Campus Confidential

By Adam Abramson

I would have gotten this done earlier in the day, but I had "Party All The Time" by Eddie Murphy stuck in my head. Why that old gem? Well, my mom was singing it incessantly on Christmas Day as she was cooking and it's been in my head the last two weeks. Thanks, momma. And, what does Eddie think about those days now? If anyone brings it up around him, are they banned, beaten, burned at the stake?

The list below is my last ranking of the season. Soon I will do my first installment of a preseason poll for 2008-2009. And, for the record, I made this list before looking at the AP's final list. Promise.

Here we go.

25. Kentucky
If their bowl win made any statement, it's not a favorable one. They squeaked by a Florida State team that was missing 30-something players. With seniors at quarterback, running back and both starting wide receiver positions, I expected more than an 8-5 season from the offense.

24. Rutgers
Such a disappointing season for the Scarlet Knights. The offense was supposed to be better -- and it was. The defense wasn't as good as last year, but it still was solid. Any one know why Rutgers ended up with five loses?

23. Hawaii
After watching Hawaii stumble to the finish line, you can't argue that the Warriors would have to scrap and claw to beat any team on this list.

22. Arizona State
I know, it's a far fall for the Sun Devils. But a light load early on was completely upended by Oregon, USC and Texas down the stretch. Their last five games were far from impressive (wins over UCLA and Arizona were so-so). Maybe I'm bitter that I picked Arizona State to win the Holiday Bowl. However, it was a great 10-win season for Dennis Erickson and the future is bright.

21. Penn State
A young Nittany Lions team was able to finish the season on the proper note. Let's see if the team can stay out of the headlines for a while and gear up for a big 2008 run.

20. Wisconsin
With almost no depth at times on the offense, Wisconsin kept its run of recent success going, narrowly missing another 10-win campaign.

19. Cincinnati
A 10-win season for the Bearcats is fantastic. Transfer quarterback Ben Mauk had to be one of the country's most pleasant surprises.

18. Oregon
Quite the roller coaster of a season for the Ducks that ended on a somewhat high. Losing Dennis Dixon was a crushing loss that sent everything into a tailspin until Oregon met up with South Florida -- showing them there's life after DD.

17. BYU
The Cougars flew under the radar all season en route to an 11-2 campaign.

16. Illinois
This young team exceeded expectations and looks to be on the right path, but I think a BCS game against one of the country's best teams was a tough draw to finish up the season.

15. Florida
With such a young defense and some changes with the offensive philosophy, this season should be considered a success.

14. Auburn
Much like Virginia Tech, just a bit down on this list, an underachieving offense couldn't match the prowess of its defense. Yeah, the Tigers had four losses, but two came against two of the top teams in this list.

13. Michigan
Seeing Llyod Carr lifted off the field was one of the more special moments of the bowl season. If any team could play the "if" game, it would definitely be Michigan.

12. Boston College
About five months ago, things looked bleak with Tom O'Brien in Raleigh and Brian Toal sidelined for the season. But Matt Ryan, arguably the country's most important player to his team, engineered an 11 win season. And safety Jamie Silva should get a ton of credit as well.

11. Oklahoma
I was going rank OU No. 8, but I remembered what I said at the beginning of the season. Oklahoma is not a Top 10 team. I win (if we ignore the Texas A&M part). But there's good news for Oklahoma fans. The national title game doesn't return to Arizona for two years. So Sam Bradford, DeMarco Murray and all the other guys can rest easy knowing that if they make it to the title game in the next two years, it won't be in dreaded Glendale. Lot of recent bad memories in that town.

10. Tennessee
The Vols had such an up and down regular season saved by a strong showing in the SEC title game and a bowl victory. With Erik Ainge graduated, the near future of the Vols rests on the shoulders of Jonathan Crompton. But the offense survived a season with a young offensive line, so things could be OK in Knoxville.

9. Virginia Tech
Defensive coordinator Bud Foster has the mentality and edge the rest of the team needs. Until they adopt his attitude and ferocity, the Hokies will be left out of the national title dance -- and eventually out of the BCS dance.

8. Texas
The Longhorns found their stride at the end of the year, large in part to Jamaal Charles. Their dominant bowl win over Arizona State shows that Texas needs to be considered among the nation's best teams each season. Next year will be no different.

7. West Virginia
If one ounce of the WVU team that destroyed Oklahoma would have been on the field against Pitt, they would have been playing on Monday night. But Pat White returns, Steve Slaton appears to be coming back, Noel Devine is back...looking good for next year. And this guy says Steve Slaton is going to fight for his starting job next year? Not a chance.

6. Kansas
Kansas played a great game in the Orange Bowl. But the most impressive part is how a team so new to the BCS team acted like a group of veterans. But the bottom line is this: Throw Texas and Oklahoma into their regular season schedule and we're not talking about Kansas being in the Top 10.

5. Ohio State
We discussed some of the adjustments that Ohio State needs to make if they want to be No. 1 on this list at the end of the year.

4. Missouri
At least Georgia had the liberty of playing the BCS, something Missouri couldn't enjoy. And Arkansas was on the receiving end of their frustrations.

3. Georgia
I understand Georgia fans are upset, but if you don't win your conference division, how can you expect to be considered for the national title when the winner comes from your conference? However, the Dawgs are my early pick for next year's champion.

2. USC
Reasons USC cannot be No. 1:

A. No conference title game.
B. A loss to a horrid Stanford team.
C. They don't play in the SEC.
D. Proved little by beating a mediocre four-loss Illinois team.

1. LSU
The Tigers showed that, when healthy, they do what they want on either side of the ball. Ohio State boasts one of the nation's best lines and LSU had its way with the unit at times. And the No. 1 Ohio State defense? Well Matt Flynn had something to say about it with his four touchdown passes.

By Adam Abramson

Well, it’s finally done. All the upsets and surprises have finally told us what it will all mean.

I had a five hour drive to think about everything that transpired this weekend and here’s what I came up with:

1. Kansas getting in over Missouri is a joke. Nebraska plays for the championship in 2001 despite getting roasted by Colorado in the regular season finale, yet Mizzou beats Kansas and is snubbed by the Jayhawks for a spot in the BCS. Kansas’ strength of schedule is among the worst in the country. Kansas has 0 wins over ANY school receiving a vote in the final AP poll. Missouri is ahead of Kansas in the BCS. Missouri was No. 1 just three days ago. I really just don’t understand.

2. I know where I went to school, but why has Virginia Tech’s name not even come up in the discussion? Everyone is talking about an Oklahoma snub, but Tech is ranked higher in the BCS? Tech is actually the No. 1 team, according to the computers. If you don’t recognize the computers, then you’re ignoring one of the most important parts of the BCS system that has become a huge joke.

3. Initial thoughts on the championship game: Ohio State has regressed from last year. The SEC is as good as it was last year. If LSU represents its conference the way Florida did (and the two have had very similar seasons), then the national title game will be over with 38 minutes remaining. Ohio State is not the No. 1 team in the country. They’re No. 1 by default, and that’s a shame. Here are teams that are better: Oklahoma, USC, Virginia Tech and Georgia. Oh, and LSU.

