My Top 25 - Sept. 28

1) Texas A&M (5-0, 2-0, +13)

2) Oregon (4-0, 1-0, +8)

3) Florida State (4-0, 2-0, +8)

4) Mississippi State (4-0, 1-0, +7)

5) UCLA (4-0, 1-0, +7)

6) Stanford (3-1, 1-1, +6)

7) Brigham Young (4-0, 0-0, +5)

8) Nebraska (5-0, 1-0, +5)

9) Arkansas (3-2, 0-2, +4)

10) Oklahoma (4-0, 1-0, +4)

11) Alabama (4-0, 1-0, +4)

12) Marshall (4-0, 0-0, +4)

13) Georgia Tech (4-0, 1-0, +4)

14) Arizona (4-0, 1-0, +4)

15) Notre Dame (4-0, 0-0, +4)

16) Mississippi (4-0, 0-0, +4)

17) Baylor (4-0, 1-0, +4)

18) TCU (3-0, 0-0, +4)

19) Auburn (4-0, 1-0, +4)

20) Penn State (4-1, 1-1, +3)

21) North Carolina State (4-1, 0-1, +3)

22) Rutgers (4-1, 0-1, +3)

23) USC (3-1, 2-0, +3)

24) Oklahoma State (3-1, 1-0, +2)

25) East Carolina (3-1, 0-0, +1)

Georgia (3-1, 1-1, +1)

Iowa (4-1, 1-0, +1)

Florida (2-1, 1-1, 0)

LSU (4-1, 0-1, 0)

California (3-1, 1-1, 0)

Michigan State (3-1, 0-0, 0)

Arizona State (3-1, 1-1, -1)

Louisiana-Monroe (3-1, 2-0, -1)

Wisconsin (3-1, 0-0, -1)

Washington (4-1, 0-1, -2)

Duke (4-1, 0-1, -2)

West Virginia (2-2, 0-1, -2)

Kansas (2-1, 0-0, -2)

Missouri (4-1, 1-0, -2)

Virginia (3-2, 1-0, -2)

Nevada (3-1, 1-0, -2)

Minnesota (4-1, 1-0, -2)

Maryland (4-1, 1-0, -2)

Louisville (4-1, 2-1, -2)

Oregon State (3-1, 0-1, -3)

Utah (3-1, 0-1, -3)

South Carolina (3-2, 2-2, -3)

Illinois (3-2, 0-1, -3)

Northern Illinois (3-1, 0-0, -3)

Akron (2-2, 0-0, -3)

Kansas State (3-1, 1-0, -3)

Kentucky (3-1, 1-1, -3)

Ohio State (3-1, 0-0, -3)

Colorado State (3-1, 0-1, -3)

Air Force (3-1, 1-0, -3)

Temple (3-1, 1-0, -3)

Northwestern (2-2, 1-0, -3)

Wyoming (3-2, 1-0, -4)

Cincinnati (2-1, 0-0, -4)

Boston College (3-2, 0-1, -4)

Miami (FL) (3-2, 1-1, -4)

Memphis (2-2, 0-0, -5)

Virginia Tech (3-2, 0-1, -5)

Clemson (2-2, 1-1, -5)

Indiana (2-2, 0-1, -6)

Houston (2-2, 0-0, -6)

Toledo (3-2, 2-0, -6)

Tennessee (2-2, 0-1, -7)

Syracuse (2-2, 0-0, -8)

Texas (1-2, 0-0, -8)

Pittsburgh (3-2, 1-0, -9)

Old Dominion (3-2, 1-1, -9)

Boise State (3-2, 1-1, -9)

UCF (1-2, 0-0, -9)

Middle Tennessee (3-2, 2-0, -9)

Bowling Green (3-2, 1-0, -9)

Ohio (3-2, 1-0, -9)

Buffalo (3-2, 1-0, -9)

Georgia Southern (3-2, 2-0, -9)

North Carolina (2-2, 0-1, -10)

Texas Tech (2-2, 0-1, -10)

UAB (2-2, 0-1, -10)

UTEP (2-2, 0-0, -10)

Western Michigan (2-2, 0-0, -10)

Utah State (2-2, 0-0, -10)

Arkansas State (2-2, 0-0, -10)

North Texas (2-2, 0-1, -10)

Texas State (2-2, 0-0, -10)

South Alabama (2-2, 1-1, -10)

San Diego State (2-2, 1-0, -10)

Western Kentucky (2-2, 0-1, -10)

Washington State (2-3, 1-1, -10)

Louisiana Tech (2-3, 1-0, -11)

Iowa State (1-3, 0-2, -12)

Rice (1-3, 1-1, -12)

Florida Atlantic (2-3, 1-0, -12)

Navy (2-3, 0-0, -13)

