Power Rankings 11/05

1) LSU Tigers (9-0, 6-0) - Well, I underestimated LSU's defense. I'm sorry. I owe them an apology, especially defensive back Eric Reid, whose interception inside the red zone probably prevented what would have been the only touchdown of the game. The Tigers get a bye week next week against Western Kentucky before taking a trip to Mississippi. Trap game? Not likely. Last Week: #1. Next Game: vs. Western Kentucky

2) Oklahoma State Cowboys (9-0, 6-0) Last Week: #3. Next Game: at Texas Tech

3) Stanford Cardinal (9-0, 7-0) - Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. The Pac-12 game of the week is next week, when Stanford hosts Oregon. Both teams have had trouble defending the run lately, and the could portend a final combined score closer to 100 than to 50. Stanford has a little secret weapon named Andrew Luck, though, and his 26-to-5 TD-to-INT ratio on the year. Oregon's Darron Thomas isn't much worse though, with a ratio of 19-to-5. I guess I'm saying that I think turnovers might be the difference in this game. Last Week: #4. Next Game: vs. #7 Oregon.

4) Boise State Broncos (8-0, 3-0) - I'm always the first one to get to the BSU party, and the last one to leave. Both the AP and the Coaches have one-loss Alabama ahead of the Broncos, but not me. This is Boise State's year, I'm telling you; Oklahoma's gonna beat OSU, and Stanford will lose to the Ducks. Then the voters will have only LSU and Boise State left, at the end of the day. Or, we could just have Boise State beat Alabama 31-10 in the Sugar Bowl. I'm cool with that, too. Last Week: #5. Next Game: vs. #23 TCU

5) Alabama Crimson Tide (8-1, 5-1) - This is becoming my theme for the season: In order to be happy, says Aristotle, man must also be lucky. Alabama went 2 for 6 on field goals in their 9-6 overtime loss to LSU, and only one of those kicks was blocked. The Tide have two more tough road games ahead of them, at Mississippi State and at Auburn. They will now need a lot of help to get to the SEC championship game. Last Week: #2 Next Game: at Mississippi State

6) Oklahoma Sooners (8-1, 5-1) - The Sooners looked pretty scary/good taking apart Texas A&M 41-25, especially in forcing Aggies QB Ryan Tannehill into completing "only" 32 passes in 63 attempts and throwing 3 interceptions. Oklahoma will miss another Ryan, WR Ryan Broyles, who tore his ACL in his left knee. Oklahoma finishes the season at Baylor, home against Iowa State, and then at Oklahoma State for Bedlam. Last Week: #7 Next Game: at Baylor

7) Oregon Ducks (8-1, 6-0) - Maybe for the first time this year, I felt like the Ducks were playing to their full potential in the third quarter against Washington. Their hurry-up offense, their bend-don't-break defense, their fashion sense; all of it seemed to be working for them. Most importantly, their running backs all seemed at full strength, and that should give the Ducks some confidence going in to Palo Alto next week. Last Week: #8 Next Game: at #3 Stanford

8) Arkansas Razorbacks (8-1, 4-1) - After two sloppy wins, the Razorbacks looked good in their 44-28 win against South Carolina. They are also LSU's last obstacle, as they visit Baton Rouge on Nov. 25th for their season finale. Believe it or not, Arkansas can still win the SEC West if they win out, and maybe get some help from the voters. Now wouldn't that just spoil everyone's prefabricated narratives? Last Week: #9 Next Game: vs. Tennessee

9) Houston Cougars (9-0, 5-0) - Sorry, Cougars. After a month of stubbornly keeping them high in my rankings, I can no longer justify keeping them above the top bevy of 1-loss teams. I decided this after realizing that Louisiana-Lafayette is 8-2, and who in their right mind would have them in the top 25? I'm keeping Boise State high because I honestly believe that they could beat Oklahoma or Stanford or Alabama. But could a team like Houston hang with a team like Oregon? No. Last Week: #6 Next Game: at Tulane

10) Penn State Nittany Lions (8-1, 5-0) - OK, I am now selling on Penn State. Please read this column from the Philadelphia Inquirer. The sports that we love can inspire us and fill us with joy. But they also make people lots of money, and therefore people are willing to commit the worst of sins for the sake of sports. Last Week: #13 Next Game: vs. #20 Nebraska

11) Clemson Tigers (8-1, 5-1) Last Week: #11 Next Game: vs. Wake Forest

12) Michigan State Spartans (7-2, 4-1) - This needs some explaining. Michigan State gets such a big boost not for beating lowly Minnesota but because: a) Nebraska's loss breaks their tie in the "Legends" division, b) Wisconsin won, and Michigan State has to stay ahead of them, and c) there needs to be some space between Clemson and Virginia Tech, because Clemson beat VT 23-3. Still, this is probably too high for the 2-loss Spartans. Last Week: #19 Next Game: at Iowa

13) Virginia Tech Hokies (8-1, 5-1) - I'm not quite sure what to do here. Virginia Tech has only one loss, but that was a 23-3 drubbing at home at the hands of Clemson. Also, VT's best win so far is probably against Wake Forest. All in all, the Hokies play what I think is one of the easiest schedules in college football; they played 0 games against non-conference opponents from a BCS conference, and play a grand total of 2 games against AP Top 25 teams. (No. 9 Clemson, and No. 20 Georgia Tech, next week.) And yet this team could very easily be going to the Orange Bowl. Again. Last Week: #14 Next Game: at Georgia Tech

