Posted November 23rd, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Feature, Football

The latest BCS rankings are out and despite the gains by Oklahoma in the two human polls, Texas has taken advantage of the the Texas Tech loss and moved up two spots to number two in the rankings. The computer polls are the reason the Horns are hanging on now but since the Sooners play a ranked team this week it may take an impressive Thanksgiving Day win to remind voters that the Horns actually beat the Sooners when they matched up in October.

Check out the top 10 below:

Rank Team BCS Average
1 Alabama 0.987
2 Texas 0.920
3 Oklahoma 0.912
4 Florida 0.875
5 USC 0.797
6 Utah 0.785
7 Texas Tech 0.778
8 Penn St. 0.752
9 Boise St. 0.658
10 Ohio St. 0.620

Posted November 10th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Football

Thanks to a (joyous) Penn State loss the Longhorns have moved up another spot in the latest BCS rankings released Sunday. Thanks to that loss and human voters seeing the error of their ways, Texas is third ahead of Florida and more importantly Oklahoma. The Horns dropped big from number one after their loss to Texas Tech but moved back passed those teams this week in both the USA Today Coaches Poll and the Harris Poll.

Texas’ ranking against the Sooners is huge on the chance their is a three-way tie between those two teams and the Red Raiders for the Big 12 South. In that scenario the division winner will be determined by which team has the highest BCS ranking. If the Horns end up winning out and in the Big 12 Championship, a win over the North’s representative would likely mean a shot at the whole enchilada.

The BCS top 10 rankings are listed below:

BCS Harris Poll USA Today Comp. Rankings
  Team BCS Avg Prvs RK Pts % RK Pts % Avg %
1 Alabama .9814 1 1 2808 .9853 1 1508 .9889 2 .970
2 Texas Tech .9715 2 2 2768 .9712 2 1469 .9633 1 .980
3 Texas .8798 4 4 2471 .8670 5 1300 .8525 3 .920
4 Florida .8640 5 3 2531 .8881 3 1348 .8839 T-5 .820
5 Oklahoma .8444 6 5 2427 .8516 4 1314 .8616 T-5 .820
6 USC .7896 7 6 2329 .8172 6 1268 .8315 8 .720
7 Utah .7692 8 8 2034 .7137 7 1104 .7239 4 .870
8 Penn State .6839 3 7 2073 .7274 8 1074 .7043 10 .620
9 Boise State .6783 10 9 1940 .6807 9 1028 .6741 9 .680
10 Georgia .6156 13 12 1581 .5547 12 842 .5521 7 .740

Related: View the full BCS rankings

Posted November 6th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Football

Texas’ loss to last week to Texas Tech didn’t knock them completely out of the national title race but it certainly shook things up. Texas fans spent the next 72 hours crunching numbers and running scenarios that could result in the Longhorns still making it to the title game. That may make math and stats nerds happy but its just another sign of just how ridiculous the NCAA Division I FBS not having a playoff really is.

ESPN’s Pat Forde makes a(nother) strong case for a playoff in college football:

No less a voice than Barack Obama’s called on Monday night for a playoff in college football. To which The Dash says hallelujah, it’s time for some pressure on the ossified system from the top down. Once upon a time, the Tide wooed Butch Davis to be their coach. The first round of The Dash’s eight-team playoff would shape up as follows today: Top seed and SEC champion Alabama versus eighth-seeded ACC titlist North Carolina in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. The backstory would make this interesting, since the Crimson Tide were interested in current Tar Heels.

The first round of The Dash’s eight-team playoff would shape up as follows today:

Top seed and SEC champion Alabama versus eighth-seeded ACC titlist North Carolina in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. The backstory would make this interesting, since the Crimson Tide were interested in current Tar Heels coach Butch Davis as far back as 2000, when he was the coach at Miami. That was before Mike Price, before Dennis Franchione and before Mike Shula. Then Bama got it right — royal-flush right — with Nick Saban.

Second seed and Big Ten champion Penn State versus seventh-seeded Big East winner West Virginia in the Capital One Bowl in Orlando. Just for fun they could award the old Lambert Trophy for the best school in the East to the winner.

Third seed and Big 12 champion Texas Tech versus sixth-seeded Pacific-10 champ USC in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Would anyone enjoy seeing the Red Raiders’ O (first nationally in passing offense, second in total offense, third in scoring) against the Trojans’ D (first nationally in pass defense, first in total defense, first in scoring defense)?

