Conference Power Rankings are hitting the midway mark through the season as we pass by Week 6. We’ve seen some surprises, both pleasant and not-so-pleasant, and the conference layout is starting to take some form.
Check ‘em out:
Our Conclusion:
1. SEC (last wk, No. 1) -- The Good: I don’t care how many touchdowns SEC officials take away from LSU for Brad Wing‘s “showboating”, the Tigers are legit. Each time LSU and and Alabama wins another game, the more the Nov. 5 showdown between the two makes me squirm with excitement. Plus, there’s this. The Bad: Mississippi State trailed UAB at the half 3-0. Yes, winless UAB. 3-0. MSU went on to win 21-3, but I have a feeling we -- and by we, I mean me -- gave the Bulldogs a little too much credit before the season. The ugly: After losing 41-11 to LSU, Florida’s Chris Rainey said “I felt we was better than them”, with “them” referring to back-to-back loses to Bama and the Tigers. Turns out, they wasn’t.
Bonus Ugly: On ESPN’s First Take, Skip Bayless (you can see where this is going) accused the BCS computers of having an SEC bias. The computers... they... my, God... they’ve... they’ve developed feelings.
2. Big 12 (last wk, No. 4) -- The Good: Oklahoma. The Sooners are good. Really good. Would they be able to hang with LSU or Alabama? Who knows; debates like those serve as nothing more than ego-inflated water cooler talk until it’s actually decided on the field. I just know I wouldn’t have wanted my team to play Oklahoma on Saturday. The Bad: Since Chuck Neinas is in the middle of sweeping reform, can someone nudge him to send out a memo about Kansas’ defense? You know, that it’s super bad and not in the 1970’s funky kinda way. The Jayhawks have been torched the past few weeks and it’s getting ugly. Speaking of which... The Ugly: Kansas State is 5-0 and ranked 17th in the latest AP poll, but they have to be the fugliest undefeated team in the country. But, hey, they’re winning.
3. Big Ten (last wk, No. 2) -- The Good: Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez finally had the game -- okay, second half -- that he needed to in order for the Cornhuskers to be competitive in the Big Ten. He was well-rounded throwing and running the ball. The Bad: Before tacking on a field goal just prior to the half, Minnesota was losing 31-0... to Purdue. Coach Jerry Kill might be able to get this ship turned around, but it’s been a rough first half of the season. The Ugly: Wisconsin, who took off Week 6 with a bye, somehow managed to jump Stanford, who defeated Colorado, in the USA Today coaches poll. I don’t even...
4. Pac-12 (last wk, No. 3) -- The Good: The top of the Pac-12 North -- so, basically the top of the Pac-12 -- kept rolling with big wins by Oregon and Stanford. If the two schools keep winning, they’ll have their own SEC West epic gridiron battle on Nov. 12. The Bad: Arizona has been beyond terrible this season. That’s been in part because of frontloaded injuries before the season; it’s also in part because, well, the Wildcats just can’t find a way to win. The exclamation point came earlier today when the school fired coach Mike Stoops. The Ugly: Injuries to Oregon running back LaMichael James and UCLA quarterback Richard Brehaut included a dislocated elbow and a broken leg, respectively. Even the thought of those makes me shudder.
5. ACC (last wk, No. 5) -- The Good: If you had told me a month ago that Clemson and Georgia Tech would be the two best teams in the ACC through the first half of the season, I probably would have believed you because, well, it’s the ACC. That said, both teams are playing great football right now. The Bad: Florida State’s three consecutive losses has one Orlando Sentinel columnist pondering why FSU got rid of Bobby Bowden in the first place. The Seminoles have gone from a preseason national title favorite to winless in their division. The Ugly: Is it considered beating a dead horse if we place Maryland’s uniforms here?
6. Conference USA (last wk, No. 6) -- The Good: C-USA is known as an offensive league, and Houston and Southern Miss put up a combined 119 points in wins over East Carolina and Navy, respectively -- which is crazy because both of those teams could be in the Big East by next season (see below). The Bad: Marshall followed up a 17-13 upset of Louisville last week with a 16-6 thud against Central Florida that was shortened due to weather -- the second time that’s happened to the Herd this season. The Ugly: Ladies and gentlemen, Memphis AD R.C. Johnson: “Ultimately we would like to be in the SEC. That’s where we think we belong geographically. We think we deserve to be.”
7. Big East (last wk, No. 8 ) -- The Good: Boise State? The Bad: Let us count the ways: TCU leaves before ever even officially joining; meanwhile, a source tells CFT UConn, Rutgers, Louisville and West Virginia are delaying the process of deciding on exit fees so they can buy as much time as possible for an invite from another conference that may not come. The Ugly: John Marinatto; Pittsburgh.
8. MAC (last wk, No. 9) -- The Good: Toledo is a lot tougher than their 3-3 record indicates and Temple doesn’t appear to be losing a step under Steve Addazio. The Bad: Kent State continued its bottom-feeding ways with a 40-10 loss to Northern Illinois, but outside of that, there was nothing overly terrible about the MAC in Week 6. The Ugly: Ball State scored more points against Oklahoma (six) than it did in a shutout loss to Temple.
9. WAC (last wk, No. 10) -- The Good, Bad & Ugly: The WAC went 2-1 vs. the Mountain West in Week 6 (wins by Utah State over Wyoming; Nevada over UNLV), which is why they’re ranked ahead of the MWC, but Fresno State almost made up for it with a 57-7 loss to Boise State on Friday night.
10. Mountain West (last wk, No. 7) -- The Good: Boise State and TCU kept winning, so the top of the conference is solid. The Bad: Air Force had 59 hung on them by Notre Dame -- 42 were put up in the first half. The Ugly: Air Force is probably going to the Big East.
11. Sun Belt (last wk, No. 11) -- Only three Sun Belt teams -- Arkansas State, Florida International and Louisiana Lafayette -- have winning records. Outside of those three, no one has more than two.
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