College Football, Week 10

Lots of movement up and down the charts this week. 

Numbers 1 (Alabama) and 2 (Oregon) remain unchanged at the top. After that, there's plenty of movement: up and down, big and small. Old friends have come back onto the list and a few have departed, perhaps to be seen nevermore.

 Match-ups between ranked teams:

#1 Alabama vs #5 LSU

#2 Oregon vs #18 USC

#16 Texas A&M vs #17 Mississippi State

#24 Arizona vs #25 UCLA

 and, perhaps an upset or two, will ensure we see plenty of movement next week as well.

Six teams remain undefeated. None of them are in the same conference nor are they scheduled to play one another down the road. One (Ohio State) is ineligible for post season play which leaves five. Upsets along the way are all that remain to knock one of them out of a BCS berth and possible play for a National Championship. (Well, except for Louisville. They will never get the chance to play for a National  Championship—even if they are the ONLY undefeated team left. Wrong league dontchya  know.)

Without further preamble let’s cut right to the chase, shall we?

(This week’s rankings from the AP, Coaches’, Harris Interactive, BCS Standings. Rankings given last week appear in parentheses.  NR = Not Rated. Numbers in parentheses after the team’s name are the records.)

1/1/1/1 (1/1/1/1) Alabama (8-0) The Crimson Tide is on the road this week against the #5 LSU Tigers (7-1). The Tide should roll over the Tigers.

2/2/2/4 (2/2/2/4) Oregon (8-0) The Ducks fly south to face #18 Southern California (6-2) Their high-flying offense and surprisingly strong defense should ensure that they come away with another win.

3/3/3/2 (4/4/4/3) Kansas State (8-0) The Wildcats host the Oklahoma State Cowboys (5-2). Look for another Klein led mauling in this one.

4/4/4/3 (5/5/5/5) Notre Dame (8-0) The Irish will host the Pittsburgh Panthers (4-4). If I HAD to pick a big upset…well, maybe…possibly…but unlikely.

5/5/5/5 (6/6/6/6) LSU (7-1) The Tigers host the #1 Alabama Crimson Tide (8-0). Roll Tide!

6/NR/NR/NR (9/NR/NR/NR) Ohio State (8-0) The Buckeyes have the week off. No. Wait. They play at Illinois (2-6). Close enough. The Illini aren’t really in a fightin’ mood.

7/6/6/6 (12/11/11/11) Georgia (7-1) The Bulldogs host the Mississippi Rebels (5-3). The Dogs will chew them up.

8/8/8/7 (3/3/3/2) Florida (7-1) The Gators host the Missouri Tigers (4-4). Chomp! Chomp!

9/7/7/9 (11/10/10/14) Florida State (8-1) The Seminoles have the week off. Their next game is Nov 8^th at Virginia Tech.

10/9/9/13 (14/13/13/18) Clemson (7-1) The Tigers play the Duke Blue Devils (6-3) on the road. Duke has surprised folks with their play. They won’t win this one, however.

11/11/11/8 (17/16/16/16) South Carolina (7-2) The Gamecocks will have the weekend off. They will once more be searching to replace their leading rusher and scorer, Marcus Lattimore.

12/10/10/10 (16/14/14/15) Louisville (8-0) The Cardinals host the Temple Owls (3-4). Did I say “host?” Should have been “roast.”

13/13/13/11 (7/9/8/7) Oregon State (6-1) The Beavers will host the Arizona State Sun Devils (5-3).  It will be close but the Beavers should prevail.

14/12/12/12 (8/7/7/8) Oklahoma (5-2) The Sooners are in Ames to play the Iowa State Cyclones (5-3). Oklahoma should win.

15/15/14/14 (19/19/18/17) Stanford (6-2) The Cardinal go to Colorado to play the Buffaloes (1-7). The Cardinal should peck them apart.

16/16/18/16 (22/21/21/23) Texas A&M (6-2) The Aggies play at the #17 Mississippi State Bulldogs (7-1). Should be a really good game. Either team could win this one. I’d go with the home team.

17/18/15/15 (13/12/12/10) Mississippi State (7-1) The Bulldogs host the #16 Texas A&M Aggies (6-2). Home field advantage, baby!

18/17/16/17 (10/8/9/9) Southern California (6-2) The Trojans host the #2 Oregon Ducks (8-0). The Ducks are just too much for the boys from USC.

19/14/17/19 (21/18/19/19) Boise State (7-1) The Broncos host the San Diego State Aztecs (6-3). Boise wins convincingly.

20/20/19/18 (15/17/17/12) Texas Tech (6-2) The Red Raiders host the Texas Longhorns (6-2). This one could go either way. Both have had trouble on defense while excelling on offense. I think the red Raiders may have the slightly better D and that will spell the difference.

21/21/21/20 (NR/NR/NR/NR) Nebraska (6-2) The Cornhuskers head out on the road to play the Spartans of Michigan State (5-3). Huskers will struggle in this one and come up short.

22/23/24/25 (24/NR/NR/25) Louisiana Tech (7-1) The Bulldogs will host the Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners (5-3). They’re the Bulldogs, not Wile E. Coyote. No genius necessary to say sic ‘em Dogs!

23/19/20/21 (25/22/22/20) West Virginia (5-2) The Mountaineers will host the TCU Horned Frogs (5-3). Only one thing I’m sure of: West Virginia will score…often. Whether they can stop TCU? Maybe just often enough to please the home crowd.

24/NR/NR/22 (NR/NR/NR/NR) Arizona (5-3) The Wildcats head to LA to play the #25 UCLA Bruins (6-2). Call this one a toss-up.

25/NR/NR/NR (NR/NR/NR/NR) UCLA (6-2) The Bruins play host to the #24 Arizona Wildcats. Pick-em.

NR/ 22/22/23 (NR/24/24/22) Texas (6-2) The Longhorns head out on the road to play the #20 Texas Tech Red Raiders. The Longhorns will put some points on the board, but not enough.

NR/24/25/24 (NR/NR/NR/NR) Oklahoma State (5-2) The Cowboys head to Kansas State (8-0). There they become the latest victim of Klein and the Wildcats.

NR/25/23/NR (18/15/15/13) Rutgers (7-1) The Scarlet Knights have the weekend off. Hopefully Gary Nova will stop playing like Mark Sanchez. Or vice versa.