4. Hawaii is no Boise State. I know I said I would give respect to the Warriors if they beat the Broncos, but I just can’t. Before I say why, the AP voter who gave Hawaii a first-place vote should have to stand atop a totem pole for 2 days, ala Ace Ventura 2, because he’s ridiculous. Here are some of Hawaii’s wins: La Tech (5-7) by 1, San Jose State (5-7) by 7, Fresno State (8-4) by 7, Nevada (6-6) by 2, Washington (4-9) by 7. Those teams are a combined 28-33 and they won those games by a combined 24 points. If Georgia doesn’t demoralize Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl, I’m going to be filled with rage.

5. It just dawned on me: There are no BCS games I really care about. The game that most intrigues me from Xs and Os will be Oklahoma-West Virginia. LSU-Ohio State will be watchable only because it’s for the national title. This lineup just bums me out. I’ll probably still go to the Orange Bowl, though. Do Kansas football fans even travel? Why didn’t WVU and VT play in the OB? Were they afraid of riots in Miami?

6. Speaking of West Virginia, no Mountaineer is ever allowed to use the term “Chokies” again when talking smack to a Virginia Tech fan. BNG, I know how painful Saturday night must have been. That was a tough game to watch while on the radio, I’ll say that much. But much of what happened Saturday night happened against South Florida. Neutralize Steve Slaton, create a turnover, injure Pat White and dedicate yourself to the run. Pitt running back LaSean McCoy ran like a man that night, even when the referees made some interesting calls…Either way, just the latest casualty of the No. 2 ranking this year.
   

I’ll stop there for now. I’m not really sure what else there is to say. I do think the non-computer polls proved themselves as power rankings weeks 1-13. When the final poll rolls around, it’s as if the pollsters put on a different hat and line up the stars accordingly to achieve the bowl games they most want to see. It’s really the only way to explain all the movement we’ve seen the last two weeks.

If I come up with more thoughts, I’ll just go ahead and post them here and there. It’s Heisman week, so we’ll get that talk going and next week I’ll do All-American teams.

I'm sitting in the Pittsburgh airport waiting for my flight back to reality.

Before we get into the football, I will say that this was my first wedding of friends from college. Actually, it was my first wedding of friends in general. I now know how a wedding is supposed to go down. I know they're on their honeymoon at this point, but Kim and Kyle are readers of Campus Confidential, so congrats (for the 500th time).

We're starting to see how all of this is coming together. I was able to watch Arkansas-LSU and the end of Texas-Texas A&M on Friday, the first half of Boise State-Hawaii that night and the first three quarters of Virginia Tech-Virginia on Saturday.

Quick funny story. We're on the way to the church for the wedding. I'm in the back seat with my buddy's Blackberry hitting refresh on ESPN.com every .2034 seconds and providing the updates. About 15 minutes before the ceremony, we get a call from Kyle, the groom. Thinking there might be trouble, we answer in a panic only to find out he's calling to see if Tech pulled out the victory. We replied with a "yes, now you can get married in peace."

So, besides the fact that Virginia Tech fans are insane, what else did we learn this weekend?

1. 1. Houston Nutt is an LSU killer. As a matter of fact, so is Darren McFadden. It was business as usual for DMac, who found the end zone four times. Nobody wanted to fully come out and say it, but LSU pretty much at it coming. The Tigers weren't putting teams away the way they were in the first half of the season. Les Miles has had his bout with injuries, but when you recruit like LSU has, you should have a solid depth chart. It's really a shame because when the light goes on in Baton Rouge, I still think they can beat anyone in the country. The season was developing much like Florida's last year. Now it's Sugar Bowl at best for the Tigers. As for the Razorbacks, it was nice to see that offense play up to its potential. I've said time and time again there's really no excuse for sluggish performances when you have two of the best running backs in college football. Now, did Nutt save his job? It's only going to get tougher when McFadden goes pro…

2. 2. Missouri winning shouldn't have been that big of a surprise. Kansas played the Tigers tough, but there's a distinct difference in the two teams that starts at quarterback. Todd Reesing's resume is pretty much this year's body of work, while Chase Daniel has been going to battle for a few seasons now. There's no question that the Missouri-Oklahoma rematch is the game of the weekend and the most important game of the season. If you've been sleeping on Big 12 football, fear not. We'll get into it this week and get you ready for Saturday.

3. 3. The Orange Bowl could be the best BCS game this season. If Virginia Tech exacts its revenge over Boston College on Saturday, we very well could see a VT-Georgia matchup in Miami. This is a take-two from last year's Peach Bowl, where the Dawgs put together a mean second-half comeback against the Hokies. These two teams are playing as good of football as anyone in the country at this point.

4. 4. It's not so easy to finish. We've seen Oregon, LSU, Oklahoma and Ohio State kiss their first-class ticket to New Orleans goodbye because they couldn't slam the nail in the coffin (or watch their QB go down with an ACL tear). Next on the chopping block are West Virginia and Missouri. But with the way that Pat White and Steve Slaton can take over a ball game, Rich Rodriguez should have no problem crafting a gameplan to breeze by Pittsburgh. A lot of people want to scoff at WVU in a national title game, but that offense can be put up against anyone's in the country. Just ask UConn. White was a man on a mission and if he can jumpstart the ground game, the rest takes care of itself.

5. 5. Illinios, Ohio State, Virginia Tech/Boston College, Georgia, LSU/Tennessee, USC, Hawaii, Big 12 winner, Big 12 runner-up. That's what your BCS is going to look like, off the top of my head. Kansas only dropped to fifth in the BCS, but if Missouri loses this weekend, the Tigers deserve an at-large over one-loss Kansas, right? Could be fodder for a good debate.
   

We'll get into more later. I have to board the plane here in a second. I saw I have a boat-load of comments from the weekend, so I will address all later.

And I heard something interesting about the Nebraska coaching situation. I'll try to dig into that some later and see what I can report.

10-4 against the spread (thanks Boise...and Kentucky).

By Adam Abramson

I bet you Oregon coach Mike Bellotti secretly wishes his back up quarterback was Joey Halzle.

Maybe that's harsh, but the Oklahoma backup looked much more solid than Oregon backup Brady Leaf. I know Leaf is dinged up, but Halzle was impressive as he settled into the game, all things considered.

Either way, I guess this year has been a pretty good statement for the importance of starting quarterbacks. Just ask the two mentioned teams, Southern California, West Virginia and Hawaii, to name a few.

It was so close to being a "normal" Saturday for the Top 25, but Oklahoma had to go ahead and keep things the way they've been all year. There's really no excuse. Looking ahead? Perhaps, but that's a little weird, considering it's Bob Stoops' program and he does things the right way.

So, what else did we learn this weekend?

A few things just from the upset:

1. 1. West Virginia has a great shot at playing for the title. And with all due respect to our local WVU reader, I just don't see WVU as a national title contender. Now, do any other schools out there look the part? Aside LSU, I say no. BNG and I have been saying it a lot lately: WVU better be careful with these turnovers. I do think that WVU-LSU would be a pretty entertaining title game because WVU has as much team speed as anyone not named LSU (if not the most). I'll go on record by saying it would be ridiculous if Ohio State leaped WVU in the polls.

2. 2. Michael Crabtree, the freshman wide receiver for Texas Tech, is the real deal. The vision and speed he showed on some of his catches against OU were enough to fill half a highlight reel. Against Texas and Oklahoma the last two weeks: 21 catches, 349 yards, 3 TDs. He's one of three guys in college football with 100 catches, the other two have 6 fewer touchdowns than Crabtree, combined.

