The Color & Pageantry Top 25

College Football

Top 25

1.     Alabama, 9-0, 1
2.     Florida State, 9-0, 2
3.     Ohio State, 9-0, 4
4.     Baylor, 8-0, 5
5.     Stanford, 8-1, 6
6.     Oregon, 8-1, 3
7.     Clemson, 8-1, 7
8.     Auburn, 9-1, 8
9.     Missouri, 9-1, 9
10.   Texas A&M, 8-2, 11
11.   South Carolina, 7-2, 12
12.   UCLA, 7-2, 15
13.   Oklahoma State, 8-1, 16
14.   Louisiana State, 7-3, 10
15.   Central Florida, 7-1, 17
16.   Arizona State, 7-2, 18
17.   Wisconsin, 7-2, 19
18.   Michigan State, 8-1, 20
19.   Louisville, 8-1, 21
20.   Texas, 7-2, NR
21.   Oklahoma, 7-2, 14
22.   Fresno State, 9-0, 24
23.   Northern Illinois, 9-0, 23
24.   Minnesota, 8-2, NR
25.   Georgia, 6-3, NR

OUT:  Miami (13), Texas Tech (22) and Notre Dame (25).

VOTES:  Miami, Mississippi, Nebraska, Duke, Southern Cal, Virginia Tech, Washington, Brigham Young and Notre Dame.

NATIONAL ANALYSIS:

High flying Oregon was dominated on both lines of scrimmage at Stanford, and was removed from the ranks of the unbeaten in eye popping fashion, as moving forward voters will likely note the major area of weakness the Quack Attack would have against teams with a high degree of physicality, such as Alabama...Miami, demoralized after a humiliating loss at rival FSU, took a slumping Virginia Tech lightly, and the visiting Hokies, who consider the Canes a big rival, turned Hurricane miscues into touchdowns in a driving rain storm to amass almost 600 yards of offense in thrashing Miami.....Vanderbilt, who has not won in Gainseville since 1945, won easily over the seemingly inept Gators, and the level of collapse of the Gators, with the stellar resources they have, is simply stunning....In what may turn out to be Johnny Manziel's final home game for the Texas Aggies, although Miss. State put up 41, it was nor enough to outscore the Aggies....Duke is 7-2 controlling their own destiny in the ACC Coastal, roughing up NC State...Wisconsin handled a decent BYU squad...Arizona State pulled out a win at Utah...Minnesota is now 8-2 after winning at Penn State....Oklahoma State continues to roll wth Texas, Baylor and OUT yet to come....Texas survived at West Virginia.....UCF got a big home victory over Houston, perhaps their biggest challenge to winning the AAC.....Pitt upset Notre Dame.....UCLA was a road dog but got by Arizona behind the outstanding play of freshman linebacker Myles Jack, who in addition to leading the way defensively, played tailback and gained 120 yards with a 66 yard touchdown scamper.....Fresno State walloped Wyoming in Laramie....Alabama took control in the second half to dispose of LSU, a big hurdle along the way to the SEC Championship game....USC crushed Cal and is playing well right now....Auburn is really playing well, bombing Tennessee at Rocky Top, where the Vols have been decent.

FLORIDA STATE ANALYSIS:

Florida State went on the road at Wake Forest, a place in recent years which has troubled the Seminoles, but behind an attacking defense, which forced an assortment of turnovers, the game was no contest as Florida State rolled 59-3.  The defense was smothering, handcuffing Wake at every turn. Wake tossed 6 interceptions, three of which were returned for scores, and fumbled away a score as well.  Mario Edwards JR, Christian Jones, Nate Andrews and Jalen Ramsey each had big plays in the dominating effort.  Jameis Winston and the Seminole offensive unit methodically took the opening drive for a touchdown but due to the upheaval created by the defense, the offense never got into a rhythm and statistically, it was sort of a lost day.  But with Fisher, it is all about the process, playing every down like the scored is zero to zero, but with Wake dismantled in such dramatic fashion, it was hard for the Seminole offense to remain focused.  A lot of youngsters got some much needed playing time, particularly the backup O-line and signal caller Jacob Coker, who did not play particularly well. With Oregon losing, Florida State controls its own destiny for a chance to play for the national championship.  FSU will be favored by over 30 in two remaining home games, and then will be heavily favored at Florida, who is struggling mightily but is a hated rival game.  Then, it will take a victory in the ACC title game, another game FSU will be two touchdown or more favorites.  Stay with the process, and it should all come to pass.  Put a smile on your face.

NEBRASKA ANALYSIS:

Under Michigan Coach Brady Hoke, the Wolverines had not lost at home, until Nebraska rolled in on Saturday. Michigan is a flawed team, but they were favorites over a Cornhusker team with a injured offense and a very shaky defense.  However, something happened defensively mid game against Northwestern last week; the light bulb came on.  Nebraska shut down Northwestern, particularly on third down, and carried this dominance to Ann Arbor.  Nebraska clamped down on Michigan big time, holding Michigan to -21 rushing, swarming the quarterback and turning in a defensive effort for the ages in front of the Big House crowd of 112,000.  Soph DE Randy Gregory is an emerging All America player, and with a national television audience watching, he had three sacks and was a disruptive force all day.  Several players had strong performances, including Avery Curry, Michael Rose and Zaire Anderson, who although we expected him to have a big year, had been a non factors thus far.  The defense has arrived, particularly in the front seven.  There is work to do against teams that spread the ball, but against teams with offenses like Michigan and Michigan State, it is advantage Big Red.  Tommy Armstrong had what I consider his best game, perhaps not statistically, but in terms of managing the game and making plays when they needed to be made.  Armstrong made two killer plays on the final 14 play, 75 yard game winning drive.  Ameer Abdullah, who is the heart and soul of this team, continues to shine, perhaps making a legit case for All America honors.  The offensive line, down two starters coming in and losing another mid game, stepped up big time and deserve a boat load of credit.  WR Kenny Bell, limited with a hamstring injury, broke loose on a 4th and 2 pass for a big gian setting up Abdullah and the winning score. Although Pelini may have his job on the line, since the debacle at Minnesota, the team has decided to fight with everything they have, signaling they are behind their coach.  Good.  Michgan State comes to Lincoln as road favorites on Saturday, with the Legends Division probably on the line, but given what I am seeing, I will take the Big Red and the points with a high degree of confidence.  GBR!