North Dakota State won the FCS National Championship game over Sam Houston State on Saturday in a game much like Alabama’s win over LSU in the BCS National Championship game. It was a battle of two defenses, with one offense finally rising to the top in the fourth quarter. The atmosphere at both games was tremendous, a true reflection of what college football is supposed to be about.

But there’s a difference.

North Dakota State won the FCS championship after a playoff system that invited the best FCS teams from around the country, teams that by virtue of the way FCS is set up had a relatively equal chance of getting into the postseason.

Alabama won the BCS National Championship game after a rigorous regular season in the nation’s toughest conference. But they reached the title game without winning their conference and did so in a system that doesn’t provide equal opportunity for all FBS members to reach the championship game, plus requires the use of complicated statistical formulas and polls to determine the two title game participants. Continue Reading…

Now, we come to the part of the college football season that I hate – the BCS computers will now decide our fate.

Yes, we have come to that final Sunday of the season when the BCS computers must crunch all of those numbers and spit out the two teams that will play in the BCS national championship game next month in New Orleans.

This is definitely old school. The best college football teams in the country slug it out for 14 weeks in some of the best stadiums in the nation. Twists and turns abound. Upsets aplenty. Dramatic championship games. And it all comes down to …. Binary code. Ones and zeroes. The sports equivalent of the Scantron card we used to use to take multiple choice tests.

Am I the only one that sees the problem here?

We have always been taught that championships are decided on the field. Every major professional sport can do it. Every other college sport at every level can do it. Heck, every level of college football can do it – except for FBS.

What we should be watching tonight is the unveiling of an 8- or 16-team playoff field for FBS, the top teams in the nation slugging it out in a three- or four-week tournament to decide the national champion. It seems to work just fine in the NFL. Instead we get this dreck, decided by a computer and a bunch of guys that – and I say this having been one of them for 14 years – never laced it up and played a down. No disrespect guys, but it’s true. Most of us never played in college.

For the record, I hope the computer finds a way to screw Alabama. A LSU-Oklahoma State national title game would be much more exciting. And, frankly, Alabama got its shot and whiffed. It’s high time someone else took a shot at them.

But, in the meantime, I’m planning my first official sit-in – Occupy BCS. We’re going to storm the national offices and we’re going to sit in Bill Hancock’s office until he gives us what we want.

An actual, honest to God, national playoff. That’s what we deserve.

Rant over. And now the PigskinU Top 25 for Week 14.

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It’s the biggest game of the 21^st Century (November 2011 edition). Alabama vs. LSU. Saturday night. The winner, most likely, wins the SEC West, beats whichever sacrificial lamb the SEC East puts up in the conference championship game and goes to the BCS National Championship game in New Orleans. The stakes are high, to say the least.

Every day this week PigskinU.com’s Just Sayin’ blog will get you ready for the game, exploring matchups and keys to the game. Today, it’s special teams.

We promote the bejeesus out of games these days, don’t we? From the 24-hour news cycle to the hundreds of legitimate sports site that cover games, we’re besieged with information, opinion and vitriol until kickoff. And, most of the type, the game doesn’t live up to the hype.

It’s been that way this week with the LSU-Alabama game. It’s the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup between SEC teams. It’s two of the top defenses in the country. Some have called it a de facto national semifinal game, with the winner, most likely, winning the SEC East, the SEC Championship game and earning a berth in the BCS National Championship game. CBSSports.com, whose parent network, CBS, is broadcasting the game, has had  a countdown clock on its Website all week, as if you needed to be reminded when the game was being played (Saturday at 8 p.m. EST, by the way, if you’re living under a rock).

Yeah, it’s big. But will it live up to all of this hype? That’s not something we can know until the game is over. But based on all of my research from this week – and you can read all of my matchup preview posts in the PigskinU.com archives – I think it will. I see three signs that lead me to that conclusion.

Defense. These teams are loaded defensively. I mean just flat-out stacked. LSU’s run defense is stingy. Alabama’s run defense nearly refuses to give up anything at just 44 yards per game, the best rushing yardage average in the nation. I’d be a bit worried about LSU’s pass defense, but Alabama’s not going to throw this game into quarterback A.J. McCarron’s hands unless it’s absolutely necessary. Plus, LSU rushes the passer well and gets good penetration at the point of attack. You have a prolific turnover machine in LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu and a prolific tackle for loss machine in Alabama linebacker Courtney Upshaw. They’re also in the Top 20 nationally in points allowed. I don’t see both of these offense scoring more than 20 points on Saturday. That keeps this a close game with fourth-quarter drama.

