Power Rankings - Nov. 10

1) Florida State (9-0, 7-0, +22) - The Seminoles remain not only undefeated, but also largely unchallenged as well. They beat Wake Forest 59-3, and all but one of their wins have been by 27 points or more. They're guaranteed a spot in the ACC Championship Game, which should give them one more quality win for their résumé. But I don't think they'll need it.  They finish their conference schedule next week against Syracuse. SoS: -18

2) Stanford (8-1, 6-1, +21) - I imagine that to see the world as David Shaw sees it would mean that everything can be ordered, arranged, that the blooming, buzzing confusion of existence can always be set right by a combinatin of running packages that use additional tight ends as blockers, and that the best thing about being up 7-0 is never having to pass the ball ever again.  Less Van Gogh; more Mondrian. SoS: -6.333

3) Oregon (8-1, 5-1, +15) - The chief existential question that has plagued the Ducks ever since the 2010 Rose Bowl has been, "What do you do when the one thing you do that makes you you doesn't work?" The Cardinal was able to negate all of the Ducks advantages - prevent big plays, get third down stops, don't commit turnovers - and the Ducks were left in a meaningless abyss of Being and Nothingness. Speaking of which - they play Utah next week. (BURN!) SoS: -17.222

4) Alabama (9-0, 6-0, +15) - Yes, of course I would match-up Alabama and FSU in the national championship.  Because even though it's 46th in high school graduation rates, 49th in life expectancy, and 47th in poverty rates, Alabama will always be #1 at college football. SoS: -17.111

5) Ohio State (9-0, 5-0, +12) - The Buckeyes continued their tear through the Big Ten with their "bye" week, which proved only slightly more difficult than defeating Purdue.  SoS: -21.222

6) Baylor (8-0, 5-0, +11) - OK, I am now impressed by Baylor. They crushed Oklahoma 41-12, and just as impressive as their offense was their defense, which held the Sooners to 87 rushing yards on 2.6 yards per carry. The Sooners had two drives the entire game that were more than 50 yards, and they got 7 points from them, compared to the Bears' 7 drives of 50+ yards that netted 34 points. Also, what fat cat do I have to bribe to get a Baylor-Oregon Fiesta Bowl? SoS: -22.625.  As an aside, both Ohio State (40-20) and Baylor (70-13) have wins over the Buffalo Bulls, who have won all of their other 7 games. However, the combined records of Buffalo's six other FBS opponents is 13-44. Even after playing 2 top 6 teams, Buffalo's SoS is only -28.778.  But if it comes down to the voters, Baylor should definitely point to those games as a reason why they should get ranked ahead of the Buckeyes. 

7) Clemson (8-1, 6-1, +10) - On their bye week, Clemson got a little bit of good news/bad news. Florida State's win shuts the Tigers out of the ACC Championship.  However, Miami's loss means that Clemson should be the No. 2 ACC team, and that would make them very desirable to the Orange Bowl if the Seminoles end up playing for the National Championship. SoS: -16.778

8) Northern Illinois (9-0, 5-0, +9) - After crushing their first five MAC opponents, NIU may finally get a challenge when they play Ball State on Wednesday night.  In his last three games, QB Jordan Lynch has had total yards of 322, 279, and 471.  Of course, that was against Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, and Massachusetts. SoS: -38.444

9) Fresno State (9-0, 6-0, +9) - Fresno State is one spot ahead of Northern Illinois and 3 ahead of UCF in this week's BCS rankings, so they have (for now) the inside track on the BCS, probably the Fiesta Bowl.  And while I agree that a pair of one-point wins over Rutgers and Boise State do not a BCS contender make, who are they screwing over by stealing that spot? Oklahoma? Michigan State? SoS: -29.889

10) Missouri (9-1, 5-1, +8) - Missouri? Probably not. The Tigers took care of business at Kentucky, and now have a bye week. They have two games left, both of which will be difficult: at Mississippi and vs Texas A&M.  If they win out, then they're in the SEC Championship. Right behind them is South Carolina, who will win the division with a win over Florida and if Missouri loses once. Georgia could still win the division, too, if Missouri loses both games and if they win out against Auburn and Kentucky. And if there's a 3-way tie? Then it would get thrown to the BCS, who would probably pick South Carolina. SoS: -17.6

11) Auburn (9-1, 5-1, +8) - You know who else controls their own destiny in the SEC? The Auburn Tigers, who have two more games, at home, against Georgia and Alabama. Wouldn't that mess with everyone's narrative? SoS: -19.2

12) UCLA (7-2, 4-2, +7) - Sy Stokes posted this video about the lack of diversity at UCLA: http://laist.com/2013/11/10/video_black_ucla_students_highlight.php. UCLA's student population is only 3.8 percent Black, whereas Los Angeles is 9.6% Black. (By contrast, the University of Alabama is 12.6% Black, and the state is 26.7%. So they're not the worst at everything.) SoS: -15

13) UCF (7-1, 4-0, +7)
14) Michigan State (8-1, 5-0, +5)

15) Miami (FL) (7-2, 3-2, +4)

16) South Carolina (7-2, 5-2, +4)

17) Oklahoma (7-2, 4-2, +3)
18) Louisville (8-1, 4-1, +3)
19) Ball State (9-1, 6-0, +3)

20) Oklahoma State (8-1, 5-1, +3)

21) Arizona State (7-2, 5-1, +3)
22) Washington (6-3, 3-3, +3)
23) Georgia (6-3, 4-2, +2)
24) Minnesota (8-2, 4-2, +1)

25) LSU (7-3, 3-3, 0)