It's A Mess

After another week of "upset" Saturday, we saw three top 10 teams fall in the rankings after humiliating loses. Penn State, who was ranked 5th in the AP Poll, loss again to Iowa for the 7th time in the last eight meetings between the two teams, and dropped to 15th in the nation. Cal, who was ranked 6th, was man-handled by Oregon at Autzen Stadium, and dropped to 24th in the nation. Miami, who was ranked 9th, was blown out by Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA, and dropped to 17th. The rankings have been a mess with the exception of the the top three teams in the nation: Florida, Texas, and Alabama. Those three teams look like they'll be standing there by the end of the regular season. But are all the "upsets" because opponents have gotten better, or is there something with the rankings system?

The rankings are overrated, especially the first few weeks of the regular season. At least one top 5 team has lost every week since the season began, Penn State and Ole Miss(who lost last Thursday) being the latest victims. Teams themselves are overrated, and undeserving of the rankings they are set in the preseason and the first couple weeks of the regular season. National polls should not be sent out until after the fourth or fifth week of the season. For most teams the first three games are not against tough opponents nor conference opponents. The first third of the season can be categorized as Cinderella upsets, or "exhibition games" for Heisman hopefuls to pad their stats. Plus, Florida State seems to be playing flip-flop with the top 25 rankings. They lose to Miami in the first week, the drop from the rankings. They beat BYU, they jump to 18th in the nation. They lose to South Florida then dropped once again out of the rankings. The national polls are just a mess for the first four or five weeks of the season every single year.

Beware of The Ducks

The University of Oregon Ducks demolished the California Bears this past Saturday in front of a sellout crowd at Autzen Stadium. Cal looked like they were the team to beat in the Pac-10 coming into this game after USC lost to Washington the previous week.

As the game unfolded, it looked like the Oregon offense was able to do just about whatever they wanted against the Cal defense. If they wanted to run the option, they ran all over the Golden Bears. If they wanted to throw the ball, they threw the ball with ease. Jeremiah Masoli, quarterback for the Ducks, picked apart the Bears' defense tossing three touchdowns on the way to a 42-3 victory(there were doubts about Masoli after the win against Utah). LaMichael James has filled the shoes of LaGarrette Blount, the running back who was suspended for the season after the game at Boise State, and has become a stud on the Oregon offense. On the other side of the ball, the Oregon defense was able to hold Heisman hopeful and Cal running back Jahvid Best to only 55 yards on the ground on 16 carries, and was held out of the end zone. Best's longest carry was only 11 yards, compared to the first three games of the season in which his longest run was never under 30 yards. This could serve as a blueprint for every defense that plays Cal the remainder of the season: shut down Best, and force Kevin Riley, Cal quarterback, to beat you.

This Oregon team is rebuilding its offense from scratch after the Boise State game at the beginning of the season. They look like a completely different team from that Thursday night in Boise, Idaho. If Oregon doesn't beat themselves with penalties and turnovers, they can be the team to beat in the Pac-10. If they beat USC Halloween night at home, the rest of the nine teams in the conference could be eating duck feathers by the end of the season.

The 'U': Pretender or Contender?

The era of Miami football is back! The University of Miami Hurricanes are going into their week 3 matchup against Virginia Tech with a 2-0 record, and are ranked 9th in the AP poll. The Canes bring a solid offense to the grudge match in Blacksburg, leading the ACC in pass efficiency, passing offense, and total offense. Their offense has put up ludicrous numbers against ranked opponents (Florida State and Georgia Tech), but let's not forget about their defense which has been able to hold its own. Last week against Georgia Tech, the Canes' defense held the Yellow Jackets in check from the opening kickoff. The Yellow Jackets, who are known for their rushing ability, were held to 95 yards on the ground, and a total of 11 negative plays. The Canes' defense last year gave up 472 rushing yards and 41 total points to the same Georgia Tech team. One year has proven to have made a difference for this Miami defense.

The next couple of weeks will truly tell America where Miami stands in the national championship picture. Are the Canes pretenders or contenders? Back-to-back games against Virginia Tech (ranked 11th) and Oklahoma (ranked 10th) will definitely challenge the heart and toughness of this young Miami football team. If Miami goes 4-0 or 3-1 in the first four games of this season, I can see them having an outside shot at a large bowl bid come January. Just losing one game, though, automatically takes them out of the national championship picture with the likes of Florida, Texas, and Alabama standing in their way.

One Team, One Heartbeat

After watching another wild day of college football Saturday, I asked myself, "Why do college football players need to have their names on the back of their jerseys? And especially their home jerseys!" To me this is just tacky. Names on the back of the jerseys just detracts away from the whole "one team, one goal" concept. It is not about the individual player, but about the team as one unit coming together and winning. Skip Holtz, head coach of East Carolina University, backed up his reason for removing players names from the jerseys: "One of the players came to me and said that we have had the names on the back of the jerseys for awhile...I said that we have the important one (East Carolina) on the front, so I don't care about the one on the back." The university itself is more important than the popularity of the individual player, who, at most, will only contribute four years to a university's historic endeavors.

For the average fan, many do not know all 40-plus players on the football team, let alone the benchwarmers. But there is no need to know every player's name. That's why we pay the announcers the big bucks to tell us the name of every player that catches the ball or makes a game-saving tackle. Either at the game or on TV, the announcer will comment on the previous play, "Jahvid Best down to the 30 yard-line, Eddie Shoe with the tackle." Both the offensive and defensive player who made the biggest impact on the play are mentioned.

It Takes 2 To Tango

We all know about LeGarrette Blount, running back for the Oregon Ducks, 'sucker-punching' Boise State's Byron Hout after the game Thursday night. The University of Oregon was swift in suspending Blount for the remainder of the season. Props to Oregon for not hesitating to give Blount what he deserved. But, it ticks me off that Boise State refrained from suspending Hout for taunting Blount. Clearly Hout went out of his way and makes sure to grab Blount's attention by pounding him on his shoulder pad and visibly passing on a few words to Blount. If Hout hadn't gone out of his way to taunt Blount, none of this chaos would have happened. Hout would not have been punched, Blount would not have attacked fans in the stands, and Blount would not have ended his college career (many analysts are even saying that Blount has ruined his future career in the NFL). Hout deserves at least a one-game suspension, if not more. A couple cliché's come to mind when replaying Hout's actions after the game: "Celebrate like you have been there before" and "Lose with respect, but also win with respect." Hout did neither! The NCAA needs to interfere and suspend Hout. Sportsmanship is the name of the game in college football, and the NCAA needs to take action.