HTR's Weekly 25: Week 1

For a while here, I dabbled in writing a little about Chicago sports (which, as I then had the time, was fun, even if it went unread), I've written traditional game recaps of various Big Ten games (football and basketball) and various other little things along the way.

But, when I started this thing five years ago, it was with football, particularly Michigan football, in mind.

So, while my work as a regular journalist keeps me busy, I'm going to try to create some regularity here. I've tried in the past, with some success during the football and basketball seasons, before dropping back once summer hits.

Well, I'll worry about the summer once it returns next year: for now, the easiest way to stay engaged in the college football scene is by, what else, compiling a weekly set of by and large meaningless rankings.

Does my opinion mean anything? No, not really -- but the older I get, the less justifiable watching hours of football becomes without doing something meaningful with it ("meaning," here, is a generous term).

So, with that, here's my personal top 25 after the first week's worth of action:

1. Ohio State. Talk about a no-brainer. The Buckeyes marched into Blacksburg, missing their best defender in Joey Bosa and several other players, and still dominated despite turning it over a couple of times. Braxton Miller as utility playmaking type is a terrifying concept. Who would've thought that he would one day be a Heisman candidate...as a wide receiver? That spin move will probably feature prominently in college football promo commercials for OSU games the rest of the season, and for good reason. Ohio State appears to be on track to cruise to another playoff appearance.

2. Alabama. The Crimson Tide simply beat up a Badgers team that, for the first time in recent memory, is somewhat shaky on the offensive line. Even so, the Badgers' normally prolific rushing attack was non-existent, with UW tailback Corey Clement carrying it just 8 times for 16 yards before sitting the rest of the game out with an injury. While Joel Stave had a nice game, UW had no answer for Alabama's own rushing attack. It should be no surprise that, like conference mate Georgia, Alabama has multiple tailbacks who can get the job done. Quarterback Jake Coker's (15-of-21, 213 yards, 1 TD) longest completion of the day, in fact, was a 33-yarder to tailback Kenyan Drake. Once again, Alabama appears to be the football equivalent of the trash compactor from "Star Wars."

3. TCU. Okay, you can say the score of their season-opening win at Minnesota didn't inspire confidence. But I give credit for road wins, and the Gophers aren't a pushover. Minnesota lacks offensive punch, but they're still a tough out, and the Horned Frogs got the job done on a hot evening in Minnesota (yes, hot, Minnesota).

4. Auburn. Similarly, it's hard to say the Tigers had an exceptional Week 1, but again, I give credit for beating a real opponent. More importantly for Auburn fans, the defense looked okay, forcing two turnovers and holding Louisville quarterbacks Lamar Jackson and Reggie Bonnafon to a combined 5.06 yards per attempt. Sure, new Auburn quarterback Jeremy Johnson struggled, but I think you'd rather have the defense do okay and the young quarterback struggle than the other way around...at least at this stage of the season.

5. Michigan State. Again, file this under the "not impressive box score but still good" category. Also, props are in order for traveling to Kalamazoo. Of course, this week's tilt against Oregon is the nonconference game of note for the Spartans.

6. Baylor. Maybe I'm giving excessive weight to the halftime score against SMU (28-21, Baylor). But, again, this was a road game, and it's a long season. As long as they continue to win, that first 30 minutes will be nothing but a minor footnote.

7. Notre Dame. Okay, beating Texas -- let alone dismantling them -- doesn't mean much now, but the Longhorns were at least expected to be able to play some defense. The Fighting Irish disproved that assumption, racking up 527 yards of offense and holding the Longhorns to just 20:50 in possession (yes, I know, a meaningless stat in and of itself, but still an indicator of how the game went).

8. Oregon. I know, it's only Week 1, but the Ducks gave up a whopping 42 points and 549 total yards against Eastern Washington. That won't work out too well against conference competition.

9. Georgia. A ho-hum blowout, a college football Week 1 tradition. Todd Gurley is plying his trade in St. Louis, but Nick Chubb and Keith Marshall will do just fine for UGA (that's an understatement).

