AP Top 25 Weekly Recap (week of Oct. 11, 2008)

By Todd Erickson  |   Monday, October 06, 2008  |  Comments( 1 )

College Football
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Oklahoma demolished Baylor to maintain the top ranking while Big XII foe Missouri leapfrogged dormant LSU to grab the third spot in the AP college football poll. North Carolina, Michigan State, Pitt and Ball State made the grade this week while Wisconsin, Fresno State, Oregon and Connecticut were all knocked out of the Top 25. Former Top 10 team South Florida tumbled to No. 19 with its home loss to Pitt.

1. OKLAHOMA SOONERS (5-0). Stoops’ troops took care of business in Waco on Saturday by polishing off Baylor, 49-17. The Red River Shootout with archnemesis Texas (No. 5) is the biggest game of the week in college football.
2. ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE (6-0). Either the Tide was complacent or it's overrated. Or Kentucky is just a plain good football team. ‘Bama was lucky to escape the Wildcats’ visit with a 17-14 win and this week we’ll find out what Ole Miss can do in Tuscaloosa.
3. MISSOURI TIGERS (5-0). Mizzou destroyed Nebraska 52-17, helping pay back a few of the bad memories from decades of past defeats to the Cornhuskers in Lincoln. No. 17 Oklahoma State ventures into the Tigers’ playpen this Saturday.
4. LSU TIGERS (4-0). Louisiana State had the week off and they needed it as they head to the Swamp to take on No. 11 Florida in the second-best game of the week -- one filled with plenty of national title implications in its own right.
5. TEXAS LONGHORNS (5-0). The Longhorns chased the Buffaloes off the Colorado range with a decisive 38-14 win on Saturday. Can they hold their own against Oklahoma this weekend?
6. PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (6-0). JoePa collected career win No. 478 as Penn State turned in a workmanlike 20-6 performance over Purdue. Wisconsin will offer the Nittany Lions their most difficult test to date this week in Madison.
7. TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS (5-0). The Red Raiders went from beating nobodies to a team that matters with their resounding 58-28 road win against Kansas State. They should be able to handle Nebraska quite easily this weekend after the thrashing Mizzou handed the Cornhuskers last Saturday.
8. USC TROJANS (3-1). The Trojans tried to atone for their Oregon State slip-up with a 44-10 pasting of the other school from Oregon with the Donald Duck logo. At the start of the season, this week’s foe, Arizona State, looked to be rather formidable, but three losses later, the Sun Devils might be more of a pushover this week.
9. BYU COUGARS (5-0). Brigham Young came off a bye week and revealed that it might have some difficulty handling a top 10 ranking in its 34-14 win over Utah State. This Saturday is homecoming and conference rival New Mexico is coming to Provo.
10. GEORGIA BULLDOGS (4-1). The Dawgs had an extra week to let the loss to Alabama sink in and motivate them for Tennessee’s visit this weekend. Expect them to pummel the Volunteers.
11. FLORIDA GATORS (4-1). Florida tuned up for its critical showdown with LSU by rolling over Arkansas in Fayetteville, 38-7. The Swamp will be rockin’ and look for the Gators to lay a little bit of Saturday night payback on the Tigers.
12. OHIO STATE BUCKEYES (5-1). Freshman QB Terrelle Pryor has totally changed the Buckeyes’ offensive attack in the same way Tim Tebow did for Florida when he came on the scene three years ago. Ohio State survived one of its toughest tests in Big Ten competition with a last-minute road win over Wisconsin, 20-17. Next up: Purdue visits Columbus this weekend.
13. VANDERBILT COMMODORES (5-0). The Commodores proved they are for real with a thrilling 14-13 victory over Auburn and they can become bowl-eligible this weekend on the road against Mississippi State. Vanderbilt is off to its best start since 1943. The last time the Commodores beat the Tigers was 1955.
14. UTAH UTES (5-0). The Utes staged a miraculous comeback over Oregon State in Salt Lake City on Thursday night, 31-28. Their reward is a jump in the polls and the most undesirable road trip in the Mountain West Conference: Laramie, Wyo.
15. BOISE STATE BRONCOS (4-0). The Broncos waxed a terrible Louisiana Tech team 38-3 on their puke blue smurf turf and now head to Hattiesburg, Miss., for an easy nonconference matchup against 2-3 Southern Miss.
16. KANSAS JAYHAWKS (4-1). The Jayhawks struggled mightily in their 35-33 close shave over Iowa State. The Colorado Buffaloes come to town in Big XII action this Saturday.
17. OKLAHOMA STATE COWBOYS (5-0). The Cowboys forced five turnovers against Texas A&M and rode off into the sunset with a 58-28 win last weekend. They’ll lay their undefeated season on the line in Columbia, Mo., on Saturday against Heisman front-runner Chase Daniel & Co.
18. VIRGINIA TECH (5-1). V-Tech struggled a bit with D-1 initiate Western Kentucky, 27-13. They’ll take a week off to prep for ACC action on the road against Boston College on Oct. 18.
19. SOUTH FLORIDA BULLS (5-1). How do you spell relief after dropping a Big East Conference game against Pitt and tumbling nine spots in the rankings? S-Y-R-A-C-U-S-E on Oct 18.
20. AUBURN TIGERS (4-2). The Tigers have the distinction of being the only two-loss team in the Top 25 this week after dropping a heartbreaker on the road to Vandy. The Arkansas Razorbacks visit Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday.
21. WAKE FOREST DEMON DEACONS (3-1). Wake Forest used its bye week to regroup after losing to Navy and hopes to return to the win column this Thursday night when ACC rival Clemson visits.
22. NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS (4-1). Butch Davis is quickly masterminding a major turnaround in Raleigh. The Heels knocked off previously ranked Connecticut 38-12 and they are ranked in the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2001. North Carolina faces a rapidly improving 4-1 Notre Dame team this weekend at home.
23. MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS (5-1). The Spartans escaped Iowa City with a 16-13 victory over Iowa and will face undefeated Northwestern in Evanston this weekend in a key Big Ten showdown. The Wildcats upset MSU last year in a 38-31 shootout.
24. PITTSBURGH PANTHERS (4-1). LeSean McCoy pounded out 142 yards and two TDs to help the Panthers upset former No. 10 South Florida 26-21 last Thursday night. After losing its season opener to Bowling Green, Pitt has rolled off four straight victories and it'll look to continue the streak against the Navy Midshipmen on Oct. 18 after a bye week.
25. BALL STATE CARDINALS (6-0). Ball State shut out Toledo 31-0 at the Rockets’ Glass Stadium on Saturday night and they didn’t do it by relying on Nate Davis and the passing attack. MiQuale Lewis logged 157 yards and two TDs to lead the Cardinals. This week David Letterman’s favorite team will play on the road at Western Kentucky.

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About Todd Erickson

Todd Erickson is the author of Road to the Rose Bowl (Silverback, 2005), the definitive book on the last 50 years of matchups and tradition in the Rose Bowl Game. He is a member of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and pens the RealFootball365 weekly college football columns AP Top ...
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