Ed Bagley's Top 25 Poll - Week 7

Copyright © 2009 Ed Bagley

It was a good week to be Florida, Alabama, Texas, Cincinnati, Boise State, Iowa and TCU—all won, and all are the only unbeaten major teams left in the nation. Every one of them are beatable, the only monster thing about any of them are the college publicity departments that promote them. Here's my Top 25 for the 7th week:

1) Alabama (7-0) - Hosted and beat a really game 5-1 South Carolina team 20-6, and is on track for a head-on collision with Florida for the SEC championship and a shot at the national title. Guess who has the best total defense in the nation? Answer: Alabama.

2) Florida (6-0) - Needed a 27-yard field goal at home with 9 seconds left to beat a 3-2 Arkansas team, 23-20, and keep the Razorbacks from pulling off the biggest upset of the year. Florida can be beat. Gators are still the defending national champions. Alabama beat Arkansas 35-7 at home. Guess who has the second best total defense in the nation? Answer: Florida.

3) Oregon (5-1) - Caught napping and lost its season opener on-the-road to Boise State 19-8, but has since ripped off 5 straight wins and made it clear that the Ducks (such a weak nickname for a football team) will be dealt with. Travels to hated rival Washington next. The Huskies have last-second upset victories over USC (16-13) and Arizona (36-33). It seems obvious, but who is tougher, Huskies or Ducks? This is why we will watch the game.

4) Cincinnati (6-0) - Tough to know who is better, Cincinnati or Southern California. What I do know is that Cincy is unbeaten and could achieve a perfect 12-0 record if they really are a No. 4 team since West Virginia (5-1) and Pittsburgh (6-1) are their only big challenges in the last 6 games.

5) Southern California (5-1) - Will not soon forget the 16-13 loss on-the-road to Washington, but has won at least 11 games a year for the last 7 years. Having said that, USC is beatable and has victories that were too close over Ohio State (18-15) and Notre Dame (34-27), both came on the road. USC has a daunting schedule left with road trips to Oregon and Arizona State, and home game against Stanford, UCLA, Arizona and Oregon State (the Trojans only loss last year was 27-21 on-the-road to the Beavers).

6) Texas (6-0) - I have a lot of misgivings about the Longhorns. Yes, they managed to beat a 3-3 Oklahoma team 16-13 at home, but needed a last-minute field goal to do it. Texas knocked out Sooner QB Sam Bradford in the 1st quarter, yet the Oklahoma defense dominated the 1st half and the Sooners led 6-3 at halftime. Keep in mind that Oklahoma lost to Brigham Young and Miami (FL) before facing Texas, and Texas ran up a 5-0 mark playing no one worth mentioning before Oklahoma. Now the Longhorns get Central Florida, Baylor, Kansas and Texas A&M in their last 4 games; this does not sound to me like Texas should play in the national championship game even if the Longhorns end up at 12-0, which is likely.

7) Texas Christian (6-0) - TCU has feasted on such powerhouses as Virginia, 1-AA Texas State, Clemson, Southern Methodist, Air Force and Colorado State (note the sarcasm). Is TCU suspect? You better believe it. Kansas looked good while playing cupcakes too. Let's see if BYU or Utah slows TCU down. If not, then perhaps I shall think a little better of the Horned Frogs.

8) Iowa (7-0) - Hawkeyes have won three games by 3 points or less, but have put Penn State, Michigan and Wisconsin behind their taillights. Only Michigan State and Ohio State stand in their way of running up the best Hawkeye record probably ever.

9) Boise State (6-0) - If you think TCU might be a little lame at 6-0, try Boise State. The Broncos just beat Tulsa 28-21 on-the-road. To listen to coach Chris Petersen talk his way out of another weak victory, you would think he just played Alabama in 'Bama and beat the Crimson Tide 28-21. So here is Boise State 6-0, and who do you think the next 6 "explosive playmakers" are that the Broncos will play? Try this awesome lineup: 112th-ranked Hawaii (2-4), 93rd-ranked San Jose State (1-5), 95th-ranked Louisiana Tech (3-3), 51st ranked Idaho (6-1), 128th-ranked Utah State (1-5), 87th-ranked Nevada (3-3) and 152nd-ranked New Mexico State (3-4). They have a combined team record of 19-25 and an average ranking of 120. Did I mention that the entire 1-A Division is made up of only 120 teams? Yup, that's Boise State—the higher they are ranked and the tougher they are, the better the Broncos like it. No longer wonder why major conference champions get opt-ins to BCS games—at least they earn the recognition. Only Idaho has anything going for it in Boise State's last 6 games.