3. 3. Lloyd Carr is out at Michigan. A lot of the college football minds I spoke with this weekend feel his legacy is defined by his ineptness against Ohio State. While I think it's something to be pointed out, Carr did a lot of good in keeping Michigan football relevant. I hope his era is remembered in a positive light, and I think it will. But the biggest question at this juncture is who will take over? All signs point to Les Miles. Will this be a black cloud that floats over the LSU program the next 6-7 weeks? It would be in Michigan's best interest to conduct a thorough search, checking out all options: Can they steal Turner Gill away from Nebraska (I'm assuming he's NU's first choice)? Can they land a big fish like Bob Stoops (doubtful, but that would rock college football)? Does Ron English get a shot (I'd like to see that)? Actually, the thorough search would be in LSU's best interest, now that I think about it.

4. 4. The ACC is taking shape. Matt Ryan looked like the leader he's been for Boston College all season and the Eagles are playing for the conference title because of it. On the other side, Virginia and Virginia Tech will play for the right to play on Dec. 1. For a conference that's been down and out, it could be a decent title game that will get no ratings.

5. 5. Tennessee is lucky. The SEC East could have been a free-for-all had Vanderbilt pulled the upset. It was actually a good football game, but the Volunteers need to show a lot more if they want to be taken seriously in the BCS in December.

6. 6. Missouri better not let Kansas hang around the way they let Kansas State this weekend. I'll say that for now.

7. 7. Tim Tebow is legit. He's the first player ever to have 20 passing touchdowns and 20 rushing in the same season. We'll be talking more about him on Wednesday, if you get my drift.
   

I'll stop there. I'll be back with a poll and more thoughts on Tuesday.

Picks: 8-7 ATS...oops. Still better than Lou Holtz, though.

By Adam Abramson

Two rather calm weekends in a row? What’s going on here?

Yesterday was actually one of the more fun days of watching I’ve had this season for a few reasons:

1. Virginia Tech finally beat Florida State.
2. Ohio State lost. While I had them No. 1, it was by default. If last year’s team was blown out by Florida, there’s no way this year’s version was worthy of a title.
3. I didn’t have to keep track of 523 upsets.

So, what did we learn this weekend?

1. The Big 10 is lacking a powerhouse team. With Ohio State losing to a talented Illinois team, there’s no clear cut big dog in the conference. Michigan losing to Wisconsin pretty much means the conference is like any other of the big ones, except the Big 12. Why? Well, Kansas is undefeated and no other BCS conference can boast such a stat. How long the Jayhawks stay undefeated is the question.

2. Illinois is going to be for real soon. The parts crucial in the win over Ohio State will be around next year, for the most part. And as Ron Zook keeps developing his system, the Illini are going to only become better.

3. This year’s title game will not feature two undefeated teams, again. And it might feature two one-loss teams. Again, we’ll see what Kansas does. It’s understood that Hawaii isn’t going to make it. How do we feel about that? Does this raise the argument for a playoff? I’d have to say yes. We could have seven one-loss teams come December 2.

4. One of Virginia Tech, Virginia and Clemson will win ACC. Boston College’s loss at Maryland and Virginia Tech’s win over Florida State (finally) and Virginia’s romping in the Orange Bowl were big in determining this. And I don’t think there’s much of an argument. Clemson is running the ball better than anyone in the conference, Virginia Tech is playing better defense and Virginia has a knack for winning football games which is very dangerous.

5. The Big East is a fraud if West Virginia doesn’t win the conference. WVU is the conference’s last hope. But if commissioner Mike Tranghese wants his eggs in any basket, it should be the Mountaineers’. And if a couple of teams aren’t careful, you might see Rich Rodriguez’s team sneak into that title game.

6. I might stop predicting SEC games.Seriously, what the heck is up with that conference. Pretty much every team in the conference has shown brilliance, then completely flipped themselves upside down with a bad loss. Is the conference too good or are we giving it too much respect? I think it’s still the best conference in the country, but it’s maybe not as dominant as we all thought. Georgia clicking at the right time gives the SEC some extra validity.

7. USC should be much more dominant than it shows. This has been obvious, especially with the two losses. But the win at Cal was very unimpressive for anyone not named Chauncey Washington (29 carries, 220 yards, TD). But with all the weapons USC has on offense, it was outgained by Cal. And the Trojan defense forced three turnovers but the team scored just 24 points. Overall sloppy and unimpressive.

8. Arizona State needs to wake up sooner. Somewhere Paul is nodding his head in agreement. Speaking of the Trojans, if they jump out to an early lead next Saturday like UCLA did this past weekend, Arizona State might not be able to mount another comeback. A win Saturday would all but lock up a BCS berth for the Sun Devils, which would be quite the treat.

9. Knowshon Moreno is the best freshman in the country. He’s been a rock for Georgia this year and has had the best freshman season for a running back since Herschel Walker. You might see this kid holding a Heisman Trophy this decade.

10. Notre Dame is still terrible. But at least Jimmy Clausen shows some signs of life throwing the ball.

For the weekend: 13-11 against the spread.

By Adam Abramson

We're halfway through the season and I'm pretty much speechless.

Tranquil weekend? Not so much. This has gotten out of hand.

The argument for a post-season playoff couldn't be any stronger at this point. I've been a proponent of such a system, but I understand the power of the bowls. So, my argument is: Why not make the bowls playoff games?

16 qualifying teams make the playoff, leaving a need for 13 games, right?

We have four BCS bowls: Quarterfinals.
We have a NC game: Keep that the same.

So you need 8 more games to fill. Create two "bowls" for the semifinals. The TV revenue would be insane.

So, six games: Capital One, Cotton, Holiday, Gator, Outback and Alamo?

Keep the sponsors. Create more bowls for all I care. And what about the time issue? Well, the World Series has a game schedule for November this year, so I think we'd be OK if we played football into the second week of January, need be.

It would need some perfecting, but I think I'm on to something here.

But, that's a pipe dream. Let's talk about the weekend. What did we learn?

Jeff Tedford can't groom a quarterback overnight
The master QB tutor had to work with freshman Kevin Riley courtesy of Nate Longshore's injury and the result was a 31-28 loss to Oregon State for the former No. 2 team in the country. Riley had 294 yards passing, but couldn't get the ball to DeSean Jackson (4 catches, 5 yards). Lavelle Hawkins had 192 yards and two touchdowns through the air and senior running back Justin Forsett picked up 150 yards on 28 carries. I had Cal ranked up there like all the other polls did, but I was weary of the USC game…even I was looking too far ahead.

Strange calls come in threes
Tedford gets greedy and goes for the win when he could have kicked the field goal. With Longshore, that's the right move, not so sure when you have a first-time starter. Les Miles calling three straight runs up the gut in 3OT, where's the versatility? Perhaps he was banking on the fatigue of the Kentucky defense; however, the unit had watched Kentucky tie the game in 2OT, then stayed on the sideline for the beginning of the third while Kentucky scored again, giving it maybe a 10-15 minute breather? There are just so many options that Miles didn't go to. And finally, Zook, who probably made the most alarming bad decisions of the day. Two chances to decline third down penalties and force fourth downs and he declines - one leads to a touchdown, the other leads to a first down. I just don't get it.