San Jose State (1-3, 0-1, -13)

Tulsa (1-3, 1-0, -13)

Purdue (2-3, 0-1, -13)

Southern Miss (2-3, 0-1, -13)

Georgia State (1-3, 0-1, -13)

Colorado (2-3, 0-2, -14)

Fresno State (2-3, 1-0, -14)

Michigan (2-3, 0-1, -15)

New Mexico (1-3, 0-1, -15)

Hawaii (1-3, 0-0, -15)

UTSA (1-3, 0-1, -16)

Central Michigan (2-3, 0-1, -16)

New Mexico State (2-3, 1-0, -16)

South Florida (2-3, 1-0, -16)

Wake Forest (2-3, 0-1, -16)

Louisiana-Lafayette (1-3, 0-0, -16)

Florida International (2-3, 1-0, -16)

Army (1-3, 0-0, -17)

Appalachian State (1-3, 0-1, -17)

Ball State (1-3, 0-1, -17)

Eastern Michigan (1-3, 0-0, -17)

SMU (0-4, 0-0, -18)

Tulane (1-4, 0-1, -20)

UNLV (1-4, 0-1, -21)

Connecticut (1-4, 0-2, -23)

Vanderbilt (1-4, 0-3, -23)

Idaho (0-4, 0-2, -24)

Kent State (0-4, 0-1, -24)

Massachusetts (0-5, 0-1, -25)

Troy (0-5, 0-1, -28)

Miami (OH) (0-5, 0-1, -30)

Power Rankings - Sept. 21

1) Penn State (4-0, 1-0, +9) - Everybody kind of looked bad on Saturday.  Except for Penn State, who won their game 48-7.  Of course, that’s probably because they were playing UMass, who is ranked 126th out of 128 FBS teams, Penn State has had it pretty easy so far this year, and, even though they still have to play Michigan, Ohio State, and Michigan State, let’s face it, that’s not the most daunting task at this point.  According to my rankings, they’ve already beaten their toughest opponent of the year - Rutgers.  

2) Texas A&M (4-0, 1-0, +8)

3) Oregon (4-0, 1-0, +8) - The Ducks had some serious problems in their first road game of the season, eventually holding on to beat Washington State, 38-31.  The offensive line, which featured a true freshman at right tackle and a walk-on at left tackle, allowed Marcus Mariota to be sacked 7 times.  And Washington State’s air raid offense was able to take advantage of the Ducks’ defensive deficiencies.  Oregon prides itself on forcing turnovers, and is willing to sacrifice yards in exchange for takeaways, but Washington State quarterback Connor Halliday managed to throw 43/63 for 436 yards, 4 TDs, and (most importantly) 0 INTs.  Still, the Ducks won, and get next week off to prepare for a Thursday night home and (hopefully) revenge game against Arizona.  That begins the meat of the Ducks schedule, who go the rest of the year  vs. #17 Arizona, at #18 UCLA, vs. #10 Washington, at #41 California, vs. #31 Stanford, at #25 Utah, vs. #88 Colorado, at #24 Oregon State.  Obviously, these rankings will change as the Pac-12 teams beat up on each other, but there are no gimmes on that list, and that’s the “easy” conference schedule, as it avoids both USC and Arizona State!

Here, I googled highlights of the Oregon-Washington State game, and found this for you:

In a related note, rugby players suffer from concussions at a much lower rate than American football players.  The reason, according to this article from Yahoo Sports, is that, unlike U.S. players, rugby players are taught not to lead tackles with their heads:

Rugby's contact rules are centered around the wrap tackle. A tackler can't just slam into the ballcarrier. He has to wrap his arms around and bring him to the ground. Tackling around the neck or head is illegal. Tackling low -- around the ankles or knees -- is fine, but because you have to wrap up, you're not barreling into a player’s knees and causing injuries the way a roll block in football can.Without helmets (some rugby players wear padded hats that are a little like football helmets from the 1920s, all they do is prevent scrapes), rugby players are taught from an early age to get their head to the side, and make contact with the shoulder. Cheek-to-cheek is the coach's joke, with the tackler’s cheek up against a ballcarrier's butt-cheek.

4) Mississippi State (4-0, 1-0, +7) - Mississippi State’s 34-29 win at AP No. 8 LSU was one of the most fun games of the entire day yesterday.  The Bulldogs got out to a big lead, 17-3 at the half and 34-10 in the fourth quarter behind the rushing of Josh Robinson (16 carries for 197 yards) and Dak Prescott (22 carries for 105 yards).   Then, with Death Valley mostly empty, the Tigers started a crazy 4th quarter comeback, inspired largely by their defense, who stopped Mississippi State twice on fourth down and forced a fumble.  LSU was able to drive to the Mississippi State’s 46 yard line, but their last second Hail Mary was intercepted.  (Unlike someone else’s last second Hail Mary!  See below.)  