Fourth seed at-large selection Texas versus fifth seed at-large selection Florida in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego. Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow on the same field might be a little fun.

(Dash apologies to Oklahoma and Utah for being the best teams left out. Y’all can console each other in, say, the Alamo Bowl.)

After that: semifinals at the Orange and Fiesta Bowls. National title in the Rose Bowl. Championship trophy presented by Dashette Irina Shayk.

Decide for yourself whether that playoff would generate any interest. After you’ve thought it over for five seconds, call the president of your favorite university and scream into the phone that you want a playoff. Do not stop screaming until you are out of breath or they have hung up on you — and then redial and scream again.

Maybe it will come to pass by the time Tebow’s kids are in college.

Or maybe it happens a little faster depending on Tuesday’s election results.

Just imagine adding the Texas Rose Bowl win over USC, plus the brutal four game stretch the team just finished, plus even more on the line than ever before. How fun would that be?

Posted November 2nd, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Football

The Longhorns lost the battle to Texas Tech on Saturday but they still haven’t lost the war. The new BCS rankings were revealed tonight and Texas fell only to number four, behind Alabama, Penn State, and Texas Tech who moved all the way up to number two. The Horns still have a every good chance to end up back in the top two and headed to the national title game.

All the Horns need is for two teams ahead of them to go down, and with the remaining schedules ahead for both Tech and Alabama that is a distinct possibility. Texas fans need to be rooting hard for Oklahoma and Oklahoma State the next few weeks and for LSU this week against Alabama. The team needs to take care of business during the final weeks of the season for any of this to matter, but fans will be doing a lot of scoreboard watching.

The BCS top 10 rankings are listed below:

BCS Harris Poll USA Today Comp. Rankings
  Team BCS Avg Prvs RK Pts % RK Pts % Avg %
1 Alabama .9747 2 1 2798 .9818 1 1498 .9823 T-1 .960
2 Texas Tech .9372 7 3 2644 .9277 3 1409 .9239 T-1 .960
3 Penn State .9286 3 2 2689 .9435 2 1437 .9423 4 .900
4 Texas .8531 1 6 2322 .8147 7 1227 .8046 3 .940
5 Florida .8268 8 4 2391 .8389 5 1268 .8315 5 .810
6 Oklahoma .8220 4 5 2366 .8302 4 1290 .8459 9 .790
7 USC .7551 5 7 2273 .7975 6 1232 .8079 10 .660
8 Utah .6972 10 9 1864 .6540 9 1018 .6675 7 .770
9 Oklahoma State .6660 9 8 2021 .7091 8 1066 .6990 11 .590
10 Boise State .6529 11 10 1797 .6305 10 958 .6282 8 .700

Related: View the full BCS rankings

Posted October 26th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Football

The new BCS standings are out and the Longhorns remain easily atop the list. A close game against Oklahoma State had no effect on either the human or computer polls that make up the rankings. Texas is number one in every computer poll and holds nearly every first place vote in both the Harris and USA Today Coaches poll.

All the team has to do is take care of business and it appears there’s no way any other team could jump them in the rankings. One indicator of how much both the humans and robots love the Longhorns are the rankings of both OSU and Oklahoma even after losses to Texas. After the loss this weekend the Cowboys only fell one spot in the Harris Poll and two in the USA Today poll. This might mean the Horns could lose a game and still be around number three in the BCS. Let’s hope we don’t find out.

Check out the top ten in the latest BCS rankings below:

  Harris Poll USA Today Computer Rankings BCS
  Team RK Pts % RK Pts % % Comp avg BCS Avg Prvs
1 Texas 1 2839 .9961 1 1522 .9980 1.000 1 .9981 1
2 Alabama 2 2696 .9460 2 1439 .9436 .960 2 .9499 2
3 Penn State 3 2650 .9298 3 1414 .9272 .920 3 .9257 3
4 Oklahoma 4 2370 .8316 4 1265 .8295 .820 T-4 .8270 4
5 USC 7 2255 .7912 6 1228 .8052 .750 6 .7822 5
6 Georgia 8 2124 .7453 8 1137 .7456 .820 T-4 .7703 7
7 Texas Tech 5 2286 .8021 5 1246 .8170 .610 T-10 .7431 8
8 Florida 6 2258 .7923 7 1199 .7862 .610 T-10 .7295 10
9 Oklahoma State 9 1871 .6565 10 972 .6374 .730 T-7 .6746 6
10 Utah 10 1802 .6323 9 987 .6472 .730 T-7 .6362 11

Related: View the full BCS rankings

Posted October 14th, 2008 by Matt
Filed under: Football

For the second time this year 3 of the Top 4 teams in the nation lose. No one is safe at the top, and most of the Top 10 will be playing each other in the next few weeks so expect to see even more changes. So far this year is looking even crazier than last year.

