The Poll Story for September 11

This is the story of one man's college football poll. Each week I will give you my poll along with my thoughts as to why teams are where they are there in the poll.

I went in search of a number one team this week and couldn't find one. There was no team that I saw that I thought, "Hey these guys are the best in the land."

USC? They had a little too much trouble with Virginia Tech for me.

Oklahoma? They gave up 24 points to Bowling Green.

Georgia? They should have lost to South Carolina and gave up 28 to Georgia Southern.

LSU? They have a lucky win against an Oregon State team that lost to Boise State by almost three touchdowns.

Miami? They were shutout by FSU at home for the first 47 minutes of their game.

So who do I pick? Who should be number one? Read on.

First lets address who doesn't make it: The Pac-10 teams Stanford and Arizona State -- they have had good starts, but I want to see a quality win before they get my hopes up.

Notre Dame -- The Irish lost to BYU. It's gonna take more than one home victory to make up for that loss.

Iowa -- Almost beat by Iowa State. No excuse for that one.

Kansas -- Moving up, definitely moving up. Two good wins, but let's wait until the Nebraska game.

Colorado -- October 9th against Oklahoma State will be their chance to prove themselves.

Indiana -- Good win against Oregon, one or two more in a row and I will look harder at the Hoosiers.

This is my first top 25 of the year.

25: Boise State

The Broncos are here for one reason only, they spanked a team that almost upset Louisiana State at Baton Rouge. They will have a chance to prove themselves on October 23 when Fresno State comes to town.

24: Georgia Tech

The Ramblin' Wreck pulled off the upset at Death Valley, which is one of the harder places to win for visitors, against a ranked Clemson team. That combined with an easy week one win against Samford just gets them into the rankings. Tech gets a chance move up on October 2nd with a visit from Miami.

23: Maryland

The Terrapins are undefeated just like we expected at this point, but again they struggled with Northern Illinois. Their tests start with Georgia Tech on October 9th.

22: Memphis

Danny Wimprine and Deangelo Williams are going to lead the Tigers to a lot of wins this season. They followed up the win at Ole Miss with an expected thumping of UT-Chattanooga. I wouldn't be surprised if they roll into their October 23rd match-up at Cincinnati with an undefeated 6-0 record.

21: Louisville

Stefan Lefors has led the Cardinals to two solid victories over Kentucky and Army. The shutout against the Wildcats was particularly impressive. They should roll without a loss until the get the Miami Hurricanes in Miami on October 14th. We should get a good idea of just how good they are then.

20: Oklahoma State

A big win at UCLA and a solid win against Tulsa drops them here with a bullet. They could easily be 7-0 when Oklahoma comes a callin' on October 30th. Can you imagine the intensity of that game if they were both in the Top Ten? The Cowboys could be in for a very good year.

19: Troy

Who? That's right, the ex-Troy State Trojans had a lineman run 63 yards with a fumble recovery for a touchdown, they had a wide receiever throw a touchdown, and they had a blocked punt on their way to upsetting a ranked Missouri Tigers. Last week they beat Marshall 17-15. The same Marshall team that almost beat Ohio State on Saturday. I don't see how you keep them out of the top twenty with a record like that so far. I won't and they are a solid number 19.

18: Florida

Yes, that's where I have them. at eighteen. They are an extremely young team with no experience in the defensive secondary. Their receivers have little to no big game time. I think that will add up to five or six losses with the brutal schedule they have. They struggled for the entire first quarter against Eastern Michigan. Yes, it was just the first quarter, but it was also just Eastern Michigan. They'll get a chance to show what they are made of next week in Knoxville against the Volunteers.

17: Auburn

The enigma from last year continues to dog them. They are talented and they will probably do very well, but I will hold judgment until they host LSU next week. That will be the real bell weather for their season.

16: Michigan

Everyone has trouble in South Bend, but the Irish had just lost to BYU and Michigan was looking at a National Championship run. This should have been no trouble. You have to score touchdowns and Big Blue couldn't get in until there was two minutes left in the game. I don't see how a quality team loses to a team that gives up four turnovers. The Wolverines are lucky to be ranked this high.

15: Fresno State

This could be the year. don't we say that every year about the Bulldogs? This year they dominated at Washington and at Kansas State. On October 23rd they visit Boise State in game where both could be undefeated and in the top 15. When was the last time two teams not in a BCS conference were in the top 15 and met in a game? I don't really know, but I think it has a good chance of happening this year. A BCS bid could be on the line that day.

14: Virginia

The Cavaliers had three running backs rush for more than 70 yards and a quarterback that threw for over 200 in their thrashing of North Carolina. Couple that with a 30 point thrashing of Temple in week one and they have shown they deserve to be in this dance.for now. They finish with one of the hardest schedules in the land (Maryland, Miami, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech) and have to play Florida State and Clemson along the way. For now, though, they deserve to be here.

