Top Ten -- This Week

We don't know what to say except that by the time this football season is over, we expect that every college fan that has ever had the gall to believe that he or she knows something about this game will be sitting indian style in the corner, head in hands, crying, with the 2006 Rose Bowl blaring on DVD behind them as a reminder of a time when there was some semblance of order and predictability in the universe.

1. Ohio State -- Just keep chugging along.


2. LSU -- Meet Les Miles, idiot-savant extraordinaire. Throw deep with 8 seconds left down 1 in field goal range? Sounds kind of like Nebraska 2002. Say what you will about Les, but the man has some serious testicular fortitude, and all's well that ends well, so we're happy. Bama may be the last serious challenge before the SEC Championship for the Tigahs. Mark May says LSU is battle tested and has gone on the road and learned how to win. LSU's road wins this season? Tulane and Mississippi State. Nice research, Mark.


3. Boston College -- They don't move up by not playing. Tough schedule the rest of the way, but if they win out we'll support them for the championship game. Ohio State vs. BC is the anti-2005 Rose Bowl


4. Kansas -- We smiled when Colorado had to convert a 4th and 18 on the final drive. Jaybro smiled when he realized that VY does not play for Colorado, so the 2004 nightmares were not to be rehashed. Kansas probably doesn't win out, but the thought of trying to fit Mark Mangino into the Superdome makes us giggle.


5. USF -- Tough environment, at night, national television, South Florida doesn't lose a lot of points in our book for losing that one. Just tone down the Hook 'em signs. We're flattered but you're taking it too far. The simple fact of the matter, however, is that South Florida now has no shot at being in the Dome on Jan. 7 without tickets.


6. Oregon -- This is a good football team, and those white unis they sported this week were the most inoffensive we've seen the Ducks wear in...well, ever. This weekend's tilt with Southern Cal will make or break the season--a win will put Oregon alongside LSU and OU as legitimate one-loss championship contenders.


7. Oklahoma -- While ou decidedly sucks, they keep finding ways to win. This seems like a team that's close to slipping up again, especially after a very uninspiring ballgame against lowly Iowa State. Yes, the Cyclones are the Iowa State Champions--but the win over Iowa is their only one of the year. Wait a minute...ISU lost to Northern Iowa. The Panthers are an undefeated 7-0, so we suppose they are the best team in the state. But we digress. The sooners play the aggies in the UT Inferiority Complex Bowl on Nov 3 after an off date this weekend, and if Texas is to have any shot at the Big XII South we need the ags to win. If a&m wins this one and Texas and ou both then win out, you'll have a 3-way tie at the top of the division between them. With ou beating Texas, a&m beating ou, and Texas beating a&m the head-to-head would be a tie, so they'd go to the second tiebreaker: overall records. That would leave ou and Texas, and then ou would win because of the game in Dallas. So really, we need aggy to beat ou AND for ou to lose another one. And the Longhorns need to win out. Damn.


8. Mizzou --We still have trouble believing that the KU-Mizzou game is going to be vital in determining the Big XII North champion in football, but here we are. After destroying Tech, the Tigers' next 4 games are Iowa State, Colorado, a&m, and K-State--all winnable games. If Kansas can come through its next 4 with 2 losses or fewer, then the Nov. 24 game will almost certainly determine who represents the North in the Alamodome on Dec. 1.


9. Arizona State--Pay attention to us! We're Arizona State! We matter! The Sun Devils are 7-0 and lead the Pac-10 along with UCLA at 4-0 in the conference. How good are they really? We'll find out over the next 2 weeks. If they can hand Cal their 3rd straight loss (playing in Tempe, there's a very good chance) then the Nov. 3 game against Oregon will be Huge with a capital H.


10. USC -- The smarmy and self-satisfied Pete Carroll is fond of saying that his team never looks at the rankings, they just play and let the rankings take care of themselves. But we've got a feeling that the Trojans are celebrating today as they make their return to the coveted 40AS Top Ten. You're welcome, Pete.