Power Rankings - Sept. 14

1) Penn State (3-0, 1-0, +8) - Pretty coincidental that the same week it starts to look like the Big Ten is terrible and that Penn State could possibly win the conference the NCAA drops the Nittany Lions’ bowl ban, isn’t it?  

2) Texas A&M (3-0, 1-0, +7)

3) Oregon (3-0, 0-0, +7) - I’ve watched enough Oregon games to know not to panic when they end the first quarter down 7-0 at home to a Mountain West also ran.  The Ducks would go on to beat Wyoming 48-14, and in a week where every “good” team looked bad, that should be enough for them to maintain their no. 2 ranking, and probably steal a few more votes from idle Florida State, even though there should still be serious concerns about their defensive line.

On the other hand, Super-Mariota:

4) Florida State (2-0, 0-0, +4) - Florida State probably picked a good week to stay at home and watch TV, as the ACC was upset central, with Virginia Tech losing at home to the East Carolina Pirates (ARR!!) and Louisville losing on the road to the Virginia Cavaliers.  (Moral of the story: Men with swords > birds.  [Ducks excepted])  

I’m beginning to suspect that FSU’s strength of schedule could hurt their chances to make the Playoff.  There is only one team on their schedule that is both ranked and undefeated - #15 Notre Dame.  After that, their toughest opponents (by my rankings) are No. 23 North Carolina State, No. 32 Syracuse, No. 33 Florida, No. 40 Oklahoma State, No. 42 Boston College, No. 57 Virginia, No. 68 Louisville, No. 76 Miami (FL), No. 86 Clemson, No. 116 Wake Forest, FCS Citadel.  A lot can change - Clemson should rise eventually, although they play FSU next week - and Oklahoma State and Florida might do well in their respective conferences.  But I would bet right now that 12-1 Florida State does not make the playoffs.  

5) Brigham Young (3-0, 0-0, +4) - The media (read: ESPN) already seems all aflutter about the possibility of BYU being the first “bracket-busters”, and my reaction is: Wait ‘til it actually happens, fellas.  The only conceivable way the Cougars get in is if they run the table and, while they should be favored in every game they play, their schedule includes: versus Virginia (just beat Louisville, hung with UCLA), versus Utah State (not as good as last year, just beat Wake Forest) at Boise State (probably still best Mountain West team), versus Nevada (ask Boise State about them), at Cal (2-0 baby!).  As someone who had his hopes for a Boise State-Alabama championship dashed in 2010, believe me: 12-0 is easier said than done.  

6) Oklahoma (3-0, 0-0, +3)

7) Alabama (3-0, 0-0, +3)

8) Missouri (3-0, 0-0, +3) - Probably the biggest winner of the South Carolina-Georgia game - other than South Carolina, that it, is Missouri, who now sits pretty in the SEC East at 0-0.  The Tigers finish non-conference play next week against Indiana, and then play a stretch of at South Carolina, versus Georgia, at Florida.  If they can go 2-1 through that, their odds of repeating as SEC East champions should be pretty good.  And what would it mean for the SEC if, in 2014, its championship game is Texas A&M versus Missouri?

9) UCLA (3-0, 0-0, +3) - At one point on Saturday night, I had the odd experience of simultaneously watching UCLA and USC fail third and long conversions.  The Bruins managed to escape Texas 20-17 (the same Texas team that lost to BYU last week 41-7), but USC wasn’t as fortunate, losing at Boston College 31-37.  The Trojans’ loss could be really bad for the Pac-12, coming the week after they won at 2-time conference champion Stanford, creating the unfortunate equation of BC > USC > Stanford.  Even worse, USC could still easily win the Pac-12 South and get to the conference championship game.  That would be bad.  

10) Washington (3-0, 0-0, +3)

11) LSU (3-0, 0-0, +3)

12) Northern Illinois (3-0, 0-0, +3)

13) Arizona State (3-0, 1-0, +3)

14) Duke (3-0, 0-0, +3)

15) Notre Dame (3-0, 0-0, +3)

16) Arizona (3-0, 0-0, +3)

17) Nebraska (3-0, 0-0, +3) - Last week, while chronicling the woes of the Big Ten, I listed 6 key games for the conference this week.  Let’s see how the Legends and Leaders fared, shall we?

West Virginia 40, Maryland 37

Indiana 42, Bowling Green 45

Minnesota 7, TCU 30

Illinois 19, Washington 44

Purdue 14, Notre Dame 30

Nebraska 55, Fresno State 19

That’s a 1-5 record for the B1G, saved only by Cornhuskers’ thrashing of Fresno State.  After 3 weeks, there are now only 2 undefeated Big Ten teams.  

18) Mississippi (3-0, 0-0, +3)

19) Marshall (3-0, 0-0, +3)

20) Mississippi State (3-0, 0-0, +3)

21) Georgia Tech (3-0, 0-0, +3)

22) Pittsburgh (3-0, 1-0, +3)

23) North Carolina State (3-0, 0-0, +3)

24) Baylor (3-0, 0-0, +3)

25) TCU (2-0, 0-0, +3)