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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2011
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FOOTBALL
SRANKINGS
The Kansan's conference reporter's analysis of the national college football rankings
ETHAN PADWAY
epadway@kansan.com
twitter.com/UDK_B12Fball
1. LSU (Last week, 1)
Ole Miss doesn't have nearly the talent of Wisconsin, but LSU can't overlook it and turn it into a "trap" game on the road with No. 6 Arkansas coming to town a week later.
2. Oklahoma State (Last week, 2)
Iowa State should provide a pre Thanksgiving feast for the Cowboy's high flying offense to gobble up.
3. Alabama (Last week, 3)
The Crimson Tide is waiting to pounce on the first sign of trouble from Oklahoma State with the hopes of getting a rematch with LSU in the BCS title game.
4. Oregon (Last week, 7)
The Ducks are the other team vying for a rematch with LSU. They flew together in defeating Stanford, putting themselves back in BCS contention.
5. Oklahoma (Last week, 6)
It's not a big game, so Sooner fans shouldn't worry about Baylor knocking them out of Big 12 contention.
6. Arkansas (Last week, 8)
Mississippi State could be a let down game if Arkansas is more focused on its matchup with LSU in two weeks.
7. Clemson (Last week, 9)
Clemson-NC State's wolfpack has been lacking its bite this year. It shouldn't provide too much trouble for the Tigers to dispatch this weekend.
8. Virginia Tech (Last week, 10)
The Hookies are on a collision course for a rematch with Clemson to determine the automatic bid to a BCS bowl game.
9. Stanford (Last week, 4)
The Cardinals' BCS title hopes were dashed in their loss to Oregon. But they still have future NFL first pick Andrew Luck guiding their team for three more games.
10. Boise State (Last week, 5)
The Broncos are holding kicker tryouts after their dreams of crashing the BCS were dashed by their place kicker's inability to make a field goal with the game on the line for the second year in a row.
11. Houston (Last week, 11)
It only took Case Keenum six years to capture the NCAA record for passing touchdowns. Now he has Houston on the verge of making it to a BCS bowl game.
12. South Carolina (Last week, 13)
The Gamecocks get a break this week, welcoming the Citadel to town. It should be easy pickings before they finish the regular season by welcoming Clemson to town.
13. Kansas State (Last week, 14)
Quarterback Collin Klein leads the NCAA with 24 rushing touchdowns. He's also third in rushing attempts with 241.
14. Georgia (Last week, 15)
A victory against Kentucky would clinch Georgia its first SEC east division title since 2007.
15. Michigan State (Last week, 17)
The Spartans are just two games (against two of the Big Ten's worst teams) away from the first Big Ten championship game.
After losing to Northwestern and barely beating a Penn State team without a head coach, fans are left wondering if Nebraska really wants to win the Big Ten title this season.
16. Nebraska (Last week, 19)
17. Wisconsin (Last week, 18)
The actual Badgers are a victory against Illinois from playing in a de facto title game for the Big Ten Leader's title. Or is it Legend's? I can never remember. With Ohio State and Penn State scandals this year, the divisions should be renamed Scandal and Tarnished.
With four Big Ten teams ranked in a row, I'm pretty sure the computer has no actual clue which team is better and put them in order hoping they'd shake themselves out over the final week.
18. Michigan (Last week, 24)
19. TCU (Last week, NR)
Boise State knows it has finally made it to the big boy table when any time it loses, its opponent jumps straight into the BCS top 25.
20. Southern Miss (Last week, 22)
21. Penn State (Last week, 12)
They're only around if they give C-USA foe Houston a run for their money in the conference title game.
Not sure how a team without a head coach could be challenging for a conference title.
22. Baylor (Last week, 25)
If sneaking past the Jayhawks in overtime is considered worthy enough to move up in the standings, I'm wondering why the bears are out of the national title hunt.
23. Texas (Last week, 16)
24. Auburn (Last week, 20)
The Longhorns still have yet to find a competent answer at quarterback, but they seem content letting their rushing game take over.
I don't understand why so many SEC teams are playing FCS teams the week before their biggest rivalries, but I guess another scrimmage isn't such a bad thing.
25. Florida State (Last week, NR)
The Seminoles better keep their guard up and not overlook Virginia this weekend. The Cavaliers are sitting just behind Virginia Tech in the division standings and the ACC Coastal division title is within striking distance.
Sources: ncaa.org, espn.com
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