BLOGPOLL WHA-WHAT! Week Fourteen
The LSU Tigers and the Houston Cougars are the only two teams to finish the regular season undefeated this year, hats off to them. A lot of madness in the last few weeks as teams lose big games, rebound to win big games or in the case of a team like Clemson just decide to lose and lose more. Everything is wonky up and down the list so let's get into the Blogpoll.
In The Bleachers Ballot - Week 14
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | LSU Tigers | -- |
| 2 | Alabama Crimson Tide | -- |
| 3 | Oregon Ducks | -- |
| 4 | Virginia Tech Hokies | -- |
| 5 | Arkansas Razorbacks | -- |
| 6 | Oklahoma St. Cowboys | -- |
| 7 | Houston Cougars | -- |
| 8 | Stanford Cardinal | -- |
| 9 | Oklahoma Sooners | -- |
| 10 | Georgia Bulldogs | -- |
| 11 | Michigan St. Spartans | -- |
| 12 | Wisconsin Badgers | -- |
| 13 | USC Trojans | -- |
| 14 | Kansas St. Wildcats | -- |
| 15 | South Carolina Gamecocks | -- |
| 16 | TCU Horned Frogs | -- |
| 17 | Boise St. Broncos | -- |
| 18 | Michigan Wolverines | -- |
| 19 | Clemson Tigers | -- |
| 20 | Nebraska Cornhuskers | -- |
| 21 | Missouri Tigers | -- |
| 22 | Baylor Bears | -- |
| 23 | Florida St. Seminoles | -- |
| 24 | West Virginia Mountaineers | -- |
| 25 | Northern Illinois Huskies | -- |
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »
Instead of doing risers and fallers, movers and shakers we're going to talk about where we stand at this poing in the season. How this BCS picture will likely shake out and ultimately how close we are to an awesome rematch.
Here are the BCS Standings as of right now, some noticeable differences but figured it was worth dropping in here as we talk about these teams.
For starters I'm not very high on Boise State, Michigan, Oklahoma State or Stanford when compared to the popular opinion. The Broncos just have not impressed me very much this year with their one win of note coming in week one over the Dawgs. A win that, quite honestly, I don't think they'd get if they had to play this Georgia team right now. The Broncos are a solid ball club but not in that elite tier the way people have forced them up to all season.
Michigan is a team that worries the bejesus out of me. They play fast football and when it is clicking it is a thing of beauty. Al Borges gets the kids running and Fitzgerald Toussaint has been a capable addition to their attack. On defense Greg Mattison is getting improvement. They're not all the way there to the point I have any confidence in them getting a stop, ever, but they are showing legitimate improvement a series at a time. They have a great shot at getting a BCS bid which I find amazing given my view of this squad.
Oklahoma State, I've never liked this team and I think people who have been following me know this. They play no defense, I find it incredibly insulting that people just say screw it to defense because a team scores a buttload of points. This isn't Auburn or Oregon from a year ago that had a potent offense and was capable of getting stops. The Pokes are a team that, save for the Texas Tech game, absolutely refuses to tackle, line up wrong, play poor rules and discipline and basically just totally disregard the defensive side of the football.
Stanford is a solid offensive football team. They're a crapshoot on the defensive side of things and I think a good offense, in any form, is enough to give the Cardinal problems. Luck is really good and the system of using tight ends all over the place is a match up issue but it isn't a Rubik's cube that's impossible to solve. That said the Cardinal absolutely are deserving of that at-large bid that's hanging out there for them.
On the flipside of the teams that I'm not high on we have a few clubs that I think are still pretty quality; Oregon, Arkansas, Georgia and Southern Cal. Oregon starts this list because even following their loss to Southern Cal I see a team that's better than just about everyone in the nation. They have a better defense than Oklahoma State, Stanford, Michigan, Houston and a lot of the other "offensive juggernauts" out there which really puts them ahead for me.
Next up the Hogs and Dawgs sort of fit together for me. Hogs have lost to the two best teams in the nation and I can't fault them for that, everyone would have lost two games if they had to play Bama and LSU this season as well. I'd take the Hogs over a lot of damn good teams out there and they're in the unfortunate position of not getting the BCS Bowl they desperately want. Tough to have a Top 10 team for two years running but play in the same division as the handful of teams that are better. For the Dawgs this is about improvement. They are catching fire right now and are playing like one of the nation's hottest teams. Richt is back in the good graces of the Red and Black and they've got a date with LSU that will be interesting because Orson Charles can be a problem for LSU.
As for the BCS Title Game?
LSU and Bama are the way to go. The right thing to do. For all the bellyaching about "Bama won't even be the conference champ" and "I want someone else to get a shot" or " I don't want to see a rematch" the question always boils down to "who are the two best teams in the nation" for me. LSU has proven that they are just better, better than everyone. Period. They are an awesome force of a football team. Bama has been just a hammersmash of a squad too. They are better than everyone else that isn't LSU.
Point being unless your argument is based upon Oregon, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Michigan State, Virginia Tech, Houston or anyone else being better than Alabama you really don't have an argument. The BCS isn't about everyone getting a chance. The BCS isn't about giving you some new match up that you really think is cool.
The BCS is about putting the first and second best teams on the field together and playing them.
That's it.