10) LSU (5-1) - Took Florida to the mat before the Gators escaped 13-3. Other than Oregon and USC, could be the best 5-1 team in the country. Must now beat 5-2 Auburn at home or risk losing top 10 status. Life does not get any easier, just more interesting.

You have perhaps figured out by now that there are not 10 great football teams at work this season. I put my next 14 picks in a Halloween basket, shook it vigorously, and pulled them out one at a time to fill the next 14 slots because I do not believe there is that much difference between them. Some play much tougher opponents but none of them have much to crow about at the moment. I saved the team I personally hate the worst for the 25th spot—they do not know how lucky they are to even make my top 25.

11) Brigham Young (6-1) - Runs into TCU next.

12) West Virginia (5-1) - Has victories over 1-AA Liberty, East Carolina, Colorado, Syracuse and Marshall. No wonder they are not getting much notice. Their good fortune to be picked 2nd out of the pumpkin.

13) Ohio State (5-2) - Went to Purdue and got their Buckeye butts handed to them by a 1-5 Boilermaker team, 26-18. I hope you appreciate why Ohio State can be so disappointing.

14) Oklahoma State (5-1) - On their best day, the Cowboys may be better than their rival Oklahoma Sooners, whom they play in their last game.

15) South Florida (5-1) - Travel to Pittsburgh and had better be ready.

16) Miami, FL (5-1) - Have beaten Florida State, Georgia Tech and Oklahoma, that's more than Boise State, TCU and Texas can said given their first-half schedules.

17) South Carolina (5-2) - I like the Gamecocks and their coach Steve Spurrier. Coaching at South Carolina is no easy task; the Gamecocks are not very high on the pecking order when recruiting against Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, LSU and Auburn. Hard to build a consistent winner with the leftovers.

18) Notre Dame (4-2) - A lot of history, luck, smoke and mirrors have netted them 3 victories by a total of 13 points; that is living pretty close to the edge, especially when you are giving up 29 points a game to your last 5 opponents.

19) Idaho (6-1) - Give coach Robb Akey and his Vandals some props; Idaho has been in the pits for years and is now on the rise, meaning there really is no "Achy Breaky Heart" in Moscow (Idaho, not Russia).

20) Central Michigan (6-1) - On target to win the Mid American title.

21) Georgia Tech (6-1) - A very warm summer brought out the Yellow Jackets.

22) Houston (5-1) - Ranks 3rd in the nation in scoring offense (40 ppg), and 88th in scoring defense (28 ppg). If you want to see a shootout, skip the ranch and go directly to a Houston game.

23) Pittsburgh (6-1) - The Panthers are Dave Wannstedt's magnum opus. There will never be another Pittsburgh for Wannstedt, and he will not go to his grave until his Panthers return to the glory days of when he was blocking for future Heisman Trophy winner Tony Dorsett. If Wannstedt was not on the football field, he would be deep into a coal mine.

24) Virginia Tech (5-2) - Did a number on Miami (FL) and Boston College, then lost to a 6-1 Georgia Tech team in an away game.

Gosh, putting those last 14 team names in a pumpkin and pulling them out was fun! It actually caused me to re-consider some of my future choices.

25) Penn State (6-1) - Has compiled signature wins over Akron, Syracuse, Temple, Illinois, 1-AA Eastern Iilinois and Minnesota (a combined record of 17-21), and then ran into a lousy 7-0 Iowa team and promptly lost at home 21-10.

Don't ya just love college football? The reason the pros are less likeable is that they are exciting but too predictable.