Sunday, November 24, 2013

College Football Power Rankings

 1. Alabama The Tide rolled to yet another victory, winning 49-0 over FCS Chattanooga, with 160 yards rushing from T.J. Yeldon.
2. Florida State Jameis Winston and the Seminoles jumped to a 42-7 halftime lead over Idaho quickly and then continued to thump the Vandals, putting up 80 points, even without Winston playing much.
3. Ohio State The Buckeyes got great news this weekend when Baylor got throttled by Oklahoma State in Stillwater, but will need to win out and need Alabama or FSU to slip up in order to sneak into the title game.
4. Auburn When the season began, few could have seen this next week's Iron Bowl meaning that much. The Tigers were coming off a 3-9 year and the Tide had won two straight national championships but thanks to Nick Marshall, who is starting to remind Auburns fans of Cam Newton it has huge implications.
5. Clemson After their 37 point loss to Florida State, the Tigers have responded very well, putting up 40 or more in their next four wins. But, South Carolina awaits, a team they have yet to beat in the Tajh Boyd era.
6. Missouri The early return of senior quarterback James Franklin, who separated his shoulder and was thought to be out for the year, is huge as the Tigers need a win this week against Texas A&M to clinch the SEC East.
7. Oklahoma State A team that many overlooked after their upset loss to West Virginia, Oklahoma State has played crazy these past two weeks. First they shut down the hot Texas Longhorns and then used senior QB Clint Chelf's 370 passing yards to dominate undefeated Baylor.

Connor Cook
8. Stanford Once more, the Cardinal were gifted new life when Oregon was stunned by Arizona, which moved them back into the Pac-12 North lead. 1-11 California is a nice way to end your conference schedule.9. Michigan State Outside of the SEC, there has not been a more psychical, smart football team. The defense is led by senior linebacker Max Bullough and the offense has been nothing but efficient under QB Connor Cook.
10. Baylor Well, I was a little bit wrong about Baylor. The Bears entered this week against Oklahoma State, 9-0 and 3rd in my power rankings and I thought they would use Bryce Petty to put up 62 against the Cowboys. They managed just 17, but should recover against TCU.
11. South Carolina The Gamecocks scored 70 over Coastal Carolina but I still have questions about this team. They barely beat struggling Florida and UCF and Clemson could give them troubles.
12. Oregon It is amazing how fast things can change in college football. A couple weeks ago, the Ducks were undefeated, looked like they would roll to the national championship game and had the Heisman frontrunner in Marcus Mariota. After their 42-16 loss to Arizona those dreams are distant memories.
13. Fresno State The Bulldogs are firing on all cylinders, winning 69-38 this week against lowly New Mexico, using the lethal combo of Derek Carr and speedster Davante Adams.
14. Arizona State Sophomore receiver Jaelen Strong had 6 catches for 91 yards as the Sun Devils clinched the Pac-12 South with a convincing victory over UCLA.
15. Wisconsin On a freezing day in Minneapolis, the Badgers continued their dominance over Minnesota, using sophomore Melvin Gordon and a shutdown defensive performance to win 20-7.
16. LSU For the second straight season, the Tigers shut down Johnny Football and the Aggies, winning 34-10 to help their bowl possibilities.
17. UCF The Golden Knights continued their dominance of the American Athletic thanks to a fantastic performance from Storm Johnson at back and QB Blake Bortles.
18. Northern Illinois Jordan Lynch and the Huskies no problems with Toledo, but their wins still might not be good enough to get into a BCS bowl especially with another non-BCS team (Fresno) playing well.
19. Oklahoma Even without Blake Bell, who was out with a concussion, the Sooners were impressive in their win over Kansas State, who looked ready for an upset.
20. Louisville The Cardinals keep on winning but their strength of schedule is just so bad. Even with them blowing through opponents their bowl is not going to be at all what they would like.
21. Texas A&M Even with the magical Johnny Football on their roster the Aggies have still been a disappointment, 8-3 with another tough game against Missouri this next week. It has been all about defense for much of the season but the offense was terrible too against LSU.
22. USC Cody Kessler, Tre Madden and the Trojans rolled over Colorado and the 9-3 Trojans may be favored against UCLA next week, something that seemed unimaginable after Lane Kiffin was fired.
23. Duke Although they weren't overly impressive over Wake Forest, Duke won and took complete control of the ACC Coastal. UNC is next, as the Tar Heels will have their hands full stopping receiver Jamison Crowder.
24. UCLA The Bruins did play pretty well against Arizona State but still lost, ending their hopes of winning the Pac-12 South. Though, a strong bowl and bragging rights could be on the line next week against USC.
25. Notre Dame I still have my reserves about the 8-3 Fighting Irish, who have lost to the struggling Michigan Wolverines and Pitt but they did play well this past week against BYU.

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