  1. Alabama
    Alabama
    LW: 3

    Even though they didn’t play, I don’t think they deserved to be bumped down below Texas.

  2. Texas
    Texas
    LW: 5

    Texas won with Colt’s leadership and the defense stepping up at the right times. Will Muschamp has the defense improving every week. It was kind of nice cruising through the season unnoticed, but that time is definitely over.

  3. Penn State
    Penn State
    LW: 7

    I guess I to move up Penn State after their blowout win. It looks like they are definitely the class of the Big 10, though that is not saying very much.

  4. Oklahoma
    Oklahoma
    LW: 1

    Sam Bradford threw for 5 touchdowns and still lost. Oklahoma has a great team and their schedule is setup to keep them in a BCS bowl game.

  5. Florida
    Florida
    LW: 11

    I had watched Florida play a few times this year, but I have never seen the speed and precision they displayed against LSU. They have some of the fastest running backs in the nation, and if they can keep Tim Tebow from making mistakes they should be good.

  6. Texas Tech
    Texas Tech
    LW: 8

    Texas Tech played like crap but was surprisingly still able to come out with a win against Nebraska. They have a pretty easy road before playing Texas at home.

  7. Oklahoma State
    Oklahoma State
    LW: 15

    Not sure if was too much of an upset, but Oklahoma State managed to put a hurting on Mizzou. Oklahoma State has proven they definitely have the offense, but do they have the defense to hang with the big boys.

  8. Missouri
    Missouri
    LW: 2

    I am actually pretty disappointed that Mizzou lost, because that would have meant Texas would play two #1 teams in a row. Now that Mizzou has lost, Texas will definitely be expected to beat them this Saturday.

  9. USC
    USC
    LW: 10

    Looks like USC is getting back into form after totally dominating Arizona State 28-0. They probably have the easiest schedule left of any Top 10 and will probably somehow backdoor their way into the national championship.

  10. Georgia
    Georgia
    LW: 9

    Georgia had a solid win against Tennessee but I am still not very impressed with this team. I expect them to lose 2 more games this season.

  11. BYU
    BYU
    LW: 6

    I have decided to not leave BYU so high up in the polls. They play nobody, and until they beat Utah I will not move them any higher.

  12. LSU
    LSU
    LW: 4

    You either smoke, or you get smoked, and LSU got smoked. That was a pretty weak performance against Florida, and if they don’t get someone to play quarterback they will struggle all season long.

  13. Kansas
    Kansas
    LW: 12

    Kansas continues to plod along and will probably go relatively unnoticed the rest of the way unless they can beat one of the big teams in the Big 12. Don’t expect that to happen.

  14. Utah
    Utah
    LW: 13

    Utah and BYU really don’t seem much different to me. They will have to prove their ranking by beating both TCU and BYU.

  15. Boise State
    Boise State
    LW: 16

    Thank goodness we didn’t have to see them play on their ugly blue field this weekend.

  16. Ohio State
    Ohio State
    LW: 17

    Luckily Ohio State beat Purdue because they are about to lose two in a row. I can’t wait to drop them out of the Top 25.

  17. Michigan State
    Michigan State
    LW: 19

    Again, the only thing they have going for them is their running back, but man is he awesome. Can we trade for him?

  18. Virginia Tech
    Virginia Tech
    LW: 18

    Does anyone really care about anyone in the ACC. They will probably all beat each other and end up with a conference champion that has 3 losses.

  19. South Florida
    South Florida
    LW: 20

    Bye week

  20. North Carolina
    North Carolina
    LW: 21

    It took a last minute play, but North Carolina thankfully kept Notre Dame out of the Top 25. North Carolina is making the most out of their spot, but see Virginia Tech.

  21. Wake Forest
    Wake Forest
    LW: 22

    Another so-so ACC team barely holding on to their spot in the Top 25.