14) Cincinnati Bearcats (7-1, 3-0) - My father-in-law went to med school at Cincinnati, and they just beat Pitt, where his father went to med school, 26-23. He sometimes calls me after he watches the Ducks play, and makes fun of their uniforms, or their propensity for getting arrested going 180 miles per hour down I-5. The point is, someone is going to win the Big East, and that someone will get to go to a BCS bowl. Maybe it will be Cincinnati. Last Week: #18 Next Game: vs. West Virginia

15) Southern Miss Golden Eagles (8-1, 4-1) Last Week: #16 Next Game: vs. UCF

16) Kansas State Wildcats (7-2, 4-2) - That game almost broke my heart. A week after getting their butt's kicked by Oklahoma, the Fighting Snyders come out and play like champions against OK-State, losing 52-45 on three consecutive incomplete passes into the end zone. All is not lost in Manhattan, but here is another sad cruelty about college football: Two weeks ago, the Wildcats were entertaining national championship aspirations. Today, they're hoping that they get an invitation to the Meineke Car Care Bowl. Last Week: #12 Next Game: vs. Texas A&M

17) Texas Longhorns (6-2, 3-2) Last Week: #20 Next Game: at Missouri

18) Wisconsin Badgers (7-2, 3-2) - Poor Wisconsin, poor Wisconsin. The Badgers are two plays away from being in line to play for the national championship. As it stands, however, they'll have a tough time even making it to the Big Ten Championship. To do so, they need to win out (against Minnesota, Illinois, and Penn State), and have Penn State lose at least one other game (to either Nebraska or Ohio State), and have Ohio State lose at least once more (to Purdue, Penn State, or Michigan). Is there any way for both Penn State and Ohio State to lose when they play each other Nov. 19? That would be good for the Badgers. Last Week: #21 Next Game: at Minnesota

19) Georgia Bulldogs (7-2, 5-1) - South Carolina's loss is Georgia's win, who are now alone in first place in the SEC East. And what happens when the Bulldogs pull off the upset-of-the-century against LSU in the SEC Championship game? Or even when Les Miles needs one of his patented "acts of God" to escape with a 28-27 win? Against a team that lost to Boise State in Atlanta by two touchdowns? Are you still going to want your LSU-Alabama rematch then? (Yeah, you probably will... ) Last Week: #23 Next Game: vs. #25 Auburn

20) Nebraska Cornhuskers (7-2, 3-2) - Sorry, Nebraska fans, but I love that the Cornhuskers lost at home to Northwestern, 28-25. That game had all that I love in a college football game: Underdog coming up big on the road, back-up quarterback leading his team down the stretch, hilarious pictures of despondent home team fans. Onside kicks. An added bonus is the fact that this game has thrown the Big Ten into total chaos, and has more or less ended Nebraska's BCS chances. (Not entirely, though. Something tells me that there's still a lot of chaos to be had.) Last Week: #10 Next Game: at #10 Penn State

21) USC Trojans (7-2, 4-2) - Remember when Colorado use to have a football team? They're 1-9 this year, with losses including: 42-17 to USC, 48-14 to Arizona State, 45-2 to Oregon, 48-7 to Stanford, 52-24 to Washington. Sometimes consistency is not a good thing. Still plenty of time for the Buffaloes to ruin UCLA's or Utah's seasons, though! Matt Barkley's stat line against Colorado: 25 for 39, 318 yards, 6 TDs. Last Week: #25 Next Game: vs. Washington

22) South Carolina Gamecocks (7-2, 5-2) - I think that it has become painfully clear that the most damaging injury in college football has been Marcus Lattimore's torn knee ligament. Without him, South Carolina becomes a one-dimensional team on offense. It's also telling that an Arkansas team that only scored 14 points against Alabama hung 44 on South Carolina. There is still an achievement gap there. Last Week: #15 Next Game: vs. Florida

23) TCU Horned Frogs (7-2, 5-0) - Welcome back from the desert, Horned Frogs! And you're just in time for your showdown against Boise State! I'm not entirely crazy with this pick, as TCU sits just outside of the AP top 25 with 52 voter points. And look at their schedule: Their two losses are 50-48 to Baylor and 40-33 to SMU. And they have wins against Air Force, Brigham Young, and a pretty good Wyoming team. Their schedule has seven bowl eligible teams on it. But make no doubt about it - this is not last year's Rose Bowl squad. Case in point: Wyoming's 353 total yards. Also, Wyoming has a back-up quarterback named Colby Kirkegaard. That's cool. Last Week: NR Next Game: at #4 Boise State

24) Michigan Wolverines (7-2, 3-2) - Here's a nightmare scenario for you: Michigan beats Illinois (next week) and upsets Nebraska (on the 19th). Ohio State wins at Purdue and at home against Penn State. Penn State loses to Nebraska and Ohio State before rebounding to beat Wisconsin. Meanwhile, Michigan State tanks, losing at Iowa and at Northwestern. The Buckeyes then go into Ann Arbor on November 26th, with a winner-take-all trip to the Big Ten championship game on the line. Improbable? Yes. Impossible? No. Last Week: #17 Next Game: at Illinois

25) Auburn Tigers (6-3, 4-2) - Last Week: NR Next Game: at #19 Georgia