Gothamist's Div. 1A Top 15
Loyal Gothamist readers will notice that there is little change in our rankings this week - there simply weren't many upsets or games involving top 25 teams last week. That will certainly change this weekend with several top matchups including LSU vs. UGA, Aub vs. Tenn, and Purdue vs ND. It will be a great weekend for college football junkies/coach potatoes! Naturally Gothamist will be watching every televised game from Noon until 2 am in order to provide you with rankings slightly more accurate than a dart throwing monkey!
1. Oklahoma – No doubt looking ahead to Texas but can’t afford to take Texas Tech too lightly – they can certainly put a lot of points on the board.
2. Miami – Miami has a serious problem: QB Brock Berlin just isn’t any good. We just can’t see them going undefeated with him, it is only a matter of time before he has a 4 INT game and starts throwing “pick six” INTs left and right (see the Va. Tech game from last year). It’s a shame for the Hurricanes because the rest of the team is so talented. Young Kyle Wright waits on the bench but he may still be too green to be thrown into the action. Again, we only have them ranked this high by default; no one below them has looked that great so far.
3. Southern Cal – Big time scare on the farm at Stanford last week. Now they await California in 2 weeks. USC is vulnerable and Cal has the talent to beat them, but it will be tough to pull the upset in the Coliseum, and giving Carroll and Chow 2 weeks to prepare is almost unfair.
4. Georgia – We will finally see what UGA is made of this week as they host LSU. The Bulldogs are at home and are more talented than the Tigers, but UGA has looked miserable despite their 3-0 record. No excuses, Georgia has to win this game, and we expect that they will, though it should be close and ugly.
5. Texas – An easy win over Baylor coming up this week. Their nemesis, the mighty Sooners, loom in 2 weeks.
6. West Virginia – Finally hit the road for a tough one against Virginia Tech. WVU is not a great team but they are very good and have a favorable schedule. This will be one of their tougher tests.
7. California – Tough challenge this week: long layoff, game at Oregon State, and looking ahead to USC in 2 weeks!
8. Auburn – Got the big win at home vs. LSU, but can they do it on the road in Knoxville? Tennessee isn’t a great team but that is an awfully tough place to win and we still don’t think Jason Campbell is a top QB. Of course, he’s a senior and UT’s QBs are both true freshman so that is an advantage for the Tigers. Auburn will likely struggle to throw the ball so their top RBs “Cadillac” Williams and “Escalade” Brown will need huge games for them to win!
9. Ohio State – A bye last week, and now Northwestern. Looks like another 4-0 start.
10. Tennessee – Sure is nice to start the season with 4 straight home games! On the road they’d lose to Auburn but in Knoxville we think they will squeak it out.
11. Minnesota – Blew-out a decent but certainly not great Northwestern team, just like they were supposed too. An easy game this week at home vs. the Nittany Lions before traveling to the Big House in 2 weeks.
12. Arizona State – recent quality wins over Iowa and Oregon State have gotten our attention, but they have to win on the road to stay this high. Having a senior QB like Andrew Walter is quite a luxury.
13. Virginia – Still look great, still haven’t played anyone yet.
14. Utah – A bit of a scare against Air Force. Defense needs to step up if they are to go undefeated.
15. Wisconsin – Love their defense, but if they can’t put more points on the board they will be in trouble.
Knocking on the door: Florida State, Boise State, LSU, Florida, Fresno State, Louisville, Oklahoma State.
- Rankings by Justin S.
