Hokies Week 5 Blog - Top 25

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I’ve decided that instead of writing a pregame for Duke I would share my view of the top 25 instead. It has been a long time dream of mine to be a voter in the AP poll. By long time, I mean since I started this blog, but still. And I’m also doing this because I do not like how group think does these polls currently. I’ve probably spent more time on this one meaningless poll than some people will spend on all of their polls for the whole season. And I especially hate how they have now made the coaches poll anonymous. That is the opposite of how these should work, you should be completely accountable and be able to defend why you put Ole Miss #4 when they haven’t shown you anything at all. Without further ado:

1. Alabama (4-0) – Of the unanimous top 3 everyone has, I think Alabama has done more to show why they belong. Completely controlling the game against our poor Hokies and a good Arkansas team show that the offense and especially the defense are first class. And McElroy is looking like a better QB than John Parker Wilson ever was.
2. Texas (4-0) – Was pretty much a coin flip with Florida, but they’ve beaten a good Texas Tech at home and still have a healthy Heisman hopeful. Next 4 games are Colorado, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Oklahoma St. Finally we’ll get some of these teams tested!
3. Florida (4-0) – I think Tennessee and Kentucky might be two of the worst teams in the SEC this year, but they are still SEC teams. And even if Florida struggled a bit moving the ball against Tennessee’s D, Florida hasn’t come close to getting a scare. But how will they respond with Tebow being out with a brain.
4. Virginia Tech (3-1) – Yes I’m a homer, but the Hokies have knocked off #9 Miami, #19 Nebraska, and led 3 quarters against Alabama. At this point they are the best of the 1 loss teams based on performance, and there is no arguing it.
5. Houston (3-0) – Back to back wins against good Big 12 (South even!) opponents. Not even Oklahoma and Texas can say that. Yet at least… They have been the most impressive of the BCS busters through 4 weeks.
6. Cincinnati (4-0) – Tony Pike has looked solid at QB and has led the Bearcats to a 4-0 start. They have good wins at Oregon State and against Fresno State at home.
7. Boise State (4-0) – Uggghhh. I hate to rank them so high, but they handed it to a weird, but still good, Oregon team week 1, and beat a decent Fresno State. Will any team be able to beat Boise State the rest of the way? On paper, I’d say no.
8. Iowa (4-0) – After a scare week 1 against Northern Iowa, Iowa has been impressive with wins over Arizona and Penn State in Happy Valley. Their defense and special teams has them ranked as the best team in the Big 10 so far.
9. TCU (3-0) – Wins on the road against two ACC schools. Sure one was UVA, but the Clemson one looks at least somewhat respectable. Still pretty meh on these guys though.
10. Oklahoma State (3-1) – The big win over Georgia will go a long way this year, but the loss to Houston hurt. Who knows what will happen with Big 12 play starting.
11. Oregon (3-1) – A ridiculous week 1 game and melee with Boise State somehow dropped Oregon off everyone’s radar. Three wins over good teams (Purdue, #18 Utah, #6 Cal) and people remember you.
12. LSU (4-0) – I am absolutely not impressed with how they’ve won against teams like Washington, Vanderbilt, and Mississippi State. Washington beating USC helps. But the fact remains, they are undefeated winning 3 games against SEC and Pac-10 teams. They could lose two games in the next three at Georgia, then Florida and Auburn at home though.
13. Miami (2-1) – Miami looked unstoppable on offense against FSU and GT, and shut down the Yellow Jackets run game completely. The U was back! Until it rained and they melted in Blacksburg. Huge matchup this weekend against a likely Bradfordless Oklahoma.
14. South Florida (4-0) – They are 4-0 and have won convincingly (the game at FSU wasn’t as close as the score). Who knows how good Florida State really is, but this win was still huge for the program.
15. Auburn (4-0) – Surprising start for Gene Chizik and the Tigers. The offense has looked great and Auburn already has two good wins against Miss St and WVU. And by good win against Miss St, I mean they won convincingly unlike a LSU team that scraped by. Haven’t played on the road yet though.
16. Georgia (3-1) – Only loss was a low scoring game against Oklahoma State (and here I thought they didn’t play defense in the Big 12), then won two shoot outs over USC and Arkansas (in the defensive SEC)?
17. USC (3-1) – Well they did beat Ohio State in the Horseshoe, but losing to Washington keeps USC rated so low. Do something on offense and I’ll move you back up.
18. BYU (3-1) – Impressive win over Oklahoma week 1, but got killed week 3 by a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde Florida State. How much of their opening win was due to a Heisman injury?
19. California (3-1) – Voters seem to have completely bailed on the Cal band wagon after the 42-3 shellacking Oregon handed to them. But Oregon is a good team, and Cal still beat a good Minnesota team. Cal/USC this weekend, tune in!
20. Georgia Tech (3-1) – Mediocre performance against Jacksonville St and most of the Clemson game, and a very poor showing in the loss to Miami, but GT bounced back well against #22 UNC.
21. Ohio State (3-1) – Tough loss to USC and ugly showing against Navy put Ohio State at 21. But they have rebounded with back to back shut outs against Toledo and Illinois and could climb to the top of the Big 10.
22. Oklahoma (2-1) – Has a better chance to get to the national championship than anyone outside the top 3, but show me something already, seriously… The game against Miami this Sat will go a long way for whoever wins.
23. Nebraska (3-1) – Totally putting Nebraska here to make the Hokies look better. So what? They’ve destroyed who they should have and hung tough in Blacksburg.
24. Penn State (3-1) – Maybe if you went out and played someone non-conference you’d be ready to take on a halfway decent team. Ranked 24 is generous from what Penn State has shown me.
25. Michigan (4-0) – The offense looks solid, but the only impressive win so far is against a Notre Dame team that really hasn’t shown how good it is. Schedule gets a little tougher in two weeks at Iowa, but at Michigan State next could be a trap game.

My apologies to Kansas (4-0), South Carolina (3-1), UCLA (3-0), and Wisconsin (4-0) who probably all 3 should beat out the likes of Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, and Michigan based on performance thus far.