AP Top 25 weekly review (for game week 13)

By T Erickson  |   Thursday, November 22, 2007  |  Comments( 2 )

College Football
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LSU decided they liked being the top dog and managed to hang in there for another week. Oregon lost Heisman candidate Dennis Dixon for the season, as well as their game with Arizona and a shot at the national title. Oklahoma was anointed by several media for the championship bout with LSU, but they promptly got whacked by Texas Tech in Lubbock last week. Count them out of the title picture.

The week's biggest gainers were Kansas (plus 2) because they have complete control over their own destiny now, and Brigham Young (plus 5) making their first appearance in the poll this season. Biggest losers include Oregon and Oklahoma (both minus 7) and Clemson (minus 6).

NO. 1 LSU TIGERS (10-1). Les Miles must be very angry at Lloyd Carr about now. The best thing, from Miles' point of view, would have been if Carr waited until after his team's bowl game to announce his resignation as Michigan head coach. That way, former Wolverine and possible heir apparent Miles wouldn't have to fend off distracting questions about his future as he tries to guide his Tigers over the final two hurdles (Arkansas this week; Tennessee, probably, in the SEC title game) between them and a berth in the BCS title game. Beware the Hogs, as well -- any team with Darren McFadden running the ball has to be considered dangerous, and much-maligned Razorback QB Casey Dick actually threw four touchdown passes last week. Plus, coach Houston Nutt may be leaving. Perhaps he'll go to LSU.

NO. 2 KANSAS JAYHAWKS (11-0). The biggest story brewing in college football this year is the head-to-head battle that will take place between Kansas and arch rival and #3 ranked Missouri this weekend. NOBODY ever saw this coming at the beginning of the season. With this game on the horizon, it would have been easy for the Jayhawks to overlook Iowa State. No way, Jose. Kansas thrashed the Cyclones, 45-7, behind QB Todd Reesing's 4 TD passes. Bring on Mizzou!

NO. 3 MISSOURI TIGERS (10-1). What else needs to be said about Missouri? They took care of business last week, beating up on Kansas State, 49-32, to set up this week's blockbuster tilt in Kansas City with #2 Kansas. Mizzou walloped Kansas last year, 42-17, so we could either expect a similar outcome from a much improved team of Tigers, or we might see a payback effect (buoyed by tons of confidence) coming from the Jayhawks. If it's really true that defense wins ballgames, then Chase Daniel and the Tigers better find a way to generate more scoreboard than Kansas is allowing this year (14.2 per game).

NO. 4 WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERS (9-1). There is something scarily inevitable about WVU's slow crawl back up through the rankings, but it will still take an LSU loss to put Rich Rodriguez's team in the big dance. One of the two teams ahead of the Mountaineers has to lose, of course, because No. 2 Kansas plays No. 3 Missouri this weekend. Unfortunately for WVU, though, that also means one of those teams will have to win. Still, while LSU is good, the Tigers aren't superhuman, and Arkansas and Tennessee are both capable of putting West Virginia over the top -- that is, if the Mountaineers don't stumble over Connecticut.

NO. 5 OHIO STATE BUCKEYES (11-1). Amazingly, the Buckeyes still have a shot at the national championship game, thanks to Oklahoma and Oregon both losing last weekend. Either Kansas or Missouri will take a tumble after this week, and #4 WVU still has to face Connecticut and Pitt in the next two weeks. All the Bucks can do is sit back and hope the chips fall in their favor. The Rose Bowl Game officials would love to lock in Ohio State right now because they haven't been to Pasadena in 11 years and they represent the best of the Big Ten.

NO. 6 GEORGIA BULLDOGS (9-2). Mark Richt's overachieving pack of 'Dawgs was this close to an SEC East title last Saturday, beating Kentucky while Tennessee appeared to be falling to a Vanderbilt squad that had almost upset Georgia the week before. Hold the celebration, though: UT scored 16 points in the fourth quarter to pull it out. Georgia's game with Georgia Tech Saturday is meaningless as far as the SEC is concerned -- it all depends on Tennessee and Kentucky. Knowshon Moreno continues to look like the best freshman running back in the country, Matthew Stafford continues to blossom, and Georgia continues to win. But if they tie with Tennessee at the top of the East standings, an earlier loss to the Volunteers will come back to haunt them.

