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SportsRant’s Weekly Top 25
Who remembers the song by Queen, “Another One Bites the Dust?” Well, that could be the theme for college football’s Brotherhood of Unbeatens. As expected, Georgia, having to use their backup QB, fell to the offensively challenged Florida Gators.
As far as this week’s games go, there is only one that college football fans, regardless of team affiliations, will have their eyes on. Virginia Tech and Miami square off in The Game of the Week. Should Miami lose the Hurricanes will certainly be out of the title hunt as they would incur their second loss. A Hokies win could vault them ahead of Texas in the BCS poll. Now, if Miami pulls off the upset in Blacksburg….nah, I just ain’t going there. It’s not gonna happen!
Now, here’s the reason why the Rant Poll really is the best in the land. In the “other” polls, you have two teams ranked with three losses. Granted, all of their respective losses are to ranked teams. But, the goal is to win. Being the best three loss team in the country means nothing to the Rant. Minimizing your losses do, and that’s why the teams you’ll see below are ranked. Remember, the teams are ranked based on number of losses first, whether or not they’ve beaten a team with the same amount of losses second, and, finally, whether or not the Rant feels a team can beat another team with the same amount of losses.
Ya just gotta win!
1. USC 8-0 Another week, another blowout. Is this getting redundant? Don’t expect Stanford to put any kind of dent in the Trojan machine.
2. Texas 8-0 Where would the Longhorns be without Vince Young? Again, isn’t this getting redundant? Path remains clear to the Big XII Championship.
3. Virginia Tech 8-0 Hokies will vault Texas in the Rant Poll next week after they beat Miami. Yup, I’m getting just a little ahead of myself….but this team is really good.
4. UCLA 8-0 Calm down, Mike! I don’t care what you think! Of the five remaining unbeaten teams, the Bruins would beat the fifth. It might take a 4th quarter miracle comeback, as is their style, but they would beat Alabama.
5. Alabama 8-0 After a week off…oops, they did play. Utah State. Well, it kinda was a week off.
6. Florida State 7-1 Okay, so the Seminoles did give up double digit points to Maryland last week. I can’t be right all the time!
7. Miami 6-1 This will be the Hurricanes first real test since Sep 17 at Clemson. Don’t think the Hurricanes have the offense to beat Virginia Tech.
8. LSU 6-1 North Texas and Appalachian State in back to back weeks? I know the UNT game was rescheduled from earlier in the year, but who makes the schedule in Baton Rouge? I guess the Tigers appreciate the practice before heading to Alabama next week.
9. Penn State 8-1 Nittany Lions bounced back very nicely after their heartbreak loss to Michigan with two solid wins. Resurgent team can clinch the Big Ten with a win against Wisconsin. Hello title!
10. Georgia 7-1 Playing with fire (Arkansas) while having your starting QB is okay…playing with fire (Florida) without him is a loss.
11. Wisconsin 8-1 Badgers better have their running game in high gear this weekend. If not, the game will be over by the 3rd quarter.
12. Oregon 7-1 Only loss is to top ranked USC and the schedule has them missing UCLA. Ducks host California to clinch third in the Pac 10. Not the best motivation, but still something to play for.
13. West Virginia 7-1 Record includes last nights throttling of UConn. No reason why the Mountaineers don’t sweep their three remaining games.
14. Texas Tech 7-1 Aren’t the Red Raiders supposed to be known for their offense? The defense pitching a shutout…how ‘bout that? Sure, it was against Baylor, but hey, a goose egg is a goose egg.
15. Texas Christian 8-1 Once again…say it with me now….SMU!
16. Notre Dame 5-2 Tennessee game not quite looking like the marquee match up it was supposed to be. Volunteers can’t score, and the Irish have a pretty good defense. I’d be surprised to see the Vols score more than 14 points in this game.
17. Ohio State 6-2 Two losses by a combined ten points to two top ten teams.
18. Boston College 6-2 Another perfect prediction! Was the game against VT not over by half time? Dang, I’m good!
19. Florida 6-2 A much needed win for Urban Meyer and Chris Leak. Maybe they didn’t score too much, but they scored enough to win. And a win keeps the hot seat warm, if only for another week. The offense should put up some points against Vanderbilt this week.
20. Colorado 6-2 Buffs escape Kansas State on a late field goal. Whew! Hapless and fading Missouri should be a rollover game.
21. California 6-2 Huge game in Oregon this weekend. The Bears need a win against a good team to hold on to their “top D-1” reputation.
22. Georgia Tech 5-2 Squeaker win against Clemson gets them back in to the Rant Poll.
23. Auburn 6-2 Kentucky says they can still win enough games to go to a bowl. They first have to get past Auburn. Something tells me an upset could be in the works.
24. Louisville 6-2 The Cardinal’s defense seems to get too complacent and think their offense will outscore everyone.
25. Rutgers 6-2 The State University of New Jersey is in the Rant Poll! The Scarlet Knights are playing some pretty good football and will go to a bowl for the first time in years. Just don’t look past Navy towards the Louisville game.
Dropped out: Minnesota, Missouri, Northwestern
Others considered: Michigan, Fresno State, Boise State, Virginia, Oklahoma, Colorado State, Northwestern, Michigan State, Minnesota, Iowa,
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