Legacies. Nick Saban is already a rare college coach, one that has won national titles at two schools.  By winning Saturday, Alabama could put Saban on the path to another title that would put him on the list of Alabama coaches with multiple national championships (Wallace Wade, Frank Thomas, Bear Bryant). Saban could, with another national title, justify the statue already erected in his honor at Bryant-Denny Stadium. LSU coach Les Miles, meanwhile, is seeking his second national title. If he and the Tigers were able to do it, that would better the one title Saban won at LSU and make Miles the only LSU coach to win two. In other words, it would make him LSU’s greatest head coach. My point is this – the loser of this game probably doesn’t go to the BCS National Championship game. They both know what they’re coaching for.

Ball Protection. There won’t be many turnovers in this game, despite the fact that both teams are good at forcing them. Both offenses are committed to ball control, Alabama a bit more than LSU because of Trent Richardson. But they both run the ball well enough to move the chains and keep possession. Second, they’ll take punts and field position over risky fourth-down plays in that no-man’s land between midfield and the opponent’s 35. Neither Saban nor Miles will authorize a gamble like that until it’s necessary. Points will be too precious. Those two factors will neutralize some of the playmaking ability on the defensive side for both teams. I’m not saying there won’t be a turnover or two, especially when the close score requires risks be taken. It just won’t be an ugly game. The quality of the two teams dictates a cautious approach that will help both offenses keep possession and avoid mistakes, keeping scoring down and close.

So who wins? Well, I did promise a prediction, didn’t I. I’ve gone back and forth all week, but it’s hard to go against Alabama at home. I’ll take the Tide, 22-19. Expect several field goals and one pivotal special teams play that will either yield a score or lead to a score for the Tide.

Every day this week PigskinU.com’s Just Sayin’ blog will get you ready for the game, exploring matchups and keys to the game. Today, we preview LSU vs. Alabama from a special teams standpoint.

How much time, as a coach, would you spend on special teams? I guess it depends on how much of an impact you think special teams can have on a game.

My? I’d spend one-third of practice on it every day. Those plays can make a major impact. LSU and Alabama can make an impact in this department in many ways.

Morris Claiborne is the one to watch on kickoff returns. Claiborne already had a 99-yard kickoff return to his credit this season, one of two special teams scores for the team in 2011. Claiborne’s 29.5 yards per return this season means that after opponent scores the Tigers are getting field position outside their 30-yard line. Tyrann Mathieu (dubbed the Honey Badger for his propensity to force fumbles) is averaging nearly 8 yards a punt return with a long of 19. He hasn’t had a chance to break one this year. In fact, the longest LSU return is a 31-yarder by Jarvis Landry. That was his only return.

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It’s the biggest game of the 21^st Century (November 2011 edition). Alabama vs. LSU. Saturday night. The winner, most likely, wins the SEC West, beats whichever sacrificial lamb the SEC East puts up in the conference championship game and goes to the BCS National Championship game in New Orleans. The stakes are high, to say the least.

Every day this week PigskinU.com’s Just Sayin’ blog will get you ready for the game, exploring matchups and keys to the game. Today, we’re breaking down LSU vs. Alabama by the numbers, including how these two powerful teams got to this point and where they rank nationally in key statistical categories.

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It has one of the best ground games in the nation, too.

Stephan Taylor – perhaps one of the best two or three backs in the country you’re not paying attention to – rushed for 99 yards on 23 carries and scored twice. Luck himself, not exactly fleet of foot, gained 36 yards on 9 carries and scored once. Jeremy Stewart, their bruising back, scored once.

The Cardinal ground game isn’t the focus of Stanford’s offense, but an effective ground game is a quarterback’s best friend. And when those overtimes came around, it became obvious that Stanford thinks more of its ground game than the rest of the country.

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The topic was Boise State and whether the Broncos deserved a shot at the national championship game this year, even if all of the current undefeated teams ended up with a loss. Both Holtz and May said no.

Their reason? Boise State’s schedule isn’t good enough, and they scoffed at the notion that Boise can’t impact its own strength of schedule by scheduling Top 25 teams during the non-conference schedule. Holtz actually implied Boise State wouldn’t schedule more than one difficult opponent each season.

My issue isn’t their point, really, because I agree to some degree. My issue is this. Boise could schedule more Top 25 teams in non-conference play, and I actually think the Broncos would like to do so. The problem is this, guys – the automatic qualifying conferences are scared of the Broncos.

