The Color & Pageantry Top 25

College Football

Top 25

1.      Florida State, 12-0, 1
2.      Alabama, 11-1, 2
3.      Oregon, 11-1, 3
4.      Texas Christian, 10-1, 5
5.      Baylor, 10-1, 5
6.      Ohio State, 11-1, 7
7.      Arizona, 10-2, 12
8.      Michigan State, 10-2, 10
9.      Georgia Tech, 10-2, 15
10.    Kansas State, 9-2, 11
11.    Mississippi State, 10-2, 4
12.    Wisconsin, 10-2, 13
13.    Missouri, 10-2, 17
14.    Mississippi, 9-3, 17
15.    Georgia, 9-3, 8
16.    Oklahoma, 8-3, 18
17.    UCLA, 9-3, 9
18.    Arizona State, 9-3, 15
19.    Louisville, 9-3, 18
20.    Auburn, 8-4, 14
21.    Clemson, 9-3, 23
22.    Minnesota, 8-4, 22
23.    Nebraska, 9-3, NR
24.    Louisiana State, 8-4, NR
25.    Southern Cal, 8-4, NR

OUT: Arkansas (20), Colorado State (24) and Marshall (25).

VOTES:  Boise State, Arkansas, Utah, Duke, Stanford, Colorado State, Texas A&M, Washington and Iowa.

NATIONAL ANALYSIS

The Texas Longhorns played tough, but were lacking at quarterback and were unable to hold Texas Christian at from blasting the Horns at Austin.....Louisiana State shut down Texas A&M at College Station, and got a Herschel Walker style smash mouth run while running over the Aggies.....UCLA once again failed on a big stage, getting controlled by at home by Stanford, culminating a most disappointing regular season for the Bruins....UCF smothered cross state rival South Florida...Houston bombed SMU who finished 0-11 and should be phoning Mack Brown immediately....Marshall fell from the unbeaten losing a track meet to Western Kentucky, whose quarterback tossed eight touchdown passes in losing 67-66....Missouri got a home win over a surging Arkansas, and will represent the SEC East for the second consecutive season in the SEC Championship game....Arizona, who had the longest drought in gaining a PAC 12 division title, won at home against Arizona State.....Air Force upset Colorado State....Virginia could not take out offensively challenged Va. Tech, who will extend their bowl streak to 22 years....Clemson finally was able to defeat South Carolina....Georgia Tech won at Georgia, a huge wins for the Jackets....Louisville held off a very much improved Kentucky team.....West Virginia came from behind to knock out Iowa State.....Michigan played strong, but fell at Ohio State, and while the Buckeyes march on, they have lost standout QB J. T. Barrett, who broke an ankle late.  Michigan QB Devin Gardner showed some real class in consoling Barrett during the game.....Illinois won at Northwestern, and is bowl eligible while Indiana held off Purdue....North Carolina State blasted North Carolina, who showed signs in beating Duke of what could have been, but this loss to the Wolfpack, at home, is troubling....Boston College handled Syracuse....Utah won late at Colorado, a team that is heading in the right direction....Southern Cal mauled an injury riddled Notre Dame....New Big Ten league members squared off, and Maryland lost a huge lead and the game to Rutgers....Baylor held off Texas Tech 48-46, which in comparison to TCU, who put up 80 on TT, looks bad.....K State blasted instate rival Kansas....Memphis is 9-3, and a better team than you might think....Tennessee survived s big effort from Vanderbilt.....BYU won at Cal, who did put up numbers on occasion.....Duke held off Wake Forest.....Pitt went down to Miami and dismantled the Hurricanes, and questions must be presented on the status of Al Golden, who is not leading the Canes to where they aspire to be....Auburn got up on Alabama 33-21, but then BAMA turned up the heat and won the Iron Bowl going away 55-44 behind Lane Kiffin's wide open offense, although it is note the Crimson Tide does not stop folks like they ised to...Oregon mauled Oregon State in the Civil War, serving some notice....Washington beat Wazzu in the Apple Cup....Boise State beat a tough but injured Utah State team.

NEBRASKA ANALYSIS

Another dismal beginning for Nebraska at Iowa as the Cornhuskers fell behind 24-7 behind miscues, penalties and failed execution. Nebraska was able to stabilize the situation, and got some big plays from Ameer Abdullah to find themselves in position to compete for the win. Tommy Armstrong found Tariq Allen alone in the end zone for a score, Kenny Bell caught a 32 yard touchdown and Demornay Pierson-El returned a punt 80 yards for a touchdown helping the Huskers claw back.  The Huskers took the lead on Pierson-El's punt return, but were unable to stop a pedestrian Iowa as the Hawkeyes scored a touchdown and took the lead with limited time remaining, but the Big Red came down and got a field goal as time expired.  In overtime, Iowa got a field goal.  Nebraska would win with a touchdown.  Tommy Armstrong scrambled out from the nine yard line to find senior Kenny Bell for the score right at the goal line.  The comeback matched the largest in school history.  It was a big win for Nebraska, but the Cornhuskers should have never found itself in the position to come storming back against Iowa.  The game was similar to many others; games that come down to the wire.  Many times, poor execution, penalties and  bad play calling led Nebraska to find itself tested, and defeated, by teams inferior to Nebraska. Saturday at Iowa City was no different, but standout individual plays saved the day.  Was the win at Iowa enough to save Bo Pelini's job; no it was not as Pelini was terminated earlier this morning. Sadly, this was the right decision. Pelini is a good man and good football coach, but Nebraska continued to lose relevancy and should demand more out of the traditionally proud football program than the gridiron company currently being kept.  Please key an eye out for a future singular post on this subject.  GBR!

FLORIDA STATE ANALYSIS

With the arch rival Florida Gators coming to town, with a bulging chest of confidence playing their last game for terminated coach Will Muschamp, you would think the Seminoles would recognize the importance of jumping on the one dimensional Gators early.  Once again, following a disappointing pattern, FSU fell behind 9-0 after a series of miscues,and turnovers.  It is worth noting that the Seminole defensive unit stood tall, forcing the Gators to kick field goals, whichmay have cost the Gators. Jamies Winston, the 2013 Heisman Trophy winner, played a miserable game, tossing four interceptions helping dig the Seminoles into a huge hole.  With the Gators threatening yet again, Terrance Smith picked off a deflected pass and returned it over 90 yards for a score to cut it to 9-7 Florida.  FSU then gained some form, with Nick O'Leary getting loose, and got a 21-9 lead, and the rout was about to on.  But, off a turnover in the kicking game, the Gators got a touchdown just before the half to cut the lead.  The Gators have always played stellar defense, and they made Winston look very ordinary most of the day.  If not for Dalvin Cook, the FSU freshman running back who looks awful special, running wild, FSU may have lost.  But would they have?  No.  This team is resilient, and finds a way to win with few peers.  FSU surrendered a field goal to Florida, but got one from Roberto Aguayo to extend the lead to more than field goal. FSU looked very poor on many levels, and champion caliber on others during the day, but at the end of the day, Florida State won again against arch rival Florida, owns the state having defeated the Hurricanes five times in a row and the Gators four out of the last five times.  FSU has now won 28 times in a row, with elite company of teams to reach this goal post WWII.  FSU now faces Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship game, which will be a difficult task against a well coached team.  If FSU wins, they will be in the playoff and will have time to fix the many issues they have.  Congratulations to Coach Fisher and the seniors who have helped FSU get back to the highest level in college football.  Haters will have to wait.  The Seminoles remain unconquered.