10. UCLA. Virginia isn't a powerhouse by any stretch of the imagination, but the Bruins looked strong against major conference competition, and quarterback Josh Rosen was tremendous (28-of-35, 351 yards, 3 TDs).

The wild back 15:

11. USC
12. Florida State
13. Clemson
14. Texas A&M
15. Georgia Tech
16. LSU
17. Arkansas
18. Ole Miss
19. Boise State
20. Oklahoma
21. Missouri
22. Tennessee
23. Arizona
24. Mississippi State
25. Utah

HTR's Top 25: Week 5

I missed most of Saturday's football slate due to being out and about in Madison for the weekend, so the following is based mostly on what I've read and highlights, for what it's worth. Week 4 wasn't a particularly exciting one, unless you love uncompetitive blowouts or awful football (e.g. Michigan-UConn). As a result, the rankings didn't do much shifting around this week:

Rank	Team
1	Alabama
2	Oregon
3	Ohio State
4	Clemson
5	LSU
6	Stanford
7	Florida State
8	Louisville
9	Georgia
10	Texas A&M
11	Oklahoma State
12	South Carolina
13	UCLA
14	Miami (FL)
15	Oklahoma
16	Wisconsin
17	Northwestern
18	Washington
19	Ole Miss
20	Florida
21	Michigan
22	Baylor
23	Notre Dame
24	Texas Tech
25	Arizona State

• Very little change this week other than dinging Michigan once again for a poor showing at UConn; No. 21 might be harsh for a 4-0 Michigan team, but after watching the Wolverines the last two weeks, I cannot say that they are a top 20 team. How many of the teams ahead of them in the ranking above do you feel confident about Michigan's chances against?

• In my mind, Wisconsin is a fringe top 10 team, but that loss--or, what is going down in the record books as a loss--is keeping them out for now. The Badgers have a big opportunity to jump into the top 10 this week should they leave Columbus with a victory. 

• LSU's Jeremy Hill is quite good at football. This is where we note that Michigan is going to have a monstrous offensive line in 2015 or 2016 and nod our heads. One day Michigan will be able to run the ball like that again...one day. 

• If this was the NFL, then Kenny Guiton is totally doing his best Matt Flynn impression circa that one time he threw for 480 yards in that one game with the Packers. 

• This week, top 10 teams played: FIU, Bethune-Cookman, North Texas, New Mexico State, and Florida A&M. Why? What is the point? 

• Speaking of teams playing no one of consequence, Minnesota is 4-0 after completing its non-conference slate (UNLV, New Mexico State, Western Illinois and San Jose State). With that said, backup QB Mitch Leidner looked pretty good while filling in for injured starter Philip Nelson on Saturday. The Gophers get Iowa this Saturday for their Big Ten opener, an important matchup for both squads. The Hawkeyes looked about as good this past weekend as they have in some time (albeit against Western Michigan), but the Gophers need to win start winning games like this, especially at home. Although Iowa failed to go bowling last season, they did beat the Gophers; as always, Floyd of Rosedale is on the line. 

HTR's Top 25: Week 4

Week 3 is in the books, which sadly means we're already a quarter of the way through the regular season schedule. Putting that thought aside, this was another exciting week of football around the country, with big games going on out west, in Texas and in Big Ten country.

Rank	Team
1	Alabama
2	Oregon
3	Ohio State
4	Clemson
5	LSU
6	Stanford
7	Florida State
8	Louisville
9	Georgia
10	Texas A&M
11	Oklahoma State
12	South Carolina
13	UCLA
14	Miami (FL)
15	Oklahoma
16	Michigan
17	Northwestern
18	Washington
19	Ole Miss
20	Florida
21	Arizona State
22	Baylor
23	Notre Dame
24	Texas Tech
25	Wisconsin

Bullets: 

• All week, the talk was about how important this weekend was for the Big Ten. Whether or not a better performance would have done anything at all vis-a-vis the conference's reputation is debatable, but needless to say the Big Ten didn't do well this week. The Buckeyes did get a win on the road at Cal, but the Badgers went down in the desert at Arizona State and the Huskers completely collapsed at home against UCLA after having built up an 18 point lead by the halfway point of the second quarter. Additionally, Illinois couldn't beat Washington at Soldier Field, Purdue lost a close one to Notre Dame, Minnesota struggled against Western Illinois and Penn State fell at home to UCF. The conference went 7-5 over the weekend. 