Andre Woodson is back, baby
The Kentucky quarterback was nothing short of a man against the country's best team. Yeah, he had two interceptions, but he was the leader the Wildcats needed in about 30 crucial moments in the game. When you have a rock like that to lean on, anything is possible - as made clear on Saturday night. The Tigers threw everything they could at the Heisman hopeful and he just kept answering. He has NFL written all over him. I actually have to give props to Ivan Maisel who tabbed him as a first-team All-American before the year started. I thought he was crazy for passing up Brohm and Booty, but clearly he's the vet and I'm the rook.

Consistency will win the national championship
It's clearly more important than dominance this year. Ohio State has been a model of consistency and has a great shot to make a run at the title despite not having the best team. Schools like LSU and USC have more talent on their rosters, but made their buck by crushing teams. Ohio State is putting up big numbers, but it's almost methodical. Once again, that Ohio State-Michgian game is going to be intense.

Michigan belongs in the Top 25
It took a little while, but the Wolverines are actually better than the ranking shows. Yeah, the loss to App State was a killer, but they could still end up with nine wins. This coming Saturday night in Champaigne is a big game for UM, who - by the way - is sitting alone atop the Big 10 standings. The Blue and Maize is far from dead and could be back in the Rose Bowl.

The ACC is a junior version of the SEC
Especially if Virginia Tech beats Boston College on Oct 25. Everyone is just beating up on each other at this point - however, the teams involved are a few rungs lower on the ladder than the SEC schools. And Georgia Tech might be the most unpredictable school in the country.

There's so much more to talk about, but I'll stop there at the risk of writing a short novel.

I'll fill the Tuesday poll entry with more thoughts and discussion. Send your thoughts from another crazy weekend my way.

By Adam Abramson

What did we learn this weekend?

1. BNG is heavily anti-BC. Well, that’s fair. But I say this because I want to talk about BC. Notre Dame is next on the schedule, a team flying high off its first win and second game in a row where its offense showed life. Matt Ryan is seventh in passing attempts this season, but 37th in passing efficiency. Lucky for him, Andre Callender has been averaging over five yards a carry on the ground and over 10 yards per catch. Want to hear a shocker? Boston College has a great offensive line. Like I said, only six teams have attempted more passes than BC, but the Eagles have given up just six sacks this year (tied for 13th in the country).

   Obviously, the key for Notre Dame in its win over UCLA was turnovers, seven to be precise. Boston College is 7th in turnover margin. The 140 total yards the Irish had against UCLA won’t win you many games. I still like BC easy.

2. Mind games work. “There is no question in my mind that USC is the best team in the country and may be the best team in the history of college football,” Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh said last week. “As a sort of college football historian, there’s no question that this SC team ranks right up there.”

   Guy is a genius. I really believe he said this to lull Southern California. Did he think Stanford could win? If he was a realist, probably not. But if USC let down its guard and won by three touchdowns instead of six, like Vegas predicted, then that’s a victory in itself.

   But, we all know what happened. Maybe he lulled the Trojans into a deep sleep and they turned the ball over five times. It’s just funny that the Trojans double up Stanford in yards and still lose by a point. Just another notch in the crazy college football belt of this year.

3. The SEC is too tough. It won’t be easy for South Carolina, but the Gamecocks could be poised for a rematch with LSU in the SEC Championship game. We’re six weeks into the season and the Baton Rouge bunch is the only unbeaten team in the conference. We all knew the SEC was a giant scrum, but this is ridiculous.

4. The polls are stupid. I want to ask every AP voter in the country this question: If Oklahoma and South Florida played on a neutral field five times, what would be the outcome? Do they really think USF would win at least three times? I guess so, based on the No. 6 designation for the Sooners and 5 for the Bulls. The voters also think that Florida would lose to USF in a similarly staged battle? Florida loses to the top country in the land, on the road, by a late touchdown, and they’re suddenly out of the Top 10? I can’t agree.

5. Dennis Erickson is under appreciated. The Arizona State coach has won two national titles, led something like five different teams into the Top 25 and gets no love for it. We all know the Sun Devils can chuck the ball around the field and put up points with the best of them. So what’s different about this year’s team? Try defense. No. 7 in scoring, No. 9 in rushing and 20 in total defense. That’s a far cry from 2005 when the Sun Devils were 114 in total defense. The road ahead is tough for ASU, but it should really hope for 10 wins. Pick up one against Oregon, Cal or USC and the Devils have a lot to be proud about.
   

   That’s all for now. I have to get ready for the Yankees tonight. I’ll be back tomorrow with how a poll should look.

By Adam Abramson

Strange weekend of college football. Let's dive in. I'll try to figure it all out with a poll on Tuesday.

1. The Big East has flaws
By this I mean Rutgers has flaws. The Scarlet Knights completely fell on their faces at home against Maryland. With Louisville floundering, West Virginia turning the ball over six times on the national stage and Rutgers losing the 3:30 ABC game, the Big East had a pretty bad weekend. Luckily, they have a darling in the form of South Florida. More on them in a few.

2. Parity is alive
Ask any team in the country. ANY team. Of the winners, LSU was somewhat sluggish against Tulane. USC was real sluggish against Washington. Wisconsin was sluggish again. The list goes on. We'll find out if this year is just filled with a lot of so-so teams (which I think is the case) or it's just a bunch of monsters beating up on each other.

3. Fundamentals are important
South Florida blew me away with two things on defense: tackling and discipline. West Virginia's spread, read-option attack isn't exactly easy to slow down, especially with the weapons it features. What had been an unstoppable rebel force early on was nothing more than a middle school offense because South Florida stayed true to all of its assignments and filled every gap. When West Virginia attackers got in space, USF defenders made open field tackle after open field tackle. It was flat-out impressive.

4. DeSean Jackson is very fast
Remember when he told Campus Confidential he was the most electrifying player in college football? I think he was on to something. His second touchdown of the afternoon is the least-talked about play of the weekend. He caught an out along the sideline, looked to the inside and went from 0-100 in .2 seconds and threw a mean high step at the 5. This dude is lethal, but I don't know that he'll put up enough touchdowns to be invited to New York for the Heisman.

5. Wisconsin needs to take a good look at Texas
The Badgers are letting teams hang around. Three of their five wins this year have been by 7 points or less. This is going to come back and haunt them. Texas had been extremely lack-luster in the first three weeks and Kansas State trounced them on Saturday. Here's what Wisconsin has ahead: at Illinois and at Penn State ... two teams you can't sleep on. ASK TEXAS!

Click below for the rest...

By Adam Abramson

Another educational weekend for us college football fanatics. Arkansas and Penn State aren't clutch. Notre Dame and Syracuse show signs of life. Louisville and Nebraska march towards the brink of collapse. And Andre Woodson is clutch. Friday night is South Florida-West Virginia. I'm already excited. But we'll discuss this at length later.

Before we get into the weekend, I just want to say covering an NFL game is much different than covering a college game. Sunday was my first chance to do this at FedEx Field for the Giants-Redskins. Given the task of writing two sidebars was a blast because NFLers are much more open than the college kids.

1. The best quarterbacks come from the Bluegrass State

Brian Brohm's team is reeling and Andre Woodson's team is clicking. But both gunslingers are the cornerstones of teams with such opposite identities. Brohm's Louisville Cardinals again played little defense and could not offset Brohm's 555 yards and 4 TDs. As for Woodson, the poise he showed by playing in one of the tougher games of the weekend elevated his stock to Google prices. Woodson's numbers from Saturday won't blow your hair back, but here's the catch: his two touchdown passes and one touchdown run all came in the second half against an Arkansas team at home, desperate for a win. The kid is a gamer.

