Craig James beat me to it - the better broadcaster of the old Pony Express posted this story on ESPN today.
His agenda seems to be - Get Ready to see UF at the top of the rankings if they get through the next five weeks unscathed. For the uninitiated, check out the next four games for the 4-0 Gators:
09/30 Alabama
10/07 #9 LSU
10/14 at #2 Auburn
10/28 #10 Georgia in Jacksonville (don't call it a Cocktail Party)
And recall that they have already beaten Tennessee at Rocky Top 21-20.
This weekend is a rough start - Florida hasn't rolled the Tide since a 16-10 win in 1998. But the Gators are rolling at home, winning 11 straight at the Swamp. "Smart money" has Florida as a two TD favorite after last year's embarrassment at Bama.
If you reference my top 13 (emailers suggest i need to expand that to 25), I have the Gators outside looking in while the AP has the reptiles at 5. Remember, that difference is because I do not expect them to get through this list clean - the game that causes me the most pause is the matchup with the other team in the Yellowhammer State - Auburn, my pre-season #1 who may fall based on last night's squeaker past South Carolina.
Vs. Alabama
The Alabama defense is as good as usual, but they haven't seen the spread-misdirection-horizontal fiesta of an offense like Florida's this year. Chris Leak leads the nation with 12 TD passes, and no doubt is beggin for blitzes. The absence of a speedy playmaker on the Tide offense or special teams like Tyrone Prothro will hurt. Edge to Florida
LSU
LSU has crushed all comers easily, except...
at Auburn
The biggy for SEC supremacy - if Urban's boys can beat LSU, this will be fun at Jordan-Hare. You all know that Kenny Irons is one of the best RBs in the nation, but the Tiger defense is special. How they handle the Gamecocks tonight could change my thinking however.
Georgia
Gators own the Bulldogs.Plain and simple. I expect the Gator defense to embarrass the Bulldogs offense, regardless of the other game results.
September 29, 2006
September 28, 2006
On the lines
Kids, gather round the air conditioner, lets play America's favorite game of Pick'Em...BIG GAMES (ATS)
- Ohio State -7 at Iowa
- Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech -9
- Akron -3 at Kent State (hey, it is big in my hometown and for the MAC East)
- Virginia at Duke
- Purdue at Notre Dame - Pinnacle showing 63.5 points
September 24, 2006
The OCF Top 13 Debut
Welcome to my highly subjective but open minded look at who will be the top teams in college football after the regular season.
Pay special attention to the wording in italics - while other polls are snapshots in real-time, I aim to absorb all that has happened and incorporate that into projecting to the end of the regular season. I expect the OCF poll to be quite volatile since "second order" events (results of previous and future opponents, margin of victory) should have a large impact on slotting teams from week to week.
See my preseason rankings and rationale here. I do some quantitative stuff in the background, but I freely admit that there is a lot of art and guts to this. Like get the f*** outta here, Seminoles and Hurricanes!
Auburn had that scare versus LSU, but LSU is one of the top teams in the nation - neither allows more than a TD a game! And trust me, the Oregon-Oklahoma fiasco had nothing to do with me downgrading the Sooners - in fact, despite their underachieving defense they got upgraded based on Washington's upset win over UCLA and Colorado showing some signs of life. I do not expect the Gators (BS Journalism, 1994) to get thru that vicious schedule unscathed, hence their lack of inclusion despite nice early results - and it hurts to say that almost as much as it hurt to put a benjamin on their winning under 9.5 games.
If I had to tier the rankings, I would say that Auburn and the Buckeyes are the clear leaders, while USC, Texas and Michigan would be the next best group. Teams with the best chance of moving higher are Louisville, West Virginia and TCU (toughest games are next two weeks with BYU and Utah) if the Horned Frogs keep their undefeated seasons alive.
So looking way ahead, the biggest games to me this season will be in November;
Pay special attention to the wording in italics - while other polls are snapshots in real-time, I aim to absorb all that has happened and incorporate that into projecting to the end of the regular season. I expect the OCF poll to be quite volatile since "second order" events (results of previous and future opponents, margin of victory) should have a large impact on slotting teams from week to week.
See my preseason rankings and rationale here. I do some quantitative stuff in the background, but I freely admit that there is a lot of art and guts to this. Like get the f*** outta here, Seminoles and Hurricanes!
- Auburn 4-0
- Ohio State 4-0
- Southern Cal 3-0
- Texas 3-1
- Michigan 4-0
- Oregon 3-0
- Notre Dame 3-1
- Louisville 4-0
- West Virginia 4-0
- LSU 3-1
- Virginia Tech 4-0
- Oklahoma 3-1 (I have my response ready for their president...)
- TCU 3-0
Auburn had that scare versus LSU, but LSU is one of the top teams in the nation - neither allows more than a TD a game! And trust me, the Oregon-Oklahoma fiasco had nothing to do with me downgrading the Sooners - in fact, despite their underachieving defense they got upgraded based on Washington's upset win over UCLA and Colorado showing some signs of life. I do not expect the Gators (BS Journalism, 1994) to get thru that vicious schedule unscathed, hence their lack of inclusion despite nice early results - and it hurts to say that almost as much as it hurt to put a benjamin on their winning under 9.5 games.
If I had to tier the rankings, I would say that Auburn and the Buckeyes are the clear leaders, while USC, Texas and Michigan would be the next best group. Teams with the best chance of moving higher are Louisville, West Virginia and TCU (toughest games are next two weeks with BYU and Utah) if the Horned Frogs keep their undefeated seasons alive.
So looking way ahead, the biggest games to me this season will be in November;
- Michigan at Ohio State on 18th,
- Louisville at West Virginia on a Thursday 2nd and
- USC's masochistic home schedule (Oregon, Cal, Notre Dame)
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