There were some great games yesterday and as usual there were a few surprises.
I would imagine the Sun Belt is getting tired of moral victories. FIU came close to taking down a "top 25" team in Louisville last afternoon and ULM again fell just short of another victory over a BCS conference foe. WKU looked quite good in the beat down of CUSA Southern Mississippi. I would have thought that USM would have found a way to come out in the winner column.
Right now the SBC is up for grabs. With the exception of FAU, South Alabama and perhaps Middle Tennessee State, there is some parity. Troy beat UNT in a close one, but I would not count out the Mean Green quite yet. On the contrary. I would look for ULM, Troy, UNT, FIU, WKU, and perhaps Arkansas State and/or the Ragin Cajuns to all have a shot at the top spot.
Over in the IAA Southland Sam Houston State fell to a pretty good UCA squad. That was somewhat surprising, but I certainly will not count out the Bearkats quite yet. I imagine they will make the playoffs but they will probably fall just short of competing for the FCS (IAA) National Championship.
Could a case be made for Oregon to jump Alabama as the number one team in the land? Perhaps. It is rather hard to take the PAC 12 that seriously at times, but the Ducks finally look like the real deal. Alabama has had really nothing more than scrimmages in their outings and have not been tested by anyone. The match ups with the Hogs and Wolverines was supposed to show us something, but both of those teams have been exposed, to say the least. Right now I would still go with Bama for the top spot, but there are a couple of legitimate challengers.
I had a feeling that the Tigers of Auburn would give the Tigers of Baton Rouge all they could handle. LSU better get on the stick if they want to compete with Georgia, Alabama, SC, or perhaps even Florida.
Notre Dame, after years of mediocrity, finally has a team to take seriously. They are a legitimate top 15 team and perhaps even top 10.
Florida State finally solidified their ranking as a top 10 team. Clemson (and perhaps VA. Tech) are the only other teams to take seriously in the ACC.
KSU is probably the most under rated team in college football. They showed us something in the hard fought smash mouth football that was played yesterday in their victory over the Sooners. KSU is beatable by a team with a very tough defense and they will probably find that opponent before all is said and done, but I would certainly put the Wildcats in the top 10 right now. As far as Oklahoma goes, I am not counting out a top 10 finish for them either. Both should be right there when the conference race gets sorted out.
I am not sold on WVU or Texas quite yet. Both are top 25 sure, but I don't believe that either is a top 10 team. Texas looks like they may have their QB situation sorted out though and WVU does have an excellent man behind center. One man does not make a team they say. I have heard that somewhere.
I would like to give the folks at Missouri some friendly advice. You won't win in the SEC sporting ridiculous foofoo uniforms. Just won't happen. Get back to the basic gear with the big "M" on the helmet and good things may happen. Till then? The bottom third of the SEC for you.
The Razorbacks are dismal. Horrible. John L. Smith may not have been the best hire after all. He apparently has some major financial troubles that have to be a personal distraction. It may well take Arkansas years to recover from the Petrino fiasco. Scandal and distraction like that can near destroy a program for quite a while. Right now, I would try to find someone else to lead the team. I mean right now as in immediately. This season is done already and it is time for them to start building for the future. Is Mark Mangino available?
With another victory I would be prepared to included Louisiana Tech in the top 25. Same with Ohio and maybe Rutgers. Hell Louisville is there. Why not one of these teams.
Ohio State may not be quite as good as I expected. They were challenged in their last two outings by inferior competition. UAB gave them all they could handle Saturday.
I am already looking forward to next week. Might even slide on over and watch the "Bayou Bucket" in Reliant Stadium.
Have a good week.
2 comments:
Okay, I'll give you that one. Auburn totally shut down LSU's running game. I did not see that coming. LSU was also much more undisciplined than usual, with personal and procedure calls against them and blown assignments. I thought at one point that Les Miles was either going to rip one of his players' heads off or have a heart attack. I didn't see him eating any grass, but then they weren't trailing all that long.
Good call on Silo Tech (KSU). I wish I had watched that game. I was keeping a eye on the Arizona thing, whatever it was. It was not a football game.
The KSU/OU game was a good one. Smash mouth. The Sooners shot themselves in the foot with turnovers. They might win 2 of 3, but could not get it together Saturday.
LSU needs some work. Some big games coming up.
Post a Comment