1. Alabama… this team has left no doubt but that they are far and away the best college football team in America… The tail whipping (52-0) they put on Arkansas was classic. This was clear domination from the opening kick-off to the ending horn.
2. USC… Lost to Stanford, 21-14, this marked the fifth time in six games that the Cardinal’s had beaten the Trojans. In fact, Matt Barkley, USC’s all everything QB, who has beaten every other team in the PAC 12…. is 0-4 when lined up against Stanford.
3. LSU… hammered Idaho, 63-14, a team from the WAC, as warm-up for their trip to Auburn, Alabama next Saturday. The Tigers have won 41-14 over North Texas, 41-3 vs the PAC 12’s Washington, & this week stomped the Vandals by 49…I am looking forward to their first SEC road venture.
4. Oregon… took on Tennessee Tech from the Ohio Valley Conference and as expected annihilated them, 63-14 (Note: identical to LSU’s score). This week they face Arizona (3-0) and while the game is in Oregon… The Wildcats have scored 115 points the past two weeks and this battle may well be the best game out in PAC 12 country!
5. Oklahoma: Idle
6. Florida State: Looked really good against a Wake Forest team that beat North Carolina last week. The Seminoles jumped on the Demon Deacons early and never let up, beating on them to the tune of 52-0. This team has great team speed and great talent… but their concentration and focus week in and week out is yet to be determined!
7. Georgia: beat Florida Atlantic out of the Sun Belt, 52-20. The Bulldogs are 3-0 and welcome Vandy to Athens this week…with Tennessee @ home & South Carolina in Columbia to follow. The next three weeks will go a long way in determining Georgia’s 2012 fate!
8. South Carolina: Beat UAB, a member of C-USA, 49-6! This game was a tune up for the Missouri Tigers… who leave Columbia MO and head for Columbia SC. The Gamecocks have scored 40 plus in their last two games after struggling to put points on the board against Vanderbilt in their road opener!
9. West Virginia: The Mountaineers took on James Madison from the CAA, an FCS team, and had little to no trouble handling the Dukes, 42-12. Next up for West Virginia is Maryland @ home.
10. Clemson: welcomed Furman from the Southern Conference (SoCon) and quickly made them feel unwelcome by putting a 41-7 tail whipping on them. Now comes another game of the century… the Tigers travel to Tallahassee to take # 3 FSU @ Doak Campbell!
11. Va Tech: Lost to Pitt in a 35-17 shocker. Tech came into the game 2-0 while Pitt stumbled in its first two games but came out firing against the Hokies. Next up for the Tech is Bowling Green out of the MAC!
12. Michigan State: lost to Notre Dame 20-3, the Spartans were simply not able to run against the Irish front seven (50 total yards)… State being forced to pass 40 plus times… sealed their fate. Next up for MSU is Eastern Michigan… something tells me they are going to a big dose of running back…. Le’Veon Bell!
13. Ohio State: did not play well but managed to hold on against Cal, 35-28 @ the Horseshoe…. Next up for the Bucks is UAB out of C-USA!
14. Arkansas: has now lost two in a row… the best thing that one could say about their game with Bama… is that they were not competitive… and I mean….the best thing one could say to describe the Razorbacks performance against the Tide!
15. Texas: outscored Ole Miss 66-31. Given all the talk about the Horn defense… not the kind of performance the Texas faithful were looking for… but it is a win. The Longhorns have a bye and then travel to Okey State, welcome West Virginia and then head to Dallas to take on the Sooners. The next four weeks will decide Texas’ Season!
16. Florida: has passed two big tests thus far… beating Texas A&M at College Station & then Tennessee in Knoxville. Impressive… next up Kentucky @ home! Florida will move into the Top Ten if they survive the four games, after hosting Kentucky, … LSU at home, @ Vandy, South Carolina @ Home, & Georgia in Jacksonville… top ten… hey … if they win all of these games… they should be second… Bama is now and will be then … still the king of the hill!!!
17. Kansas State: K-State struggled to beat North Texas 35-21 … hopefully they were looking down the road to Oklahoma! The Wildcats hit the road as they head to Norman to take on the mighty Sooners. Kansas State better bring its defense this time, as in the last three meetings OU has scored 58, 42, & 58… and you got it.. won them all!
18. TCU: beat Kansas 20-6 and struggled in doing so… this week they host Virginia, who was popped 56-20 last week by Georgia Tech! The Horned Frogs schedule is relatively light until the 27th of October… and then … lookout … as their last four games are against OK State, @ West Virginia, Kansas State, & @ Texas!
19. Stanford: when you beat someone 4 of 5 times, the reasonable expectation is that you will likely win the next one… unless you are the Cardinal playing the Trojans. Then you shock the world…. Ok ….. the college football world … when you make it 5 of 6! Stanford beat USC… yet again… this time 21-14 and derailed SC’s plans for an invite to the BCS National Championship Game!
20. Michigan: The Wolves hammered U-Mass 63-13 and now head to South Bend for their annual 4 point win! The lest three meetings have all been down to the last minute, with Michigan finding a way to beat the Irish in each of these games. Last year ND took the lead with 30 seconds to play, 31-28, and put the kick-off out of the end-zone … The Wolverines got the ball with 30 seconds to play and an 80 yard field to traverse… no problem… a 35-31 victory … the two previous scores were 38-34 & 28-24!
21. Louisville: Head Coach Charlie Strong has Louisville playing its best football since Petrino left for greener grass! Last week they jumped on UNC early and then had to hold off a surging Heel advance to win 39-34! The Cardinals travel to Miami to take on FIU at FIU Stadium!
22. Notre Dame: played surprisingly well against a very good Michigan State team and literally stuffed MSU’s running game (50 yards rushing)! Now comes State’s “Big Brother” Michigan … at least according to Michael Hart… not sure…. but I suspect…. MSU is not accepting of the sibling chronology!! South Bend will be rocking… I wonder if Game day is heading to Indiana? Last year 114,000 plus attended this game! Another night game for these two… I can’t speak for you… but the only way I would be driving at 10 p.m. in South Bend ….would be in an M1 tank!
23. BYU: lost a heart breaker in the “Holy War ” against Utah, 24-21…missed a field goal or two at the end of the game. BYU, an independent, vs Utah, a PAC 12 member, had a wild finish. The question I would like answered is the game ended at 11:58 p.m… if the field goal was good…OT would have taken the game into Sunday… BYU will not play… …on Sunday… period! So would they have forfeited? I guess we will never know!
24. UCLA: No question, but that the Bruins are the surprise team out west. Jim Mora seems to have figured out what mystified Rick Neuheisel.. how to win games! The UCLANS are off to a 3-0 start and should be favored in their next four contests and maybe in their next seven. The Bruins end the season by hosting SC and then Stanford… could get real interesting out west!
25. Mississippi State: continues to roll… they beat Troy this week 30-24 in an underwhelming performance. They did have an impressive outing against Auburn and are heading into the soft part of their schedule (except for Tennessee on the 13th of October) over the next five weeks. So we should see them continue to rise in Sully’s CFP Top 25.
Go to Sully’s top 25 to see how things have changed this week! And as always enjoy the games!
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