By 
The AP Top 25 and Coaches Top 25 College Football polls are nationally recognized, but after more than 50 years of watching and/or covering college football games, and being a sports editor for a daily newspaper, here’s another opinion:
Auburn and Oregon are still scoring and winning, so they remain in the top two for another week.
1) Auburn (9-0) – Defeats Mississippi 51-31. Solo continues to win behind Heisman favorite Cam Newton. Where will Auburn be if Cam Newton gets hurt? The Tigers don’t want to know. Auburn has a child’s game against AA Chattanooga this week. Are you kidding me? Not really. The Tigers are not out of the jungle yet; they must take on Georgia and then Alabama on the road. Trust me, the Crimson Tide lurks under the radar in deep undergrowth, waiting to strike like a diamondback rattlesnake.
2) Oregon (8-0) – Exploded in Southern Cal, 53-32, after the Trojans led in the third quarter. SC kept goalless in the last 25 minutes and scored 4 times. The Ducks have outscored their opposition 180-38 in the last half. They lead the nation in scoring offense (54 points per game) and total offense (572 yards per game). Go ahead, try to stop them. The next host is Washington. Wow, the Huskies are going to get run over.
3) Wisconsin (7-1) – Inactive this week. He’s played as weak a schedule (67th) as Boise State (74th), TCU (72nd) and Utah (98th), but he’s done something the Broncos, Horned Frogs and Utes haven’t done, and that’s beat the top 2. Ranked teams: Ohio State and Iowa in consecutive weeks. That’s why they’re No. 3. The Badgers travel to Purdue next, and they better win big.
4) Boise State (7-0) – Just beat Louisiana Tech 49-20. Hosts Hawaii and the Warriors passing attack are up next. Hawaii leads the nation in passing attack, averaging 395 yards per game. Bronco’s air defense ranks eighth nationally. Let’s see who is the fraud.
5) TCU (9-0) – UNLV Trash 48-6. Travel to undefeated Utah (8-0) below. Ultimately, this should be a good test for the Horned Frogs. Utah is third in scoring offense, TCU is ninth. TCU is first nationally in scoring defense, Utah is sixth. Someone is going to suffer their first loss of the season.
6) Utah (8-0) – Just beat the Air Force, 28-23. TCU beat Air Force 38-7. The Utes have the home field against the TCU. What more can they ask for?
7) Alabama (7-1) – Inactive this week. I had the Crimson Tide at LSU this week when they actually traveled to LSU (7-1) next week. Had ‘Bama not lost to South Carolina earlier in the season, the Crimson Tide would be 8-0. They have had to bide their time, and it is now that they must win and dominate.
8) LSU (7-1) – Like Alabama, inactive this week and waiting for a chance to move up.
9) Nebraska (7-1) – Just eliminated on the road at Missouri, 31-17. He then travels to the state of Iowa and must win big to stay here.
10) Oklahoma (7-1) – Destroyed Colorado, 43-10. Now he must travel to Texas A&M. The Aggies just beat Texas Tech, 45-27, and they don’t care how good the Sooners are.
11) Stanford (7-1) – I just traveled to Washington and knocked out the Huskies, 41-zip. Up next is Arizona (also 7-1) in a big Pac-10 matchup on Cardinal Turf.
12) Arizona (7-1) – Managed to outlast UCLA 29-21 at LA in a not-so-impressive win, but a team of substance nonetheless. He has a golden opportunity to move up by beating Stanford.
13) Iowa (6-2) – Big upset with ease over Michigan State, 37-6, ruining the Spartans’ perfect season. They’ve lost to Arizona and Wisconsin, two good teams, but if you think they’re an easy mark, play them at home. Travel to Indiana next.
14) Michigan State (8-1): Iowa delivered the Spartans their lunch, but only 5 other teams have 8 wins so far this season. The Spartans host Minnesota next, and must win big over the Golden Gophers to regroup and regain some strength early in the season. Too much success proved unwieldy, but now he must try to win the rest of the season to qualify for a major bowl game.
15) Ohio State (8-1) – Just beat Minnesota 52-10. The only loss was in Wisconsin, not too bad. He’ll be inactive next week, and then host Penn State the following week.
16) Missouri (7-1) – Lost to Nebraska on the road, but still a strong team. He travels to Texas Tech next, and must recover and win to stay here.
17) Oklahoma State (7-1): Slipped by Kansas State 24-14 in a road game. Nobody has really played; the only loss was to Nebraska. He faces another tougher opponent this week when Baylor (7-2) arrives. The Bears just beat Texas 30-22, which is good for their ego, even if this is a bad year for Mack Brown and the Longhorns. The Cowboys better be ready for the Baylor Bears.
18) South Carolina (6-2) – Just beat Tennessee 38-24. The Gamecocks are ranked 18th only for beating Alabama earlier in the year. South Carolina has lost to Auburn (like 8 other teams) and the Kentucky Wildcats.
19) Mississippi State (7-2): Defeated Kentucky 24-17. He has only lost at Auburn 17-14 and in one road game at LSU. Not many other 7-win teams can say that. He’s got a bye week and then he’s got to travel to Alabama and take on the Crimson Tide, which will tell us a lot about the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
20) North Carolina State (6-2) – Just beat 16th-ranked Florida State, 28-24. Something must be going on. He lost to Virginia Tech and in a road game at East Carolina. It has played the 45th toughest schedule among the top 120 teams. Travel to Clemson next.
21) Hawaii (7-2) – Put up a 45-10 rout of Idaho, and it boasts the best passing offense in the nation. He gets some real change to do some major damage on the next visit to Boise State. Boise State has the eighth-best pass defense in the nation, so let the battle begin.
22) Baylor (7-2): Beat Texas on the road, 30-22. He has played a tougher schedule than Boise State, TCU and Utah. It does not have a distinctive victory; he lost to TCU and Texas Tech. Next, he travels to Oklahoma State (7-1), a perfect opportunity to move up in the polls.
23) Nevada (7-1) – Won a shootout against Utah State, 56-42, which isn’t saying much, but he has 7 wins with only one loss in Hawaii.
24) Oregon State (4-3) – Beat visiting California 35-7. The best 4-3 team in the country. They lost to TCU 30-21 and Boise State 37-24, but beat Arizona, Arizona State and crazy Washington. The Beavers have played the toughest schedule of any team, and Sagarin has them ranked 15th nationally. Travel to UCLA next.
25) Illinois (5-3) – Beats Purdue 44-10. He’s beaten Penn State and Indiana, and played the 26th-toughest schedule. Travel to Michigan for an interesting showdown.
Week 10 will find another undefeated team losing when TCU (9-0) travels to Utah (8-0) in a Key Mountain West Conference clash. Other big games include Alabama at LSU, Arizona at Stanford, Arkansas at South Carolina, Baylor at Oklahoma and Hawaii at Boise State.
Copyright © 2010 Ed Bagley