• Speaking of Wisconsin, that ending was one of the more mind-bogglingly nonsensical finishes I've ever seen. Spencer Hall has a nice breakdown of what happened at the end of what was otherwise a fun game to watch. In short, Wisconsin definitely did not play that the right way whatsoever, but there had to have been some sort of penalty called on Arizona State for a delay of game. At minimum, that sequence of events required some sort of action from the refs, who did absolutely nothing. I feel bad for the Badgers; I understand the desire to set up an ideal spot on the field for your kicker, but sometimes you just need to take what's there, lest you risk something disastrous happening...which, is exactly what happened. 
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• Some will argue for Oregon at the top spot, and that's definitely reasonable. However, Alabama just went into Kyle Field and beat Texas A&M at its own game. This Alabama team is probably not Saban's best, but it was good enough to drop a whopping 49 points on the road against the No. 6 team in the country. Until Alabama loses, I see no reason why they shouldn't remain in the top spot. 

• Louisville didn't do much this week to change my general perception of them: they're a very good team, but I just can't confidently call them great given their competition. I didn't watch their game this weekend, but a 27-13 victory against a bad Kentucky team doesn't exactly inspire confidence. 

• The State of Mississippi. Texas has seen better days, but the Rebels' 44-23 victory in Austin is still a solid one for Hugh Freeze's now 3-0 Ole Miss squad. Meanwhile, Dan Mullen's Bulldogs lost at Auburn. Unfortunately for the folks in Starkville, it looks like Ole Miss is the top team in the state, a point worsened by the fact that Freeze is in his second season in Oxford while Mullen is in his fifth in Starkville. Whether Freeze makes the Rebels a legitimate contender remains to be seen, but we've probably seen enough from Mullen's tenure in the SEC West to know that Mississippi State probably won't get there. That's by no means a knock on Mullen's coaching ability; the reality is that that division is just too stacked, what with Alabama and LSU (and now Texas A&M as of last season), recovering Auburn and Arkansas programs and, perhaps most painfully for Mississippi State, Ole Miss under Freeze. 

• Pac 12 South. Oregon will once again represent the Pac 12 North in the conference title game barring some ridiculous happenings, but the race in the South should be a wild one, with Arizona, Arizona State and UCLA all looking to contend. UCLA appears to be the strongest of the bunch, but the Sun Devils picked up a nice win against what should prove to be another solid Badgers squad. Meanwhile, Arizona has looked good while playing absolutely nobody, but that will change with their Sept. 28 trip to Washington. 

HTR's Top 25: Week 3

I didn't do this last week, so might as well start here post-Week 2. My top 25:

Rank	Team
1	Alabama
2	Oregon
3	Ohio State
4	Clemson
5	Stanford
6	Texas A&M
7	LSU
8	Florida State
9	Louisville
10	Georgia
11	Michigan
12	South Carolina
13	Oklahoma State
14	Miami (FL)
15	Oklahoma
16	Northwestern
17	Wisconsin
18	UCLA
19	Washington
20	Nebraska
21	Baylor
22	Florida
23	Ole Miss
24	TCU
25	Notre Dame

Bullets: 

• As always, the bottom five of the top 25 is a jumbled mess of interchangeability. 

