SteveDeace
Well-Known Member
2010 College Football Report – Week 8
Weekly Big Ten Crystal Ball
Projecting how things will finish based on what we know so far.
1. Wisconsin (7-1, 11-1)…Rose Bowl
2. Iowa (7-1, 10-2)…BCS at-large
3. Ohio State (6-2, 10-2)…Capitol One Bowl
4. Michigan State (6-2, 10-2)…Outback Bowl
5. Michigan (4-4, 8-4)…Gator Bowl
6. Penn State (4-4, 7-5)…Insight Bowl
7. Illinois (4-4, 6-6)…Texas Bowl
8. Purdue (3-5, 5-7)
9. Northwestern (2-6, 6-6)…Dallas Football Classic
10. Indiana (1-7, 5-7)
11. Minnesota (0-8, 1-11)
BCS Crystal Ball
Projecting how things will finish based on what we know so far.
National Championship Game—Boise State (12-0) vs. Oklahoma (12-1)
Rose Bowl—Oregon (11-1) vs. Wisconsin (11-1)
Sugar Bowl—Iowa (10-2) vs. Auburn (12-1)
Orange Bowl—Alabama (10-2) vs. Virginia Tech (10-3)
Fiesta Bowl—Big East Champion vs. Nebraska (11-2)
Weekly Top 25
If I had a vote in the AP Poll this would be my ballot based on how good I think the teams are right now.
1. Boise State (7-0)…The Broncos need to be the only undefeated team not named TCU at the end of the season to get a shot at the national title.
2. Auburn (8-0)…Tigers obtain this spot because they have more quality wins than any other undefeated team in the nation.
3. Oregon (7-0)…A very explosive football team, but when you look at the Ducks schedule there’s only one real quality win and it was at home.
4. Michigan State (8-0)…At this point Mark Dantonio is unquestionably the national coach of the year as his Spartans are breathing some rarified air.
5. TCU (7-0)…Horned Frogs have now surrendered a grand total of only 10 points in their last four games.
6. Missouri (7-0)…Tigers answered any questions about their legitimacy by beating Sooners for first time since 1998 in primetime.
7. Wisconsin (7-1)…Badgers obtain this spot because they have the best quality wins of all the one loss teams.
8. Oklahoma (6-1)…Disappointing loss aside, OU still has a good chance at the national title game if it wins it out because the computers love them.
9. Alabama (7-1)…Every team the defending national champs faces the rest of the way will be coming off of a bye week.
10. Ohio State (7-1)…Purdue’s mash unit was no match for the angry Buckeyes, and its likely lowly Minnesota won’t provide much competition this week.
11. LSU (7-1)…Les Miles is a quarterback away from having a national championship contender, but now he’s got two weeks to get ready for predecessor.
12. Nebraska (6-1)…After getting pulled against Texas the previous week, Taylor Martinez reverted back to his sensational form in Stillwater.
13. Utah (7-0)…Still doubting the strength of schedule, or lack thereof, but not doubting the large margins of victory the Utes are winning by.
14. Stanford (6-1)…Gave up some garbage time points against Washington State, but still equaled its best start in 40 years.
15. Florida State (6-1)…Seminoles have struggled in Thursday night games in recent years, and they’ve got a dangerous one at N.C. State this week.
16. Arizona (6-1)…Got the job done against Washington without its star quarterback Nick Foles as the rushing attack picked up the slack.
17. South Carolina (5-2)…Didn’t look great in beating Vanderbilt, but that was to be expected after the emotional roller coaster of the last two weeks.
18. Iowa (5-2)…Just two weeks ago the Hawkeyes led the nation in scoring defense, but that was until they surrendered 59 points the past two weeks.
19. Arkansas (5-2)…After the Commodores this week three of the Razorbacks final four games are against ranked opponents.
20. Virginia Tech (6-2)…Hokies are just taking names in the ACC and haven’t scored fewer than 40 points in a game since September 25th.
21. Oklahoma State (6-1)…It’s not often you score 41 points at home and lose by double-digits, but that’s how the Cowboys suffered their first loss.
22. Mississippi State (6-2)…Survived a letdown Saturday against UAB and this week’s date with Kentucky is likely to the final game Bulldogs will be favored to win.
23. Miami, Fla. (5-2)…Hurricanes played perhaps their best overall game of the season against their former Coach Butch Davis.
24. Hawaii (6-2)…Don’t look now but it’s not mighty Boise State in first place in the WAC but instead it’s the Warriors.
25. Baylor (6-2)…Behind the electric Robert Griffin the Bears ended the longest bowl drought (1994) among BCS conference teams.
Honorable Mention:
26. Nevada (6-1), 27. Maryland (5-2), 28. Michigan (5-2), 29. N.C. State (5-2), 30. Syracuse (5-2).
My Heisman Ballot
Our weekly rankings of the top three contenders for college football’s most coveted award.
