HogManInLA’s Top 25 College Football Poll: Week Six
By Ryan Wright
BCS National Championship logo. Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE
The top teams in the HogManInLA Top 25 poll for week six continue to impress by and large while the middle of the pack fights for recognition. A few top teams are struggling but is that a sign of weakness or just how each respective team will play week after week?
The first team in the Top 10 to raise eyebrows is LSU. LSU has played sloppy so far this year yet has only had one truly close game and that came against SEC West foe Auburn (12-10). The Tigers’ offense has been sporadic but Les Miles has also had to contend with a lot of injuries and dismissals, each will take their toll on the consistency on the field which is what college football fans are seeing of LSU early in the season.
LSU enters a tough six-game stretch when they go on the road to face Florida, host South Carolina, travel to A&M, then host Alabama and Mississippi State. Within two weeks everyone will know if LSU is the real deal this season or not. At the end of their six-game stretch they will either be the favorite for the BCS National Championship or another run of the mill Top 25 team.
While the thought that West Virginia can put up 70 points on another BCS school is impressive, one that was ranked in time for a cup of coffee, the bad news is they allowed 63 points in the same game. What will WVU do when they face a team with a defense and a decent offense? Outscoring their opponents without a defense week after week is not a sound football strategy.
Florida State showed they could still win after coming off a big game, a sign of a talented and well coached team. Same could be said for Clemson’s win over Boston College. Both FSU and Clemson fought it out last week and each did not have a let down game in week five. The fan base for each program has to love the results.
Louisville is still a mystery, well kind of. Do not expect Louisville to post “sexy” numbers in wins. They are consistent but not flashy and play to the level of their opposition; that or they are just good enough to beat each team they have faced on their schedule this year.
The Cardinals have Pitt, USF, and Cincinnati upcoming which will test the team’s right to be a legitimate top 15 team or we will find out that they are a lingering lower end top 25 team for the remainder of the 2012 season if lucky.
Texas is young and showed college football fans that they are learning but are not yet an elite team. Winning a conference game on the road is not a task to take lightly especially when the Longhorns had to come from behind to do so against Oklahoma State, so kudos. By benefit of record and the rest of college football’s current landscape, UT lands in the top 10 this week but not by dominating performances.
Depending on which coast one lives on the other OSU team is for real too. Two OSU programs got big wins over the weekend, Ohio State got a one point road win over Michigan State, albeit with some controversy, and Oregon State grinded out another win over on Saturday this time narrowly beating Arizona 38-35 on the road.
Urban Myer is back ladies and gentlemen and not necessarily in a good way. What would a season with Myer as head coach be if he was not doing something shady or underhanded?
MSU let it be known to the Detroit Free Press after their one-point loss that OSU sent MSU a doctored game film incomplete with the Buckeye’s pre-snap shifts. This goes against the rules of the game as each team is supposed to send the opposition the exact game film that the video department records for their team.
Myer of course was clueless to the accusations making one wonder if Myer truly knows any of the on goings within his program(s), Florida and OSU, or if each college football head coach in Columbus has little to no integrity?
The Big 12 now only has five undefeated teams remaining thanks to Tech beating Iowa State and West Virginia knocking off Baylor. Kansas State’s undefeated streak should stay alive next week when they play in-state rival Kansas, same goes for TCU taking on Iowa State.
Texas Tech’s run faces a big road block when OU comes to town and either West Virginia or Texas’ run will be over when the two face-off next week. And then there were three!
Notre Dame will get a fair test this week when Miami comes to South Bend. The Irish were on a bye so the early advantage goes to the home team coming off a bye but should Notre Dame lose most college football fans would not be surprised.
HogManInLA’s Top 25 College Football Poll
1. Alabama 5-0
2. Georgia 5-0
3. Florida State 5-0
4. Oregon 5-0
5. South Carolina 5-0
6. LSU 5-0
7. Kansas State 4-0
8. Ohio State 5-0
9. Florida 4-0
10. Texas 4-0
11. West Virginia 4-0
12. Clemson 4-1
13. USC 3-1
14. Louisville 5-0
15. Mississippi State 4-0
16. Oregon State 3-0
17. Notre Dame 4-0
18. Nebraska 4-1
19. Oklahoma 2-1
20. TCU 4-0
21. Stanford 3-1
22. Rutgers 4-0
23. Northwestern 5-0
24. Cincinnati 3-0
25. Texas Tech 4-0
Top 25 Teams on Byes:
No. 7 Kansas State
No. 11 Florida
No. 14 USC
No. 16 Mississippi State
No. 17 Notre Dame
No. 19 Oklahoma
No. 25 Rutgers
New to the Poll:
No. 23 Northwestern
No. 24 Cincinnati
No. 25 Texas Tech
Last Week’s Top 25 Teams that Lost:
No. 13 Stanford 13-17 at Washington
No. 21 Michigan State 16-17 vs. No. 8 Ohio State
No. 22 Iowa State 13-24 vs. Texas Tech
No. 24 Baylor 70-63 at West Virginia
Dropped Out of Poll:
No. 21 Michigan State
No. 22 Iowa State
No. 24 Baylor