In unrelated news, did you know that Mississippi State is the home of the Ulysses S. Grant presidential library, and its 31 volumes of his letters?  The more you know.  

5) Florida State (3-0, 1-0, +5) - FSU needed two missed Clemson field goals and a forced fumble on Clemson’s last drive of regulation to beat the Tigers in overtime, 23-17.  And no, Florida State, you get no credit for suspending Jameis Winston for a game for lewd comments when last year you gave him exactly 0 suspensions while he was the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation into rape allegations.    

6) Brigham Young (4-0, 0-0, +5)

7) Arkansas (3-1, 0-1, +5) - Here are my rankings for the SEC West teams as of this morning, September 21, 2014: 2, 4, 7, 9, 20, 23, 40.  For those of you at home, that’s six of seven teams in the top 25, and four in the top ten.  I root against the SEC; I am not biased against them.  (The SEC East, on the other hand, is kind of a hot mess right now.)

8) Oklahoma (4-0, 1-0, +4)

9) Alabama (4-0, 1-0, +4) - I know I do this every year, but I am still not ready to pencil Alabama in to the playoff bracket.  And, by that, I mean that I am not ready to pencil Alabama in as the SEC champion yet.  The Crimson Tide looked really sloppy in the first half against Florida until they buckled down, turning a game that was tied 21-21 in the third quarter into a 42-21 win.  

10) Washington (4-0, 0-0, +4)

11) Arizona State (4-0, 2-0, +4)

12) Duke (4-0, 0-0, +4)

13) Nebraska (4-0, 0-0, +4)

14) Marshall (4-0, 0-0, +4)

15) Georgia Tech (4-0, 1-0, +4)

16) North Carolina State (4-0, 0-0, +4)

17) Arizona (4-0, 1-0, +4) - Going into the fourth quarter at home against California, the Arizona Wildcats trailed 31-13.  They then proceeded to score an astounding 36 points in the fourth quarter, scoring touchdowns on five consecutive drives, to pull off the 49-45 win, including this hail mary touchdown with three seconds left on the clock:

It’s a heartbreaking loss for Cal, but don’t feel bad for the Golden Bears.  At 2-1, they’ve already doubled their win total from all of last season.  Although this was their 15th consecutive Pac-12 loss, they are improving by leaps and bounds. They could put a stop to that streak next week, when they get Colorado at home.  

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

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

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

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

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

23) Auburn (3-0, 1-0, +3) - In retrospect, this is much too low for Auburn, especially considering that they’ve already beaten my number seven team, Arkansas, by three touchdowns earlier in the season.  Right now, my system is overvaluing Arkansas’ wins over Texas Tech and Northern Illinois, while counting its loss to Auburn as a “good” loss.  On the flip side, Auburn’s 20-14 win at Kansas State on Thursday night is probably being undervalued.  Of course, that was a game that the Tigers had no business winning in the first place, needing two missed K-State field goals and two timely turnovers to pull it off.  Seriously, Auburn has had so much luck over the past two seasons in winning all of those “50-50” plays, all the tipped balls and tackles missed by a hair, that they’re either truly blessed, or about to have a serious regression to the mean of luck soon.  

I mean, watch this play at 1:10:

24) Oregon State (3-0, 0-0, +3)

25) Utah (3-0, 0-0, +3)

My Top 25 - Sept. 21

1) Penn State (4-0, 1-0, +9)

2) Texas A&M (4-0, 1-0, +8)

3) Oregon (4-0, 1-0, +8)

4) Mississippi State (4-0, 1-0, +7)

5) Florida State (3-0, 1-0, +5)

6) Brigham Young (4-0, 0-0, +5)

7) Arkansas (3-1, 0-1, +5)

8) Oklahoma (4-0, 1-0, +4)

9) Alabama (4-0, 1-0, +4)

10) Washington (4-0, 0-0, +4)

11) Arizona State (4-0, 2-0, +4)

12) Duke (4-0, 0-0, +4)

13) Nebraska (4-0, 0-0, +4)

14) Marshall (4-0, 0-0, +4)

15) Georgia Tech (4-0, 1-0, +4)

16) North Carolina State (4-0, 0-0, +4)

17) Arizona (4-0, 1-0, +4)
18) UCLA (3-0, 0-0, +3)

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

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

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

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

23) Auburn (3-0, 1-0, +3)

24) Oregon State (3-0, 0-0, +3)

25) Utah (3-0, 0-0, +3)

South Carolina (3-1, 2-1, +3)

Rutgers (3-1, 0-1, +2)

Wyoming (3-1, 1-0, +2)

