HTR's Top 25: Week 10

Man...are we really this far into the season already? This is unfortunate. In any case, this week was probably just a touch less crazy than last week, but a lot of exciting games were played to the point that watching NFL games the next day has morphed my relative excitement level while watching those games from "eh, I'm watching" to "this is completely uninspiring and I might go outside and do stuff instead of hoping that my one horrible fantasy team and my one awesome one don't flop."

Also, Clemson lost a game. RIP "Clemson still hasn't lost" line. It was good while it lasted.

Here we go:

Rank	Team
1	LSU
2	Alabama
3	Oklahoma State
4	Stanford
5	Boise State
6	Oregon
7	Oklahoma
8	Arkansas
9	Clemson
10	Nebraska
11	Virginia Tech
12	Michigan
13	USC
14	South Carolina
15	Michigan State
16	Wisconsin
17	Kansas State
18	Penn State
19	Georgia
20	Georgia Tech
21	Arizona State
22	Auburn
23	Houston
24	Cincinnati
25	West Virginia

• Starting with Oklahoma again this week...that was probably the most predictable result of all time. As nice as KSU was as a story (thank you Gameday for the Snyder-Geppetto connection), it was obvious that it wouldn't last when confronted with a quality team. Of course, Texas Tech went out and pulled a Tuberville in losing to Iowa State at home by 34 points (!) a week after vanquishing the Sooners in Norman. Having Tommy Tuberville as your head coach has got to be the most frustrating thing ever (actually, Ron Zook probably leads in that department). 
• Wisconsin is clearly not that good. They've shown flashes of being a top five team in their last two losses but the first five games against nobody and Nebraska (a team that still has major questions even after beating State). The national obsession over Russel "wait, isn't Wisconsin's QB supposed to be anonymously white?" Wilson hid some of (i.e. "all of") Wisconsin's defensive issues, of which there are many. Braxton Miller has flashed some ability but the Buckeyes still have no semblance of a passing game, which makes this loss even more frustrating for Badger fans that last week's Hail Marypalooza if you ask me. 
• I haven't really been too high on Stanford at any point and Saturday didn't really do anything to mitigate those feelings. They did come away with the win, but it was a pretty horrible showing for that defense. Given the fact that Stanford's schedule is really not that much more impressive than Boise State's, I'm getting close to maybe sort of considering slotting BSU above Stanford, which is something considering how much I generally don't care for Boise State. 
• Georgia finally bested the Gators in the WLOCP for the first time in a while (and only the fourth time in approximately the last two decades). As a guy who is probably more patient with coaches than your average person, I like that Richt probably saved his job with this one, barring a complete collapse. He is a good coach who happen to suffer from Rich Rodriguez sydrome, also known as "being extremely loyal to people who aren't very good coaches." I mean, Willie Martinez--currently the secondary coach at OU, who oversaw the debacle against Texas Tech--was his DC for an extended period of time. Todd Grantham is apparently doing a good job on defense, as the Bulldogs are #7 in total defense. Obviously, take that with a grain of salt given that UGA plays in the weak SEC East and was also torn up by Boise State and South Carolina, of which the latter is decidedly more embarrassing. 
• The Big Ten is so bad. So so terrible. I have Nebraska at the 10 spot but even that is tenuous at best. Nebraska got themselves a nice win this past week against the Spartans but I really don't feel too worried about our chances against them at home. Seeing Denard Robinson in practice every day should hopefully give Mattison some ideas as to what to do against Taylor Martinez. Elsewhere, Ohio State, sadly, might not be completely terrible? The passing game is still very non-existent but it's hard not to imagine Miller not improving a good bit by The Game given the steep learning curve. Ohio State has got to be kicking themselves about the Miami loss and the Nebraska collapse, otherwise they could conceivably be sitting at 7-1 with two eminently winnable games against IU and Purdue coming up. Also also, Iowa lost to Minnesota, which is hilarious and that's all I have to say about that (other than if we lose next week then ENGAGE MELTDOWN MODE).