NO. 7 ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS (9-1). The Sun Devils' Turkey Day game hosting USC should be more exciting than any of the NFL games on the tube Thursday, and there's far more at stake. The winner will be in the driver's seat for the Pac-10 title and an automatic Rose Bowl Game berth. It will be something to see Dennis Erickson matching wits with Pete Carroll. Both coaches had a bye week to help them develop a scheme. Two years ago, ASU held a 21-3 halftime advantage over the Trojans but ended up losing 38-28. This should be a very close game, perhaps decided by nothing more than a field goal.

NO. 8 VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES (9-2). The question is: Is Miami that bad, or are Virginia and Virginia Tech -- both of whom pummeled the Hurricanes in successive weeks -- that good? Tech has a formidable task ahead of it at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville on Saturday, and it may hinge on which Sean Glennon shows up. Or, if the Tech O-line can keep superstar pass rusher Chris Long from twisting Glennon into a pretzel.

NO. 9 OREGON DUCKS (8-2). Controversy is beginning to boil like volcanic lava in Eugene this week with allegations that Mike Bellotti knew Dennis Dixon should not have been playing on his injured knee against Arizona. Dixon was lost for the season when his knee collapsed midway thru the first quarter ... he had just ripped off a 39-yard touchdown run a few minutes earlier and had Heisman written all over his jersey. Without Dixon, you might as well call this team the "sitting Ducks." We can easily see them melting down after the loss of their best player and losing to UCLA and arch rival Oregon State during the next two weeks.

NO. 10 OKLAHOMA SOONERS (9-2). The Sooners might very well be in the same shape as Oregon without their starting QB Sam Bradford at the helm and Oklahoma State coming to town this weekend. On top of that comes the loss of sensational running back DeMarco Murray. It's a must-win situation for the Okies. A loss will likely give Texas the South Division title in the Big 12, assuming the Longhorns take care of business with Texas A&M. If the Sooners can win, they'll get a shot at either Kansas or Missouri in the Big 12 title championship game, and a win there would generate an automatic berth in a BCS bowl game.

NO. 11 USC TROJANS (8-2). The Trojans' game against ASU on Thanksgiving Day will determine whether Southern Cal is BCS-worthy this year, or not. In past seasons, this match-up would have had national title implications for USC, but as we've been saying for several weeks now, this Trojan team doesn't have the same chemistry as its predecessors. The Holiday Bowl would love to see USC and Texas bang it out down in San Diego. That's not such a bad consolation prize for losing to ASU, beating UCLA and ending the regular season 9-3.

NO. 12 FLORIDA GATORS (8-3). The Gators have two of the most exciting players in the nation in sophomore QB Tim Tebow (who is looking more and more like the Heisman winner) and quicksilver wide receiver/running back Percy Harvin. Unfortunately, neither of them play defense, and that's been Florida's problem this year -- if the Gators don't score more than 29 points, they lose. Florida State could give them trouble in the season finale.

NO. 13 TEXAS LONGHORNS (9-2). The Longhorns enjoyed a bye week as they prepare to send Dennis Franchione packing from his Texas A&M Aggie head coaching job this Saturday. It's also time for payback, as the Aggies won last year, 12-7. They need to give a lot of thanks to Texas Tech for throwing a wrench in Oklahoma's lock on the South Division lead. A win over A&M coupled with a Sooner loss will give the Longhorns a shot at winning the Big 12 next week.

NO. 14 HAWAII WARRIORS (10-0). Once again, Hawaii struggled mightily with a mediocre opponent on the mainland. This time, they needed a last-second field goal to defeat Nevada, 28-26. Imagine what might happen to them if they play in a BCS bowl game against a really good team. Colt Brennan made an appearance for two plays and was yanked, thus ending his bid to break more streak-based career records that were in his sights. Tyler Graunke had no problem filling in the position (33-46, 358 yards, 2 TDs) during the win. The WAC title and a BCS bid are on the line when #17 Boise State storms the islands this Friday.

NO. 15 BOSTON COLLEGE EAGLES (9-2). After a late-season slump, the Eagles fought back into the ACC championship game last Saturday with a 20-17 victory over Clemson in Death Valley. As usual, it wasn't pretty, but it worked. Matt Ryan was 31-47 for over 300 yards and a touchdown, the game-winner to Rich Gunnell. By winning at Lane Stadium and at Clemson, the Eagles ran the table in two of the toughest places to play in America. This week's game with Miami is meaningless.

