Garnet and Cocky’s Top 25
September 15, 2012; Stanford, CA, USA; A Stanford Cardinal fan holds up a sign mentioning former quarterback Andrew Luck (not pictured) during the fourth quarter against the Southern California Trojans at Stanford Stadium. The Cardinal defeated the Trojans 21-14. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE
Another week, another (group of) top 25 team(s) down and out.
To keep it short and simple, here we go.
25. Oregon State An off week after beating a top 15 team doesn’t get you pushed out of the rankings on Garnet and Cocky. It doesn’t move you up them, either.
24. Rutgers Yep. I went there. They don’t have a “big” win this year, but they did beat USF on the road this week and they do get to play Arkansas next week.
23. Tennessee I still think they’re good, and they’ll put a scare into and maybe even upset one of the big guys in the East (hopefully Georgia, not SC), but their run defense is awful and they let a mediocre offense put up 30+ on them at home.
22. UCLA Maybe this Bruins team is for real. Their schedule might be one of the easiest in the Pac 12, and they could win nine games even if they lose to all the ranked teams left on their schedule. Pull a few out against Arizona, Stanford and USC and they could be going to the Rose Bowl.
21. Arizona What a dominating performance… Over SC State.
20. Michigan State It’s been a bad couple of weeks for the Big 10. Or is it the B1G now?
19. Southern California Lane Kiffin. Lol.
18. Notre Dame It’s time to give credit where credit is due. Notre Dame set up one of the toughest schedules in the nation, decided to start a redshirt freshman at quarterback, and they just beat one of the best teams in the Big 10. That’s good enough to crack the top 20 in my eyes.
17. Louisville A Big East team in Garnet and Cocky’s top 25? Gross shivers went down my spine when I typed them into that spot.
16. TCU 20-6 over Kansas is a pretty boring score, but it was good enough to keep the Horned Frogs rolling.
15. Florida When I’m wrong, I admit it. I was very wrong about Tennessee. I thought they’d finish second in the East behind South Carolina. It’s apparent now they cannot defend the run, which is a must in the SEC, especially against teams like UGA, Florida and SC. UF’s defense, again, proved it’s one of the best in the country.
14. Ohio State The didn’t look good, but they got the job done at home against Cal.
13. Stanford I hesitate to move them up this far, because their offense just doesn’t look like one that can win the Pac 12, but their defense did hold one of those offenses to 14 points Saturday when they defeated So Cal 21-14.
12. Kansas State Their game against North Texas wasn’t as close as it looked, and after Southern Cal’s stinker against Stanford, Collin Klein is certainly in the Heisman discussion.
11 Texas They went into Mississippi and defeated the previously “undefeated” Ole Miss Rebels. It really did bring a smile to my face every time I heard someone refer to the rebels as “undefeated”. It really is about the little things in life, right?
10. Michigan Michigan State just lost to Notre Dame. Wisconsin lost to Oregon State a week ago. Ohio State can’t play for a Big 10 Championship, and didn’t even look that good against Cal at home, Saturday. I think Michigan is the best team in the Big 10.
9. Clemson It really does pain me to put them in the top ten… If they keep climbing, the only silver lining will be how much better Carolina’s win in Death Valley will look at the end of the year.
8. West Virginia They’ll keep winning until the play a ranked opponent. And they might keep winning after. We won’t know until the middle of October, though. Next up? Maryland…
7. Florida State Is this the year the Seminoles finally break through and claim their status as the best in the ACC (like they were expected to since they entered the league)? Maybe. They’ll have to get by Clemson first next weekend.
6. Georgia Another game against weaker competition that was closer than it had to be. Missouri almost proved what could happen if UGA took that act into the SEC… It will probably take a real SEC team to snap the Bulldogs out of their early game struggles.
5. South Carolina Another game, another injury to Connor Shaw… Another 500 yards of total offense. Spurrier might finally find his fun ‘n gun at SC this year. Oh yeah, the HBC won his 200th game last night.
4. Oklahoma They had a weekend off after two straight snoozers. Next weekend should tell us just how good this Sooners team is when they take on Kansas State.
3. OregonAnother Saturday another offensive explosion from the Ducks, who are clearly the class of the Pac 12.
2. LSU They looked “shaky” giving up 14 points to Idaho, am I right? 63 points will get the job done against anyone, though.
1. AlabamaArkansas really didn’t have a chance this past weekend, whether Tyler Wilson was at QB or not.