Week 4 Summary and 1st Quarter Rankings

"Things are never quite as good as they seem, nor are they as bad as they seem, but somewhere in the middle is reality."

The top is getting crowded:

LSU, it's not as bad as it seems, yes, you got outplayed by a very poor Auburn team, and yes, you probably should have lost that game, but you got a W on the road in the SEC.  You have South Carolina, Mississippi State and Alabama at home and go to Gainesville, to A&M, and to Fayetteville.  Florida looks formidable, but the Hogs are possibly the worst team in the SEC right now outside Kentucky, and A&M will have little to play for when Oct 20th comes around.  Auburn, yes, it's a loss, but you showed heart and made me believe in War Eagle again, and in my first quarter Conference Power Rankings, you jumped a few spots after Saturday.

Rutgers, it's probably feeling pretty good, but you came in and took advantage of the worst defense in the SEC.  However, it was an SEC team and your defense was fantastic against Arkansas' run game.  The Scarlet Knights will win the Big East going away and I'd be shocked if John L. Smith is still the coach at Arkansas on Monday morning.  Arkansas, it's as bad as it can get, you can't stop anyone, your defensive backs are downright pitiful, the defensive coaching staff should each be fired tomorrow, the whole coaching staff should forfeit their salaries, because not a single coach is earning their keep right now.

Notre Dame, are you serious, are you really this excited about beating Michigan?  Did you not see what Alabama did to Michigan, your performance was nowhere near that and you should definitely slow down and realize you'd get punk slapped in the SEC, Big XII, or Pac 12 every week.  You get Stanford in South Bend, but have to go to Oklahoma and to USC, so the schedule hasn't even warmed up for the Irish yet.  Michigan, it's time to stop pretending, it's time to find a real quarterback, and it's time stop pounding your chest because Big Blue is NOT back.

Miami, whew, that must feel good to get that win, it's a long, long road back to relevance for the Canes, but College Football and the ACC would love to see it happen.  Georgia Tech, live by the option, die by the option, and on 4th and 1 it would be nice to have a playbook that allows you to come up with something better than that.  Keep plugging along, the ACC is bad and you'll get your wins.

Oregon, it was a pretty salty performance, but it's obvious now that if Rich Rod had the athletes and depth on defense, he's the one that created your offense, he's the one that knows how to stop it.  Oregon better come up with something fancy if you think you're going to get to Florida State, Alabama, LSU, Georgia, or South Carolina with the zone read scheme.  The most impressive thing about Oregon was the defense, although, it's tough to tell if Zona's mistakes were forced or unforced.  Arizona, you've got to be loving Rich Rod right now, you lost to the second best team in America last night, but had them thinking seriously at halftime.  Another year with Rich Rod and a good recruiting class with some Juco's, this Arizona team will be tough in the Pac-12.

Kansas State, you did something I did not think you would be able to do.  I'm so impressed with Collin Klein and the K-State coaching staff.  I'm extremely happy for the Wildcats and it should be two easy W's before you head to Morgantown on Oct 20th.  Don't get too high though, you got Oklahoma on their worst night and it was still a close one.  You don't have the athletes to just show up and beat teams, so you better not let up or the new Big XII-II=X could eat you up.  Oklahoma....Oklahoma....Oklahoma...is this Bob Stoops last year in Norman?  He seems distraught with the fans and media and the fans and media seem distraught with him.  It's not over for the Sooners, it's just the quarterback, it doesn't make sense because Landry Jones has SO much talent, but this kid has proven he can lose games his team should win every single year.  I think this might be the end of the line for Landry, OU is just too big and physical up front to not be able to run the football effectively without bringing in the Bell-dozer.  It's bad today OU fans, "but just be thankful you're not Arkansas fans!"

South Carolina, is for real, Connor Shaw is fantastic, that defense is dominant, and it's going to be a wild, wild year in the SEC East.  For those that think the SEC is down this year...get out of here!  The East is back and it's going to be a lot of fun watching this season unfold in the SEC.  Missouri, should have stayed in the Big XII-II=X, it's going to be like this for awhile, but if Arkansas can't make a big hire and get some momentum back you should at least reclaim recruiting dominance in your own state...that'll help a little bit.

