What a difference a week makes! After giving up a lead on the road to Kansas State, OU erupts in the second half and unleashes all its fury borne during the Texas Tech disaster onto Bill Snyder and his not-quite-miracle in Manhattan. I have to say I couldn’t have asked for a better response from the Sooners. 58-17!
I wrote the season off after the Tech loss. I didn’t watch TV or surf the internet for one WHOLE day that Sunday after. That’s huge. Every time I thought about the loss, I winced in pain and had a Tourette’s-like outburst. I had to forget. It was my only way I could survive.
The hiatus only lasted until Monday noon time. I’m like Chris Rock in New Jack City: “Crack, it be callin’ me!”
Now I’m back on the pipe. I just can’t be without my crimson-clad warriors. I’ll will not, though, repeat, I will not think about how we can make the title game, I won’t, really I won’t, but… wait… the… BCS Standings… are… out… and… what… we… are… ranked… where?
What… Clemson… lost? If Stanford loses and we win all our games…
Here are this week’s rankings based on performance on the field, not by touchy-feely fantasies. (Compare to BH’s BlogPoll ballot.)
1. Louisiana St (Last week: 1) – Bye week preparing for the rumble in Tuscaloosa. I don’t care what anybody says, the loser of LSU-Alabama game does not deserve a rematch for the title. You had your shot.
2. Alabama (2) – See above.
3. Oklahoma St. (4) – The Cowboys have laid waste to just about everyone and have done what’s expected of them. Their closest win was at Texas A&M at a crazy Kyle Field. That resume is not too shabby.
4. Stanford (7) – Stanford is slowly showing what kind of team it is. The Cardinal beat down Washington last week and fought hard to pull out a tough win at the Coliseum against USC. That win in of itself is better than anything Boise State has done.
5. Boise St. (5) – Bye week. I’m still giving the Broncos the benefit of the doubt here. They look tough, but they are playing in a bubble. I can only judge them by the Georgia game and the upcoming TCU game. In a BCS conference, they could either be undefeated or have three losses. I just don’t know.
6. Oregon (8) – Oregon keeps winning even when its starting quarterback and running back are out of the game. Still, the Ducks should be ineligible for a national title rematch against LSU if that scenario were to present itself.
7. Oklahoma (-) – When OU decides to turn it on, the Sooners are as impressive as anyone in the country. However, to lose at home to a team that got smoked at home to Iowa State is a huge black eye. No matter how great Oklahoma has shown it could be, the Sooners also have shown how bad they could be. Up to this point, they are not worthy of being up for title game consideration.
8. Clemson (3) – The run was good while it lasted. Not a horrible loss to Georgia Tech, but bad enough to where the rest of the Tigers’ resume can’t keep them in title game consideration.
9. Michigan (-) – Slight edge over Nebraska due to not having a blowout loss on the resume. The Wolverines will have a chance to settle it on the field Nov. 19th against the Cornhuskers.
10. Nebraska (-) – Nebraska is getting a resurrection of sorts after a disappointing loss to Wisconsin earlier in the year. After the big win against Michigan St., the Cornhuskers control their own destiny in the Legends Division of the Big Ten. If they win out, they are in the inaugural Big Ten Championship Game.
Dropped from rankings: Kansas St. (6), Michigan St. (9), Wisconsin (10)