From the press box: AP Top 25 weekly review (Oct. 3, 2007)

By T Erickson  |   Wednesday, October 03, 2007  |  Comments( 2 )

College Football
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Upset weekend brought seismic action to the AP poll for Week 6. LSU leapfrogged over USC to the Numero Uno spot, and now holds a razor-thin 2-point lead. Cal moved up three notches to #3. Ohio State followed suit and jumped four to #4, with Wisconsin right behind, up four to #5. Biggest gainers were South Florida (plus 12) and Kentucky (plus 6) with the biggest drops felt by Texas (minus -12), Rutgers (minus -11), West Virginia (minus -8) and Oklahoma (minus -7). Kansas State joins the AP poll this week for first time this season.

NO. 1 LSU TIGERS (5-0). The Tiger offense was obviously looking past Tulane last week to the upcoming SEC war with Florida, but it didn't matter. The LSU defense clamped down on the Green Wave until the struggling offense could get untracked, and Les Miles' team pulled away in the second half, 34-9. LSU now leads the nation in rushing defense, pass efficiency defense and total defense. The fact that they haven't truly been tested could be a negative factor when the Gators come to town, but the noise and the general menace of a Baton Rouge Saturday night should be a counterweight. One disturbing stat from the Tulane game: LSU QB Matt Flynn was sacked six times.

NO. 2 USC TROJANS (4-0). The men of Troy looked very beatable in Seattle last weekend; hence, their fall to #2. Don't think for one Washington minute that the Huskies are anything like what we've seen of them the past couple years. They are a much improved team and tough to beat in their own crib. Ask Boise State, if you don't believe us. The Trojans suffered several injuries in the game, but they get Stanford at home this week. Nothing like hosting the Cardinal when you really need a bye week to heal up those wounds. There's a good chance you'll see USC back on top again next week, but that will depend solely on the Gators pulling off an upset in Baton Rouge.

NO. 3 CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS (5-0). The Bears' game at Oregon last week lived up to all they hype and came down to one big play at the end to preserve a road win. With 22 seconds remaining. defensive back Marcus Ezeff laid the wood to Duck receiver Cameron Colvin at the 1-yard line, knocking the ball into the end zone for a game-winning touchback. Heisman candidate DeSean Jackson got back on track and had a huge game with 11 receptions good for 161 yards and 2 scores. It was the first time Cal had won at Autzen Stadium since 1987. The Bears will entertain Oregon State at home this weekend.

NO. 4 OHIO STATE BUCKEYES (5-0). The Buckeyes rolled over the hapless Minnesota Golden Gophers 30-7 in Minneapolis last weekend, and benefited from the upset weekend to jump up four spots. Quite frankly, it's really difficult to imagine Ohio State being ranked this high this early in the season, considering the smack-down they suffered against Florida last January. They've only impressed us once this season and that was an impressive win at Washington. Playing on the road at undefeated Purdue this weekend will provide a better test to the Bucks' claim to #4.

NO. 5 WISCONSIN BADGERS (5-0). We said last week that the Badgers didn't look deserving of a Top 10 ranking and yet they held off a feisty Michigan State squad and moved up four slots. Nobody expected Wisconsin to beat the Spartans if they gave up 34 points, but *Voila* and Bielema's Boys managed to conjur up 37 points. The Badgers' rivalry with Illinois will be at a fever pitch in Champaign-Urbana this weekend since all of a sudden the Fighting Illini are a factor, and perhaps even a contender for the Big Ten title. PJ Hill will need to rush for at least 120 yards for the Badgers to win this game.

NO. 6 SOUTH FLORIDA BULLS (4-0). The Bulls' meteoric rise this season is reminiscent of one of the memorable lines from the classic film "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." Pursued by a mysterious posse, Sundance keeps wondering: "Who are those guys?" To which Butch replies: "I don't know, but they're very good." Now, though, after consecutive victories against Auburn and West Virginia, the word has gotten around, and Jim Leavitt's team won't be sneaking up on anybody the rest of the season, starting with Florida Atlantic this Saturday.

NO. 7 BOSTON COLLEGE EAGLES (5-0). The Boston College Eagles just keep winning - which is more than all but a handful of other Division 1-A teams can say. This week, the Eagles host Bowling Green, a final oasis before what could be a rough stretch drive - Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, Florida State, Clemson and Miami. Sure, Notre Dame is awful, but the Irish undoubtedly remember all the times BC has ruined their season, and would love to reciprocate. Bowling Green shouldn't be much of a problem, although the Eagles have shown a tendency (one coaches hate) of playing either up or down to their opposition. Through it all, though, Matt Ryan is emerging as one of the nation's best quarterbacks.

