The Sports Nerd: Lists, Rants, and Other Nerdisms: A New Season, A New Top 25

Top 25 - Week 1

Please keep in mind, that once again, the pre-season rankings go out the window for me as soon as kickoff happens. Pre-Season rankings serve as a "who could be the best" type of rankings, these have no bearing on the regular season. Once kickoff happens, we know what teams look like, and what they have done on the field should be all that matters. Oregon, Georgia, and TCU are 0-1 and no longer on my list.

25. Bowling Green - A homer pick, they actually beat a 1-A team, and that team was Idaho.

24. Ball State - They managed to grab a big win over a "big six" team. I know it was Indiana but after the last few years at Ball State, that is a big deal.

23. Syracuse - One of only a few teams to win a battle of big six teams. Granted they didn't look all that great doing it, but they did put together a good comeback.

22. Florida State - The Seminoles didn't look unstoppable in their beatdown over 2A squad X but they did play smart, efficient offense, and the defense made the defense look as good as hyped.

21. Nebraska - They did what they should against 2A squad Y.

20. Arkansas - "..............................................................................Z"

19. Rutgers - Another 2A murder that really doesn't show a ton but compared to how last season ended in Piscataway, this was an impressive start to the campaign.

18. Florida - They actually moved the ball well and that was the main thing holding them back from being Florida last year.

17. California - A dominant win over a Fresno State that has a big rep for upsetting middle of pack big conference teams over the last few years gives the Bears a solid start to a season that has pretty low expectations.

16. South Carolina - The Gamecocks struggled early but then the QB change we knew would come, came. Stephen Garcia got the offense going and what looked like a possible upset early turned into a blowout by the end of the third quarter. That defense needs some work though.

15. Virginia Tech - The list's final appearance by a team that played a 2A team. The victory was impressive in all aspects, and any worries about the Appilachian State factor were shut down very, very early on.

14. Houston - Case Keenum got revenge against the Bruins for his torn ACL a year ago and the Cougars won't face another decent team until November.

13. Wisconsin - The Badgers looked absolutely unstoppable on offense, Russel Wilson, James White, and Montee Ball all looked like the superstars they are expected to be. That defense sure did let the Rebels move the ball around though.

12. Maryland - The Terps, technically beat a big six tem here but with all the Miami suspensions, the team on the field looked a little less impressive. The Terps did look impressive on offense though, and could be a sleeper contender in the ACC.

11. Mississippi State - The Bulldogs murdered Memphis every bit as badly as they should have.

10. Alabama - The Crimson Tide looked as good as advertised on defense and as uncertain on offense as advertised.

9. Stanford - The Cardinal looked as good as possible against San Jose State in the opener but this is pretty much the ceiling on a ranking for playing a team that bad.

8. Hawaii - The Warriors really impressed me on Saturday night, dominating a Colorado team that I expected to be highly competative. The Warriors looked like a real, damn football team, as opposed to the usual "throw the ball all over the place, and hope the defense can keep the opponents one TD back" that defines Hawaii football. The defense played great and they ran the ball well too. Still, it was Colorado. If they're as good against Washington this week, we have a BCS Buster sleeper on our hands here.

7. South Florida - The Bulls grabbed one of the biggest wins of the week, that being said, the offense still needs some work. The Bulls were crushed in total yards by the Irish despite the victory, but the defense was opportunistic, and kept Notre Dame out of the endzone almost all game long.

6. Northwestern - Beating a projected bowl eligible BCS conference team with your back up quarterback makes for a highly impressive week one win, even if it was only Boston College.

5. Oklahoma - The Sooners crushed Tulsa in game that was not even slightly competative. I though the Golden Hurricane would hang around for a while with their high powered offense, it turns out the Sooner D is much better than I expected.

4. Texas A&M - An absolutely dominating win against a very game SMU team made the Aggies look worthy of all the pre-season hype they earned this offseason.

3. Baylor - The upset wasn't huge, but if look at the body of work of Baylor over the last.... uh eighty years or so, any upset is big. Robert Griffin established himself as a Heisman contender by playing perfectly against a D that most expected to be a top 10 unit yet again.

2. Boise State - The Broncos dominated Georgia in a way much more than the scoreboard showed, this game was not very close after the first quarter. Boise looks to be favored the rest of the way and now will have to wait and hope all the big boys lose at least one.

1. LSU - The Tigers put aside all the off the field distractions and wiped the floor with Oregon in the biggest game of the week.

Picks I'd like to have back

With a week of games on the books, it is now clear for most experts that they had at least a few projections wrong. These are the preseason picks I wish I hadn't made.

1. Oregon in the NCG - Obviously this is a long shot now and I knew the pick was a big risk in week one, but I took it because it didn't seem much of a risk after that. I took the wrong bet.

2. Auburn makes a bowl game - I really didn't believe much in the defending champs this year but I didn't want to risk being the fool who doubted them and loked dumb when they came back better than hyped. I can look at the schedule and circle eight games they SHOULD lose and that was before Saturday's catastrophe against Utah State. I now wish I'd gone with my gut and been the genius that knew they wouldn't get there, because I don't think they will.

3. Oregon State makes a bowl - Again, I didn't pick them to finish real strongly but picking them in a bowl at all was really selling out. When I made my initial picks, I had the Beavers finishing 3-9 and 11th place in the PAC 12. I kept reading season previews of people saying Ryan Katz should be great this year and the Beavers would be back. I bit, and regret it, because if last weeks joke of a game against Sacremento State was any indication, I had it right the first time.

4. Notre Dame in a BCS bowl - After this past weeks god-awful performance, the Irish look a long way off, and switching QB's before game two is never a good sign.

I would like to point out how bad the SEC looked comparative to their reputation this week. Auburn needed a miracle to get past Utah State at home, Kentucky barely survived Western Kentucky and looked really bad doing it. Georgia and Ole Miss lost their big matchups in what were both essentially home games and South Carolina looked ready to give up a lot of points this season. I'm not downgrading the conference yet but last week gave me hope that the Big 10 0r Big 12 might catch them this year.

Secondly, I have a movement I'd like to start, and I'd like some help doing so. I learned something watching College Gameday Final on Saturday. Every week the crew gives out their traditional helmet stickers, this has been going on a long time. What I didn't know is that every time a player is awarded one, the school is sent a t-shirt autographed by the cast of the show. Kellen Moore was awarded one this past week, which means a Mark May autograph will be sent to Boise State as a "prize."
This clearly cannot stand. Something needs to be done to ensure his royal hogness knows his words are dirt under our feet at Boise State, and that being attacked on television every week isn't something we just ignore for a handout. The autograph needs to be removed from the shirt or covered up or something and then hung and framed as an act of defiance.
What should be done to the shirt?
More importantly, what should be done to make this a reality, because I really want to do this? How do I gain support for this goal and bring it to the University? Suggestions and feedback would be very welcome.

Lastly, Lou Holtz made a case this past week that there should be Gameday awards each week for the best band and mascot, because all of the pageantry of the game should be celebrated, and I completely support him. This is also something I want to see happen.

Marvel Madness - Round 2

Hyperion, Galactus, Proteus, and Destroyer have moved onto the next round.

23. Radioactive Man