Florida State, I thought you were going to show me something with that defense.  The Seminoles are on track to spend December preparing for a National Championship, but you better get that defense in line during the warm-up games you call the ACC schedule.  If Florida State runs the table, they'll have defeated only two ranked opponents (as of this week), both at home, and that folks is just not impressive enough for me.  Be excited about this win, but if you go into the National Championship against Alabama or Oregon, they'll have a lot more experience against real competition than you will.  Clemson, it's going to be alright, keep plugging away, you probably don't have a shot because of how little resistance the incredibly poor ACC will give Florida State, but if history has taught us anything, it's that Florida State is fantastic at losing to really bad ACC teams.

SpecialEdTeams Top 20
1.    Alabama - but Oregon is closing ground
2.    Oregon - very impressive thus far
3.    LSU - it was close on the Plains, but Auburn won a Championship by barely winning
4.    Florida State - it's going to be very tough to move up, you better trounce everyone
5.    South Carolina - very, very impressive performance by that defense
6.    Georgia - Murray looked great against an underrated Vandy secondary
7.    Kansas State - very nice, very impressive, I'm waiting for Oct 20th.
8.    Texas - we're going to learn a little bit about these Horns next Saturday
9.    Florida - has to be happy about hiring Muschamp right about...now
10.  Stanford - the next three should tell us a lot about the Cardinal
11.  West Virginia - unimpressive against Maryland
12.  Notre Dame - better show me something over the next five weeks
13.  Mississippi State - gets Tennessee in the three weeks
14.  Southern Cal - took a few minutes to shake off the loss, but nice performance on Sat
15.  TCU - Frogs have a nice D, but we won't know anything until last 6 weeks
16.  Rutgers - made me a believer on Saturday...nice win
17.  Clemson - needed to win, but showed how athletic they were in the loss
18.  Oklahoma - needs a new QB to contend this year
19.  Oregon State - I for one am very impressed, very, very impressed with that D
20.  Tennessee - after the next 5 weeks, the Vols will be going back to the drawing board

SpecialEdTeams Conference Rankings
1.    SEC - and it's not even close
2.    Pac-12 - another nice weekend for the Pac-12, they're separating from the Big12
3.    Big 12 - WVU and TCU are helping, but it appears OU let go of the rope
4.    Big East - Rutgers and Louisville would contend for ACC/Big 10 titles.
5.    ACC - It's so difficult to decide which conference is worse, the ACC or Big 10
6.    Big 10 - yep, you dropped a spot because you just keep losing to "sisters of the poor."

1st Quarter Power Rankings by Conference

Big 10
1.    Ohio State - and they can't even "officially" win
2.    Michigan State - needed to play better against an overrated Irish team
3.    Nebraska - couldn't make the top 6 of the Pac 12
4.    Northwestern - what's with the Purple Cats this year?
5.    Minnesota - one of only 3 remaining undefeated teams in the Big 10
6.    Purdue - why not?
7.    Wisconsin - misses Russell Wilson
8.    Michigan - needs to stop pretending
9.    Indiana - no one cares who's in the bottom of the Big 10?
10.  Illinois - yuck
11.  Iowa - awful
12.  Penn State - should be banned from football for a decade... still makes me sick

ACC
1.    Florida State - showed what they had on Saturday
2.    Clemson - and it really drops off after the Tigers
3.    Virginia Tech - should recover and be okay
4.    Miami - got SMASHED by K-State, just SMASHED
5.    Wake Forest - this is getting sad already
6.    Georgia Tech - just needs some W's
7.    North Carolina State - could actually be higher, but you've gotta beat someone
8.    Virginia - suffering from a very difficult schedule
9.    Maryland - looked okay against West Virginia
10.  Duke - when's the first basketball game?
11.  North Carolina - has to cheat to win
12.  Boston College - okay, I don't know anything about you

Big East
1.    Rutgers - probably can't deny this after they beat down the Hogs
2.    Louisville - Charlie Strong is probably gone after this year
3.    Cincinnati - love those uni's
4.    UCONN - down a bit this year, but still a good football team
5.    Pittsburgh - seems like a long time since those two opening losses
6.    Syracuse - is better than people think
7.    Temple - misses Golden, but is still competing hard
8.    South Florida - might cause Florida State some issues next weekend.