NO. 8 KENTUCKY WILDCATS (5-0). You may want to read that again, just for the novelty effect. Kentucky, No. 8? Yup. The SEC should start to sort itself out on Thursday night, however, when the Wildcats travel to 4-1 South Carolina. Both teams may be for real, but one will emerge as more real than the other. It could well be Kentucky, whose QB, Andre Woodson, is already getting lots of Heisman love.

NO. 9 FLORIDA GATORS (4-1). Quarterback Tim Tebow does it all for Urban Meyer's Florida team - and last week against Auburn, that was part of the problem. Auburn kept Tebow at least partially under wraps, produced just enough offense to hang around and beat the Gators in their beloved swamp, 20-17, on a last-second field goal from Wes Byrum. This week, it's LSU in Baton Rouge. "I think there is a lot that guys are going to take as motivation," Tebow said to reporters. The Tigers, who lost to Florida last season, have some motivation of their own.

NO. 10 OKLAHOMA SOONERS (4-1). "Yawn." That's what we said about the prospects of Oklahoma being challenged by 23-point underdog Colorado last weekend in Boulder. Boy, were we wrong. The Buffs finally showed some signs of life in their program with the upset win. As for the Sooners, they have no time to mourn their loss. They play Texas in the Red River Shootout this weekend in Dallas and both teams are ornery and desperate to win. A loss will put either the Sooners or the Longhorns two games back in the loss column with only six conference games remaining.

NO. 11 SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS (4-1). South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier is 14-0 lifetime coaching against Kentucky, and seems as amazed as anyone else that a game between these two perennial SEC bottom-feeders could the second most-watched conference match-up on the schedule this week. It used to be, Spurrier mused, that when UK and USC met, "somebody won, somebody lost, somebody was still in position to win six games and maybe go to a bowl." Now, a BCS bowl is a least an outside possibility for the winner, especially given the spark provided recently by Gamecock QB Chris Smelley. I wouldn't be surprised if "Smelley Stinks" T-shirts aren't already being cranked out in Lexington.

NO. 12 GEORGIA BULLDOGS (4-1). Georgia RB Thomas Brown, who was all but written off for this season after a severe 2006 knee injury, dashed and plowed for 180-yards and three touchdowns last Saturday in a 45-17 victory over Mississippi. The Dawgs may have had their minds elsewhere during a 17-17 first half (like in Knoxville, where they'll face Tennessee this week), but then simply bulldozed the Rebels for four straight second-half touchdowns. Tennessee is probably better than it's demonstrated to date - and Rocky Top, as the name implies, is no picnic.

NO. 13 WEST VIRGINIA (4-1). A couple of Heisman campaigns may have gone up in smoke down in Tampa last week - West Virginia QB Pat White got hurt and RB Steve Slaton rushed for just 54 yards and fumbled twice. Overall, the Mountaineers lost three fumbles and threw three interceptions in a 21-13 loss to South Florida. This week, WVU gets to feast on Syracuse - and since the Orange upset Louisville a couple of weeks ago, the Mountaineers probably won't be taking them lightly.

NO. 14 OREGON DUCKS (4-1). This is one tough Duck team this year and they would have beaten Cal were it not for their turnovers in the second half. It will be very interesting to see how they handle visiting USC in three weeks, but lest we get ahead of ourselves, the Ducks get to lick their wounds with a bye this Saturday and then welcome Washington State next weekend. The Cougars are beginning to look like one of the two weakest teams in the Pac-10 and shouldn't present much of a challenge for the big O. The Ducks still have a chance to win the conference but they need to regroup and guard against a letdown.

NO. 15 VIRGINIA TECH (4-1). This Saturday - a game at Clemson -- could determine whether Virginia Tech is a legitimate ACC title contender. The Tigers look uncomfortably like another group of Tigers - LSU - on offense, and Tech quarterback Tyrod Taylor, while talented, is still just a true freshman. A Hokie victory here could give Frank Beamer's team all the confidence it needs.

NO. 16 HAWAII WARRIORS (5-0). Hawaii moved up three slots from last week and not because of themselves. They can thank the upset committee that arranged for some of the big dogs ahead of them to take a tumble. Colt Brennan appeared on the cover of ESPN magazine this week and promptly tossed 5 Picks (yes, you read that correctly, 5 Picks) to one of the WAC's lowliest teams, the Idaho Vandals. Those 5 INTs wrote him right out of the dark horse role in the Heisman race script. The Warriors get to munch and crunch on an even worse WAC team this week, the Utah State Aggies.

