This week was a perfect example of why I hate the over hyped games. People wanted LSU and Bama to be that good, they wanted it to be a good game, and exciting game. Hell, I did too.
The thing is, you can't declare a game the "Game of the Century", or even the "Game of the Year" until after the game. It's not a classic till you know if it was classic. This game was loaded with NFL-Caliber talent, but these are not balanced teams.
LSU and Bama do not have dynamic offenses. They both take care of the ball because their defenses are good enough to win games, and you know what, that's great. What it is not, is exciting. When you factor in the abysmal special teams play by the Crimson Tide, you get a game won by the lesser team. Or...do you? After all, special teams are the final leg of any great team. Bama has a great running game, a solid corp of receivers, and an improving young QB. LSU has a bruising running game, big talented outside receivers, and a couple of solid QB's. Neither of those are groups that I am going to spend money or much time watching. The defenses however.....are ridiculous. Bama has a great corp of Linebackers and safeties. They are big, and they are faster than people realize. LSU has the fastest defense I have seen this year, with a great secondary, and they are bigger than people expect. All that said, the OK State/KSU game was much more fun. For what it's worth, I would love to watch Mathieu chase Blackmon around the field. Just Saying.
So on to the 10 points for the week.
1. West Virginia is in trouble when they hit the Big 12 if they don't improve a bunch from year 1 to year 2 of the Dana Holgerson era. Louisville is trending up, but to give up 38 points to the Cardinal behind their freshman QB Teddy Bridgewater is not a good sign.
2. Again, the Parity of the Big 10 jumped up. Iowa gets Michigan. Northwestern gets Nebraska. And...finally, Michian State narrowly avoids an upset to the Golden Gophers. This continues to illustrate that the Big 10 does not have a top tier team in it. If that were only the biggest shame in the Big 10 this week.
3. Sandbag alert. For all those who have not been paying attention, Cincinnati has not faded into the sunset. They are on the national scene again at 7-1. They have a senior leader in QB Zach Collaros and they are looking like they want to be the flagship for the Big East. Which is great, because no one else has earned it.
4. Thanks fully, someone gave South Carolina their second loss. They had been scraping by on the talent of their defense for so long, but they finally ran into a dynamic offense and now we can stop talking about them till their December bowl game.
5. Uhm....I really don't get Arizona State. How does a team that knocked off USC earlier in the year, who is loaded with talent, lose to lowly UCLA? I know it was on the road, and conference games on the road are tough...but UCLA? Really?
6. Kansas State has gotten a lot of notoriety, especially in the midwest, about having a blue collar attitude. A team without starsts, who just does the work....blah blah blah. Folks, that is crap, you do not put 45 on Oklahoma State in their house without some big time talent. Arthur Brown is a stud, Colin Klein is one of the best running QB's in recent history, John Hubert (He of the all time Waco City rushing record formerly held by Ladanian Tomlinson) is the leader of a deep corp of running backs, Chris Harper is a very solid, big target on the outside and Tyler Lockett is an emerging star. You combine that with one of the better secondaries outside the SEC West, especially when it comes to causing turnovers, and you have something.
but, Oklahoma State is better. I can't help but wonder how much it irks Bill Snyder to see a Kansas kid like Joseph Randle playing in Stillwater. Ron Prince ignored him, KU discarded his brother, and now he gets to take his revenge on his home state twice a year.
7. I think Boise State might be getting bored. They were asleep through 3 quarters, before exploding for 20 in the 4th to put UNLV away. That is not what they need if they want to get attention on the national scale. They need to put games away early and big. That said, congrats to Kellen Moore who is now the all time winning est starting QB in D-1 history.
8. It may not be the best quality of football right now, but the MAC sure is fun to watch.
9. Texas Tech had the their biggest win in a few years 3 weeks ago.....So they are on top of the world now right? Eh...maybe not. Can you say implosion? I knew you could.
10. OU is looking like themselves again. It really is too bad that they laid that egg against Tech, because now they have the chance to knock the Big 12 out of the title game all by themselves. But enough about the team, I wanted to say how bad I feel for Ryan Broyles. The hometown boy well on his way to rewriting the NCAA receiving record books, his senior year is gone to a knee injury in a game that he would have likely been out of to rest soon. Good luck on your rehab, see you in the league.
Now, for this week's ranking update.
1. LSU Tigers (9-0) SEC
2. Oklahoma State Cowboys (9-0) Big 12
3. Stanford Cardinal (9-0) Pac-12
4. Boise State Broncos (8-0) MWC
5. Houston Cougars (10-0) C-USA
6. Clemson Tigers (8-1) ACC
7. Oklahoma Sooners (8-1) Big 12
8. Oregon Ducks (8-1) Pac-12
9. Cincinnati Bearcats (7-1) Big East
10. Alabama Crimson Tide (8-1) SEC
11. Arkansas Razorbacks (8-1) SEC
12. Penn State Nittan Lions (8-1) Big 10
13. Virginia Tech Hokies (8-1) ACC
14. USC Trojans (7-2) Pac-12
15. South Carolina Gamecocks (7-2) SEC
16. Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles(8-1) C-USA
17. Kansas State Wildcats(7-2) Big-12
18. Nebraska Cornhuskers (7-2) Big-10
19. Georgia Bulldogs (7-2) SEC
20. Michigan State Spartans (7-2) Big-10
21. Wisconsin Badgers (7-2) Big-10
22. Louisana Lafayette (8-2) Sun Belt
23. Georgia Tech YellowJackets (7-2) ACC
24. Auburn Tigers (6-3) SEC
25. Michigan Wolverines (7-2) Big-10
26. Washington Huskies (6-3) Pac-12
27. Ohio State Buckeyes (6-3) Big-10
28. Arkansas State Red Wolves (7-2) Sun Belt
29. TCU Horned Frogs (8-2) MWC
30. Virginia Cavaliers (7-3) ACC
Conference Count
SEC: 5
Big 12: 3
Pac-12: 4
MWC: 2
C-USA: 2
ACC: 4
Big East: 2
Big 10: 6
Sun Belt: 2
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