wouldn’t you expect the #10 team in the nation to lose a tight game to the #6 team? To me, Auburn justified their #10 ranking by playing LSU so tough, so I don’t understand why they dropped 5 spots. That’s part of my beef with the polls; the voters assume that just becuase a team loses they should drop, without really taking a close look at how they lost, and considering that a team can justify their ranking.
This weekend’s big games
Alabama @ Georgia: Ho-hum, just another matchup between two top-10 teams in the SEC. Almost lost in the cloak of great teams in the SEC has been Alabama. Very quietly, the Tide has risen to #8 in the nation behind two lopsided road wins at former #9 Clemson and Arkansas. Alabama’s big chance comes on Saturday night on ESPN with a huge game at #3 Georgia. If Alabama wins they could suddenly be the favorite to come out of the SEC, but they would sitll need to get by LSU in Baton Rouge on November 8.
Colorado @ Florida State: Florida State will be trying to rebound after laying an egg against Wake Forest. Colorado is fresh off a big win against West Virginia after nearly losing to FCS Eastern Washington at home the prior week.
Virginia Tech @ Nebraska: This is the first big game in the Bo Pelini era, and with a chance to move to 4-0 expect Lincoln to be rocking. After an opening-game loss to East Carolina, Virginia Tech has reeled off three straight wins. The winner of this game will be in position to jump into the top 25. On a side note, all of Nebraska’s non-conference games, and then their first Big 12 games, are at home. They don’t go on the road until the sixth week of the season, October 11th against Texas Tech.
TCU @ Oklahoma: This game will likely be a Sooner romp, but with the magic the Mountain West has shown so far this year this becomes an interesting matchup.
GopherHole.com Top 25
| Southern Cal | ||||
| Oklahoma | ||||
| Georgia | ||||
| Florida | ||||
| Missouri | ||||
| Texas | ||||
| LSU | ||||
| Penn State | ||||
| Alabama | ||||
| Auburn | ||||
| Ohio State | ||||
| BYU | ||||
| Wisconsin | ||||
| South Florida | ||||
| Texas Tech | ||||
| Kansas | ||||
| Boise State | ||||
| Wake Forest | ||||
| Clemson | ||||
| Utah | ||||
| East Carolina | ||||
| Oregon | ||||
| Fresno State | ||||
| TCU | ||||
| Vanderbilt |
Dropped Out:
19. West Virginia (L @ Colorado 17-14)
20. Florida State (L vs. Wake Forest 12-3)
These rankings are GopherHole.com’s vote in the CollegeRivals.org Top 25 poll. Its voters are staff members from various college sports websites like GopherHole.com. Check back each Tuesday throughout the season to see the newest poll. Click Here to view the latest CollegeRivals.org Top 25.
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