New Rankings after Week 3

September 18, 2011

This week, a dropped a personal record FIVE teams from my Top 25 and it could've easily been six. We've got some teams in the rankings now that are pretty much serving as "fill-ins" until the real Top 25 teams rebound from losses. The bottom of these rankings won't stand for long but it's always good to get these teams some recognition after a wild weekend of college football.

Oklahoma survived it's Road Test in Tallahassee with a 23-13 win over then-No. 5 Florida State. Boise State rolled in Toledo as did LSU in Starkville while Stanford pulled away from Arizona in Tucson in the second half. Oklahoma State and Tulsa had a 3:15am ET kickoff and even though Oklahoma State obviously was going to win, they still played well into the early morning. These Top 10 teams all survived Road Test Weekend.

Some other teams weren't as lucky like Ohio State, Michigan State, Arizona State and Auburn.

Two offenses came alive in Los Angeles as USC finally lit up the scoreboard in the Coliseum against Syracuse while Texas went to its home away from home in the Rose Bowl and scored 49 on UCLA with Case McCoy assuming the leadership at quarterback. Even late in the game when true freshman David Ash took over in mop-up duty, Garrett Gilbert didn't enter the game. It seems that Texas has moved on from the Garrett Gilbert Era that never lived up to the hype when he was the No. 1 quarterback recruit in the nation three years ago.

So here it is, the new Top 25.

Official Rankings

My College Football Top 25
(x) = previous ranking
1. LSU (2)
Beat Mississippi State 19-6
Next: at West Virginia
2. Alabama (3)
Beat North Texas 41-0
Next: vs. Arkansas
3. Oklahoma (1)
Beat Florida State 23-13
Next: vs. Missouri
4. Boise State (5)
Beat Toledo 40-15
Next: vs. Tulsa
5. Wisconsin (7)
Beat Northern Illinois 49-7
Next: vs. South Dakota
6. Stanford (6)
Beat Arizona 37-10
Next: at Arizona (Oct. 1)
7. Texas A&M (8)
Beat Idaho 37-7
Next: vs. Oklahoma State
8. Oklahoma State (10)
Beat Tulsa 59-33
Next: at Texas A&M
9. Florida State (4)
Lost to Oklahoma 23-13
Next: at Clemson
10. Oregon (11)
Beat Missouri State 56-7
Next: at Arizona
11. Arkansas (9)
Beat Troy 38-28
Next: at Alabama
12. South Carolina (14)
Beat Navy 24-21
Next: vs. Vanderbilt
13. Florida (18)
Beat Tennessee 33-23
Next: at Kentucky
14. Nebraska (12)
Beat Washington 51-38
Next: at Wyoming
15. Virginia Tech (13)
Beat Arkansas State 26-7
Next: at Marshall
16. West Virginia (17)
Beat Maryland 37-31
Next: vs. LSU
17. South Florida (21)
Beat Florida A&M 70-17
Next: vs. UTEP
18. TEXAS (20)
Beat UCLA 49-20
Next: at Iowa State (Oct. 1)
19. USC (22)
Beat Syracuse 38-17
Next: at Arizona State
20. Clemson (NR)
Beat Auburn 38-24
Next: vs. Florida State
21. Baylor (NR)
Beat Stephen F. Austin 49-0
Next: vs. Rice
22. TCU (NR)
Beat Louisiana-Monroe 38-17Next: vs. Portland State
23. Illinois (NR)
Beat Arizona State 17-14
Next: vs. Western Michigan
24. Arizona State (19)
Lost to Illnois 17-14
Next: vs. USC
25. North Carolina (NR)
Beat Virginia 28-17
Next: at Georgia Tech
Dropped: Ohio State, Michigan State, Central Florida, Auburn, Mississippi State
Bubble: Michigan, Mississippi State, Missouri, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Central Florida, Houston, Miami, Auburn, FIU

Why the Changes?
Shuffling the Top 3
I've shuffled the Top 3 again. There are three teams that are the most complete in the nation: LSU, Alabama, and Florida State. Yes, Oklahoma (the former No. 1) is not one of them. Yes, Oklahoma won, but Florida State found a way to lose. I didn't see the No. 1 team in the nation in Oklahoma Saturday night. The No. 1 teams I saw where LSU against Oregon in Week 1 and again in Week 3 and Alabama at Penn State in Week 2. Oklahoma was impressive against Tulsa, but that's Tulsa's defense.
LSU has two big wins over Alabama's one so they currently have the better resume and both have big games in Week 4. The two defenses are dominant, but LSU's receivers have a slight edge over Alabama's.
Florida moving up into the Top 15
The Gators are a scary, scary team. Will Muschamp keeps the intensity up and the team responds and Charlie Weiss has worked wonders with the offense. We didn't know before the season started if Florida would be an 8-4 team or a 10-2 team and right now they look like the 10-win team that has what it takes to reclaim the SEC East from South Carolina. 

The Newbies
Clemson enters the Top 25 after it's domination of the second half over Auburn. But Auburn is the only quality win and the Tigers almost lost to Wofford in week two but the potential on paper is there for Clemson to challenge Florida State in the ACC.
Baylor has been ranked for a while in the official rankings but its defense has been my biggest concern. The defense will let Baylor down in a lot of games, but right now with everything else going on, Baylor should be ranked team.
TCU is back in the Top 25 but the 50 points it gave up to Baylor is still lingering in the back of my mind.
Illinois is win after a nice win over Arizona State although the Sun Devils beat themselves but the Illinois defense made impressive plays. AJ Jenkins torched Arizona State's secondary which should be scary when he gets to facing the Big Ten secondaries.
North Carolina doesn't wow you when you watch them but they're very consistent. Bryn Renner rebounded from a three interception performance against Rutgers (they still won) and there's playmakers on offense with Dwight Jones and Erik Highsmith. The North Carolina defense lost so much to the NFL but still has more NFL first round draft picks waiting to happen.

Who's Too High?
Clemson's only quality win is against Auburn and they avoided the upset against Wofford but on paper Clemson has the potential to shock a lot of teams. The offense is explosive now with new coordinator Chad Morris and QB Tajh Boyd and the defense makes plays. Clemson has a test hosting Florida State this weekend and then hit the road at Virginia Tech. We'll find out how good this Clemson team is in the next two weeks.
Who's Too Low?
I'm going to have to say Arizona State again even though they just lost to Illinois. This team has such a loaded roster that I'm very high on and the Illinois loss puts a big dent in it but the Sun Devils get USC next and that game will decide the Pac-12 South Division. Arizona State still has a lot of time to make noise although the dream undefeated season is over.