  22. California
    California
    LW: 24

    Bye week

  23. TCU
    TCU
    LW: -

    TCU has another huge game coming against BYU. Can they prove BYU is overrated, or will they fall back out of the Top 25?

  24. Vanderbilt
    Vanderbilt
    LW: 14

    It was only a matter of time before Vanderbilt came back down to reality. They couldn’t handle the pressure of the being a top team and now they will probably struggle the rest of the way.

  25. Tulsa
    Tulsa
    LW: 25

    They struggled a little only scoring 37, but I am sure they will get back on track and put up 60+ on UTEP.

Posted October 12th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Feature, Football

Voters agree with Colt, Texas is number 1!

Voters agree with Colt, Texas is number 1!

Well lookie here, the Texas Longhorns are the new number one team in the land. After the team’s big win over Oklahoma the team vaulted from number five in both polls to the very top. Huge shakeup this week with losses in the top five by OU, Missouri, and LSU, but in the AP poll the Sooners surprisingly only fell to number four. Alabama is a very close second in both polls followed by Penn State.

This week’s opponent Missouri fell out of the top ten with a loss, but they’re still a very good team and it doesn’t get easier after them. Due to the way the schedules lay out, the Longhorns could actually face two more top five teams in Oklahoma State and Texas Tech if they win the games they should and stay undefeated.

Check out this week’s rankings or view the top 10 teams below:

  AP Top 25   USA Today Poll
1 Texas (39) 6-0 1,599   Texas (44) 6-0 1,505
2 Alabama (26) 6-0 1,582   Alabama (14) 6-0 1,452
3 Penn State 7-0 1,492   Penn State (3) 7-0 1,416
4 Oklahoma 5-1 1,306   USC 4-1 1,198
5 Florida 5-1 1,284   Texas Tech 6-0 1,195
6 USC 4-1 1,247   Oklahoma 5-1 1,147
7 Texas Tech 6-0 1,210   Florida 5-1 1,145
8 Oklahoma State 6-0 1,184   Brigham Young 6-0 1,143
9 Brigham Young 6-0 1,131   Georgia 5-1 1,010
10 Georgia 5-1 1,081   Oklahoma State 6-0 958

Posted October 7th, 2008 by Matt
Filed under: Football

Finally a week were pretty much all of the top teams went out and took care of business. There is a lot of shuffling around towards the bottom of the Top 25 as many teams have dropped out.

  1. Oklahoma
    Oklahoma
    LW: 1

    Went out and took care of business and didn’t look ahead to playing Texas. I was actually somewhat surprised they only scored 49 points against Baylor.

  2. Missouri
    Missouri
    LW: 3

    Missouri hadn’t won in Nebraska in 30 years. Apparently they were a little tired of losing there and put a whooping on the Cornhuskers. Pretty sure Bo Pelini is a little embarrassed after that one.

  3. Alabama
    Alabama
    LW: 2

    Alabama actually showed some of their first signs of struggling, but they were still able to pull out the victory. Things will get a lot tougher for them as teams will be gunning to knock them off.

  4. LSU
    LSU
    LW: 4

    Bye week

  5. Texas
    Texas
    LW: 5

    I was actually a little nervous playing at Colorado, but thankfully Texas jumped out to the early lead and never looked back. Texas’ defense looked better than ever and might possibly be prepared for OU.

  6. BYU
    BYU
    LW: 8

    Still feels weird to have BYU up here so high, but they have been absolutely killing teams lately. Because of their week schedule though, they probably won’t move much past this spot.

  7. Penn State
    Penn State
    LW: 9

    Penn State continues to dominate in the weak Big 12, and will face their first tough test playing at Camp Randall against Wisconsin.

  8. Texas Tech
    Texas Tech
    LW: 10

    I actually thought Kansas State would give Tech a game, but Tech just scored at will. Graham Harrell threw for 450 yards and 6 touchdowns. Not a bad day.

  9. Georgia
    Georgia
    LW: 12

  10. USC
    USC
    LW: 11

    Starting off, USC looked like they might be losing another one to a team from the state of Oregon. But in the end they reeled off 40+ straight points and cruised to victory.

  11. Florida
    Florida
    LW: 13

    Florida was lucky to have a bye week, oh wait, they did play Arkansas, which is just like having a bye week. Now they have to play LSU in a showdown in the SEC.

