HogManInLA’s College Football Top 25 Poll Week Four
By Ryan Wright
Alabama cemented their case as the top team in the nation after beating Arkansas 52-0 in Fayetteville.
The early part of the 2012 college football season has already seen a few dramatic shifts in the college football landscape especially with the upsets losses experienced by preseason Top 10 teams USC and Arkansas.
Arkansas (1-2) is experiencing a free fall without former head coach Bobby Petrino directing the team that few anticipated happening. In week two action they lost in overtime to Louisiana-Monroe 34-31 and then took another horrible loss at home at the hands of No. 1 Alabama 52-0.
The Razorbacks are no longer thinking about a possible SEC West title, now the fan base has to be worried about a bowl game. That’s a swing of five to six expected wins on the schedule to get to 10 or 11 wins down to six wins and being bowl eligible.
AP Poll preseason No. 1 USC was hyped and overhyped by… everyone. USC looked sluggish against Syracuse in week two action and carried that same momentum over to a trip to Stanford.
The Cardinal bested the Trojans 21-14 laying early season claim as the Pac-12 North leader over Oregon having notched that first important conference win over the thought best team on either team’s schedule, USC.
UCLA may have something to say about how the North and South Divisions are won before all is said and done.
Florida State continues to impress college football fans on the scoreboard but not so much with the quality of opponent. Wake Forest did not offer much of a fight for FSU, then again not many expect much of Wake Forest this year.
FSU gets their first real test of the season when Clemson comes calling next weekend. The outcome should decide which team will win the Atlantic Division in the ACC with an outside shot at a national title appearance.
Notre Dame took their first legitimate step towards being recognized as a BCS team in years on Saturday when they defeated Michigan State on the road. The Fighting Irish will get another challenge this Saturday when the Wolverines come to South Bend.
Brian Kelly has a really tough road ahead before college football pundits start chanting Notre Dame is back!
After facing Michigan the Fighting Irish square off against Miami-Florida, Stanford, BYU, Oklahoma, Pitt, and finish their season on the road at USC; a manageable schedule for Kelly and Co. but certainly challenging at the same time. Should ND end the season with one-loss expect BCS bowl talk to get heated for the Irish, and rightfully so.
Could Iowa State be in a position to make some noise this year? The Cyclones are 3-0 with quality wins over Iowa and Tulsa. After a bye undefeated Texas Tech comes to Ames before facing currently undefeated TCU on the road the following weekend (Oct. 6).
If Iowa State can pull off big wins against Tech and TCU they would have a lot riding on their showdown with Kansas State at home. ISU has a tough six game stretch after Texas Tech: 1) TCU 2) KSU 3) Oklahoma State 4) Baylor 5) Oklahoma 6) Texas. Odds are not in Iowa State’s favor over the long haul but as this season has turned out thus far one never knows.
HogManInLA’s College Football Top 25 Poll
1. Alabama 3-0
2. LSU 3-0
3. Georgia 3-0
4. Oregon 3-0
5. Florida State 3-0
6. Clemson 3-0
7. South Carolina 3-0
8. Oklahoma 2-0
9. Kansas State 3-0
10. Ohio State 3-0
11. Texas 3-0
12. West Virginia 2-0
13. Florida 3-0
14. Stanford 3-0
15. USC 2-1
16. Louisville 3-0
17. UCLA 3-0
18. Mississippi State 3-0
19. Notre Dame 3-0
20. Michigan 2-1
21. Nebraska 2-1
22. Arizona 3-0
23. TCU 2-0
24. Michigan State 2-1
25. Iowa State 3-0
Top 25 Teams on Byes:
Oklahoma
New to the Poll:
No. 19 Notre Dame
No. 22 Arizona
No. 23 TCU
Last Week’s Top 25 Teams that Lost:
No. 3 USC 14-21 to No. 23 Stanford
No. 16 Virginia Tech 17-35 to Pittsburgh
No. 22 Tennessee 20-37 to No. 15 Florida
No. 13 Michigan State 3-20 to Notre Dame
No. 20 BYU 21-24 to Utah State
Dropped Out of Poll:
No. 16 Virginia Tech
No. 22 Tennessee
No. 25 South Florida