NCAA Top 25 - Week 10

Many Top 25 teams took bye weeks, so our upsets were few.  Halloween week didn't turn out scary for too many teams, although there were some shocking results.  Miami's huge loss shuffled the deck within the Top 25, and big losses by Michigan and Texas Tech made room for some newcomers.

Top 25 [Last week's position]
1.  Alabama Crimson Tide (8-0) [1]
2.  Florida State Seminoles (8-0) [3]  The Seminoles made use of Oregon's bye and a pummelling of Miami to leap over the Ducks

3.  Oregon Ducks (8-0) [2]
4.  Ohio State Buckeyes (9-0) [4] : Urban Meyer seems like he wants to impress the human BCS voters, but Oregon and Florida State have too much of a lead.  He'd be better off hoping for an upset to vault into the Top 2.

5.  Baylor Bears (7-0) [5]
6.  Louisville Cardinals (7-1) [6]
7.  Stanford Cardinal (7-1) [7]

8.  Missouri Tigers (8-1) [10] : The Tigers continue their trek to the SEC Championship Game with a thrashing of Tennessee

9.  Clemson Tigers (8-1) [13] : Clemson takes a healthy leap to give the Top 25 two consecutive pairs of teams with similar names - Cardinals and Tigers.

10. LSU Tigers (7-2) [9] : And a third consecutive Tiger thrown in for good measure

11. Texas A&M Aggies (7-2) [15] : Johnny Manziel had another highlight-reel performance as the Aggies roll

12. Oklahoma Sooners (7-1) [12]
13. Wisconsin Badgers (6-2) [14] : If not for Ohio State, the Badgers would clearly be leading their division.  As it is, they seem assured of a New Years Day bowl

14. Michigan State Spartans (8-1) [21] : The Spartans thoroughly dominated their in-state rival and rose to the lead in the Legends division, as well as rising in the Top 25

15. UCLA Bruins (6-2) [16] : Not a great win, but any conference win is a boon

16. Arizona State Sun Devils (7-2) [17] : Impressive capper to Halloween night

17. Miami Hurricanes (7-1) [8] : They not only lost, but they lost BIG!

18. South Carolina Gamecocks (7-2) [18] : The Gamecocks try to maintain pace with Missouri as they pick up another win

19. UCF Golden Knights (6-1) [19]
20. Northern Illinois Huskies (9-0) [20] : Another blowout.  This is becoming a trend for the Huskies

21. Oklahoma State Cowboys (7-1) [23] : Impressive performance against Texas Tech

22. Auburn Tigers (8-1) [25] : Who needs a strong defense when you have an offense like that?  Auburn rolls to solidly control second place in their division

23. Fresno State Bulldogs (8-0) {24] : Not the greatest game against a struggling Nevada team, but they continue to win

24. Ball State Cardinals (8-1) [26]
25. Houston Cougars (7-1) [NR]

Dropped off: Michigan Wolverines [#11], Texas Tech Red Raiders [#22]

On the Edge: Texas Longhorns (6-2), BYU Cougars (6-2), Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-2). Arizona Wildcats (6-2), Nebraska Cornhuskers (6-2), Oregon State Beavers (6-3), Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (6-3), East Carolina Pirates (6-2)

This week I begin my examination of conference and division races, and see what teams are in the drivers seat, what teams to accelerate, and who has crashed.

American Athletic: Houston and UCF lead the conference.  This week's game between the two of them will establish a solo leader.  Louisville and Cincy are only a game back.  UCF has the advantage, as they've already beaten Louisville and they don't play Cincy, while Houston gets all three title contenders in a row.

ACC Atlantic: Florida State's win keeps them one game ahead of Clemson.  It's actually a two-game lead, as the Seminoles beat them and therefore hold the tiebreaker.  With only two more conference games on their schedule, they clinch with a win over Wake Forest this week.