  12. Kansas
    Kansas
    LW: 14

    Kansas struggled a little bit at Iowa State but were able to squeak out of there with a win. Todd Reesing is a seriously talented QB.

  13. Utah
    Utah
    LW: 15

    Utah is quietly hanging around in the Top 15 and beating all the teams they should. I guess we will just have to wait until they play BYU.

  14. Vanderbilt
    Vanderbilt
    LW: 16

    Vanderbilt continues to be the surprise of the SEC. They are actually leading the SEC East! I doubt this will last much longer.

  15. Oklahoma State
    Oklahoma State
    LW: 17

    Hard to tell if Oklahoma State is really that good or if A&M is just that bad. It’s probably a little bit of both and I am really scared of playing this team later this month.

  16. Boise State
    Boise State
    LW: 18

    I can’t stand to watch this team playing on that bright blue field, but they continue to win impressively and dominate their opponent. They have a legitimate shot at going undefeated this season.

  17. Ohio State
    Ohio State
    LW: 19

    Ohio State pulled off an impressive win at Wisconsin proving the whole Big 10 is just a joke. Everyone pretty much just sucks equally.

  18. Virginia Tech
    Virginia Tech
    LW: 21

    They don’t win big and they don’t win pretty. They somehow just manage to play just good enough to get the win. They will have to play better if they want to make it through the ACC schedule.

  19. Michigan State
    Michigan State
    LW: -

    The only thing they have going for them is their running back, but man is he awesome. Can we trade for him?

  20. South Florida
    South Florida
    LW: 6

    South Florida of course had to ruin their dream season and go lose to a crappy Pittsburgh team. Does anyone want to step up in the Big East?

  21. North Carolina
    North Carolina
    LW: -

    Not sure the last time North Carolina was ranked in football, but it has to be a while. They have a solid team and have a pretty favorable schedule the rest of the way.

  22. Wake Forest
    Wake Forest
    LW: -

    Hmm…not really sure what to make of this team. Sometimes they look really good, and sometimes they look really awful. Week to week it is tough to tell which team will show up.

  23. Auburn
    Auburn
    LW: 7

    Auburn losing to Vanderbilt? Who would have guessed that in the beginning of the season? Luckily for them they have a bye week next week, oh wait, they play Arkansas.

  24. California
    California
    LW: -

    Doesn’t seem right to have a Pac-10 team in the Top 25 that’s not USC, but California is quietly putting together a nice season.

  25. Tulsa
    Tulsa
    LW: -

    Tulsa seems to score 60 points every time they play, and that will usually get it done. They play SMU this week, which means they will probably score 80.

Posted October 5th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Football

No upsets mean not much movement within the top of the rankings this week. Alabama looked shaky and almost went down but otherwise just South Florida suffered a loss. The Oklahoma Sooners won impressively and picked up additional first place votes heading into their match-up against the good guys. The Longhorns stayed at number five in both polls but did lose a few points in the USA Today Coaches Poll, despite easily handling a solid conference opponent.

Check out this week’s rankings or view the top 10 teams below:

  AP Top 25   USA Today Poll
1 Oklahoma (51) 5-0 1,608   Oklahoma (60) 5-0 1,524
2 Alabama (13) 6-0 1,537   Missouri 5-0 1,404
3 Missouri (1) 5-0 1,487   LSU (1) 4-0 1,398
4 LSU 4-0 1,444   Alabama 6-0 1,339
5 Texas 5-0 1,374   Texas 5-0 1,305
6 Penn State 6-0 1,287   Penn State 6-0 1,203
7 Texas Tech 5-0 1,163   Texas Tech 5-0 1,101
8 USC 3-1 1,137   Brigham Young 5-0 1,086
9 Brigham Young 5-0 1,103   USC 3-1 1,055
10 Georgia 4-1 1,014   Georgia 4-1 937

Posted September 29th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Football

Thanks to upsets losses by USC, Georgia, and Florida the Longhorns have vaulted into the top five of both the AP and USA Today Coaches polls. Alabama flew past the Horns after their win over the UGA but the easy win over Arkansas was enough to move Texas up to spots to the number five ranking. Texas is relatively comfortably ahead of Penn State in both polls, but rankings this week don’t matter much as Texas will prove itself over the next three weeks when they face Oklahoma and Missouri in consecutive games.

