NCAA 2011 Week 4 Top 25

Upsets plagued Top 25 (and prospective Top 25) teams again this week.  While EITHER team winning the LSU v West Virginia contest would not be an upset, the winning margin of 26 points WAS an upset.  I didn't either team would so dominate.  West Virginia committed three uncharacteristic turnovers in the first half, and LSU capitalized on each one.  The anemic Kansas State Wildcats took an early lead against Miami.  The Hurricanes stormed back, but they couldn't come all the way back. 

I took heat about my placement of Florida International into the Top 25, and Louisiana-Lafayette showed that I was mistaken.  The Golden Panthers got beat, and the Top 25 is now a distant memory.  A team who hasn't seen a Top 25 since I began this ranking in 1995 is Duke, yet the Blue Devils gained their second victory by manhandling Tulane.  Stanford is now the only undefeated Pac-12 team as Arizona State, fresh from their upset loss to the Fighting Illini, kicked USC's butt.  The game wasn't even close, spinning the Trojans out of control.

The Big Ten wasn't immune to an upset, as the hard-fighting Minnesota Golden Gophers were up-ended by FCS North Dakota State.  So much for hoping that Minnesota would surprise this season; that just leaves Illinois as an unexpected dark horse in the conference.

This week's Top 25 [Last week's position]
1.  Stanford Cardinal (3-0) [1]
2.  Alabama Crimson Tide (4-0) [3]
3.  Wisconsin Badgers (4-0) [2]
4.  Oklahoma State Cowboys (4-0) [5] - Powerful performance against A&M
5.  Florida Gators (4-0) [6] - Great SEC opener!
6.  Oklahoma Sooners (4-0) [4] - Struggled against Missouri
7.  Texas A&M Aggies (2-1) [7] - Impressive in a loss
8.  Texas Longhorns (3-0) [8]
9.  LSU Tigers (4-0) [11] - Wiped out West Virginia
10. Michigan Wolverines (4-0) [10]
11. South Carolina Gamecocks (4-0) [13]
12. Boise State Broncos (3-0) [12]
13. Clemson Tigers (4-0) [14]
14. South Florida Bulls (4-0) [16]
15. Nebraska Cornhuskers (4-0) [20] - Slow start against Wyoming, but they owned the 2nd half
16. Virginia Tech Hokies (4-0) [NR]
17. Oregon Ducks (3-1) [24]
18. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (4-0) [NR]
19. Baylor Bears (3-0) [23]
20. Kansas State Wildcats (3-0) [NR]
21. Houston Cougars (4-0) [21]
22. Arkansas Razorbacks (3-1) [9]
23. Ohio State Buckeyes (3-1) [25] - The Buckeyes get back some key players this week
24. Miami Hurricanes (2-1) [17]
25. Florida State Seminoles (2-2) [19]

Dropped:  West Virginia Mountaineers [#15], Florida International Golden Panthers [#18], San Diego State Aztecs [#22]

Also in contention:  Illinois Fighting Illini (4-0), Texas Tech Red Raiders (3-0), Temple Owls (3-1), Michigan State Spartans (3-1), TCU Horned Frogs (3-1), Navy Midshipmen (2-1), Auburn Tigers (3-1), Iowa Hawkeyes (3-1), Tennessee Volunteers (2-1), Washington Huskies (3-1)