1) USC: The Trojans defense has allowed a grand total of seven touchdowns this year, four of them in their only loss, at Oregon State. Two of those touchdowns came on drives of two and fifteen yards. USC has now shut out three of their last four opponents.
 
2) Florida: How’s this for some payback for last year’s Georgia stomp? Up 49-10 against the Bulldogs, Gators head coach Urban Meyer called two timeouts in the final minute, claiming that running back Emmanuel Moody “deserved a few more carries.”
 
3) Penn State: Sorry, Nittany Lions fans.As the calendar turns to November, I’m not ranking teams based solely on their won-loss records.Yes, Penn State is still undefeated.However, Joe Pa’s squad would be a solid underdog against either of the two teams I have ranked ahead of them.
 
4) Alabama: The Crimson Tide are another undefeated team that would be an underdog to the one loss teams listed above. And their two signature wins against Clemson and Georgia suddenly don’t look so impressive anymore.
 
5) Texas Tech: Michael Crabtree’s last second catch and score is the most memorable play of the first two months of the season. To anyone who’s been watching Crabtree play, it was no surprise: 70 receptions and 15 TD’s already this year; 134 receptions and 22 TDs as a frosh last year!
 
6) Texas: Mack Brown is already lobbying for the Longhorns to jump Penn State in the BCS standings. Brown’s lobbying has worked before. He got the Longhorns to jump Cal for a BCS bowl berth in 2004 following a relentless full court press to influence poll voters.
 
7) Oklahoma: For the second time in a month, the Sooners raced off to a four touchdown lead before the first quarter was through. This past Saturday night, it took Oklahoma less than six minutes to take a four TD over Nebraska thanks to three Huskers' turnovers on their first five offensive plays.
 
8) Oklahoma State: There’s only one remaining unbeaten team against the spread – Mike Gundy’s Cowboys. Frankly, to me, an unbeaten ATS record is just as impressive, if not more so, than an undefeated straight up record.
 
9) Missouri: Quarterback Chase Daniel gets all the credit. Wide receiver Jeremy Macklin makes all the highlight reels. But it’s kicker Jeff Wolfert who won the game for the Tigers last week; hitting 52 of his 62 field goal attempts over the last three seasons as well as all 163 of his extra point tries.
 
10) Ohio State: The Buckeyes have been outscored 48-9 in their two biggest games of the year, losses to Penn State and USC.Their next tough test comes at Illinois next week, facing the same Illini team that upset them in Columbus last year.
 
11) TCU: Horned Frogs senior defensive end Jerry Hughes is the nation’s sack leader with 14 takedowns of opposing quarterbacks behind the line of scrimmage. At 6-2, 248, Hughes has no NFL future as a defensive end, but he’s one heck of a college player to watch!
 
12) Utah: The undefeated Utes are ranked behind the one loss Horned Frogs in my rankings. Apparently the betting marketplace feels the same way I do – Kyle Whittingham’s squad is a home underdog to the Horned Frogs on Thursday Night.
 
13) Georgia: I said back in August that this team’s preseason #1 ranking was a joke, proposing that the Bulldogs weren’t even the best squad in the six-team SEC East. After their 39 point loss to Florida last week, I stand vindicated in my opinion.
 
14) LSU: I’m telling you right now that the Tigers are going to take a leap up in these rankings, or a stumble downward based on their ability to compete with Alabama in an SEC West showdown on Saturday. To sum up my thoughts, if they can’t hang with the Tide, they aren’t a Top 20 team.
 
15) Boise State: The Broncos offense really wasn’t that good early in the season, as the defense carried the team repeatedly. But Boise’s attack has improved by leaps and bounds in recent weeks, culminating in blowout road wins against San Jose and New Mexico State in the last two weeks.
 
16) West Virginia: As a handicapper, sometimes I overlook SU success, concentrating on a team’s ATS results. It kind of shocked me a little bit to look at the standings and see the Mountaineers at 7-2, all alone at the top of the Big East standings because of their losing record against the spread.
 