Check out this week’s rankings or view the top 10s below:

  AP Top 25   USA Today Poll
1 Oklahoma (43) 4-0 1,599   Oklahoma (57) 4-0 1,520
2 Alabama (21) 5-0 1,565   LSU (1) 4-0 1,399
3 LSU 4-0 1,466   Missouri 4-0 1,398
4 Missouri (1) 4-0 1,453   Alabama (2) 5-0 1,350
5 Texas 4-0 1,362   Texas (1) 4-0 1,310
6 Penn State 5-0 1,252   Penn State 5-0 1,146
7 Texas Tech 4-0 1,105   Brigham Young 4-0 1,054
8 Brigham Young 4-0 1,098   Texas Tech 4-0 1,047
9 USC 2-1 1,087   USC 2-1 990
10 South Florida 5-0 1,035   Georgia 4-1 888

Posted September 16th, 2008 by Matt
Filed under: Feature, Football

My Top 8 remains unchanged this week as a few teams didn’t play and the rest won easily. The story of the weekend was the Cremation in the Coliseum - USC’s dismantling of the over-hyped Ohio State. Ohio State has pretty much become a joke, getting shallacked whenever they play on the big stage. I am starting to think if I should allow any teams in the Big 10 in the Top 25 at all? Hmm….

Agree or disagree? Please let us know in the comments.

  1. USC
    USC
    LW: 1

    Was there really anyone surprised in their thrashing of Ohio State? USC looks unbeatable right now but they usually suck-up one game during the regular season, so we will see.

  2. Oklahoma
    Oklahoma
    LW: 2

    Offense, offense, offense. Oklahoma probably won’t score less than 40 points all season long. Right now Oklahoma and USC are separating themselves from the rest of the teams in college football.

  3. Florida
    Florida
    LW: 3

    Bye week

  4. Missouri
    Missouri
    LW: 4

    Chase Daniel has the offense rolling right now, though it does help when you play a high school team like Nevada. And 6 catches, 172 yards, and 3 touchdowns for Maclin? Ridiculous.

  5. LSU
    LSU
    LW: 5

    LSU finally got to play a game and just toyed with UNT. Not really fair. Let’s see how they do against their first real test, Auburn.

  6. Texas
    Texas
    LW: 6

    Game against Arkansas postponed.

  7. Georgia
    Georgia
    LW: 7

    This team is so overrated it is ridiculous. But since they still haven’t lost, I will wait for them to lose so I can drop them down. That will likely happen in two weeks against Alabama.

  8. Alabama
    Alabama
    LW: 8

    Alabama’s balanced offensive attack looks impressive. Not much to dislike with this team. They have a pretty good shot to do goods things in the SEC West.

  9. South Florida
    South Florida
    LW: 19

    What a game Friday night against Kansas. Big lead changes both ways and South Florida pulls out the crazy victory. Now hopefully they won’t have a letdown after this big win.

  10. Wisconsin
    Wisconsin
    LW: 15

    Wisconsin just continues their boring football that wins games. But hey, whatever works.

  11. Auburn
    Auburn
    LW: 9

    3-2 victory against Mississippi State? Are you serious? Their defense is great, but they will have to actually score touchdowns to beat LSU.

  12. Texas Tech
    Texas Tech
    LW: 13

    Their offense looks good so far, but hard not to against the caliber of opponents they have been playing. I guess we will have to wait until Big 12 play to see how they really are.

  13. BYU
    BYU
    LW: 17

    Absolutely smoked UCLA. 7 passing touchdowns will usually get it done. Might have to start paying attention to this team.

  14. Wake Forest
    Wake Forest
    LW: 18

    Bye week

  15. East Carolina
    East Carolina
    LW: 12

    Barely sneaked by a weak Tulane team. Maybe they aren’t as good as we thought. They will need some more convincing wins if they want to challenge for the Top 10.

  16. Oregon
    Oregon
    LW: 16

    Probably should have lost to Purdue, but their impressive rushing attack led the charge in their comeback win against Purdue. Blount had 132 yards on 12 carries. Not a bad average.

  17. Penn State
    Penn State
    LW: 21

    Penn State racked up 560 total yards and held Syracuse to 159 yards. We will have to see how they face adversity, because so far they have breezed through this season.