Yes, I said it. Scared.

Here’s the way the game is played among the six automatic qualifying conferences when it comes to non-conference action. Those schools do everything possible to make sure they win those games because they know their conferences are tough and that they’ll probably absorb a loss or two during league play. These programs value this strategy so much that they’ll actually pay lesser teams hundreds of thousands of dollars to come to their stadium so they can put a beat down on them.

The AQ teams get a win they can use to push their bowl eligibility and protect themselves from conference losses.

Sure, you have an unusual case like LSU this year, which scheduled a robust non-conference schedule to go with its SEC schedule. But most of the time you get a schedule that includes one decent AQ team and two or three non-AQ teams that will be easy to beat.

Boise State doesn’t have that luxury because it plays in the Mountain West, which is probably the best non-AQ conference going, but only has one ranked team and that’s Boise. The Broncos scheduled Georgia this year and beat the Bulldogs in the opener, but weren’t able to schedule another AQ team.

You don’t think Boise State wants to play tougher opponents? I feel certain that they do. But when you create a system where there’s no benefit for AQ teams to play a program like Boise State, then the Broncos will be lucky to get their one game against a ranked AQ opponent each year. The BCS continues to treat the Broncos as a novelty instead of as one of the nation’s top programs. This is just a case of the BCS trying to keep the non-AQ teams down. They don’t like party crashers.

Of course, Boise may finally get a chance to make its case, if the Big East’s flirtation with the program comes to fruition. Boise State moving to the Big East provides the conference with a program with a national following and helps take some of the sting out of the losses of Syracuse, Pittsburgh and West Virginia (and maybe more). The move finally provides Boise State access to the AQ world and legitimizes them, as much as TCU’s move to the Big East (and later Big 12) did for the Horned Frogs and Utah’s move to the Pac-12 did for the Utes. Yes, I know the Utes are 1-4 in the Pac-12 right now and May made that point. But the fact is Boise is a better program than Utah and I think Boise would do much better in an AQ conference.

Boise State’s move to a conference like this is well overdue. So is the respect this program deserves. Boise State no longer needs a pat on the head when they beat an AQ school.

Boise State needs a chance to play with the big boys every week. The Big East – even as decimated as they look right now – would give Boise State the chance. Sadly, it does the Broncos no good this year.

So, without further ado, My PigskinU.com Top 25 poll after Week 9:

1. Alabama (last week: 2): The biggest game in the history of college football (November 2011 edition) is just six days away. The Tide must establish the run against LSU.

2. LSU (2): Meanwhile the Tigers not only have to stop the run but figure out how to keep the heat that is the Crimson Tide’s pass rush off QBs Jarrett Lee and Jordan Jefferson.

3. Boise State (3): Boise’s final five games don’t look imposing. All they can do is play their games and see what happens.

4. Stanford (4): The Cardinal needed three overtimes to defeat USC. I don’t look at as a bad thing. This should toughen up the Cardinal for Oregon.

5. Oklahoma State (5): The Cowboys have had one close game this season, their one-point win over texas A&M. One other was a 12-point win. The rest have been absolute blowouts. The offense has scored at least 30 points in every game. Can anyone slow them down?

6. Oregon (6): What’s the worst thing that can happen to a Top 10 team during the season? A quarterback controversy. Watch the Darron Thomas-Bryan Bennett situation closely.

7. Oklahoma (8): I expected a bounce-back win for the Sooners. I didn’t quite expect the Sooner to blow out Kansas State, though.

8. Nebraska (9): The Cornhuskers just screwed up the Big Ten in a good way by beating Michigan State. You know, on second thought, Nebraska fits right into this league.

9. Arkansas (11): Yes, Arkansas struggled with Vandy. But that says more about the job James Franklin is doing in Nashville than the Hogs.  

10. Virginia Tech (13): You know if Duke had a kicker that could make a field goal we’d be talking about what’s wrong with the Hokies and not their escapability.

11. Penn State (14): Joe Pa is now the winningest coach in FBS/FCS. Congrats. Now enjoy the bye guys, because Nebraska, Ohio State and Wisconsin loom. Don’t get comfortable, Joe.

12. South Carolina (15): The best thing South Carolina has going for it right now is its win over resurgent Georgia. If the Gamecocks beat Florida, the SEC East is theirs.

13. Clemson (7): Remember when I said I wasn’t sure Clemson would go undefeated? Well, there you go.

14. Cincinnati (18): I wasn’t sure what to do with the Bearcats, considering they didn’t play this week. Five Big East games lie ahead for the nation’s No 2 run defense.