1. Cameron Newton, Auburn…At this point it’s his award to lose. He’s so out in front he’s essentially lapped the field.
2. Andrew Luck, Stanford…Has already thrown for more touchdowns than he did all of last season, and there’s almost half of this season to go.
3. LaMichael James, Oregon…Putting up huge numbers despite missing the first game of the season due to suspension.
Cheers & Jeers
Cheers to…Mark Dantonio, who despite his prickly and stuffy exterior has now uncharacteristically rolled the dice twice on fake kicks this season that lifted the Spartans to victories in the types of games they’ve lost all too often over the years.
Jeers to…West Virginia, whose self-inflicted wounds led to its first loss to Syracuse in eight years. The Mountaineers committed nine penalties, threw three interceptions, and failed to score on their final 10 possessions.
Cheers to…The Auburn offensive line, who paved the way for a whopping 484 yards rushing against a LSU run defense that came into their matchup surrendering less than 90 yards on the ground per game.
Jeers to…Rick Neuheisel, whose reputation as an offensive genius is being tested now that UCLA ranks 118th nationally in passing and 92nd nationally in scoring.
Cheers to…Iowa State, which won at Texas for the first time in school history and beat a ranked team on the road for the first time since 1990 to win this week’s Bon Scott Award for testicular fortitude. The Cyclones did it after getting outscored 120-27 the previous two games against Oklahoma and Utah. The landmark win came exactly one year after ISU got its first win at Nebraska since 1976.
Jeers to…Notre Dame, whose woes continued against the Naval Academy. After winning 43 straight in this series, the Irish have now lost three of the last four and Saturday’s 35-17 defeat was their worst in this rivalry since before the Beatles first came to America.
Big Ones
Previewing the five biggest games of the next week.
Missouri at Nebraska…One week after beating #1 the Tigers have to go on the road for their final game in Lincoln.
Oregon at USC…Can a top-ranked team lose four weeks in a row? This is really the only chance the Trojans have to matter this season.
Michigan State at Iowa…These two teams have played barnburners down to the final seconds the last three years in a row.
Florida vs. Georgia…Neither team has a gaudy record, but the winner is still very much alive in the jumbled up SEC East.
Florida State at N.C. State…This Thursday night tilt will go a long way towards deciding the ACC Atlantic Division.
Weekly Big Ten Crystal Ball
Projecting how things will finish based on what we know so far.
1. Wisconsin (7-1, 11-1)…Rose Bowl
2. Iowa (7-1, 10-2)…BCS at-large
3. Ohio State (6-2, 10-2)…Capitol One Bowl
4. Michigan State (6-2, 10-2)…Outback Bowl
5. Michigan (4-4, 8-4)…Gator Bowl
6. Penn State (4-4, 7-5)…Insight Bowl
7. Illinois (4-4, 6-6)…Texas Bowl
8. Purdue (3-5, 5-7)
9. Northwestern (2-6, 6-6)…Dallas Football Classic
10. Indiana (1-7, 5-7)
11. Minnesota (0-8, 1-11)
BCS Crystal Ball
Projecting how things will finish based on what we know so far.
National Championship Game—Boise State (12-0) vs. Oklahoma (12-1)
Rose Bowl—Oregon (11-1) vs. Wisconsin (11-1)
Sugar Bowl—Iowa (10-2) vs. Auburn (12-1)
Orange Bowl—Alabama (10-2) vs. Virginia Tech (10-3)
Fiesta Bowl—Big East Champion vs. Nebraska (11-2)
Weekly Top 25
If I had a vote in the AP Poll this would be my ballot based on how good I think the teams are right now.
1. Boise State (7-0)…The Broncos need to be the only undefeated team not named TCU at the end of the season to get a shot at the national title.
2. Auburn (8-0)…Tigers obtain this spot because they have more quality wins than any other undefeated team in the nation.
3. Oregon (7-0)…A very explosive football team, but when you look at the Ducks schedule there’s only one real quality win and it was at home.
4. Michigan State (8-0)…At this point Mark Dantonio is unquestionably the national coach of the year as his Spartans are breathing some rarified air.
5. TCU (7-0)…Horned Frogs have now surrendered a grand total of only 10 points in their last four games.
6. Missouri (7-0)…Tigers answered any questions about their legitimacy by beating Sooners for first time since 1998 in primetime.
7. Wisconsin (7-1)…Badgers obtain this spot because they have the best quality wins of all the one loss teams.
8. Oklahoma (6-1)…Disappointing loss aside, OU still has a good chance at the national title game if it wins it out because the computers love them.
