Florida, Oklahoma, and Texas, all teams that hope to be in the national championship hunt, all looked very disjointed this weekend. Oregon, Alabama, and Ohio State appear to be capable of living up to the hype in running away with their contests. Boise State, TCU, and LSU all won thrillers between ranked opponents.
In my top 25, there is no such thing as par for the course. Wins and losses are always the most important thing but with about 75 at 1-0 there is much more to analyze after week one. The quality of play will be analyzed, I do rankings based on margin of victory, but I also heavily consider the strength of opponents. Which is my way of saying, if you think Texas will still be ahead of Florida State just because they started that way and won, then you are dead wrong. The premise of this column is that preseason rankings don't matter after kickoff, no matter where you started, all that matters is the way you DID play, not the way you are supposed to or what you are capable of. With that being said, there are plenty of teams dropped out of my first top 25 based solely on the fact that what others did was more impressive, not necessarily that they weren't good. With so many teams beating down FCS and MAC teams, strength of win and margin of victory make a big difference in where one appears in week one. Secondly, no one that hasn't won a game yet gets in, no matter how good the team that beat them was. I will give an edge to teams that actually beat down on a 1-A team instead of an FCS team.
With that said let's take a look at the seasons first top 25.
Dropped from rankings: Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, Penn. State, Stanford, Nebraska, Oregon St., Uconn, Pitt, Iowa, Wisconsin, UNC, Georgia Tech, Navy, Va. Tech, Arkansas
25. Tennessee - The volunteers victory was not much more impressive than other beatdowns of FCS squads but I always show a little extra love to teams that actually finish off with a shutout. Given all the troubles that this program suffered this offseason, putting up fifty points with a seemingly poor offense against anyone is impressive.
24. Jacksonville State - Yes, I have a FCS team in my top 25. I don't even know if you are allowed to vote this way or not but winning at Ole Miss to open the year gives the Gamecocks a bigger win than most of the FBS programs right now. A bad choice? Maybe, but putting them here made me smile, and I bet it made you crack a grin as well.
23. Minnesota - A big win? No, actually it was a very close game, but Middle Tennessee was getting a decent amount of BCS buster hype early on. As far as wins over Sun Belt teams goes, this is as good as it gets, especially since many (myself included) think the Gophers have a great shot at finishing dead last in the Big10 this year.
22. Georgia - The Bulldogs did exactly what they should have done in destroying a Sun Belt weakling but scoring the most points they have posted in four years with a new quarterback is a great way to get some attention.
21. South Carolina - The Gamecocks looked impressive in annihilating a Southern Miss team that be among the better teams in the C-USA this year. Next weeks showdown against Georgia is the first big SEC game of the year.
20. Arizona - The Wildcats showed no signs of tripping up coming off a disappointing end to last season, demolishing a decent MAC squad. The defense allowed no points, with the Rockets only getting a single safety on the scoreboard all game, a big feat against an offense that is decently explosive.
19. Oklahoma State - No team looked better against a squad that actually competes in a BCS conference, beating the Cougars down in a 50 point rout. The reason they aren't higher? The Cougars are simply a WAC team with tough schedule at this point, struggling to beat FCS teams themselves a year ago.
18. Missouri - The Tigers didn't look incredible but they did battle back from a ten point deficit at halftime to beat an Illinois team that should be competitive this season. Beating a Big 10 team is a good start.
17. Kentucky - Again, the Wildcats don't look dominant in the win, but the quality of the opponent means something. The Cardinals are not a great team but are at least a Big East team and this IS a rivalry game even if no one care about it nationally.
16. Florida State - The Seminoles murdered a hapless Samford squad this week, that is not impressive in and among itself, but the offense looked untouchable. That is enough to stay up high going into a huge game against Oklahoma.
15. Houston - All-world QB Case Keenum sat down at halftime with 5 TD passes and a 59-7 lead. Forget about the garbage touchdowns in the second half, the defense actually looked great, which is something it couldn't say even against FCS opponents a year ago. The Cougars had four touchdown drives of under 40 yards, so it wasn't all offense.
14. LSU - I know that the Tigers beat a ranked team, but the team on the field for UNC was not the team that got voted in the top 2 this preseason, it was their backups. The backups played almost good enough to beat the unimpressive Tigers, but a ranked win is a ranked win, I just can't justify putting the Bayou Bengals any higher than this.
13. Kansas State - A tight victory, not overly impressive, but they beat a UCLA team that could get to a bowl out of the PAC-10 and that makes their weak better than most.
12. Ohio State - The Buckeyes looked very good enough but did not beat Marshall down quite enough to keep their top 10 spot. A win this week against Miami will definitely get them back there though.
11. Miami - Marginally more impressive than the Buckeyes, they get an extra spot for actually getting a shut out.
10. Fresno State - Cincinnati looked good for about 7 minutes in this game, after that the Bulldogs beat down the two-time defending Big East champs. Fresno State scored the last 28 points of the game and held the Bearcats scoreless for the game's last 50+ minutes.
9. Maryland - Another very, very close win. The Terps beat a very good Navy team to get a great start on recovering from a disastrous 2009 season.
8. BYU - The Cougars played great while shuffling back and forth between two quarterbacks, beating a much improved Washington team. The offense did not look like it missed any of it's dearly departed starters in scoring one of the better quality wins of the week.
7. Alabama - The Crimson Tide did not appear to miss Mark Ingram one bit in absolutely annihilating San Jose State. The Spartans are bad, I mean really bad, but are least a 1-A team and the Tide just crushed them 63-3 without their best player.
6. Notre Dame - The Irish defense looked completely dominant in shutting down a Boilermaker offense that was supposed to be much improved this year. Many predicted a shootout here but Purdue did nothing against the Irish D and even though the score looked pretty close, there was no question who was going to win in the last minutes.
5. Oregon - I know New Mexico sucks, I know that, but what the Ducks did to a MWC team was unbelievable. Not a 1-A, WAC, MAC, C-USA, or Sun Belt team like everyone else was playing, but a bad team from bona fide decent conference. 72-0 was the final, it 59-0 at halftime and the backup running back scored five touchdowns.
4. Utah - The Utes dropped the Big East's best team in the opening night's best game, scoring an upset in overtime. The Utes did not dominate the game but led most of the way against a ranked squad which a big feat in week one.
3. Michigan - The Wolverines look like they are back and that should scare the rest of the Big 10. Uconn is a good team and were my preseason pick to win the Big East and the Wolverines just crushed them. Denard Robinson looks to be the answer at QB and the defense looked ridiculously improved in a 30-10 rout.
2. TCU - The Horned Frogs the biggest game on Saturday, downing Oregon State 30-21. The Frogs now look poised to make a run at another unbeaten year.
1. Boise State - The Broncos needed last minute dramatics to get it down, but they won the game of the week, against the best team to lose this week in what was a well-disguised road game. Don't buy any of that neutral field crap, Fedex field hold over 100,000 fans and about 12,000 Bronco fans made the trip. The D shut down Ryan Williams and proved it belongs in the top 5. If anyone wants a full column just analyzing this game, let me know, I could easily write one.
Also considered: Northwestern, Penn State, Stanford, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Air Force, Mississippi State.
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