Just when the Sooners were seeing some sunshine ahead, they have to deal with the horrible loss of arguably the best receiver in college football, Ryan Broyles. This loss could be devastating to the rhythm of the Sooner offense and to its national title game hopes. Landry Jones and the OU offense will still be productive, but there’s no doubt that losing Broyles is a tragic blow. Even before the loss, the Sooners weren’t a well-oiled machine. OU has had too many subpar halves of football even with Jones’ go-to guy. There’s two weeks to prepare for high-flying Baylor. This could be a very tough game.
The BCS rankings are out, and there’s lots of talk about there being an LSU-Bama rematch. That won’t happen if Stanford or Oklahoma St. are undefeated. I honestly believe the voters won’t let it happen even if Stanford and OSU lose. If “every game counts” like the BCS says it does, how hypocritical would it be if the BCS ranks Alabama No. 2 at the season’s end? It would be a farce, but that’s nothing new when it comes to the BCS.
If OSU and Stanford lose, could Boise St. finally get that nod after its fifth undefeated regular season?
I’m wishing for Arkansas to blow a hole in the space-time continuum by beating LSU and forcing a three-way tie for the SEC West. Chaos baby, please!
Here are this week’s rankings residing within a universe adhering to special relativity:
1. Louisiana St. (Last week: 1) – The Tigers survived the war of attrition against Alabama and solidified their spot at the top. The defense was, unsurprisingly, impressive, holding Trent Richardson at bay. However, we know what happens when they go against a team that has a better than average passing game. (West Virginia had 463 passing yards). The Tigers will face Arkansas (8th ranked passing offense) in the last regular season game.
2. Oklahoma St. (3) – The Cowboys faced some true adversity and reached down to take care of business at home against Kansas St. Only OU stands in the way of them making history and playing for the BCS championship.
3. Alabama (2) – The Crimson Tide don’t drop much considering they’ve only lost to the top-ranked team in overtime. I considered leaving them second, but then remembered that they were at home and still couldn’t take advantage of the opportunities they had. They missed four field goals and had inopportune penalties and turnovers.
4. Stanford (4) – Even though Stanford is undefeated, the Cardinal’s resume doesn’t match up to Alabama’s. That will change, however, with solid victories over Oregon and Notre Dame.
5. Boise St. (5) – Sadly, Boise living in the Big Sky bubble prevents us from knowing if they are for real or not. We’ll get to see a hint when they play TCU next. Being undefeated gets big points. However, we will have to wait until the Broncos’ BCS match-up to see what they are truly made of.
6. Oregon (6) – Oregon and Oklahoma are somewhat similar in that they both only play about a half of football. Oregon gets the nod, having a better loss than the Sooners.
7. Oklahoma (7) – Would have liked to see a complete game against Texas A&M. However, the third quarter was quite satisfying (other than losing Broyles, of course). The Sooners need to be more impressive if they are to have a shot to get to the big game.
8. Clemson (8) – Bye this week. The Tigers have a slightly better resume than Arkansas. The Florida St. and Virginia Tech wins are better than wins over South Carolina and Texas A&M. Auburn wins negate each other. Clemson beat Troy better than Arkansas did. Arkansas has two weak wins (Ole Miss, Vandy) compared to Clemson’s one (Wofford).
9. Arkansas (-) – The Razorbacks make their debut in the Reality Rankings. They’ll have a chance to redeem themselves for the Alabama blowout when they travel to Baton Rouge in their regular season finale.
10. Houston (-) – The undefeated Cougars get some love. Houston has the highest-rated passing and scoring offense in the country.
Dropped from rankings: Michigan (9), Nebraska (10).