Week 9 Poll
1. Penn State (Change: 0)
Best win: Ohio State
Toughest remaining opponent: Michigan State
Projected final record: 12-0
2. USC (0)
Best win: Ohio State
Toughest
remaining opponent: Cal
Projected final record:
11-1
3. Texas (0)
Best win:
Oklahoma
Toughest remaining opponent: Texas Tech,
Big 12 Title?
Projected final record: 12-1
4. Florida (0)
Best win:
LSU
Toughest remaining opponent: Georgia, SEC
Title?
Projected final record: 12-1
5. Oklahoma (0)
Best win:
TCU
Toughest remaining opponent: Texas Tech,
Oklahoma State
Projected final record: 11-1
6. Alabama (0)
Best win:
Georgia
Toughest remaining opponent: LSU, SEC
Title?
Projected final record: 11-2
7. Texas Tech (+1)
Best win: Kansas
Toughest
remaining opponent: Texas, Oklahoma
Projected final record:
10-2
8. Georgia (-1)
Best win:
LSU
Toughest remaining opponent: Florida, SEC
Title?
Projected final record: 12-1
9. Oklahoma State (+2)
Best win:
Missouri
Toughest remaining opponent: Oklahoma,
Texas Tech
Projected final record: 9-3
10. Utah (+2)
Best win:
BYU
Toughest remaining opponent:
TCU
Projected final record: 12-0
11. Ohio State (-1)
12. Boise State (+1)
13. TCU (+1)
14. LSU (-5)
15. Missouri
(0)
16. BYU
(0)
17. Florida State (+7)
18. Oregon (+1)
19. Ball State (+2)
20. South Florida (0)
21. Cal (+5)
22. Tulsa (+4)
23. Michigan State (+3)
24. North Carolina (+2)
25.
Minnesota (+1)
IN: Michigan
State, North
Carolina, Cal, Minnesota,
Tulsa
OUT:
Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, Boston College,
Northwestern, Kansas
ON DECK: West Virginia, Maryland,
Connecticut
Revolving door
There just aren't that many good teams in college football, and so we keep
cycling through the so-so ones. Of the five teams falling out of our poll this
week, four were new to the poll last week -- Pittsburgh, Boston College, Georgia
Tech and Northwestern. (The one team to stick was Florida State, and how. More
on them in a bit.) Of the five new teams in this week's poll, three had fallen
out the week before -- Michigan State, North Carolina and Cal.
You know the talent pool is shallow when the Sweep is throwing its hands up
and ranking Minnesota, who would be a 20-point underdog to a top-five team
and has beaten absolutely no one. The Sweep is guardedly optimistic that West
Virginia (who looked great demolishing Auburn Thursday night) and Maryland will
keep winning, lockdown two poll spots and reduce the turnover.
********** ********** **********
Way too early Top
10
When it's quite possible that neither of
your teams (Stanford, Michigan) will make a bowl, it's only natural to dream of
brighter days. And for the Sweep, the catalyst was reading on ESPN.com that
Florida State starts three freshman -- on their offensive line. Plus, they
committed seven turnovers in their one loss of the season, 12-3 to Wake Forest.
They are some incredibly bad luck from being undefeated, yet they're one of the
quietest top-20 teams in the country right now. Their division stinks, their
recruiting is great and my goodness, they're going to be good in two years.
Naturally, that got us thinking about a 2010 top-10:
1. USC (Current BCS rank: 5, Scout.com 2008 recruiting rank:
9, 2007: 2)
I know what the rankings say, but USC's recruiting continues to
blow the rest of the country's out of the water. Plus, what's the last
time they lost to a football team that was actually better than them? I'd
say Vince Young's Texas. That was three seasons ago.
2. Oklahoma
(Current rank: 4, Scout.com 2008 recruiting rank: 13, 2007:
30)
Texas-Oklahoma winner should be a national title shoo-in, like this
year.