15. Michigan (19): The Legends Division is now a mess and the door is open for the Wolverines to take control. They still have the Cornhuskers in three weeks.

16. Houston (20): I saw QB Case Keenum in person last week. He’s definitely a quarterback worth paying attention to. Houston is on course for a Conference USA division title.

17. Kansas State (10): If I’m Bill Snyder, I’d be asking someone in the Big 12 offices why they ended up with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State on back-to-back weeks.

18. West Virginia (21): The Mountaineers are on their way to the Big 12. They still have a shot to claim their last Big East title.  

19. Arizona State (22): The Sun Devils dominated Colorado. That’s no mean feat. Losses ahead of the Sun Devils move them up three spots.

20. Wisconsin (12): Two flukish losses in a row for the Badgers put them in a precarious position. They must win out to contend for a Big Ten division title.

21. texas (23): texas ran the ball with impunity against Kansas. The longhorns are a win away from getting back to a bowl, but all five of their remaining games will be tough.

22. Georgia (NR): The Bulldogs won the Cocktail Party and it appears that Mark Richt’s job is safe. Sad that it takes that to secure a job for a great head coach like Richt.

23. Georgia Tech (NR): Food for thought – The Yellow Jackets have beaten five straight ranked opponents at home. Just sayin’.

24. Michigan State (17): I still think the Spartans are a Top 25 team. But they can’t keep laying eggs after winning big games.

25. Auburn (NR): I’m a little surprised the Tigers have been this good without Cam Newton. RB Michael Dyer is one of the best backs you’re not paying attention to.

Dropped out: texas A&M, Syracuse, USC.

First, let me apologize for my absence. I’ve been on vacation the past two weeks, mixing sports (Stanford and California games) and leisure (four days in beautiful Cabo San Lucas). When I returned on Friday, my Top 25 – at least the Top 10 – was pretty much how I left it.

But that changed Saturday night. I’m not sure what surprised me more – how Wisconsin lost or that Oklahoma lost at all.

The Sooners have been my No. 1 team since the preseason and I’ve been steadfast in my devotion to the Crimson and Cream. But the texas Tech Red Raiders went into Norman, OK, and defeated the Sooners, 41-38. It was the Sooners’ first home loss in 39 games. And if you look at the box score, how the Sooners lost seems mysterious. I mean, QB Landry Jones had 412 yards passing and 5 touchdowns. But then you look at texas Tech QB Seth Doege’s numbers – 441 yards passing and 4 touchdowns – and you get the picture. This was Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday facing off against the Clanton Brothers at the OK Corral. Someone was going to lose. It just turned out to be Oklahoma.

Does this loss destroy Oklahoma’s BCS Championship game hopes? Not necessarily, though the Sooners can’t lose another game and must hope that both LSU and Alabama lose someone along the way, the latter of which seems unlikely.

But then I thought Oklahoma and Wisconsin both having a loss after Saturday being unlikely, too. The Badgers went down to East Lansing and played what looked to be a solid game. QB Russell Wilson wasn’t spectacular, but he and his running backs, Montee Ball and James White, had done enough to give the Badgers a shot at overtime.

Then Michigan State QB Kirk Cousins threw what may now be the most famous pass in Michigan State history, a 44-yard Hail Mary to Keith Nichol as time expired. I missed it because I was watching my texas Rangers get drilled by the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 3 of the World Series. And now that I’ve seen the replay, I’m still not quite sure Nichol got across the goal line. But that’s the call and the Badgers have to live with another season lost.

So, the losses of my Nos. 1 and 6 teams from my last poll after Week 5 necessitates some shifting around.

So, without further ado, My PigskinU.com Top 25 poll after Week 8:

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Matthew Postins files The Walkthrough twice a week during the season at PigskinU.com. Early in the week, it’s a wrap-up of last weekend’s action. Late in the week, it’s a preview of what’s coming up that weekend. And it call comes with news, commentary and Postins’ dry wit and opinion.

The Aggies Wave Goodbye to Tradition. On Sunday the SEC announced that it was officially taking in texas A&M as its 13^th member, starting with the 2012 season. The decision that, in part, set off all of this realignment mess of the past month is finally official.

Now, what does this mean to the SEC? Well, the rich certainly get richer. The Aggies are a well-known program that seems to finally be turning a corner after several years of mediocrity. They’ll provide access for the SEC to not only Texas’ fertile recruiting ground but also to cable networks and laptops via the SEC’s Digital Network. It’s definitely a big win for them. Continue Reading…

So I have a problem with the Associated Press.