NO. 17 MISSOURI TIGERS (5-0). The Tigers had the week off at just the right time in preparation for a must-win game with Nebraska. It's a must-win because the Tigers are about as loaded with talent and experience as they'll ever be, and they have home field advantage to boot, not to mention the extra week of healing and game planning that came with last weekend's bye on the schedule. If they can't knock off the Cornhuskers this week, it probably ain't ever gonna happen.

NO. 18 ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS (5-0). The Sun Devils went on the road to Palo Alto and throttled Jimmy Harbaugh's Cardinal, 41-3 behind stellar performances from WR Rudy Burgess (7 grabs, 137 yards, 1 TD) as well as RBs Ryan Torain and Keegan Herring (combined 186 yards on 24 carries with a score by Herring). Word has it that the victory was dedicated to a Super Fan and his birthday Bride who had ventured in for the game from the Central Valley. Stanford averaged 28 ppg in three previous games against UCLA, San Jose State and Oregon, so this #6 ranked Sun Devil defense just might be for real. They'll be on the road this weekend at Washington State, which is always a tough Pac-10 road game, no matter how bad the Cougars might appear to be.

NO. 19 TEXAS LONGHORNS (4-1). Boy, were we wrong on the Longhorns last week. We said that K-State fans would be in for a long day of payback from Texas, but this game wasn't even close, thanks to four Colt McCoy interceptions. The Wildcats led 24-14 at the half, and just piled it on in the last two quarters to thrash Texas with their worst home defeat in the Mack Brown era, 41-21. QB Colt McCoy was knocked out of the game with a mild concussion and now UT gets to try and recover in time for the Red River Shootout with Oklahoma this weekend. Look for Texas to absorb a second consecutive loss.

NO. 20 CINCINNATI BEARCATS (5-0). The Bearcats appear to be this year's Wake Forest - complete with a former Wake Forest quarterback, Ben Mauk, who threw four second-half touchdown passes in a 52-23 rout of San Diego State. The knock on Cincinnati is that it hasn't played anybody yet, but it will this Saturday - No. 21 Rutgers.

NO. 21 RUTGERS SCARLET KNIGHTS (3-1). The Scarlet Knights tumbled 11 spots in the Top 25 with their loss to Maryland last Saturday, nearly sliding out of the rankings altogether. They hope to begin their climb back up the ladder by beating the team one rung above them, Cincinnati, on Saturday. Rutgers will be home, and Greg Schiano's team remembers that the Bearcats handed them their first loss last season, 30-11.

NO. 22 CLEMSON TIGERS (4-1). Clemson's high-octane offense turned into biodiesel last week against Georgia Tech, as the Tigers struggled through a 13-3 nightmare. Tech's Tashard Choice looked like LaDainian Tomlinson against the Clemson defense, which might have Brenden Ore of Virginia Tech - this week's opponent - salivating. On the other hand, this Death Valley - like the one at LSU - is an exceedingly tough place to play.

NO. 23 PURDUE BOILERMAKERS (5-0). Purdue enjoyed adding to Notre Dame's dismal season last week with a 33-19 win, but this team still is a big question mark in many pollsters' minds. All of that will be settled this weekend when #4 Ohio State comes to town. A Boilermaker win will set them up as the favorite to win the Big Ten Conference because they don't have Wisconsin on their schedule this year. Look for defensive coordinator Brock Spack to have some tricks up his sleeve on Saturday to trip up the Buckeyes.

NO. 24 KANSAS STATE WILDCATS (3-1). Despite hooking the 'Horns last week, it seems a bit too early for the Wildcats to appear in the Top 25. They lost on the road to Auburn and knocked off San Jose State and D-1AA Missouri State. Kansas State will host archrival and currently undefeated Kansas this week. It's for state pride and respect outside the Big 12. Thanks to a fairly easy schedule so far, the Jayhawks have had the same problem getting the respect they feel they deserve, so look for this to be one heckuva fight with the 'Cats coming out on top in their own lair.

NO. 25 NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS (4-1). The Huskers should have moved up several slots in the poll after defeating Iowa State 35-17 and coupled with all the upsets last weekend. That goes to show you what everyone's thinking about this team--it could be the last we see of Nebraska for a while if they lose to Missouri on Saturday. Their conference schedule does not get any easier after seeing the pain K-State and Colorado inflicted on the Big 12's upper crust.

ON THE BUBBLE: Florida State, Miami, Illinois, Auburn, UCLA, Texas A&M, Michigan State, Michigan, Connecticut, Alabama.

The AP Top 25 weekly review is written by Realfootball365 senior editors Todd Erickson and Darrell Laurant.
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