NO. 16 VIRGINIA CAVALIERS (9-2). It's been a harrowing, on-the-edge season for Virginia -- which means that nobody can count them out against a higher-rated, more highly regarded Virginia Tech team this Saturday. If DE Chris Long, son of Howie, can spend quality time in the Hokies' backfield and Virginia can avoid turning the ball over (an impossible dream for most Tech opponents), anything can happen.

NO. 17 BOISE STATE BRONCOS (10-1). The Broncos have finished feasting on WAC bottom feeders like Idaho (58-14 last week) and will face their stiffest test of the conference schedule on the road at Hawaii this Friday. As mentioned previously, the WAC title and a possible BCS bid are on the line. The game will reveal a lot about both teams and whether or not they deserve to be ranked this high.

NO. 18 ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI (9-3). Illinois is probably the best 9-3 team in the country right now and could easily be ranked several notches higher, say like near Florida at #12. The Illini took care of business and finished off pesky Northwestern last weekend, 41-22. Bowl game prognosticators are having fun projecting Ron Zook's squad against Florida in the Capital One Bowl in Orlando. That would actually be one of the best games of the bowl season, should it come to fruition. It would be fantastic to see QBs Juice Williams and Tim Tebow in the same game, not to mention the intrigue of Zook, the Gators' former head coach, matching smarts with his replacement, Urban Meyer.

NO. 19 TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS (8-3). That deep exhale you heard last Saturday came from the Tennessee Vols, who let out a collective gasp as a last-second Vanderbilt field goal barely drifted off line as UT scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and came away with a 25-24 victory that kept them in line for an SEC East title. Now, the Vols just need to beat Kentucky in the regular season finale.

NO. 20 CONNECTICUT HUSKIES (9-2). It seems like everybody is 9-2 at this point, but in the case of UConn, it's a big surprise. Not even coach Randy Edsall thought they'd be that good, but after chowing down on poor Syracuse last Saturday, all Connecticut has to do to win the Big East and claim a BCS bowl berth is to beat West Virginia in Morgantown. Easy, huh?

NO. 21. CLEMSON TIGERS (8-3). After losing to Boston College last Saturday, the Tigers can't be ACC champions, but they can still be state champions with a victory over South Carolina on Saturday. This will be fun to watch, because these teams most definitely do not like each other.

NO. 22 WISCONSIN BADGERS (9-3). The Badgers struggled to knock off Minnesota last weekend in Minneapolis, 41-34, which goes to show how fierce rivalry games can be, regardless of how unevenly matched the teams might be. All things considered, head coach Bret Bielema survived the sophomore jinx and led Wisconsin to another successful Big Ten season and one of the better bowl games outside the top tier. His two year coaching record now stands at an impressive 20-5.

NO. 23 BRIGHAM YOUNG COUGARS (8-2). The Cougars clinched a share of the Mountain West Conference title with a solid 35-10 win over Wyoming in Laramie. To provide a bit of perspective, Wyoming was 4-1 at home and had defeated #16 Virginia there 23-3 earlier this year. BYU should be wrapping up their season against arch rival Utah this Saturday, but because of the Southern California wildfires a few weeks ago, they still have San Diego State on the schedule for December 1. There's nothing the Cougars would love to do more than to wrap up the MWC title at home against the Utes (winners of seven games in a row). A few years back, the Wall Street Journal named the BYU-Utah rivalry the fourth best in the nation. It should be another barn-burner this Saturday.

NO. 24 CINCINNATI BEARCATS (8-3). If it's any consolation, Cincinnati will probably wind up missing a BCS bowl berth by the margin of four touchdowns -- close losses to Louisville, Pitt and West Virginia. This week, they have Syracuse to take it out on.

NO. 25 AUBURN TIGERS (8-3). Louisiana-Monroe's upset of Alabama last week will make an angry and huimiliated Crimson Tide a bit tougher to swim against in this weekend's Iron Bowl. But Auburn's defense should be too much for 'Bama, no matter how fired up Nick Saban gets his team.

ON THE BUBBLE: Texas Tech, South Florida, Kentucky, Michigan, Arkansas, Air Force, California, Florida State, Oregon State, Penn State, and Utah.

The AP Top 25 weekly review is written by RealFootball365 senior editors Todd Erickson and Darrell Laurant.
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