2. Notre Dame can actually play offense

When Travis Thomas hit the end zone to give Notre Dame a 7-0 lead on Saturday, you would have thought Ian Johnson just scored on a Fiesta Bowl statue of liberty all over again. But when it's your first offensive touchdown in 13 quarters of football, you might get a little excited. The Irish didn't look good on offense by any means, with just 203 total yards, but it was a step in the right direction. The Irish are going to struggle for offense in every game until Nov. 17 when they play Duke. Jimmy Claussen is far from ready to be a starting quarterback, by the way - with that offensive line or not.

3. Syracuse can actually play offense

After ripping off 32 points in their first three losses, the Orange posted 38 to shock Louisville and move ahead of them in the Big East race (granted, only two conference games have been played to date). Quarterback Andrew Robinson masterfully picked apart the joke that the Cardinals call their defense going 17-for-26 for 423 yards and 4 touchdowns. The Orange are having a little trouble moving the ball on the ground, but if Robinson decides he wants to put up those numbers every week, the Cuse could actually win five games this year.

4. 22 men are stronger than 2

Once again, Darren McFadden and Felix Jones can't do it all for Arkansas. It's really a shame to see such talent be overshadowed by back-to-back losses. Did anyone notice Felix Jones' speed on his kickoff return against the Wildcats? Quarterback Casey Dick completed under 50% of his passes against Kentucky and threw two interceptions. That's an easy way to erase 449 all-purpose yards from your two best players.

We're only halfway there.

New Jersey. Staten Island. If someone throws either of those two-word combos in my direction today, I might punch them in the face. I'm still salty about sitting in three hours of traffic when there was no accident or construction. I made it to D.C. in 4 hours 10 minutes Friday night. About seven hours to get home.

I'm done venting. On Friday I said we would learn a lot from the weekend, so what knowledge was dropped on us?

1. Houston Nutt doesn't get it done in the clutch enough. Every year Arkansas loses a game (usually a few) by not coming up big enough in the fourth quarter. Darren McFadden and Felix Jones put the entire team on their shoulders and regain a seemingly insurmountable lead. Then what happens? About 300 consecutive underneath routes and Alabama marches right into the end zone. Is it that difficult to make an adjustment in the middle of a drive? The legend of Nick Saban has begun.

2. Confirmation: Louisville cannot play defense. The Cardinals also won't play for a national title. Isn't it fun to watch two very talented quarterbacks, though? Andre Woodson is the real deal. I have to admit, the show ended at 11 p.m., just after Louisville scored the go-ahead. I left the radio studio and when I woke up this morning, Kentucky had won. I had to rewatch the end on ESPNU (or Classic...too many networks to keep track of). But get this: a mid-tier SEC team knocked off one of the Big East bad boys. Shows the depth of the SEC.

3. Karl Dorrell should be out of a job. A 44-6 loss to an unbeaten Utah is unacceptable. I don't care if he rallies the troops to beat USC or Cal, UCLA will not be elite if it drops ball games like this. He's having a really, really hard time taking his program to the next level.

4. Notre Dame should rethink how good Jimmy Claussen will be. True freshman, bad offensive line, and he's looked terrible. Now, on the flip, Tyrod Taylor at Virginia Tech. True freshman, bad offensive line, and he's looked good. I know Notre Dame played Michigan and Virginia Tech played Ohio, but the two looked completely opposite. Claussen was flat out horrible. There's plenty of time for him to grow, and I am not saying he'll always be horrible. But I think it's a big stretch to say he's the next Joe Montana at this point.

5. Oklahoma is making me look dumber and dumber each Saturday. Another impressive outing by Sam Bradford. Texas wasn't Texas against UCF and Nebraska was roasted. OU is looking better and better as the Big XII favorite.

6. Boston College can play defense without Brian Toal. The Eagles' win over Georgia Tech was huge. Those might be the two best teams in a weak ACC and Boston College looked very solid. The Eagles haven't had it easy out of the gate and are a comfortable 2-0 in the conference and definitely deserve their Top 15 ranking. Nobody, including Tashard Choice on Saturday night, is running on Boston College's No. 4 rushing defense. Also, 11 takeovers. Gonna win a lot of ball games if you're taking the ball away at that pace. What's Tom O'Brien thinking right now?

7. Purdue is going to blow up the Big 10 race this year. That offense is dangerous. Curtis Painter is quietly putting together a impressive resume. His 13 touchdowns are second in the land and the only guy beating him has one more TD and 42 more attempts. Oh, he also hasn't thrown a pick yet. We'll see what happens when the Boilermakers hit the meat of their schedule, but I'm willing to guess they'll burn a team here and there this season en route to a 10-win season, like Campus Confidential predicted in the preseason.

8. Tim Tebow can throw. Did you see how Florida manhandled Tennessee? I did and it was ugly. Florida has a lot of talent. I cannot wait for Oct. 6. The saddest part is that I have a ticket to that game but I can't make it because of work on Friday (baseball playoffs). Anyone wanna cover for me? I think LSU has enough, if not more, speed than Florida, so I think the Tigers will take care of business. But we'll cross that bridge in a few weeks.

9. Southern California doesn't like to be forgotten about. I'm sure if the Trojans had it their way, they wouldn't take a weekend off. They only gained 10 points in the polls this week, but they looked strong in Lincoln. The Huskers had a mighty energy about them and it did very little. Southern Cal can really run the ball. At one point they crossed the 50 and I said "I bet they're inside the five in two plays." First is a run down to the 20. Next is a run inside the 5. I'm going to think long and hard about who I rank No. 1 on Tuesday morning.

10. The radio is fun. If you have XM, humor me by tuning in to Channel 144 on Saturday night. I need a lot of work, but I don't think I said anything that made me sound unintelligent. If I do, just come on here and make fun of me. And, because I want to have the last word, the New Jersey Turnpike sucks.
    

By Adam Abramson

A couple of times every fall we get those Heart Attack Saturdays. This was installment one for 2007.

Texas, Wisconsin, Hawaii, UCLA, California, Texas A&M and Nebraska all played games waaaay to close for comfort.

Boise State, Virginia Tech, Georgia and Auburn said goodnight to grandeur dreams of a national championship. Not that any had a huge shot before Saturday, it's just official now.

Is parity taking a strong football on college football now? Is the talent pool deep enough where you have to take 70 teams very seriously? I'll look more into this.

What 10 things did we learn this weekend?

By Adam Abramson

I won't bore you, but allow me to vent.

After playing a bad round of golf Monday morning in Blacksburg, I hit the road to Richmond (about 210 miles) with four hours to get to the airport. We pulled onto the highway and went six miles in one hour. Yes, that's an average of six miles per hour.

I missed my flight and am now watching the Clemson-FSU game in the comfort of a friend's house. So why not talk some football?

What did we learn this weekend?

1. I was wrong. Michigan can't play defense. It just doesn't happen. I could only watch the game in passing, as it was on during the game I was covering, but it's not like Armanti Edwards was the first mobile quarterback the Wolverines have seen. Also, how funny is it that UM had never played a D-IAA (FCS, whatever) team before and BAM, biggest upset in college football history. Fantastic. There had been rumors that Lloyd Carr would be hanging just one more season in Ann Arbor, I think this confirms it. I really do think that App. State is a great team, but c'mon now. Also, can anyone fill me in on the Sunday SportsCenter? I saw it on mute, but it seems like there was a day of mourning in Michigan. True story?