On Sunday the AP voted LSU as the No. 1 team, leapfrogging the Tigers over Oklahoma, which had been the nation’s No. 1 team since the preseason poll. Also, Alabama dropped to No. 3.

Why do I have a problem with this? It’s not that I don’t believe that LSU is a great team. The Tigers have proven that in spades the past month, beating three ranked teams in the process. It’s that in order to move LSU to the top the voters have punished Oklahoma and Alabama.

Yes, Oklahoma WAS No. 1 and Alabama WAS No. 2. Now they’re Nos. 2 and 3, respectively. They’ve done nothing wrong. Both teams have played their schedule, won four games and remain undefeated. Both the Sooners and Crimson Tide have beaten ranked teams and creampuffs alike, just like LSU. But instead of keeping the two teams where they were, the voters, collectively, chose to drop them.

I know it’s a voter’s prerogative. But this part of the AP poll process has always driven me nuts. This happens every year. A team gets a few wins under its belt, attains a ranking they deserve and then gets dropped a spot by another team that’s undefeated.

I don’t think it’s fair. I think if you’re undefeated and you reach a certain ranking that’s where you stay until you lose. Say you’re the nation’s No. 5 team and you’re undefeated. You’re 6-0 and then you drop a spot, even though your team hasn’t done anything to deserve being dropped.

You take care of your business and yet you get dropped? I don’t like it one bit. Sure, if you’re No. 5 and another undefeated team leapfrogs you to No. 4, I can deal with that, as long as you keep your No. 5 ranking.

But what happened to Oklahoma was wrong. The Sooners were No. 1, were 4-0 and yet, and yet, the voters fell in love with someone else, in this case LSU and were dropped.

So, in MY poll Oklahoma is my No. 1 team, Alabama is my No. 2 team and LSU is my No. 3 team, just like the past two weeks. You may agree, you may disagree.

But my logic is clear and I think I’m right. But I suppose that’s part of why we debate these things every week. Everyone thinks a little differently. But Oklahoma is MY No. 1 team until they lose. If the lose.

So, without further ado, My PigskinU.com Top 25 poll after Week 4:

1. Oklahoma (last week: 1): The Sooners opened Big 12 action by taking care of Missouri, a team that always seems to give the Sooners trouble. The Tigers did so on Saturday, but not nearly enough trouble to put the Sooners on the ropes. Ball State comes to Norman next Saturday, followed by the trip to Dallas for the Red River Rivalry game with texas.

2. Alabama (last week: 2): One down, one to go for Alabama and its early SEC landmines. I’m not surprised that the Crimson Tide took care of Arkansas the way it did. But I am a little intrigued by next weekend’s matchup with Florida, even though that’s more because I’m interested in seeing how the new-look Gators measure up than determining if the Tide are a Top 3 team. I think we know that by now.

3. LSU (last week: 3): QB Jarrett Lee is turning into the one thing Jordan Jefferson was never able to become – consistent. Now that September is over, the Tigers need to take care of business and get ready for the early November tilt with Alabama, one that appears as if it will decide the SEC West.

4. Boise State (last week: 4): I don’t think the Broncos have lost a home game against an unranked opponent since the Clinton Administration. Now the punishment begins. The Broncos start playing Mountain West opponents and its strength of schedule takes a nosedive until the Nov. 12 tilt with TCU.

5. Stanford (last week: 5): The Cardinal remains undefeated and QB Andrew Luck remains a top-flight Heisman candidate. Not a bad month’s worth of work. UCLA is up next.

6. Nebraska (last week: 6): Nebraska took care of business against Wyoming. Now it’s time for the game I’ve had my eye on since Ohio State fell from grace this summer – Nebraska at Wisconsin. The Big Ten opener for both teams. It’s the biggest game of the season (Oct. 1 edition).

7. Wisconsin (last week: 7): Wisconsin has either had it easy or made it look easy. That’s hard to gauge.  But the way QB Russell Wilson has assimilated into the offense so easily should scare the heck out of the rest of the Big Ten.

8. Oklahoma State (last week: : Well, now I think we know that the Cowboys are made of an especially tough kind of stock. Going into College Station and edging out the Aggies in a close game is fodder for making a case that the Cowboys should move up in this poll. But, since no one lost ahead of them, I’ll keep them here.