Big 12
1.     Kansas State - Bill Snyder deserves the whole school to be named after him
2.     West Virginia - that offense is dangerous, but better show up on D
3.     Texas - could be biggest benefactors from the OU loss
4.     Oklahoma - is still Oklahoma, one loss doesn't change that
5.     TCU - nice week against an underrated Virginia team
6.     Oklahoma State - not last year's team, but still formidable
7.     Baylor - barely got out of ULM with that W
8.     Iowa State - I know nothing about you
9.     Texas Tech - shouldn't have fired Leach
10.    Kansas - yucky

Pac-12
1.     Oregon - very impressive first quarter
2.     USC - one loss to Stanford doesn't mean they won't have 4 first rounders
3.     Stanford - very nice first quarter, just solid, consistent football
4.     Oregon State - so good against the run
5.     Arizona State - very physical, will give the softer teams trouble
6.     Washington - just needs to find a rhythm
7.     UCLA - needed a better game against Oregon State, but still a good team
8.     Arizona - Rich Rod is going to get it going for the Wildcats
9.     Utah - will sneak up and upset a big boy this year
10.   California - just doesn't have the horses this year
11.   Colorado - should be embarrassed
12.   Washington State - Leach will get it going, give it time

SEC
1.    Alabama - no question
2.    LSU - tough week 4, but a W is a W on the road in the SEC
3.    South Carolina - impressed the heck out of me this week
4.    Georgia - get ready for an amazing game Oct 6th, Dawgs go to Columbia, SC
5.    Florida - very impressive first quarter, very impressive
6.    Mississippi State - should have a big year, I'm thinking 9-3, 10-2 type year
7.    Tennessee - much improved
8.    Auburn - at least they beat ULM
9.    Texas A&M - will stomp Arkansas next Saturday
10.  Missouri - no one looks good offensively against SEC defensive fronts
11.  Arkansas - down, very down, and in need of a spark
12.  Ole Miss - looking better than last year, but that's not saying much
13.  Vanderbilt - is much better at home than on the road
14.  Kentucky - basketball team could beat the football team at football

SpecialEdTeams Heisman Watch
1.    Collin Klein (KSU) - no one has two bigger wins in the first 4 weeks
2.    A.J. McCarron (Bama) - consistent play, no mistakes, leader, character...kid can play
3.    Geno Smith (WVU) - just waiting for the real schedule to start
4.    Aaron Murray (UGA) - very nice performances so far
5.    E.J. Manuel (FSU) - very impressive, big win against Clemson

SpecialEdTeams Doak Walker Watch
1.   Le'Veon Bell (MSU) - looks like the Notre Dame game was the exception, not the rule
2.   Johnathan Franklin (UCLA) - needed a bigger game against Oregon St to keep the top spot
3.   John Hubert (KSU) - ground game at K-State is tough, gritty, and physical
4.   Kenjon Barner (Oreg) - explosive, but with a physical toughness
5.   Mike Gillislee (FLA) - not his best, but a lot of backups against Kentucky

SpecialEdTeams Biletnikoff Watch
1.   Marquise Lee (USC) - let's make it 4 weeks in a row
2.   Cobi Hamilton (Ark) - Arkansas is struggling, but not because of Hamilton
3.   DeAndre Hopkins (Clem) - another solid performance against a slightly overrated D
4.   Justin Hunter (Tenn) - big game against Akron and he needed one
5.   Michael Campanaro (Wake) - playing like a Biletnikoff winner right now

SpecialEdTeams Mackey Watch
1.   Chris Coyle (ASU) - becoming a real weapon for the Sun Devils
2.   Dion Sims (MSU) - big game against Eastern Michigan
3.   Chris Gragg (Ark) - wasn't at his best against Rutgers, and the Hogs needed him
4.   Blake Jackson (Okla St) - big one coming up against Texas
5.   Austin Seferian-Jenkins (Wash) - the schedule starts warming up, we'll see