2. Virginia is bad. Al Groh will be fired. When you accrue five first downs in a 23-3 loss to Wyoming, you are not good. Stud quarterback Peter Lalich's redshirt was burned also, and it's not like the Cavs' stater Jameel Sewell was that bad, he actually as a ton of promise. Big mistake. I heard that Virginia fans wanted to wear black to the home opener in protest of their overrated coach. College coaches who can't hack it in the NFL is the norm, right? Maybe Groh is a trendsetter.

3. Lou Holtz is still an idiot. 10 wins for Notre Dame? The writing was on the wall more than Michgian's inability to defend. Will the Irish start 1-7? It could happen. However, Notre Dame will be back in 2009, maybe 2008. Also, I do love Georgia Tech's Tashard Choice, he could lead the Jackets to an ACC title. And linebacker Phillip Wheeler is dirty.

Interlude, great pass by Clemson quarterback Cullen Harper for a touchdown. Mickey Andrews better get his boys playing defense. He's got great linebackers and an amazing safety in Myron Rolle, shouldn't be a problem.

4. Texas can't play defense either! How do you almost lose to Arkansas State? Appalachian State would smoke the Indians. I'm thinking Nebraska-Texas A&M/Oklahoma for the Big XII title.

5. Cal posted 471 yards of offense. The Bears are going to score a TON of points this season. Nate Longshore is going to be a fantastic quarterback this year and we all better get used to Justin Forsett. This team is for real, for real. I wish I could have went back and changed my pick because I started to warm up to the Bears last second, but hey, I couldn't. I still think the Vols could win 8-9 games this year.

6. Josh Freeman threw 57 passes. The Kansas State sophomore quarterback posted only 268 yards on 32 completions, but wow. I guess that's what happens when you don't run the ball, at all. Auburn put up two touchdowns late to win, which could be a common theme this year if that defense steps up.

Interlude 2, James Davis just snapped off an insane run. A combination of vision, speed, agility and strength…that might be one of the better runs this season. At this point, Florida State fans across the land are fuming. There's really no excuse for this, FSU brings in too much talent every year.

7. LSU is going to stomp Virginia Tech on Saturday night. Tech's offensive line is made of wet drywall fused with three-year old Alex Plus. It was that bad.

8. Colorado beating Colorado State in overtime by a field goal, at home, is a sign for another long season in Boulder.

9. Tough loss for Illinois, but you have to like the effort the Fighting Zooks put up. Juice Williams made a poor, poor decision on the final drive, but he's young, like all of his teammates. They're getting there!

10. Boston College/Wake was a great game. Commenter Darren Flutie is right, Matt Ryan is a stud quarterback and will offset the loss of Brian Toal this season. The Eagles are going to mess up a few seasons this year en route to a good bowl game. And I had a feeling theh Wake Forest dream would fizzle this season.
11. Great start for Brian Brohm for his quest to a Heisman.

12. This weekend reminded me how awesome college was.
    

Time for me to depart. We'll do a Heisman watch tomorrow. Hope you had a good holiday weekend.

By Adam Abramson

So much happened this weekend, I’m not sure quite how to tackle it besides just banging out a list of random thoughts…here goes nothing.

• Ya, I know my picks were bad. Real bad. Wake Forest, UCLA, Nebraska and WVU made me look ugly.

• I am guessing you didn’t watch the ACC Championship game. I say that because I did and I am assuming nobody else did because 30 people were at the game and it was so boring I was contemplating gouging my own eyes out. Reggie Ball was so ineffective that I’m pinning this solely loss on him. The Tech defense held Wake to just 9 points, Tashard Choice had 100 yards on the ground, Calvin Johnson showed up (if he does that, he’s contributing). But Ball, a senior, was 9 of 29 for 129 yards and two picks.

• How could USC lose this game? They were something like 55-3 going into the game, the Trojans had scored 20 points in like 63 games. National title trip on the line. Done deal, right? I was sure they’d win by at least 47, like last year. But I forgot to include Patrick Cowan and the UCLA defense into the equation. Obviously the biggest part of USC’s loss is the outcome of the BCS, but we’ll get to that later.

• Not only was I wrong about the outcome of this game, I was wrong about how it would go down. 126 rushing yards between the two teams confuses me. I don’t understand why either coach didn’t try to control the tempo of the game with the rush. Either way, this game was just kinda “eh” for people without ties to either school. We all knew the winner would face Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl, so eh. Maybe both of these schools will just keep growing and become an awesome rivalry again.

• The WVU-Rutgers game was legendary. Everyone left it on the field: Ray Rice, Mike Teel, Steve Slaton, Jarrett Brown (heroic), Kenny Britt…everyone. It’s a shame Rutgers missed the Big East championship because of a loss like Saturday night. Hell of a regular season though.

• I’m sure a lot of people are fired up about the BCS lineup, but I’m not one of them. I think Florida-Ohio State is the matchup we needed to see for reasons I’ve been harping on for a month. I’m glad to see the SEC represented. The Arkansas-Florida game was a lot of fun to watch. Five different people threw TDs. FIVE. Wednesday I’m going to do a short entry about Urban Meyer…I happen to think it’s a pretty interesting debate. Stay tuned for it.

• Hawaii QB Colt Brennan needed three touchdowns to reach the record books for TDs. He threw two in a 35-32 loss to Oregon State. Ouch. Still, I think he deserves the honor of being invited to the Heisman Trophy ceremony this Saturday and losing to Troy Smith.

• As far as Rich Rodriguez goes, I heard a clip of him on the radio in West Virginia having a mini-meltdown about rumors of him being a lock to Alabama. The most important thing about the call? He never blatantly said he WOULDN’T take the job or is not at all interested…

• As far as the bowls gowl, I’m going to put together a breakdown of every bowl game and provide my picks (don’t hate because I had a bad weekend, my picks were money the weekend before and have been solid all year).

• Tomorrow I’ll be at the College Football Hall of Fame induction presser in the city… I’ll try and give you guys a taste of what that’s all about and snap some pics of this year’s class including Bobby Bowden, Emmitt Smith, Bruce Smith, Charlie Ward, Bennie Blades, Carl Eller and other greats.
  

We’ll talk later.

By: Adam Abramson

I had a big discovery this weekend: JetBlue airlines.

I woke up Friday morning after a perfectly-executed Thanksgiving (sleep in, football, eat, nap, eat, football) and hopped on the Long Island Rail Road, switched at Huntington and Jamaica (to the Airtrain) and boarded my plane destined for Richmond.

This is where it gets good, I sit down on the plane and in front of me is Larry Coker talking about being fired from the University of Miami, live. ESPN on the back of the seat in front of me. Yep, amazing. I paid about $150 round trip, but I would have paid an extra $20 to watch satellite TV on the plane. But no, I didn’t have to. I watched TV for free, ate some delicious Doritos mix the airline provided and had a bottle of water. What used to be a 6.5-hour drive was now a 51-minute pleasure cruise through the air.

Once I landed, I was able to listen to the LSU-Arkansas game on the drive to Blacksburg. And, I’ll say it once: I told you so.

However, I also told you Texas would win and cover the 13 it was giving. This was a stupid pick on my part, I apologize. Texas was facing a good A&M defense in a rivalry game. I should have known better. Blame it on youth? The same goes for Florida-Florida State, but I really didn’t think that was as dumb as a pick as the Texas/A&M one.