3. Florida State (Current rank: 15, Scout.com 2008
recruiting rank: 8, 2007: 33)
Three freshmen start on the OL and there's no
one else in the ACC.
4. Michigan (Current rank: NR,
Scout.com 2008 recruiting rank: 6, 2007: 10)
The current QB is a sophomore,
the leading RB and WR are freshmen, the secondary should be great and
new coaches always seem to break out in their third year.
5. Florida (Current rank: 8, Scout.com 2008 recruiting
rank: 12, 2007: 1)
The biggest question is whether the Gators will be able to
find a replacement for Tim Tebow.
6. Texas (Current
rank: 1, Scout.com 2008 recruiting rank: 16, 2007: 3)
'Horns have to shore up
their defense, but they should have the personnel to do it.
7. Ohio State (Current rank: 12, Scout.com 2008
recruiting rank: 4, 2007: 16)
Terrelle Pryor as a junior is a scary thought
for the rest of the Big 10.
8. LSU (Current rank: 19, Scout.com 2008 recruiting
rank: 7, 2007: 5)
LSU would be top five this year with a good quarterback.
Here's betting they find one in the next two seasons.
9. Georgia (Current rank: 6, Scout.com 2008 recruiting
rank: 5, 2007: 17)
Yeah, we're SEC-heavy, but this perennial SEC runner-up is
overdue for a breakthrough season.
10. Auburn (Current rank: NR, Scout.com 2008 recruiting
rank: 18, 2007: 6)
Between this season and their No. 1 recruiting class,
Alabama's getting all the hype, but it's the Tigers who have out-recruited
relative to their national prestige more than anyone in the SEC.
Sleeper: Texas A&M (Current rank: NR, Scout.com 2008 recruiting
rank: 15, 2007: 26)
Stanford, by the way, doesn't crack the top 10, but should be
fighting for a top-25 spot. I'd call it fourth in the Pac-10, behind USC, Oregon
and Cal.
Notice the lack of Alabama, Notre Dame and Miami, despite their 1-2-3 finish
in last year's recruiting rankings. Alabama signed 33 players -- sorry, you only
get to keep 25. Guess we should devalue your rating by 25 percent. Miami and,
most of all, Notre Dame, we've been hearing about the upcoming return to glory
for ten years now. Wake me up when it comes. Your recruits are ranked
so high not on the merits, but largely because of your name brand.
Notice also that there's a big window of opportunity in the ACC, Big East
and, after USC, the Pac-10. The more things change, the more they stay the same,
I guess.
********** ********** **********
We close with our picks section, also known as
Don't Quit Your Day Job:
Last week:
Oklahoma State covered, and Georgia and Penn State won big enough
for the rare perfect week.
3-0 straight-up, 3-0 against the spread.
Season:
17-7 against the spread,
19-5 straight-up.
Texas (-6) at Texas Tech
The six-point line is
like a three-point line
in most other contests, because these teams should
both score 30 without breaking a sweat. Texas Tech's spread
attack perfectly attacks Texas' weak pass defense, but
the Sweep's strategy
the whole year has been to pick conservatively, and it's not altering now. Texas is the better team
this year, Texas has the better track record the past five years and Texas should be
able to run the ball at will.
Texas 40, Texas Tech 30
Florida (-5.5) vs. Georgia (Jacksonville)
Any doubt
which team has
the better offense? I don't know how in the world Georgia cracked 50 against LSU last week -- that feels
like their total the past three weeks combined. There's no way that offense and overrated QB
Matthew Stafford can keep pace with Florida.
Florida 24, Georgia
17
Oregon
(+3) at
Cal
Preseason, Cal was my pick for No. 2 in the
Pac-10, while conventional wisdom
said Arizona State. I don't
mistake the Bears
for flashy, but I think they
can be successful with the same formula Stanford's used this season -- solid enough
line play to make up for glaring deficiencies elsewhere.
Cal 27, Oregon 23
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