Top 25

College Football

Top 25

1. Louisiana State, 12-0, 1
2. Alabama, 11-1, 2
3. Oklahoma State, 10-1, 4
4. Virginia Tech, 11-1, 5
5. Arkansas, 10-2, 3
6. Stanford, 11-1, 6
7. Wisconsin, 10-2, 9
8. Michigan State, 10-2, 7
9. Kansas State, 9-2, 8
10. Southern Cal, 10-2, 12
11. Oregon, 10-2, 10
12. Oklahoma, 10-2, 11
13. South Carolina, 10-2, 13
14. Georgia, 10-2, 14
15. Boise State, 11-1, 15
16. Houston, 12-0, 16
17. Michigan, 10-2, 17
18. Texas Christian, 9-2, 18
19. Baylor, 8-3, 20
20. Nebraska, 9-3, 21
21. Clemson, 9-3, 19
22. Notre Dame, 8-4, 24
23. Florida State, 8-4, NR
24. Texas, 7-4, NR
25. West Virginia, 8-3, NR

OUT: Penn State (22), Virginia (23), Georgia Tech (25)

VOTES: Virginia, Penn State, Texas A&M, Georgia Tech, Cincinnati, Auburn, Missouri, Washington, BYU, Iowa State, Vanderbilt, Wyoming and Southern Miss.

For the fist time since 1984, Kentucky defeated Tennessee, who has really fallen off. Coach Dooley is a great guy, but he better get to work quick, for seasons like this will not be tolerated in ole Rocky Top....Georgia is really hitting stride while winning the SEC East, but they don't appear to have what it takes to stop mighty LSU....Mississippi State clobbered Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl, and the Rebels completely imploded in 2011 going 2-10....Not ready to throw in the towel on UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel, but time is running out and a big time signal caller would be highly recommended.....Dennis Erickson appears out at Arizona State, and Ron Zook at Illinois is reportedly out....George O'Leary at UCF should consider himself fortunate to remain after dismal 2011....Bob Davie, of ESPN and formerly head coach at Notre Dame, has been hired at New Mexico. Davie is good coach, and I think he will do well for the Lobos and wish him the all best....Speaking of hires, Rich Rod has landed at Arizona, which if he can get his offense going out there could be real interesting....Urban Meyer, who left Florida in the wake of a health issue to spend more time with his family and promptly traveled the country with his ESPN family covering games, is rumored to having accepted the Ohio State job. Although Meyer denies it, he did skip his scheduled assignment covering Ohio State at Michigan on Saturday, cementing his hiring. Meyer seems like a good guy, just one who skirts the truth frequently. And have you seen the talent he left at Florida, a place SI writer Dan Jenkins called the easiest recruiting sale in America. Meanwhile, current OSU interim Coach Luke Fickell did a fine job this season if you ask me.....Oh, and did we mention it looks like the Gators and the Buckeyes in the Gator Bowl?.....Virginia Tech steamrolled Virginia, and will punish Clemson next week in the ACC title game. Shame on FSU for failing to get to this game......RGIII lit up Texas Tech until being knocked out by concussion....Alabama punished Auburn, while LSU rolled it up on a good Arkansas team...The USC Trojans seem the top of the PAC 12 class, blasting UCLA 50-0 last night, but are on probation. The Matt Barkley to Robert Woods combo will by dynamite in 2012 if both return.....Vanderbilt bombed Wake Forest, while Clemson dove further in the tank by being dismantled by South Carolina....Miami, while extending Al Golden for four years, took it on the chin in a home loss to a pedestrian Boston College.

On Friday, Nebraska did everything right they did wrong a week ago in an embarrassing loss at Michigan by smothering Iowa 20-7 at Lincoln on Friday. The Blackshirts were strong, and a heavy dose of Rex Burkhead was too much for the visiting Hawkeyes. Nebraska can play well, but far too often in 2011 there were significant lapses in offensive, defensive and special team performances which led to historically uncharacteristic losses through the season. For NU to move back into the elite, this will need to be corrected. Even so, Coach Pelini has now won a minimum of 9 games in each of his first four seasons, a far improvement from the Callahan era. Tom Shatel at The Omaha World Herald has more on the state of Pelini and the 'Huskers.

At Gainesville, the Florida State offense was nothing short of offensive, however, a stellar defensive effort gave FSU all they needed in physically pounding Florida 21-7. The Seminoles knocked eight Gators players out of the game, intercepted four passes, one of which a pic six, and sent the Gators for a 14 yards loss on a 4th and inches to secure the defensive dominance. The Gators defense was stout also, and the unimaginative Seminole offensive play calling did nothing to attempt to counter the Gator strength. As evidence, approximately 42 dive plays for 21 yards was idiotic. FSU, a once proud offensive football team, is lethargic at best. There is much work to do on this side of the ball, but the defense and special teams were outstanding last night, leading FSU to a dominant victory in the swamp. For the second straight season, FSU is State Champs.