17) South Carolina: Steve Spurrier’s reputation as an offensive mastermind has no relation whatsoever to his 2008 Gamecocks.South Carolina has earned their #17 ranking thanks to these ‘true’ numbers: #10 in the country against the run, #2 in the country against the pass.
 
18) Arizona: I’ll rank the Wildcats ahead of the Cal Bears for two reasons. First, Arizona beat Cal straight up in fairly convincing fashion. Second, the Wildcats gave USC everything they could handle in a seven point loss, while Cal is currently a 20-point underdog to the Trojans.
 
19) California: This defense has shown some fundamental strength, ranked in the Top 15 nationwide against both the run and the pass. Even more than that, this defense is scoring touchdowns week after week – eleven different defenders have intercepted at least one pass this season.
 
20) Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets just notched their first win over Florida State since 1975 thanks to a bone-jarring hit from frosh safety Cooper Taylor at the goal line, forcing a game saving fumble in the closing seconds.
 
21) Kansas: The Jayhawks suffered no residual effects of their ugly two game losing streak against Top 10 foes Oklahoma and Texas Tech. Mark Mangino’s squad bounced back with a vengeance last week against Kansas State, leading 31-0 at the half and cruising to victory.
 
22) Oregon: In theory, Ducks are supposed to be able to play well in rainy conditions. In practice, Oregon stunk up the joint in the quagmire at Berkeley last week, thanks to inept play at quarterback from both Jeremiah Masoli and Justin Roper, a combined 11-of-32 for 84 yards passing.
 
23) Oregon State: Few teams have improved as much as Oregon State since the beginning of the season. Mike Riley’s unheralded squad started 0-2, but they are 5-1 since, the lone loss coming in competitive, ‘never in doubt’ spread covering fashion at Utah.
 
24) Florida State: The Seminoles four game winning streak came to an end last Saturday in a three-point loss at Georgia Tech. This passing game is still rather suspect.Through the first eight games of the season, leading receiver Greg Carr has a grand total of 24 catches.
 
25) BYU: I’ve been steadily dropping the Cougars in my rankings since their blowout loss at TCU. In two weeks since that defeat, BYU has had to rally in the fourth quarter to beat Mountain West lightweights Colorado State and UNLV, because the defense allowed 77 points in those two ballgames.

26) Ball State
27) Pittsburgh
28) Michigan State
29) North Carolina
30) Miami-FL
31) Mississippi
32) Cincinnati
33) Illinois
34) Iowa
35) Tulsa
36) Minnesota
37) South Florida
38) Virginia Tech
39) Maryland
40) Wake Forest
41) Boston College
42) Louisville
43) Notre Dame
44) Northwestern
45) Nebraska
46) Virginia
47) Clemson
48) Air Force
49) Wisconsin
50) East Carolina
51) Stanford
52) Arkansas
53) Vanderbilt
54) Kentucky
55) Central Michigan
56) Houston
57) Connecticut
58) Auburn
59) Tennessee
60) Rutgers
61) Navy
62) Nevada
63) New Mexico
64) Louisiana-Lafayette
65) Northern Illinois
66) Arizona State
67) Baylor
68) Kansas State
69) Fresno State
70) Western Michigan
71) UCLA
72) Duke
73) Mississippi State
74) North Carolina State
75) Troy
76) Rice
77) Buffalo
78) Bowling Green
79) Purdue
80) Temple
81) San Jose State
82) Marshall
83) Memphis
84) Texas A&M
85) Southern Miss
86) Colorado
87) Akron
88) Army
89) Colorado State
90) Louisiana Tech
91) Michigan
92) Hawaii
93) UTEP
94) Florida Atlantic
95) Florida International
96) Indiana
97) Central Florida
98) Miami-Ohio
99) Tulane
100) UNLV
101) Syracuse
102) Arkansas State
103) Ohio U
104) Toledo
105) Utah State
106) Kent
107) Louisiana-Monroe
108) Middle Tennessee State
109) UAB
110) Iowa State
111) Eastern Michigan
112) SMU
113) Wyoming
114) Washington
115) New Mexico State
116) San Diego State
117) Western Kentucky
118) Idaho
119) North Texas
120) Washington State

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