• In the Big Ten, Wisconsin once again rolled against a hilariously overmatched opponent. Next up for the Badgers? 2-0 Arizona State, in Tempe. Iowa won! Purdue didn't lose to Indiana State. Nebraska only gave up 13 points this week to Southern Miss. The Huskers also face a Pac 12 team this week (UCLA), but they'll get them in Lincoln. Michigan State's offensive issues are well-publicized, Illinois actually look pretty good against what seemed to have been at least an okay Cincinnati squad, the Buckeyes rolled against San Diego State but Braxton Miller got hurt in the process. Penn State demolished poor Eastern Michigan, Minnesota crushed New Mexico State, and the only B1G loss of the week came from Indiana, who lost at home to Navy, 41-35. 
• Michigan of course won, and, last but not least: the Northwestern Fighting Warrior Poets emerged victorious in the Prose Bowl against Syracuse, 48-27. M-E-D! I-L-L! Ahem, *straightens tie*. All right then. But first, Glopknar: 

• A very nice bounceback win for Mark Richt's UGA squad. Aaron Murray was quite efficient, going 17/23 on the day for 309 yards, four touchdown passes and zero picks. That'll get it done. With Florida once again lacking any sort of offensive ability, UGA should come away with the SEC East. 

• Wholly unrelated to the top 25, but Michigan's next opponent, Akron, beat James Madison 35-33. 

• I just don't know what to do with Louisville. Teddy Bridgewater is very obviously a big time talent and would be in any conference, but it's hard to feel too bullish about this team given their schedule, which is truly abominable. 

• Washington State beat USC, 10-7. Also, Oklahoma and West Virginia faced off and scored a combined 23 points (OU won 16-7). Nothing makes sense. 

• All the talk this week will be about Alabama-Texas A&M, and rightfully so. But the most important games in Big Ten land will be the contests against the PAC 12 (Wisconsin-ASU and Nebraska-UCLA). Win both of those and the conference is looking pretty good. Oh, also, the Buckeyes travel to Cal, but that should be an easy win, even if Miller sits that one out. 

HTR's Top 25: Week 6

Previous dubious assertions: HTR's Official Meaningless Preseason Top 25, Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5

With most of college football having exited the realm of Cupcake City, we were treated to our first weekend of mostly good football. This past Saturday was rife with upsets, derailed hype trains, and general shenanigans. 

"Stop it with the dumb penalties, fergodsakes!" 

(HT: Mike DeSimone)

Rank	Team
1	Alabama
2	Oregon
3	South Carolina
4	West Virginia
5	Florida
6	Notre Dame
7	Ohio State
8	Kansas State
9	LSU
10	Oregon State
11	USC
12	Florida State
13	Texas
14	Oklahoma
15	Georgia
16	Louisville
17	Stanford
18	Texas A&M
19	Rutgers
20	Cincinnati
21	Mississippi State
22	Iowa State
23	TCU
24	Michigan
25	Louisiana Tech

Out: Northwestern, Nebraska, UCLA, Washington, Texas Tech

• Northwestern...no longer undefeated. All of you that predicted an Alabama-Northwestern national title game, I'm sorry. The dream season is over. No completely unironic--no, really--Northwestern fight song linking this week. 

• This year in college football insanity: Oregon State, in the top 10. This is "expectations exceeded" personified. I'm not sure how Mike Riley has navigated this team to a 4-0 record a season after losing to Sacramento State, but he has and is clearly a graduate of the Bill Snyder School of Sorcery. On the not so bright side, Oregon State QB Sean Mannion is out indefinitely after sustaining a knee injury against the Washington State Pirates. Luckily, OSU has a manageable slate throughout the rest of this month (@BYU, Utah, @Washington, Arizona State). If Oregon State can somehow get through that stretch without a loss, Riley has to be the coach of the year, right? 

• Other dreams vanquished. Texas Tech finally fell this past weekend after surprising basically everyone by playing this thing called "defense" during its first four contests. Unfortunately, the Fightin' Tubervilles fell to the Sooners in Lubbock. The Red Raiders gave up 17 points in each of the second and third quarters. With that said, the TTU defense still did okay, giving up a relatively okay 4.2 YPC and under 400 yards of total offense. An Oklahoma pick 6 essentially ended the game midway through the 3rd quarter, taking the score to 38-13, putting it out of reach even for a pass-happy offense like TTU's. 

• Michigan: back! Not back as in "returning to glory" back, but hey, Michigan's schedule has been tough and a thumping on the road against what figures to be a bowl team of some sort is enough to vault the Wolverines back into the top 25 for now. It means literally nothing but hey, being ranked 24th feels much better than being a "receiving votes" team. 

