This Is My Top 25. There Are Many Like It, But This One Is Mine
Not many major changes in the to as we head into this week’s slate of games, though this week will almost assuredly change that.
Florida State got some points taken away for that unimpressive performance at N.C. State. That’s not to say that Florida State is a bad team; they showed some real heart in battling back after going down 24-7 in the first quarter. But top-ranked teams don’t do that, and while the polls may not knock them down a peg for winning badly, we sure as hell will.
Both Baylor and Texas A&M are starting to look a little more like pretenders, while Oklahoma seems more like a juggernaut than a fake-me-out national championship contender. Meanwhile, Maryland makes it’s way into the polls finally despite no real challenging victories thus far. Last time they played a ranked opponent while they were ranked, things went pretty terribly.
Onto the list…
14 thoughts in 14 lines
Probably watching you a little more closely this weekend: UCLA
Probably not watching you at all this weekend: South Carolina
Thought you were good, you were: Michigan State
Thought you were bad, you weren’t as bad: Northwestern
Game you couldn’t get a ticket for this week: #19 Nebraska at #10 Michigan State
Game no one wants a ticket for this week: Massachusetts at Miami (OH) – zero wins between the two
A little overrated: Ole Miss
A little underrated: N.C. State
Lamb for slaughter: Kansas (vs West Virginia)
Smells like an upset: Texas over #7 Baylor
Best power conference: SEC
Worst power conference: ACC
No need to panic: Washington
Start freaking out: Michigan
So many feels for you in week 6: The Big 12, because of Texas
When I say I feel for the Big 12 because of Texas, I don’t mean the University of Texas. I mean because of the state in general. See, Texas as a state has such solid football that it’s actually cannibalizing itself from within. Much like a parasite latches on and scrapes away the insides of its host, the Big 12 is so ingrained with Texas that it will live and die based on how well those Texas teams do. But only one Texas team can do well, and none of them want the others to succeed.
Let me explain for those who are lost:
Oklahoma is likely the best team in the Big 12. But Oklahoma is facing a very rough stretch of games from October 4 to November 15: TCU, Texas, K-State, Baylor and Texas Tech. Each one of those games is winnable as a standalone contest, but back-t0-back-to-back? A lot of teams might slip up. Even if Oklahoma wins all the way until November 8 when they play (presumably undefeated) Baylor, that is going to be a very difficult matchup.
And is anyone convinced Baylor will go undefeated the remainder of the season? They get Oklahoma on the road, West Virginia on the road, and Texas, TCU and WVU back-to-back-to-back. Then they finish the year playing Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, and Kansas State. Again, individually they are winnable games, but combined? Yikes.
Meanwhile your biggest and brightest school, Texas, is looming in the background. They hate that little brother is doing well, especially because they have talent that rivals the best in the nation. BYU snuck up on Texas, but UCLA was a bitter loss. Think that team isn’t going to be focused for their back-to-back games against Baylor and Oklahoma in an attempt to play spoiler and knock little brother out of contention?
The Big 12 has a Texas problem, and it’s going to rear its head soon.
College Football Haiku:
The Big House deafens.
A by-product of success?
Or Hoke’s toilet bowl?