The more things change, the more they don’t. If there was any question that the SEC is ‘Bama, Georgia and Everyone Else, those questions should be laid to rest. Auburn cannot compete as long as they continue to get in their own way. LSU is acting like they can, but that stop-and-start offense is going to get shut down against the Evil Empire. No one in the East is going to challenge UGA.
Lane has someone else in his lane. It has widely been assumed that all that is required for Florida Atlantic to win the Conference USA championship is for the players to show up on gameday and put their uniforms on correctly. That may in fact be true of winning the East division, but North Texas just made a pretty emphatic statement about themselves. They throttled Ar-Kansas in the Walmart State. Granted, the Pigs are one of about 4 SEC teams that no one expects to be bowl-eligible, but still, Conference USA teams generally don’t go on SEC fields and do much of anything (See UTEP, UTSA, and the aforementioned FAU Owls). The good news is that FAU will be visiting North Texas on Thursday, November 15. After that, FAU has 9 days to prepare for the season-ending game against Charlotte (well, season-ending fur us, anyway). For now, I’ll enjoy the fact that Charlotte is listed ahead of FAU in the standings due to our 1 conference win.
No longer a pushover?Last week, I said of Vandy, “be competitive when you play Touchdown Jesus and we’ll talk.” Well, they were never really going to win the game, but they definitely were competitive. And given how inconsistent Florida has been, and how bad SC looked against their one real opponent, and there is reason for optimism in Twanger Music City for a bowl game.
Rankings:
1. ‘Bama – Situation normal. Nothing to see here.
2. Georgia – See #1 above.
3. Ohio State – Passed their first test at TCU. Urban is back this week.
4. Clempson – We still know precious little about this squad. Playing an ACC schedule won’t tell us much.
5. Oklahoma – See #2 above.
6. LSU – Still unsure about the offense. No question about the defense.
7. Notre Dame – Trudging along. Getting to play all those ACC teams will boost the record.
8. Penn State – Will have to wait for Michigan & Ohio State games to know how good they are.
9. Washington – When is the Washington-Stanford game, so we’ll know what to think about the Pac-12?
10.Stanford – See #9 above.
11.Auburn – Too many self-inflicted wounds. Must correct before going to Misipi State in week 6.
12.Mississippi State – Will be interesting to see them at a better Kentucky team this week.
13.West Virginia – I’m still rooting for Will Grier to win the Heisman, now that I know Stidham has no shot.
14.Virginia Tech – Also situation normal. Tepid offense, decent defense, kick-blocking juggernaut.
15.Central Florida – Lost a key game to the hurricane, even if it was against a putrid opponent.
16.Oklahoma State – Passed their first test with Boise State. We need another Gundy rant.
17.Wisconsin – Loss to BYU can be made up for with a Big 14 West title. Iowa is the only challenger.
18.TCU – Hung tough with a top 5 team. Should still make a very good bowl.
19.Michigan – OK, so they can whip up on patsies. Wake me when they play a real team.
20.Oregon – The Duck Machine is starting to ramp up production again.
21.Texas A&M – OK, now we know why Jimbo ran so fast to get out of Tallahassee.
22.Boston College – Looks like they may have the squad to compete with NC State for second place.
23.BYU – Great win up in Wisconsin. They really need a conference.
24.Miami (FL) – They matched the weather in Toledo – foggy, then sunny.
25.Michigan State – Pretty boring team, but they usually win.
Next 5: Boise State, Arizona State, Colorado, NC State, Missouri
Worst 5: Rice, Old Dominion, New Mexico State, San Jose State, UTEP
Recent Comments