• This week in my unrealistic and/or irrational preseason conjecturing. Virginia continues to plummet, making me look like a fool after spending the offseason hyping up Mike London. The Cavs lost at Duke, 42-17, putting them at 2-4 halfway through this 2012 season. Everything about that last sentence is really, really bad. 

• Speaking of ACC failings...the Seminoles Florida Stated it up this weekend, losing to an NC State team that got destroyed by Tennessee. Virginia Tech continues to slide, adding a loss to UNC to its resume. Boston College lost to Army, Miami didn't even put up any sort of fight against Notre Dame in Chicago, and Georgia Tech lost again (also dropping them to 2-4). To make matters worse, the Ramblin' Wreck also relieved defensive coordinator Al Groh of his duties on Monday. Times are not good in Atlanta these days, and I'm not even talking about the Braves. Oh, by the way, Duke is 5-1. DUKE IS 5-1. 

• West Virginia: legit. Okay, that defense is still very, uh, shaky, but a win in Austin is a win in Austin. It's fairly clear that, unlike Missouri, West Virginia will be perfectly fine in its new conference. 

HTR's Top 25: Week 4

Previous dubious assertions: HTR's Official Meaningless Preseason Top 25, Week 1, Week 2, Week 3

(HT: Mike DeSimone) 

Rank	Team
1	Alabama
2	Oregon
3	LSU
4	Florida State
5	Georgia
6	West Virginia
7	Stanford
8	Texas
9	South Carolina
10	USC
11	Notre Dame
12	Kansas State
13	Florida
14	Clemson
15	Ohio State
16	TCU
17	Michigan State
18	Oklahoma
19	Louisville
20	Northwestern
21	Mississippi State
22	Baylor
23	Nebraska
24	Oregon State
25	Boise State

Out: Michigan, Missouri, UCLA, Arizona

• Your weekly reminder that the Big Ten is a festering stinkfest of stink. Need I say more? Iowa loses again, Michigan drops a Kafkaesque one in South Bend, Michigan State allows the might Fightin' Ron Englishes and the venerable PROCESS to hang around for far too long, Ohio State was only up 6 on the lowly Blazers of UAB at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Illinois lost to Louisian Tech by 28 at home, Wisconsin only beat UTEP by 11 and lost Ball early in the game to another head injury...it's bad. Michigan can win this thing, even in spite of its 2-2 start, but you and I both know that it doesn't mean much this year. Still, a conference title is a conference title, and given Michigan's current drought in that department, I will take it without complaint. 
• LSU Les Miles around, Oregon takes advantage. Like everyone else, I'm bumping Oregon up to #2 for now based on this week's games; the Ducks handled an Arizona team that has shown itself to be surprisingly competent--formidable, even--and LSU struggled with a downright bad Auburn team. Yes, we're only four weeks into the season, but if Alabama can just go ahead and knock off LSU in Baton Rouge and Oregon takes care of business, we might be getting another Oregon vs. the SEC national title game, which I think we can all agree would be approximately 942 times better than another LSU-Alabama rematch. 
• "I've made a huge mistake."--Missouri "GOB" Tigers. Missouri took on its second SEC foe and left with its second thumping at the hands of a ferocious South Carolina team. Quarterback play has always been the issue under Spurrier's tenure at USC East--which is still funny to type out or even think about given his reputation--so if Connor Shaw can continue to be the gritty runner and efficient passer that he was this past Saturday, the SEC East better look out. 
• Your other weekly reminder: NORTHWESTERN IS UNDEFEATED Y'ALL. Hit it, one more time: 
• Free fallin'. Arkansas...I mean, what is there to say? It's hard not to feel bad for John L. Smith, but at the same time everyone kind of knew that this was coming. Arkansas is 1-3 heading into the part of the schedule that is actually supposed to be difficult, and man, even getting to bowl eligibility looks like an uphill battle. Only in college football can a team like Arkansas be 1-3 while squads like Oregon State and Rutgers remain undefeated. If college football were a person, it would definitely be Maximus standing amid the fallen favorites yelling "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?" into perpetuity.