13: Utah

They are an 11-0 waiting to happen. Everyone on their schedule already has a loss except San Diego State. They should be able to handle them and run their schedule. That would leave Utah and either Boise State or Fresno State for a pick to go to one of the big bowls. The Utes haven't beaten anyone worthy yet (Texas A&M not withstanding) and won't because there isn't anyone worthy on their schedule. Not worthy of a top ten team anyway.

12: Louisiana State University

LSU? Number 12? Yep. number 12. They have no quarterback. Let me repeat.they have no quarterback. It will haunt them all season. It almost sis them in against Oregon State. Matt Mauck was the heart and soul of the team last year. A team with no heart and soul dies a slow death. The same should happen to LSU with games at Auburn, at Georgia, at Florida, and at Arkansas. My guess is they lose at least two of those games to finish around number 15.

11: Ohio State

I am a firm believer that a bad performance against a lesser team is a bad performance whether you win or lose. The Buckeyes game against Marshall did not make me think they were a tough team or a gritty team. It made me think they are not the elite team everyone else does. Marshall had lost to Troy the week before. Ohio State should have won by four touchdowns. They didn't and that makes me think they are not as good as advertised.

10: California

The Golden Bears have improved greatly under Jeff Tedford. They were the only team to beat co-national champion USC last year and they have returning starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers. They have thumped their first two opponents: Air Force and New Mexico State. The schedule isn't hard but it's not a creampuff either. There is a tough game on Thursday with Southern Miss and then the huge game at USC on October 9th. Stanford and Arizona State may also have a say in how well the Bears season ends up.

9: Purdue

With as good as the Boilermakers have looked they should be higher, they should be higher, they should be higher. I just have too many memories of times when they were higher and would drop the big one. Kyle Orton has had to move himself way up on the Heisman chart the past two weeks. We will wait until October 2nd at Notre Dame and October 23rd when Michigan comes to town to see if they really are for real.

8: Tennessee

I hate to jinx my friend but the two freshmen quarterbacks at UT look great. The question is who is #1? Schaeffer, Ainge. Ainge Schaeffer? I'd go with Schaeffer myself. Coach Fulmer will decide on his own time. The Volunteers will be tested this weekend by Florida and with games against Georgia and Auburn. The dynamic Schaeffer could be a difference maker in any of those games.

7: Florida State

I'm sorry, you do not lose ground in a poll for losing an overtime game against a higher ranked opponent at their house. You are supposed to lose. How can you be worse than you were before you played them? FSU is a talented team but I think they will be beaten at least once more this year. Chris Rix has never been my favorite and the Seminole offense looked horrible against the Hurricanes. FSU has games against Virginia, Florida, and at Maryland. I guess they lose at least one of those.

6: Texas

After a great start against North Texas, the Longhorns were able to escape at Arkansas with a game they probably should have lost. I still think the combination of Vince Young and Cedric Benson are too much for most teams to handle but the Longhorns face stiff tests in games against Colorado, Kansas, and the Red River Shoot-Out against nemesis Oklahoma. We will see how much coach and players have improved on October 9th in Dallas.

5: Georgia

The Bulldogs have not been extremely impressive in either game this year, but you can tell its about to come together. I think it all rests on the chest of freshman running back Danny Ware. If he can come back from the bruised lung they could break the Cocktail Party Curse (Georgia has beaten Florida in Jacksonville just once in the past 14 years). With games against LSU, Tennesse, Florida, Auburn, Georgia Tech and Arkansas, if Ware doesn't come back, the Dawgs could lose two or three games this year.

4: West Virginia

It's been a very long time since the Mountaineers have been up this high, but with a weakened Big East and a VERY talented team, they should do well this year. So far they have not disappointed against East Carolina or Central Florida. With Maryland this week and Virginia Tech in two weeks, we should have a much better picture of just how good this team is by early October.

3: Oklahoma

This is where things get sticky and messy. The Sooners weren't impressive against Bowling Green, but they did play great against an overmatched Houston team. I won't be sold on this team until they come up against some adversity. They crumbled under it last year. This year the only tests may be Texas and Oklahoma State. I think the Cowboys may provide a chance for us to see how well they have recovered from the last two games of last year. Until then, all other things being equal, I will keep them here.

2: Southern Cal

The Trojans threw a scare into the college football prognostication world with its lackluster performance against Virginia tech in the first game of the year. They have since annihilated a weakened Colorado State team and will do so over most of their opponents this year. I am sure that the California game is circled on coach Carroll's calendar and the Arizona State game may provide a surprise or two also. Many have them number one, but I think there is one team that has played better so far.

1: Miami

The Hurricanes aren't here for the way the won over FSU. That was ugly. They are here for that huge defense and the fact that you can't lose if the other team can't score. Antrel Rolle is an all world player and will be one of the reasons that the Hurricanes could roll right through the ACC like it was ... well, the Big East. The only stumbling blocks could be Georgia Tech or Virginia Tech and I just don't think they have the offenses to compete. Brock Berlin may not be the starting quarterback by the end of the year and, barring injury, Frank Gore could be monstrous this year. The Hurricanes could cruise straight home to the Orange Bowl next January.