But I rebounded on Saturday with my ND-USC pick. I was so confident about my Southern California pick that I even defended it in the comments section last Wednesday when someone tried to tell me I would be completely wrong. As it turned out, I was completely right.

Not only did I get to watch the game on a HD projection screen, I enjoyed mahi-mahi stuffed with crab with my fellow 2006 alumnus (and Nick, who is there for his CPA). Being completely right and eating a nice piece of fish is quite the tandem, let me tell you…

As far as the Tech game goes, it was a push at 17-0. I didn’t watch much of the noon kickoff because my state of existence on Saturday morning was too impacted by Friday night’s events downtown.

But here are two things for ya: Virginia Tech still has the No. 1 defense in the country (yielding 17-fewer yards than No. 2 LSU) and the Hokies are the only 10-win team in the conference (actually, I was wrong about that...Wake is 10-2, my apologies). However, Georgia Tech did have a far tougher out of conference schedule and definitely will win the ACC Championship (more later in the week about championship weekend).

Back to Notre Dame though. Rumblings are abound that ND-Michigan will meet in the Rose Bowl. This just pisses me off. Notre Dame is not good. The Irish have beaten NOBODY this year worth writing home about. Let’s wait and see though. The only other potential BCS team Notre Dame would maybe beat is Boise State, but if Ian Johnson is healthy, I don’t think the Irish could even stop the Broncos enough to win that game. THE IRISH ARE NOT A BCS TEAM.

Before I get angry, I’ll cut it off here. Tomorrow I’ll talk about the coaching fire sale. But my vote goes to JetBlue.

By Adam Abramson

I woke up this morning with a smile on my face, but it didn’t last long.

The last four years, I’ve always had the entire week off of Thanksgiving and waking up that Monday morning was always a beautiful thing. This was my first year not having that luxury, and it reminded me that college is long gone and I have to work today. Bad feeling.

As for the weekend, lots of good feelings. I did well on the picks finally, and I meant to put UNC over NCSU, but I didn’t, so it doesn’t count…

I spent Saturday-Sunday morning in Manhattan. Started in Soho to watch the Ohio State-Michigan game (we’ll get to that), moved to 3rd and 11th to watch the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest game with the other alumni, ended up at some yuck trendy bar in Times Square because some girl we were with knew someone there (starts to get fuzzy here), but I ended up in the Village at 2:30 a.m. and got the most amazing cheesesteak.

Enough about me, let’s talk about the lady football.

Ohio State 41, Michigan 38

• I didn’t bother to check, but it should have been on ESPN Classic five minutes later as an Instant Classic.

• There should NOT be a rematch in January for all the marbles. It would be a horrible idea. While the game was the best we’ve seen this year, I don’t want to see it again. I want to see teams from DIFFERENT conferences play each other. If a team from the SEC finishes with one loss, I want to see that team play for the national championship. If not, I want to see a one-loss team USC play against Ohio State. If neither of those scenarios works out, then Michigan should get the bid. But, USC and Florida will both finish with one loss. Florida lost to an Auburn team that was rolling at the time, USC loss to a mediocre Oregon State team. Florida goes in my book.

• Troy Smith, your 2006 Heisman Trophy winner. He was the leader and player Ohio State needed in this game. He had a rough third quarter, but his miraculous play otherwise earned him trips to Glendale, Ariz. (the national championship game) and Manhattan (Heisman).

• I was glad to see Chris Wells break off that 52-yard run in the second quarter. I tried to tell you about this kid earlier in the year. He’s the real deal…wait until he’s a junior.

• I had no idea that James Laurinaitis’ dad was a pro wrestler and his mom was a body builder who weighed like 115 but could squat like 330. His nine tackles on Saturday and 100 this year make so much more sense now.

• I knew that Ohio State would be able to pass all over Michigan, I even said it the day before the game. I should have realized that would translate into a lot of points and a longer game (76 pass attempts).
  

Other games

• It’s a shame that the light for Virginia Tech didn’t come on sooner. I’m hearing if Georgia beats Georgia Tech this weekend, we’ll have a UGA-VT Peach Bowl. Should be fun.

• I figured Rutgers would struggle with Cincinnati team, but I thought Schiano wouldn’t let them lose. Oops. If West Virginia beats Rutgers, Louisville gets the BCS bid? I’m okay with that; I still think Louisville is the best team in that conference on any given day.

• Here are your BCS teams this year: Ohio State-Southern California in the national title, LSU-Michigan in the Rose, Georgia Tech-Louisville in the Orange, Texas-Boise State in the Fiesta and West Virginia-Florida in the Sugar.
  

Also, I met up with my friend Chris this weekend and he pointed something out to me about Southern California quarterback John David Booty:

Stats with three games left: 201-323, 2,380 yards, 22 touchdowns, 6 INTs
Matt Leinart’s 2004 stats (Heisman winner): 269-412, 3,322 yards, 33 TDs, 6 INTs

Heisman favorite going into next year? I think so.

By Adam Abramson

I woke up on Sunday ready to attack the day in typical fashion. Bagel, NFL Countdown, games all day.

But on this particular Sunday, I checked my email first, and there they were…emails from readers. After sifting through a melee of “How do you like Rutgers’ chances now?” I had to write immediately. So, Tom Jackson, you’re gonna have to hold up the show until I crank this out.

Lastly, before I press on, thanks to everyone who’s reading. Whether you agree or disagree, whether I predict a game right or wrong, as long as you’re reading and writing me or commenting on the blog (I love both, but prefer the latter), I just appreciate all of you taking the time to read; I can’t express this enough.

So, after that wild Saturday, where do I begin? How do I TACKLE it? (love puns…I dropped the greatest one at work the other night). I’ll start with Thursday night’s blog.

“There’s just no possible way (Rutgers has) a shot at the winner of Michigan/Ohio State.”

There’s no way you could have convinced me that Texas, Auburn and California would have lost Saturday. I maybe would have listened if you said Auburn and Cal would lose, but not all three.

Where does this leave Rutgers, who was No. 15 going into the weekend? We’ll see this afternoon, but I’d rank them at No. 7 (my poll is below). This week’s poll is crucial because of the catching up they have to do in the BCS standings.

Can RU reach the title game if it runs the table? Yeah, sure. Is it likely? I’m not ready to say it’s likely because a lot still has to happen. Although, yesterday reminded me of what Angels in the Outfield first taught me: “Hey, it could happen.” However, if Rutgers honors New Jersey native Joe Piscopo at halftime of the 11/25 Syracuse game for his captivating role in Sidekicks as Kelly Stone (head of the Stone Dojo), I’ll be the first to pencil them in for Arizona in January.

Here’s what needs to go down:

1. Rutgers wins the rest of its games.
   
2. LSU beats Arkansas (11/24, in Arkansas). That’d be two home losses for Arkansas.
   
3. Arkansas beats Florida in the SEC championship (if Arkansas beats Mississippi State next week, a Razorback-Gator SEC championship game is clinched).
   
4. Cal (or UCLA) beats USC (Cal at USC this Saturday; USC at UCLA 12/2).
   
5. USC beats Notre Dame (11/25 at USC).
   

Here’s how I would rank the top 10 this week (how do we petition that I get an AP vote?):

1. Ohio State
2. Michigan
3. Florida
4. Southern California
5. Arkansas
6. LSU
7. Rutgers
8. Texas
9. Louisville
10. Notre Dame

• I’m going to be posting a lot this week about the Ohio State-Michigan game. Give me today to think about how I’m going to go about it…but, by Friday, you’ll be sick of hearing about this game between my blog and everyone else in the country.

