1. Ohio State: The Badgers kept it close for the Buckeyes, but they pulled away to win with ease. These guys have now moved to 10-0, and their magic number is down to just two. And it's not a bunch of close wins, either. Seriously, through six conference games -- that equals 360 football minutes -- the Buckeyes have only trailed for 7 minutes and 41 seconds. Only once have they won by fewer than sixteen points. Impressive stuff.
2. Oregon: Unlike LSU, these guys are legitimately beating up teams with relative ease. They aren't squeaking by, and Dixon continues to look great. The hard part of their schedule is over, but now these guys need an LSU or Ohio State loss.
3. LSU: They go number three, but these guys aren't that good. Kentucky beat them, and then Florida, Auburn, and now unfortunately Alabama gave them games that they should have lost. This team isn't playing like true champions play, and if they keep this one up, they'll lose down the stretch. Eventually they'll find somebody asides from Kentucky that won't give them a game, and if that happens, it will be the end of the road.
4. Kansas: These guys are still undefeated and could leapfrog both Oregon and LSU, but I doubt it happens. Beating Missouri and Oklahoma will be an extremely tough task, and I don't believe they will be able to do it. Still, their beatdown of Nebraska has to qualify as one of the worst moments in the history of Nebraska football and that should count for something. Who has ever heard of scoring ten consecutive touchdowns on ten possessions? Moreover, and oddly enough, these guys still haven't played a complete game yet. The offense has looked great at times, as has the defense, but not really both at the same time.
5. Oklahoma: Well, it wasn't an '03-esque beatdown of the Aggies, but it was complete domination. All in all, these guys are still the likely favorite to win the Big 12, but it's going to take a lot going their way to get in the title game.
6. Missouri: Another impressive win for the Tigers as they annihilate a pretty decent Colorado team. It's all going to come down to the showdown against Kansas in the regular season finale.
7. West Virginia: Must be feeling good after the big win over Idle U... still the likely Big (L)East champion.
8. Michigan: A close win for the Wolverines in a game they arguably should have lost, but nevertheless the point remains that if they can just beat Ohio State they are going to be headed to a BCS game. That said, the more I see Ohio State, the less likely I think that is.
9. Georgia: Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. This week against Troy was a bit of a down, but oh well. If these guys can beat Auburn this week, they may be heading to Atlanta. I hope the Dawgs make it, anyway. I'll pull for UGA over the Fat One any day of the week. That said, beating Auburn is going to be pretty difficult.
10. Arizona State: A tough loss to Oregon, but the Ducks are a very good football team. Nevertheless, these guys are 8-1 and still likely still win 10 games, so they deserve to be in the top ten.
11. Connecticut: Another week, another huge win for the Huskies. At this point, it looks like the winner of the WVU v. UConn game will be BCS-bound.
12. Auburn: A typical lazy Auburn win over a terrible squad. Make no mistake about it, these guys were getting ready for a showdown against Georgia.
13. Florida: Easy win over Vandy, and now it's time for a showdown with the Ol' Ball Coach. If they want any chance of winning the East, they must win this game. If they can pull it out, they are likely going to Atlanta with another Tennessee and Georgia loss. I haven't figured out exactly the tiebreakers, but I think that's the case. Florida needs to beat South Carolina -- which would put them at 5-3 in conference play -- and have Georgia lose to either Florida or Kentucky, and Tennessee lose to either Arkansas, Kentucky, or Vandy.
14. Texas: The 'Horns obviously aren't that good, but they won while some people around them lost. This is probably the worst team that Texas has had in several years, but the truth is they are still likely to win 10 games.
15. Boston College: I'll let the slide stop here, but we all knew this BC team wasn't that good, and a mediocre FSU team proved it. I imagine they drop at least one more game, and then lose in the bowl. They only made it as far as they did because of a great quarterback and a terrible conference.
16. Virginia Tech: Nice win over a mediocre Georgia Tech team, and that will keep them in the top 20. Honestly, and this shows just how bad this conference is, they are likely to win the ACC.
17. USC: For the first time in a long time, they looked pretty decent against Oregon State. That said, something is not right, and I fully expect there to be some big off-season news coming out of La-la-land.
18. Boise State: Another week and another win for the Broncos. This is still the best non-BCS team in the country.
19. Alabama: Hard to drop them too far after taking it to LSU before they and the refs conspired late to give LSU the game. A trip to Atlanta is out now, but eight or nine wins seems likely. A good bowl berth quite possibly looms.
20. Tennessee: Easy win over a terrible team. They will need to win out -- i.e. beat Arkansas, Kentucky, and Vanderbilt -- to get to Atlanta, and I really do not think they can do it. I think this ranking may even be a bit too high, but it's hard to not rank the team in first place in the East any lower.
21. Arkansas: I told you the Hogs were going to pull some upsets, and rest assured they are not done yet. Both LSU and Tennessee better come ready to play or they are going to be leaving very disappointed. Even despite a terrible performance from their defense, they knocked off the Gamecocks with relative ease. Though the Hogs have no real passing attack, their running game is so dominant that they are nevertheless the number one scoring offense in the SEC.
22. Virginia: A surprising win to me when they knocked off Wake Forest. That makes the third game they've won this year by a one point margin. That'll catch up to them in time.
23. Penn State: Beat a decent Purdue team and have now moved to 7-3. With games against Temple and Michigan State left, they'll probably end up 9-3 and in a New Year's Bowl game again.
24. Kentucky: I had these guys here last week, so I won't move them this week. I think they split games against Tennessee and Georgia, but they cannot get them both.
25. Navy: Mr. Irrelevant this week goes to Navy after beating Notre Dame for the first time in over 40 years. This Notre Dame team is so bad that it's ridiculous, but still it was nice to see.