Well that was a crazy weekend. Husker game aside, this was one of the best weeks of college football that I can remember, and there's plenty of movement in the rankings this week. Let's get after it:
Top 25:
AP Rank in parentheses
#1 Alabama (1)
#2 Oregon (2)
#3 South Carolina (3)
#4 Florida (4)
#5 Kansas State (6)
#6 Notre Dame (7)
#7 West Virginia (5)
#8 Ohio State (8)
#9 LSU (9)
#10 Oklahoma (13)
#11 Florida State (12)
#12 USC (11)
#13 Clemson (16)
#14 Georgia (14)
#15 Oregon State (10)
#16 Stanford (17)
#17 Texas (15)
#18 Mississippi State (19)
#19 Cincinnatti (21)
#20 Rutgers (20)
#21 Louisville (18)
#22 Louisiana Tech (23)
#23 Iowa State (NR)
#24 Boise State (24)
#25 Michigan (25)
*Alabama and Oregon both have minefields to navigate, but they appear to be the two best teams by far right now
*South Carolina goes to LSU this week and Florida next week, if they emerge from that gauntlet unscathed and they'll probably jump to #2
*Florida skyrockets up the polls while Georgia freefalls, this is a good year for the SEC East after being dominated by the SEC West recently
*Florida State is penalized for their loss more than LSU because of the nature of the opponent, but the 'Noles will have a much easier time climbing back into the top 5
*USC and Oklahoma quietly creep back up the rankings
*TCU falls from the polls after they were dominated at home by Iowa State
*Louisiana Tech is the leading contender to bust the BCS, especially if they beat Texas A&M this week and move to 6-0
*Michigan is the only two loss team here, because their two losses are to two top 10 teams; one was close, the other not so much. Denard Robinson will always look great against anything but the best defenses in the country
Big Ten:
Legends:
1. Michigan (3-2, 1-0)
2. Iowa (3-2, 1-0)
3. Northwestern (5-1, 1-1)
4. Michigan State (4-2, 1-1)
5. Nebraska (4-2, 1-1)
6. Minnesota (4-1, 0-1)
Leaders:
1. Ohio State (6-0, 2-0)
2. Penn State (4-2, 2-0)
3. Wisconsin (4-2, 1-1)
4. Purdue (3-2, 0-1)
5. Indiana (2-3, 0-2)
6. Illinois (2-4, 0-2)
Power Rankings:
1. Ohio State: The Buckeyes put an emphatic stamp on this ranking in the Horseshoe last weekend. Braxton Miller is the Big Ten's only Heisman contender left standing and for what it's worth, the Buckeyes are the only undefeated team in the conference.
2. Michigan: I give them the edge over Penn State because of the talent differential. The Wolverines were hurt by the losses to Alabama and Notre Dame, but they demolished Purdue on the road and now carry the torch for the Legends division.
3. Penn State: This team is figuring it out at the right time. They don't have a lot of talent, but they play harder than any team I've seen this year and you have to give it to Bill O'Brien, he's squeezing every last drop of ability he can out of his offense.
4. Nebraska: As bad as it got in Columbus Saturday night, the Huskers still possess more than enough ammunition to win this league, but can Bo swallow his pride and make the necessary bye week adjustments to get his defense on track?
5. Wisconsin: The Badgers looked good in their beat down of Illinois, and with Purdue's struggles, they're the clear frontrunner in the Leaders division. The Badgers can't afford any more chokes if they want to control their destiny.
6. Northwestern: The Wildcats couldn't hang late in their game with Penn State and the bubble finally popped on their perfect season. The Wildcats remain a darkhorse in the Legends race, but they're capable of surprises, ask Nebraska.
7. Michigan State: Credit the Spartans for the comeback, but there was no reason for them to be trailing lowly Indiana at any point of the game. Things are kinda shaky in East Lansing right now and it will be interesting to see how those things shake out.
8. Purdue: The Boilermakers were pathetic Saturday allowing Denard Robinson to dance all over them to the tune of 235 yards, and failing to score against the soft Michigan defense. The Boilermakers can't afford any more breakdowns if they want to go to Indy.
9. Iowa: The Hawkeyes come off the bye week and get a struggling Michigan State team in East Lansing. If Kirk Ferentz can pull off the upset, he just might salvage the pieces of a broken season.
10. Indiana: The Hoosiers get off the bottom with their strong showing against Michigan State last Saturday. The win would have been nice, but if the Hoosiers can parlay the momentum into a strong performance against Ohio State...there's a reason they call these letdown games.
11. Minnesota: The Gophers were off last week, and will try to catch Northwestern in a funk from their loss at Penn State.
12. Illinois: You couldn't write a worse opening act for new coach Tim Beckman. It get worse with a trip to Michigan this week.
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