• Florida had a scare on Saturday, needing three blocked kicks to win by one point. But that doesn’t change the fact that the Gators are a pretty darn good club. You can’t play the “Oh, well, they only one by one point to a South Carolina team that only beat Wofford by 7, meaning Florida would win by just 8.” Florida won, that’s enough for me. After watching Florida State lose five games this year, I’m writing off the Seminoles against the Gators faster than I’m writing off my student loan payments on next year’s taxes. So, if Florida runs the table, I still think they’ll snub an undefeated Rutgers team.

• I’m hearing a lot of “The SEC is overrated.” I have thought all year that it’s the best conference in the country by far, and I’m sticking to it. I’ve also said all year that the best teams in the conference would beat up on each other, and that’s exactly what is happening. You don’t see this anywhere else. You just can’t deny the talent (especially on defense) in the SEC. Half of the SEC is represented in the top 25 defenses in the country.
  
  
• Virginia Tech has the No. 1 defense in the country.
  

Alright, that’s enough for now. NFL is about to get rolling. If something crazy happens with the polls, I’ll post again. If not, I’ll see y’all tomorrow and we’ll get to talking about the upcoming Saturday.

By Adam Abramson

The last three places I’ve called home: Suffolk County, NY, Blacksburg, VA and Yorktown, VA.

What does that tell you? It doesn’t take much to get me going.

Saturday night, after Tech proved me wrong for the second week in a row, a pair of good Hokies, Rachel and Nikki, took me to the coolest place in Brooklyn. Well, the coolest place in Brooklyn that I've been to (the list isn't long).

From the outside, it looked no different than a homeless shelter, but on the inside, it’s a playground for any man born in the late ’70s or ’80s.

I’m talking about Barcade in the Williamsburg neighborhood. Basically, it’s about 30 of the most classic video games ever, a pool table and about 25 beers on tap I had never tried. You don’t go there to make friends. You go there with friends to beat them in video games.

Five dollars in the change machine gave me 20 chances to feel like I was 10 years old again playing Toobin, Punch Out, Frogger, Donkey Kong, the original Cruis’n USA (don’t remember the name), Tapper…the list goes on.

Anyway, I wanted to share my Saturday night experience with you. So, if you had a Nintendo as a kid and you’re ever in Brooklyn, hit up Union Avenue.

As for the football…I can’t say I watched much during the day. Two months of not accomplishing anything on off Saturdays caught up with me, but here’s what I did see and can talk about:

LSU-Tennessee: What a finish. What’s the deal with LSU JaMarcus Russell? The guy is a friggin’ monster with all the physical tools, but how far does his composure go? I’d argue that it goes a pretty long way, considering he engineered the game-winning drive in one of the largest stadiums in the country. But he did throw three picks before that, and he has been a big letdown in LSU’s two losses this year. If he could get his mind on par with his body, the sky’s the limit. As for Tennessee, the Vols get my props. I really thought they would get rolled in this game, but they threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Tigers, even without Erik Ainge. The future’s pretty bright in Knoxville.

Wake Forest-Boston College: WAKE FOREST IS FOR REAL. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. But they do finish with at game at Florida State, a home date with Virginia Tech and a potential play-in game with Maryland – who’s also atop the Atlantic Division, to face Georgia Tech for the ACC title. Oh, and Clemson went from a Top 10 team to unranked in about 14 days, dagger. OH! And Miami has four losses; this is turning into a bigger fall from grace than Brittney Spears.

Calvin Johnson: All year I’ve said this guy is the best player in college football, go and check the records. But, two weeks ago I say he’s not worthy of being in the Heisman discussion anymore, and what does he do? Nine catches, 168 yards, 2 TDs. Of course, it always works out that way.

Michigan & Ohio State: I guess they realized they have to win a few more ball games before they can slug it out on the 18th and it won’t be the cake walk they thought it would be. How funny would it have been if Ball State chirped its way to an upset? I would have laughed.

Louisville: I’m glad the Cardinals are No. 3 in the BCS. They deserve to be. After the WVU-UL game, senile Lou Holtz didn’t think they had proven enough yet because they didn’t win in convincing enough fashion. Basically, he said they won because WVU made mistakes. Seriously? Does he not think the Cardinals might have tried to make the Mountaineers make mistakes? I would think so. They shouldn’t let some people on TV.

Here’s how I’m seeing it…ordered list format (That’s HTML talk. Crazy, I know):

1. Ohio State
2. Louisville
3. Michigan
4. Florida
5. Texas
6. Auburn
7. Louisiana State
8. Arkansas
9. Southern California
10. Tennessee
11. California
12. West Virginia
13. Rutgers
14. Wisconsin
15. Notre Dame
16. Georgia Tech
17. Wake Forest
18. Boise State
19. Boston College
20. Virginia Tech
21. Iowa
22. Oregon
23. Oklahoma
24. Nebraska
25. Texas A&M

That’s it for now. I’ll talk to y’all on Wednesday about some Rutgers football. Keep on rocking in the free world.

By Adam Abramson

Let me apologize for not having a weekend preview, but the toll of driving through the night to Virginia and watching the Hokies upset Clemson put me out of commission on Friday.

Without a doubt, the highlight of my trip was watching the game from a Lane Stadium luxury box. I have to give credit to my boy Ty and his family for letting me watch the game from warmth with an open bar and full buffet. After spending years in the press box, I found myself thinking the suite wasn’t so bad…

As for the rest of the games…I’m still trying to figure out what we learn each weekend. I just keep going back to the insane amount of parity this year. But, is it parity? I keep going back to mediocrity (sans SEC and Ohio State).

One thing I’m glad about…we’ll start seeing what the Big East is all about beginning this Thursday.

Let me do the poll, and I’ll wrap up with a few more thoughts:

1. Ohio State
2. Florida
3. Michigan
4. Auburn
5. Louisville
6. Texas
7. Louisiana State
8. Arkansas
9. Southern California
10. West Virginia
11. Tennessee
12. Boston College
13. California
14. Wisconsin
15. Notre Dame
16. Rutgers
17. Clemson
18. Georgia Tech
19. Boise State
20. Iowa
21. Virginia Tech
22. Wake Forest
23. Oklahoma
24. Texas A&M
25. Oregon

• I’ve said this around the office since last week, and I’m going to stick to it. If there’s a one loss team in the SEC, they need to be the national championship game…over an undefeated Big East team.

• I watched Miami-Georgia Tech. The U has no heart. None. And why is Lance Leggett playing? The kid plays lazy football and I got the impression he doesn’t care when he’s on the field.

• I’ve waited all season for this Thursday night’s game.

• It’s weird to think that the ACC team in the BCS will probably be Boston College.

• If Southern Cal loses to Cal, but beats Notre Dame, does that two-loss Notre Dame team earn a BCS bowl? A lot can happen between now and then, but now I say no.
  

I gotta run and get ready for work. We’re pretty short staffed around the office for the time being, so, once again, blogging can’t be high on my priority list. Stuff like running the website trumps it (I don’t make the decisions). But, I will do my best to stay true to previews, recaps and my Heisman watch.