HTR's Top 25: Week 8

Michigan heads into a much-needed bye week, hoping to get healthy and come out strong against Purdue and the rest of the schedule, which doesn't get easier. Thankfully, our next opponent is this aforementioned "Purdue," one team is coached by a man who tends not to know the score or game strategy in general, and two of the remaining three cannot throw the ball at all. Iowa is Iowa, which is to say they are insanely good at choreographing ridiculous things.

As for the rest of college football, nothing really changed. The top 10 remained the same and the 11-25 range continued to resemble a game of musical chairs. LSU and Alabama continue to look like the best two teams in college football, boasting pseudo-NFL defenses and offenses that don't have time for subtlety or finesse. Somewhere, an Ole Miss defender is still recovering from the shock that was the Trent Richardson Experience.

Also, Clemson still hasn't lost yet. Nothing makes sense.

Rank	Team
1	LSU
2	Alabama
3	Oklahoma
4	Wisconsin
5	Oklahoma State
6	Clemson
7	Boise State
8	Stanford
9	Oregon
10	Arkansas
11	Kansas State
12	Virginia Tech
13	West Virginia
14	Nebraska
15	Michigan State
16	Texas A&M
17	Gerogia Tech
18	Michigan
19	South Carolina
20	Notre Dame
21	Washington
22	Penn State
23	Georgia
24	Houston
25	Illinois

•  Don't look now, but Georgia is slowly dusting itself off after getting knocked down twice early on. In fact, Georgia could very easily finish 10-2, with home dates against Florida and Auburn--two teams which couldn't be more mediocre--and two cupcakes in Kentucky and New Mexico State, with a road test against the nerds of Tech coming at the end. Careful Georgia, finishing the season strong comes with the reward of playing either LSU or Alabama in the SEC title game. 
• Okay Houston, fine...you're in. 
• South Carolina is in a whole mess of trouble. No Lattimore the rest of the way after having just dismissed a longtime (albeit generally terrible) starting quarterback does not bode well at all for Spurrier's offense. Just like I could see Georgia going on a tear the rest of the way, the Gamecocks seem to be poised to enter a derptastic tailspin. Back to back road tests against UT and Arkansas, followed by Florida, the Citadel, and Clemson at home...with Florida's offense being what it is, I think a 3-2 finish is definitely possible. At the same time, 1-4 is something that I could also see happening. 
• The Spartans get the pleasure of facing the Badgers this week after an emotional victory against our Wolverines. I would be very surprised if MSU kept it close, and that's not a slight at MSU. The Badgers are about as terrifying a team to play as an outside of LSU or Alabama. But, for now, the Spartans have earned their ranking after a tough loss early on at Notre Dame. 
• Kansas State being anywhere near the top 10 should be a pretty solid indicator of how mediocre college football is right now. Outside of a pretty outstanding top 3 (plus several other very good teams), the top 25 is littered with teams that either haven't beaten anybody of consequence or are severely flawed. 
• Ohio State isn't in this here rankings yet, but for those that don't know, the Buckeyes beat the Illini this past Saturday while only completing one pass (on four attempts). One! I don't even know whether to laugh or be impressed. Although the Illini seem to be: a) not that good and b) still coached by Ron Zook, the Buckeyes came away with a nice road win after a pretty rough first six games. Despite the Buckeyes' inability to pass, we should all remember what we said about Michigan State's offensive line. Just because somebody can't do something against other teams (i.e., pass, run block) doesn't mean they won't be able to against Michigan. It's only one game, but my worry meter about the game on 11/26 just ticked up a notch or two. Despite the injury to Nathan Williams, Ohio State's front scares me just as much as MSU's did...Simon and Hankins are disruptive players that will give the middle of our line some problems. Hopefully we can gameplan with this in mind better than we did for the Spartans. 
• Keith Price of Washington is making everybody forget about Jake Locker pretty quickly. A TD:INT ratio of 21:4 and a nearly 70% completion percentage is pretty impressive through six games, although I'm sure a trip to Stanford this week will put a little dent in those numbers. While the Huskies won't be contenders in the PAC 12 this year, next year could finally be the year that they return to success that they had not too long ago.