ACC Coastal: Miami still holds the lead over Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, and Duke.  The Hurricanes already beat Georgia Tech, and face Virginia Tech and Duke in the next two weeks.  If Miami wins out, they gain the right for the rematch against Florida State.  A loss to either team puts them in jeopardy, as that team would hold the tiebreaker, and Miami would have to get help from someone else.

Big XII: Texas and Baylor are both unbeaten  They don't meet until Dec 7th.  If both remain unbeaten, that game decides the title.  Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are each a game back.  Texas has beaten Oklahoma and plays Oklahoma State Nov 16th.  Baylor still has to face both teams, and starts with Oklahoma this Thursday.

Big Ten Leaders:  If Ohio State keeps winning, they have it.  They already beat Wisconsin, so they basically hold a two-game lead.  Wins over lowly Illinois and Indiana will capture the title, even before they face Michigan.

Big Ten Legends: The Spartans lead Nebraska by one and everyone else by at least two.  They face Nebraska this week, so a win over the Cornhuskers clinches the division for them.

Conference USA East: East Carolina and Marshall lead the division.  They don't play each other until the day after Thanksgiving.  The Pirates certainly have the easier schedule until then, but if Marshall doesn't falter, that game is necessary to decide the title.

Conference USA West: Very crowded division with three leaders and two others only a game back.  More needs to happen to get a clearer picture of how this division irons out.

MAC East: Believe it or not, Buffalo leads the division!  They are unbeaten in conference play and hold a one-game lead over contenders Ohio and Bowling Green.  They play Ohio Thurs, so a win at home makes Bowling Green (who they play the day after Thanksgiving) their only competition.  Could Buffalo win their first title since stepping up to FBS play?

MAC West:  Northern Illinois and Ball State are locked in a bitter battle over this one.  Toledo is a game back, and those are the next two opponents for the Huskies.  They win those, they win the division.

Mountain West Mountain: Boise State and Utah State are tied, but the Broncos beat Utah State earlier, so they own the tiebreaker.  That gives Boise a one-game lead over everyone else, including Colorado and Wyoming.  The Broncos play Wyoming next and skip Colorado, so a win over the Cowboys puts them in good shape, so long as they also get past San Diego State the following week.

Mountain West West: Fresno State holds the lead and the tiebreaker over San Diego State, thanks to their thrilling overtime game a couple of weeks ago.  That leaves just San Jose State as a threat, who they don't face until Nov 29th.  If the Spartans lose before then, the Bulldogs have it in the bag.

Pac-12 North: Thursday's contest between Oregon and Stanford will basically decide the title.  A win by Stanford gives them tiebreakers over both Oregon and Oregon State, the two other main contenders.  A Ducks win gives them a two-game lead over anyone else.

Pac-12 South: Arizona State holds a one-game lead over UCLA, Arizona, and USC.  Furthermore, the Sun Devils already beat USC, giving UCLA and Arizona the only other viable chances at the title.  Those two are the last opponents for the Sun Devils, so other results might make a larger impact.  UCLA and Arizona play each other this week, so the loser is basically taken out of title contention.

SEC East: Missouri leads by a game, but they cannot let it finish with a tie, as South Carolina beat them and holds the tiebreaker.  Missouri needs to win out or hope South Carolina loses before the Tigers face A&M in the finale.  The Gamecocks have only one more conference game, against Florida in two weeks.  A win there forces Missouri to have to beat Johnny Manziel and company in order to win the division.

SEC West: Unless you've been asleep all season, you know Alabama leads this one.  A victory over LSU this week knocks out one contender, leaving only Auburn and their rivalry game Nov 30th.  If Auburn loses before then, Alabama can't lose the division.

Sun Belt:  Louisiana-Lafayette leads and beat contender Arkansas State.  The only one team in contention is Louisiana-Monroe, who the Cajuns play on Nov 30th.  If the Cajuns beat Troy this week and the Warhawks don't lose to Arkansas State, that game will decide the title.  If the Cajuns get help from Arkansas State, they have the title outright before that game.