9. Virginia Tech (last week: 9): Virginia Tech made easy money out of Marshall. It’s been a pretty quiet month for the Hokies, which I assume they’ll take after last year’s 0-2 start with losses to Boise State and FCS’s James Madison. The Hokies’ ACC opener is against Clemson, which is really starting to gather steam after its win over Florida State.

10. Oregon (last week: 11): The Ducks seem to have rebounded nicely since their season-opening loss to LSU. Remember – the Ducks drew a significantly easier conference schedule than some of its Pac-12 North mates. The path seems clear from here to their Nov. 12 meeting with Stanford.

11. South Carolina (last week: 12): South Carolina made sure that Vanderbilt didn’t ruin their shot at an SEC East title. But here’s the thing – does the 21-3 result leave you more impressed with what James Franklin is doing at Vanderbilt or less impressed with the Gamecocks’ 4-0 start? They struggled with Navy the week before. That’s cause for concern for me.

12. Florida (last week: 13): Florida is 4-0 entering next weekend’s matchup with Alabama, a big one for seeing how much progress the Gators have made under first-year head coach Will Muschamp. Frankly, I don’t expect the Gators to win. But I want to see how close they make it. This is also a great game to take stock of QB John Brantley’s ability to handle a top-flight secondary.

13. texas A&M (last week: 10): The Aggies acquitted themselves pretty nicely against Oklahoma State, but they also dropped a 17-point lead in a game they could have won. I’ve felt all along that the Aggies were the No. 3 team in the Big 12, and that loss proves that I’m right. For once.

14. TCU (last week: 17): I expect a placid journey for the Horned Frogs to their Nov. 12 meeting with Boise State. The Horned Frogs ended up dismantling Portland State. But the slow starts are concerning me, and SMU has enough talent to take advantage of those slow starts. I expect TCU to win, but SMU could make it interesting. Just not Baylor interesting.

15. South Florida (last week: 18): QB B.J. Daniels is providing the Bulls with some salty numbers on the ground and in the air. This Bulls team steadily makes its way up our poll.

16. Michigan (last week: 20): Wolverine brass now looks very smart for hiring Brady Hoke, at least in the short term. And bonus points to the coaching staff for not trying to fit QB Denard Robinson into an offense that doesn’t utilize his best skills. Too many new coaches make that mistake.

17. Baylor (last week: 19): The Bears gave Rice the business to improve to 4-0 before starting Big 12 play. Now the fun begins. Are the Bears the best of what’s left after Oklahoma or Oklahoma State, or will they wilt now that they don’t have the element of surprise? I think their Rice could be very interesting, especially since the big teams don’t hit their schedule for a few more weeks.

18. texas (last week: 21): texas was idle this weekend and that gives their dynamic group of freshman some time to reflect before getting ready for their first Red River Rivalry game in two weeks. But before that it’s Iowa State, which is looking like a pretty interesting team right now.

19. West Virginia (last week: 15): First of all, the all-yellow uniforms need to go. Second, don’t totally panic over the Mountaineers’ loss to the Tigers. QB Geno Smith still has enough to carry the Mountaineers to a Big East title. But that South Florida matchup will be the biggee. 

20. Arkansas (last week: 16): So how far do you drop a team that just lost to the No. 2 team in the country. To me, Arkansas probably needs to be in the 20-25 range after losing to the Tide. They’re the third-best team in the West, but the chasm between the Hogs and the Top 2 is significant.

21. Florida State (last week: 14): Oh, what a drop for the Seminoles. The only thing that keeps me from dropping them out of my Top 25 completely is that QB EJ Manuel was hurt. But, goodness, losing to inconsistent Clemson doesn’t bode well for FSU winning its division, much less winning the ACC.

22. Michigan State (last week: 14): It’s time to find out what the Spartans are made of after they just dismantled Western Michigan. Still not ready to put them back in my Top 20 yet.

23. Illinois (last week: 24): Illinois is off to a 4-0 start. But I’m not moving them up after nearly being upset by Central Michigan. But, by my roles, the Illini don’t drop, either.

24. Clemson (last week: 25): A huge two week stretch for the Tigers, who were pegged by many as underachievers entering this season. The Florida State victory now puts Dabo Swinney’s crew among the leading contenders in the conference.

25. Georgia Tech (last week: unranked): I wasn’t high on the Yellow Jackets until they beat North Carolina last weekend, pulling the victory out late. They’re running the ball well, which isn’t unusual. But the defense looks better than the unit I saw play in the Independence Bowl last year.

Dropped out: 23, Southern Cal.