  18. Kansas
    Kansas
    LW: 11

    Heartbreaking loss against a good South Florida team. I bet Reesing is wanting that one poor throw back late in the 4th quarter. Kansas is still a good football team that will probably climb back up in the rankings.

  19. Ohio State
    Ohio State
    LW: 10

    Now can we please stop thinking Ohio State is any good? Lately anytime they are the national stage they get blown out. Needless to say they will not be playing for the national championship this year.

  20. Vanderbilt
    Vanderbilt
    LW: 23

    Another solid win against Rice. SEC teams better not overlook this Vanderbilt team. They might be the surprise of the SEC East this year.

  21. Utah
    Utah
    LW: 25

    Utah is starting to play like they did in their 2004 unbeaten season. Though their big win against Michigan isn’t looking as impressive as it did in the beginning of the season.

  22. Florida State
    Florida State
    LW: NR

    Lots of first timers making an appearance in my Top 25, and FSU is the first. They have a real test upcoming against Wake Forest, so we will see how long they stay here.

  23. TCU
    TCU
    LW: NR

    TCU has started their season off with 3 impressive win, including a 31-14 win against Pac-10 Stanford. They virtually have no passing game, but their stable of running backs is impressive.

  24. Oklahoma State
    Oklahoma State
    LW: NR

    Oklahoma State is chugging along basically unnoticed so far this season. Unfortunately for them they have an extremely tough schedule this year. But for now things are looking good.

  25. West Virginia
    West Virginia
    LW: NR

    Even though they didn’t play, I am giving them another shot in the Top 25. They need to win convincingly if they want to stay here.

Posted September 14th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Football

The latest top 25 polls are out and the Longhorns have moved up a spot without playing a game. They’re now number seven thanks to USC drubbing Ohio State back to the Stone Age (and a #13 ranking). The Trojans certainly looked like a national title contender as did the Oklahoma Sooners in a lopsided victory over a Pac 10 opponent.

Check out this week’s rankings or view the top 10s below:

  AP Top 25   USA Today Poll
1 USC (61) 2-0 1,596   USC (57) 2-0 1,518
2 Oklahoma 3-0 1,485   Oklahoma (1) 3-0 1,423
3 Georgia (2) 3-0 1,437   Georgia (2) 3-0 1,393
4 Florida (1) 2-0 1,414   Florida (1) 2-0 1,335
5 Missouri 3-0 1,389   Missouri 3-0 1,294
6 LSU 2-0 1,274   LSU 2-0 1,233
7 Texas 2-0 1,140   Texas 2-0 1,128
8 Wisconsin 3-0 1,076   Wisconsin 3-0 1,027
9 Alabama 3-0 982   Auburn 3-0 955
10 Auburn 3-0 958   Texas Tech 3-0 887

Posted September 9th, 2008 by Matt
Filed under: Feature, Football

The Big 12 and SEC dominate my Top 25, holding 8 of the top 10 spots. Ohio State continues their over-hyped season by barely beating Ohio at home. Oklahoma and Missouri are proving they have the offense to keep up with anyone. And East Carolina is probably the surprise of the season, jumping all the way up to #12.

Agree or disagree? Please let me know in the comments.

  1. USC
    USC

    I try not to give too much praise to USC, but they looked really impressive in their blowout win over Virginia. They truly look like the best team in the nation right now.

  2. Oklahoma
    Oklahoma

    Oklahoma’s offense looks unstoppable. They have already scored 109 points in 2 games, and haven’t trailed yet.

  3. Florida
    Florida

    Tim Tebow and the Gators beat Miami for the first time in the last 25 years or so, and did it against a very athletic Miami defense.

  4. Missouri
    Missouri

    Talk about high powered offenses, Missouri looks like they can score at will. But the real question is if their defense can stop the other big-time teams.

  5. LSU
    LSU

    Even with all the weather distractions, this team looked very impressive in its home opener. What will happen when their QB’s actually have to throw a pass longer than 10 yards?

  6. Texas
    Texas

    Colt and the offense are on a serious roll right now. Their young secondary is struggling at times, but they should be able to pick it up.

  7. Georgia
    Georgia

    I feel this is one of the more over-hyped teams in the nation. But if they can make it through some of their tougher games I will have to move them up.

  8. Alabama
    Alabama

    Coach Nick Saban has things going well down in Alabama. They absolutely destroyed Clemson on national tv. I would not want to play against this defense.