9. Alabama (7-1)…Every team the defending national champs faces the rest of the way will be coming off of a bye week.
10. Ohio State (7-1)…Purdue’s mash unit was no match for the angry Buckeyes, and its likely lowly Minnesota won’t provide much competition this week.
11. LSU (7-1)…Les Miles is a quarterback away from having a national championship contender, but now he’s got two weeks to get ready for predecessor.
12. Nebraska (6-1)…After getting pulled against Texas the previous week, Taylor Martinez reverted back to his sensational form in Stillwater.
13. Utah (7-0)…Still doubting the strength of schedule, or lack thereof, but not doubting the large margins of victory the Utes are winning by.
14. Stanford (6-1)…Gave up some garbage time points against Washington State, but still equaled its best start in 40 years.
15. Florida State (6-1)…Seminoles have struggled in Thursday night games in recent years, and they’ve got a dangerous one at N.C. State this week.
16. Arizona (6-1)…Got the job done against Washington without its star quarterback Nick Foles as the rushing attack picked up the slack.
17. South Carolina (5-2)…Didn’t look great in beating Vanderbilt, but that was to be expected after the emotional roller coaster of the last two weeks.
18. Iowa (5-2)…Just two weeks ago the Hawkeyes led the nation in scoring defense, but that was until they surrendered 59 points the past two weeks.
19. Arkansas (5-2)…After the Commodores this week three of the Razorbacks final four games are against ranked opponents.
20. Virginia Tech (6-2)…Hokies are just taking names in the ACC and haven’t scored fewer than 40 points in a game since September 25th.
21. Oklahoma State (6-1)…It’s not often you score 41 points at home and lose by double-digits, but that’s how the Cowboys suffered their first loss.
22. Mississippi State (6-2)…Survived a letdown Saturday against UAB and this week’s date with Kentucky is likely to the final game Bulldogs will be favored to win.
23. Miami, Fla. (5-2)…Hurricanes played perhaps their best overall game of the season against their former Coach Butch Davis.
24. Hawaii (6-2)…Don’t look now but it’s not mighty Boise State in first place in the WAC but instead it’s the Warriors.
25. Baylor (6-2)…Behind the electric Robert Griffin the Bears ended the longest bowl drought (1994) among BCS conference teams.
Honorable Mention:
26. Nevada (6-1), 27. Maryland (5-2), 28. Michigan (5-2), 29. N.C. State (5-2), 30. Syracuse (5-2).
My Heisman Ballot
Our weekly rankings of the top three contenders for college football’s most coveted award.
1. Cameron Newton, Auburn…At this point it’s his award to lose. He’s so out in front he’s essentially lapped the field.
2. Andrew Luck, Stanford…Has already thrown for more touchdowns than he did all of last season, and there’s almost half of this season to go.
3. LaMichael James, Oregon…Putting up huge numbers despite missing the first game of the season due to suspension.
Cheers & Jeers
Cheers to…Mark Dantonio, who despite his prickly and stuffy exterior has now uncharacteristically rolled the dice twice on fake kicks this season that lifted the Spartans to victories in the types of games they’ve lost all too often over the years.
Jeers to…West Virginia, whose self-inflicted wounds led to its first loss to Syracuse in eight years. The Mountaineers committed nine penalties, threw three interceptions, and failed to score on their final 10 possessions.
Cheers to…The Auburn offensive line, who paved the way for a whopping 484 yards rushing against a LSU run defense that came into their matchup surrendering less than 90 yards on the ground per game.
Jeers to…Rick Neuheisel, whose reputation as an offensive genius is being tested now that UCLA ranks 118th nationally in passing and 92nd nationally in scoring.
Cheers to…Iowa State, which won at Texas for the first time in school history and beat a ranked team on the road for the first time since 1990 to win this week’s Bon Scott Award for testicular fortitude. The Cyclones did it after getting outscored 120-27 the previous two games against Oklahoma and Utah. The landmark win came exactly one year after ISU got its first win at Nebraska since 1976.
Jeers to…Notre Dame, whose woes continued against the Naval Academy. After winning 43 straight in this series, the Irish have now lost three of the last four and Saturday’s 35-17 defeat was their worst in this rivalry since before the Beatles first came to America.
Big Ones
Previewing the five biggest games of the next week.
Missouri at Nebraska…One week after beating #1 the Tigers have to go on the road for their final game in Lincoln.
Oregon at USC…Can a top-ranked team lose four weeks in a row? This is really the only chance the Trojans have to matter this season.
Michigan State at Iowa…These two teams have played barnburners down to the final seconds the last three years in a row.
Florida vs. Georgia…Neither team has a gaudy record, but the winner is still very much alive in the jumbled up SEC East.
Florida State at N.C. State…This Thursday night tilt will go a long way towards deciding the ACC Atlantic Division.