Cincinnati (2-0, 0-0, +2)

Boston College (3-1, 0-1, +2)

USC (2-1, 1-0, +1)

Stanford (2-1, 0-1, +1)

Oklahoma State (2-1, 0-0, +1)

East Carolina (3-1, 0-0, +1)

Florida (2-1, 1-1, 0)

Georgia (2-1, 0-1, 0)

Illinois (3-1, 0-0, 0)

Iowa (3-1, 0-0, 0)

Indiana (2-1, 0-0, 0)

LSU (3-1, 0-1, -1)

California (2-1, 0-1, -1)

Tennessee (2-1, 0-0, -1)

Michigan State (2-1, 0-0, -1)

Memphis (2-1, 0-0, -1)

West Virginia (2-2, 0-1, -2)

Louisiana-Monroe (2-1, 1-0, -2)

Kansas (2-1, 0-0, -2)

Wisconsin (2-1, 0-0, -2)

Missouri (3-1, 0-0, -3)

Northern Illinois (3-1, 0-0, -3)

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

Virginia (2-2, 1-0, -3)

Nevada (2-1, 0-0, -3)

Minnesota (3-1, 0-0, -3)

Maryland (3-1, 0-0, -3)

Louisville (3-1, 1-1, -3)

Old Dominion (3-1, 1-0, -3)

Boise State (3-1, 1-0, -3)

Akron (1-2, 0-0, -4)

North Carolina (2-1, 0-0, -4)

Kansas State (2-1, 1-0, -4)

Syracuse (2-1, 0-0, -4)

Texas Tech (2-1, 0-0, -4)

Kentucky (2-1, 0-1, -4)

Ohio State (2-1, 0-0, -4)

Colorado State (2-1, 0-1, -4)

UAB (2-1, 0-0, -4)

Air Force (2-1, 0-0, -4)

UTEP (2-1, 0-0, -4)

Temple (2-1, 0-0, -4)

Western Michigan (2-1, 0-0, -4)

Louisiana Tech (2-2, 1-0, -6)

Virginia Tech (2-2, 0-1, -6)

Clemson (1-2, 0-1, -6)

Houston (2-2, 0-0, -6)

Navy (2-2, 0-0, -7)

San Jose State (1-2, 0-0, -7)

Tulsa (1-2, 1-0, -7)

Iowa State (1-2, 0-1, -7)

Toledo (2-2, 1-0, -7)

Purdue (2-2, 0-0, -7)

Southern Miss (2-2, 0-0, -7)

Miami (FL) (2-2, 0-1, -8)

Texas (1-2, 0-0, -8)

Colorado (2-2, 0-1, -8)

Michigan (2-2, 0-0, -9)

UCF (1-2, 0-0, -9)

New Mexico (1-2, 0-0, -9)

Northwestern (1-2, 0-0, -9)

UTSA (1-2, 0-0, -10)

Central Michigan (2-2, 0-0, -10)

New Mexico State (2-2, 1-0, -10)

Middle Tennessee (2-2, 1-0, -10)

Bowling Green (2-2, 0-0, -10)

Utah State (2-2, 0-0, -10)

Ohio (2-2, 1-0, -10)

Buffalo (2-2, 0-0, -10)

Arkansas State (2-2, 0-0, -10)

South Florida (2-2, 1-0, -10)

North Texas (2-2, 0-1, -10)

Wake Forest (2-2, 0-0, -10)

Georgia Southern (2-2, 1-0, -10)

Texas State (1-2, 0-0, -11)

South Alabama (1-2, 0-1, -11)

Army (1-2, 0-0, -11)

San Diego State (1-2, 0-0, -11)

Appalachian State (1-2, 0-0, -11)

Western Kentucky (1-2, 0-1, -11)

Washington State (1-3, 0-1, -12)

Rice (0-3, 0-1, -13)

Florida Atlantic (1-3, 0-0, -13)

Georgia State (1-3, 0-1, -13)

SMU (0-3, 0-0, -13)

Tulane (1-3, 0-1, -14)

UNLV (1-3, 0-0, -15)

Hawaii (1-3, 0-0, -15)

Fresno State (1-3, 0-0, -15)

Louisiana-Lafayette (1-3, 0-0, -16)

Connecticut (1-3, 0-1, -17)

Ball State (1-3, 0-1, -17)

Eastern Michigan (1-3, 0-0, -17)

Florida International (1-3, 0-0, -17)

Vanderbilt (1-3, 0-2, -17)

Idaho (0-3, 0-1, -18)

Kent State (0-3, 0-1, -18)

Massachusetts (0-4, 0-0, -19)

Troy (0-4, 0-0, -22)

Miami (OH) (0-4, 0-0, -24)