  9. Auburn
    Auburn

    Auburn’s defense always seems to keep them in games. If they can just get someone who can play quarterback they might be able to do something this year.

  10. Ohio State
    Ohio State

    Ohio State is probably the second most over-hyped team in the nation. Lucky for them, they play in the weak Big 10. Unlucky for them, they are about to get smoked by USC.

  11. Kansas
    Kansas

    Kansas is another tough team from the Big 12 North. Todd Reesing is one of the top quarterbacks in the Big 12 and has their offense off to a hot start.

  12. East Carolina
    East Carolina

    ECU has been one of the big surprises so far this season beating Virginia Tech and destroying #8 West Viriginia. I don’t think anyone will overlook this team anymore.

  13. Texas Tech
    Texas Tech

    If Texas Tech actually played anyone in their non-conference schedule they might actually be ranked a little bit higher.

  14. Arizona State
    Arizona State

    ASU always seems to be that overlooked team in the Pac-10. Coach Dennis Erickson has a solid football team here.

  15. Wisconsin
    Wisconsin

    Wisconsin is one of those boring teams that always has a solid season. If they weren’t in the weak Big 10 they would probably barely crack the top 25.

  16. Oregon
    Oregon

    Another high powered offense from the Pac-10. Their dual quarterback play seems to be working well. And Jeremiah Johnson has a ridiculous 10.1 yards per carry.

  17. BYU
    BYU

    BYU squeaked by Washington thanks to the refs ruining the game. UCLA should be a tougher match-up.

  18. Wake Forest
    Wake Forest

    Wake Forest needed a last second field goal to beat an average Ole Miss team. Now they open their ACC season against Florida State.

  19. South Florida
    South Florida

    I was not happy with team since they delayed the coverage of the Texas/UTEP game. They are probably the best team in the Big East right now.

  20. California
    California

    Cal is averaging 7.8 yards per carry as a team, including two touchdowns of over 80 yards. Their defense also held Washington State to only 3 points.

  21. Penn State
    Penn State

    Penn State has started off strong with an impressive running attack. I’m curious to see how they play on the road.

  22. Fresno State
    Fresno State

    Fresno State has another solid team that dismantled Rutgers on their own field. Their real test of the season comes this weekend when they play Wisconsin.

  23. Vanderbilt
    Vanderbilt

    Vanderbilt is slowing building their program into a tough match-up in the SEC. Georgia and Florida better not overlook this team.

  24. UCLA
    UCLA

    UCLA had an impressive second half comeback in week 1 against Tennessee. Who knew you could throw 4 interceptions and still be a hero. Their tough schedule probably won’t keep them here long.

  25. Utah
    Utah

    Utah is a tough team to put a handle on. Their offense is usually stellar, but they really don’t play anyone. Their win against Michigan might look impressive if Michigan wasn’t so awful.

Posted August 16th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Baseball, Football, Quick Hits

Augie Garrido booted from USC football practice. Apparently they didn’t notice him hanging around before the 2006 Rose Bowl.

Posted July 3rd, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Football

Top Uniforms: #4 USC Trojans

4. Southern Cal Trojans

Probably the ugliest best uniform out there. Despite not really being particularly nice to look at (in my opinion), there’s just something right about them. If you saw a high school team with those wide yellow shoulder stripes on the jersey or the double stripe on the pants you’d think they were ugly but Southern Cal somehow pulls it off.

The cardinal red and gold colors are classics as is the Trojan emblem on the sides of the helmet. Not many sports teams can pull off yellow pants, if you’re not careful you end up looking like Iowa State. They’ve managed to tweak and change a few things in the last few years, namely the number design and jersey cut, without messing with tradition.

They’re not pretty but they’re perfect and I’m not sure why.

Check back Monday for our third favorite college football uniform.

College football’s best uniforms
  1. Texas
  2. Michigan
  3. Florida State
  4. Southern Cal
  5. Notre Dame
Win NCAA Football 09 from Bevo Sports

Posted May 11th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Basketball

AAU basketball and college basketball recruiting is so freaking dirty. In completely unsurprising news ESPN is reporting that USC’s O.J. Mayo received cash, clothes, a tv, and other gifts for himself and his friends and family:

Former USC basketball player O.J. Mayo, a projected lottery pick in this year’s NBA draft, received thousands of dollars in cash, clothes and other benefits in apparent violation of NCAA rules while he was