Ed Bagley's Top 25 Poll - Week 9 - Oregon Is Moving Up Fast

Copyright © 2009 Ed Bagley

Oregon's 47-20 upset victory over Southern California was beyond huge this week, causing a significant shift in who is where in my Top 25 Poll for college football's 9th week of play. Here is how I see it:

1) Alabama (8-0) - The Crimson Tide was idle this week, and it was probably for the best as Florida won big, but I am not moving the Gators back to No. 1 yet. Let's see how Alabama does when LSU comes to town next week.

2) Florida (8-0) - Did a number on Georgia, 41-17, while extending the nation's longest winning streak to 18 games, and remains on track to meet unbeaten Alabama for the SEC title and chance to defend its 2008 national title in this year's National Championship Game.

3) Oregon (7-1) - Upset favored Southern California in a dominating 47-20 performance worthy of real consideration for a national title shot if Alabama, Florida or Texas falters. Picked apart the USC defense for 613 total yards, not to be taken lightly. Oregon is as good as any team in the country right now.

4) Texas (8-0) - Longhorns move up after impressive 41-14 win on-the-road over 13th-ranked Oklahoma State. Texas led 41-7 after three quarters, and the Longhorn defense returned two interceptions for touchdowns.

5) Cincinnati (8-0) - Beats Syracuse 28-7 on-the-road, not that it is that big of a deal, except Cincy and coach Brian Kelly just keep on winning. Cincy had 10 wins two years ago and 11 wins last year.

6) Texas Christian (8-0) - Shut out UNLV, a nothing, 41 to nothing. Only 6 other teams remain unbeaten—Florida, Alabama, Texas, Cincinnati, Iowa and Boise State. Not too shabby company. Why shouldn't TCU be No. 7?

7) Iowa (9-0) - First team in the country to go 9-0. Darn near lost again to a nothing team—Indiana—but rebounded with 4 fourth quarter touchdowns to finally win, 42-24.

8) Boise State (8-0) - Won easily again, ripping San Jose State 45-7 in a cakewalk.

9) LSU (7-1) - Shut out Tulane 42-zip, headed for fierce showdown at Alabama. Beat the Washington Huskies 31-23 while Southern California was upset by the Washington Huskies 16-13. USC will drop lower after being exposed at Oregon for their porous defense.

10) Georgia Tech (8-1) - Scored 28 points in second half to sting Vanderbilt 56-31. Gets Wake Forest next and should win. Has one less loss than USC.

11) Penn State (8-1) - Can't stand Penn State and Joe Pa but Nittany Lions did beat Northwestern 34-13 on-the-road, that's more than Southern Cal can say after its trip to Oregon.

12) Southern California (6-2) - Lost to Oregon. Nuff said. USC drops from 5th to 12th in my poll and would be lower if so many other teams were not so poor on the defensive side of the ball. Let's all stop acting like the Southern California Trojans are a big deal this year, and put them where they deserve to be.

13) Houston (7-1) - Barely outlasted the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles, 50-43. The Houston Cougars could not defend against a stout bunch of angry grandmothers, but do provide excitement to the college football scene with their instant-scoring offense.

14) Ohio State (7-2) - Shut out an extremely weak New Mexico State team 45-zip. Travels to Penn State this week and either the Buckeyes or the Nittany Lions are going to look bad. What appears to be a huge defensive battle might well morph into a scoring contest if Penn State's defense falters.

15) Pittsburgh (7-1) - Idle this week, faces Syracuse next and should win easily if they have even a shred of substance.

16) Utah (7-1) - Managed to beat a weak Wyoming team 22-10. Utes record is much more impressive than their wins over opponents. All of this dinking around will stop when they face TCU and BYU.

This poll can go no farther than No. 16 and keep a straight face. The rest of the teams are like running in clowns during a circus act—the performers are not what they appear to be, winning big, losing big and remaining inconsistent and virtually unpredictable. There is not a nickel's worth of difference between them. I am personally sick and tired of tracking the ups and downs of six 3-loss teams—Texas Tech, South Carolina, Auburn, Virginia Tech, Mississippi and Ohio—so they are now out of my poll.

There are at least 12 other teams with only 2 losses, and 8 of them can fill out the last 9 spots. Who is to say that one is better than another when none of them really stand out? So, here, in no particular order, are the last seven:

17) Wisconsin (6-2) - Shut out Purdue 37-0 after the Boilermakers upset Ohio State 26-18. Faces a not-so-hot Indiana team next.

18) California (6-2) - Beat Arizona State 23-21. Gets Southern Cal next. Wonder if the Bears can increase USC's fall?

19) Arizona (5-2) - Has an offense and defense and could be a sleeper. Was idle this week, should easily beat Washington State next and build its stats.

20) Notre Dame (6-2) - Very popular nationally and did beat another 6-2 team—Boston College—20-16. Gets a 6-3 Navy team next.

21) Temple (6-2) - Lost its first two games and then has run off 6 straight wins. Could beat its last four opponents and end the year at 10-2. That would be amazing for Temple. Let's reward success by making them No. 22, at least for the moment.

22) Rutgers (6-2) - Only two losses were to 8-0 Cincinnati and 7-1 Pittsburgh. Let's see if they can beat 6-2 South Florida next.

23) Fill in your own favorite team—I'm tired, I need a break from this exhausting task.

24) Central Michigan (7-2) - Lost to Boston College 31-10 on-the-road, but other than the 7 unbeaten teams in major college football and teams that are already ranked in this poll, who else has 7 wins now? Only one other team—Idaho.

25) Idaho (7-2) - Just beat a really bad Louisiana Tech team 35-34, but who else has 7 wins?