RT2020 Poll: Week of October 14

1. South Florida (+4)
2. Louisiana State (-1)
3. South Carolina (+1)
4. Oklahoma (+2)
5. Oregon (+4)
6. Ohio State (-3)
7. Boston College (NC)
8. Florida (NC)
9. California (-7)
10. Missouri (+1)
11. Arizona State (+7)
12. KENTUCKY!!!!! (+6)
13. Virginia Tech (+3)
14. Kansas (+5)
15. West Virginia (-5)
16. Auburn (+6)
17. Michigan (+3)
18. Southern California (-6)
19. Penn State (NR)
20. Tennessee (+4)
21. Maryland (DNP)
22. Georgia (+3)
23. Texas (NR)
24. Hawaii (NR)
25. Oklahoma State (NR)

Ugliness abounds: #13 (told ya so) Cincinnati, #14 (rush to leave that bandwagon) Illinois, #15 Florida State, and #21 (where'd the D go) Wisconsin

Poise? What poise?: #1 LSU, #2 California, and #12 USC

Yes, I suppose we have to rank you: #24 (ugly road win) Hawaii and #19 Penn State

Unbeaten only due to schedule: #6 Ohio State and #7 Boston College

Well, then... Our deepest thanks, Lones Seiber, wow.

Are you prepared to wake up in a college football world with Ohio State leading the BCS Standings??? What is this, 2006 all over again? No, safely, Florida has two defeats. More Top 5 shakeup on this... the second full weekend in October.

Yes, I still have LSU at #1. They lost only in triple OT, albeit to an inferior team, on the road. They still have wins over Virginia Tech and Florida. That having been said... YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY erased a double-digit halftime lead on the nation's best defense, forced OT, made an especially clutch field goal to force the third session, and... a defense that had been gashed all day on the ground held LSU to nine yards on four carries when it mattered most. The Bayou Bengals don't deserve to fall off the top spot, not with Cal pulling a Tedford--at home to an unranked but talented Oregon State squad. I am thisclose to putting South Florida numero uno (wins at Auburn and against West Virginia), but not yet... oh, all right. The Bulls also callously ran up the score on Central Florida, unaware that now all they have to do is win out to improbably reach N'Orleans for the Not-Sugar. FOX executives, swallow USF v. BC!

Why does an admitted OSU partisan drop the Bucks after a forty-five point win? How about getting outrushed at home by a MAC team? Nitpicking? What does the OSU line think Rashad Mendenhall is going to do, let alone Mike Hart? Yes, the scoring defense remains second to none, but we saw this last year. Win at State College, over the resurgent Nittany Lions, and then I will start to buy into another BCS bowl appearance. On the other hand, what do we know about Boston College? A decent victory under the once-Golden Dome (yeah, I missed this game) against a 1-5 Irish team that struggles to get out of their own way. Matt Ryan, in the absence of a superior performance, has a real shot at not just reaching New York City...

Good job by the Sooners as well, though, not as impressive as I would have thought. Sam Bradford is going to have an outside shot at representing OU at the big ceremony, even if the Oklahoma schedule becomes easier due to the lack of another Big 12 power. Chase Daniel and the Missouri Tigers are a very good team, and may have a chance to upset the BCS title game picture in the Big 12 Championship, except that Kansas looms. That's right, only the Jayhawks remain undefeated, and as for Nebraska, well, perhaps the less said the better (housed, in Lincoln, by thirty-one). What is this, 1995? Er, we wouldn't have seen the Okie State result in 1995...

I suppose Mark Sanchez and the USC Trojans earn minimal points for perservering through a 20-13 hard slog against Arizona, check that, no they don't. Is this not a team headed for defeat in Eugene, Tempe, and Berkeley? True, all of those qualify as USC signature games, but their offense has posted just forty-three points, with a net margin of six, in their last two home games against "meh" opposition. Yet, if they can find a way to win out, well, let's not discuss the possibility of a team that lost to Stanford at home playing for all the marbles.

Can I rank Auburn even higher? Two losses says I cannot, even though they stifled once-Heisman favorite Darren McFadden and his partner-in-crime Felix Jones. Watch out at the Rouge, LSU. That game will decide the SEC West. Can UK actually win the SEC East? Sure, just defeat Tebow-led Florida at Commonwealth next week and hope the Gators can upset (strange verb, no?) South Carolina in Columbia. In other words, play better there than the Cats recently did, ick.

Very, very quietly, Oregon has returned to the national title game picture, ditto West Virginia. A win by the Ducks over the Trojans would place Dennis Dixon in definite Heisman consideration, assuming that, in the nation's toughest conference (sorry, SEC) Oregon can get through without another loss. Speaking of the mighty Pac-10, you had the Sun Devils as their last undefeated team, right? Of course. The oily Denny Erickson, traveling man, somehow has his team on the doorstep of Top 10 status. Indeed, the AP voters may well put them there now. Can they beat USC when it matters? Stay tuned...

Is it too late to discount Michigan from the national title race? Yes. We're not at the point where a team can lose 7-39 in their crib and recover that significantly, but my are we headed in that direction. The more things change in the Big 10 (adding a team, utilization of the spread offense) the more they stay the same: OSU @ Michigan for the Big 10 title, winner loses the big bowl game thereafter, natch.

Lastly, in the unquestioned game of the day, the Rich Brooks for SEC Coach of the Year bus shifted out of second gear, I realize at this point my resistance is futile. Woodson didn't have his best game, yet he made no crucial errors in the second half and his defense combined with LSU's foolish happy-passing resulted in the program's biggest football win since 1964 and probably second only to the toppling of unbeaten Oklahoma to close the 1950 campaign. The Tigers never seem to play well in Lexington, yet, finally, they got bit in the Bluegrass!!!

Snapshot Heisman ballot: Andre' Woodson, Mike Hart, Tim Tebow, Matt Ryan, and Sam Bradford. #1 v. #3 next week in Lexington, H20 should go next week in Champaign. Woodson needs ten wins, Hart needs a Big 10 title w/ a victory over Ohio State, Tebow needs an SEC Championship, and Ryan needs to go undefeated.