Pete
Fiutak
Q: Knowing what you
know now and forgetting preseason polls, who are the top 5 teams?
A:
This is based on who deserves to be ranked in the top five, and not
necessarily who the five best teams probably are. If the first polls
came out today instead of August, the rankings should be ...
5. USC
Michigan probably deserves to be here considering its blowout of
Notre Dame, but USC gets the nod thanks to a destruction of a decent
Arkansas team, an easy win over Nebraska, and a tougher-than-it-seems
road win at Washington State. Beating Arizona at Arizona isn't bad,
either.
4. LSU
Yeah, the Tigers lost to Auburn on a few disputed calls, and they
haven't faced anyone else of note outside of Arizona, but they're No. 1
in the nation in defense (holding Auburn to 182 total yards) and
averaged close to 47 points per outing in the four non-Auburn games.
3. Florida
Has anyone in the top 25 played a tougher first five games? Kentucky
isn't all that bad, Southern Miss and UCF will be in the Conference USA
title hunt all year, Alabama is solid, and Tennessee is back to being
Tennessee. Even so, the Gators are only allowing 9.4 points per game and
are 13th in the nation in total offense.
2. Auburn
Everyone forgets about the 40-14 season opening win over Washington
State. The win over LSU might be the second best this year behind Ohio
State's win over Texas, and winning at South Carolina is nothing to
sneeze at. The defense has been fantastic.
1. Ohio State
How can it be anyone else? Despite having the bull's-eye squarely on
its back, OSU has won each game by double-digits and by an average of
22.6 per outing. The defense has exceeded all expectations, and the
offense is getting all the points it needs to. The win at Texas was the
best so far this year, Northern Illinois might win the MAC, and Penn
State and Iowa are no slouches. The Buckeyes deserve the slot.
Richard
Cirminiello
Q: Knowing what
you know now and forgetting preseason polls, who are the top 5
teams?
5. USC – No doubt this is not the same Trojan team that
blazed a trail through its schedule the past few seasons. It’s a
transition year at Troy, but USC still rates a slight edge over West
Virginia, Texas and LSU because of the play of its young defense and
the potential of John David Booty once WR Dwayne Jarrett gets
healthy and RB Chauncey Washington gets acclimated to his role as
the feature back.
4. Florida – As expected, the Gators have been winning with
defense, while just getting by offensively. Urban Meyer has done a
nice job injecting Tim Tebow into the quarterback equation without
messing with Chris Leak’s psyche. The formula for success that’s
gotten Florida to 5-0 is going to be severely tested with upcoming
games against defensive giants, LSU, Auburn and Georgia, who
comprise the nation’s top 3 scoring defenses.
3. Auburn – The Kenny Irons-led running game can be
devastating and the defense showed in the 7-3 LSU win that it’s got
the speed to shut down even the fastest offenses. The Tigers,
however, need to produce more big plays in the passing game to
survive second-half wars with Florida, Georgia and Alabama.
2.
Michigan – This is not the sixth best team in the country, as
both polls would have you believe. A reputation for gagging at
inopportune times aside, the Wolverines are without a weakness. The
offense is as balanced as one can be and the defense sports a nasty
front seven that’s been as dominant as any in the country.
1. Ohio State – A little more than a month ago, there was no
clear consensus for the top spot in the country. There is now.
Resounding wins at Texas and at Iowa, along with a defense that gets
better every week, make the Buckeyes a heavy favorite to be playing
in Glendale next Jan. 8.
John
Harris
Q: Knowing what
you know now and forgetting preseason polls, who are the top 5
teams?
A. 1. Ohio
State – I had them at number one since Vince Young decided to
leave Texas, and there’s been no reason to move them. The defense has
played above the low expectations most experts
had for them at the outset of the year, and the offense, well, it
possesses the fastest weapons in the nation and a Heisman worthy leader
at QB. What else can you say?
2. USC –
Each team in the top five is going to have a close game on the road, so
having to intercept a Hail Mary pass on the last play of the game isn’t
absolutely damaging to the Trojans. As the running game continues to
improve, the Trojans will get better each week, leading to the game of
their year against Oregon (ha, you thought Cal).
3. Auburn
– If, IF South Carolina WR Jared Cook catches the deep ball late in the
fourth quarter, it’s conceivable that Auburn may have gotten knocked
off. But, it didn’t happen. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than
good. Unfortunately for SEC teams, Auburn is better than they are
lucky, but more importantly, they’re faster and more physical on defense
than nearly every team in the nation.
4. Michigan
– Speaking of defense, the Michigan defense is one of the best units to
ever wear the maize and blue. What has separated the Wolverines and the
Buckeyes from the other nine teams in the Big Ten is the speed both
teams have on defense. And, if teams decide to blitz and play
one-on-one, Michigan WR Mario Manningham will make them pay. The
offensive line is the best in the nation – they mash people at the point
of attack.
5. LSU –
I’m projecting a little here with LSU at number five, in some sense, but
not in another. We’ll see how accurate this is when the Tigers go to
Gainesville to tangle with the Florida Gators. However, I think that
the LSU defense is as nasty as Auburn’s and Florida’s defense is hurt by
the ‘suspension’ of DT Marcus Thomas. But, LSU’s ranking all comes down
to how well JaMarcus Russell plays throughout this season. He had his
hiccup at Auburn and should frustrate a Florida secondary that yielded
240 yards passing to Alabama’s first year starter John Parker Wilson.
So, that’s a short preview, ranking and opinion all in about three
sentences.
Matthew
Zemek
Q: Knowing what you
know now and forgetting preseason polls, who are the top 5 teams?
A: 1. Ohio State. Dominant. Awesomely athletic.
Balanced. Appreciably powerful. Quality kicking. The big kahuna.
2. Split vote: USC and Auburn. Difference-making coaches, resourceful
teams who can win in different ways, and strength on defense.
4. Michigan. Very formidable and talented, but see above: the
Wolverines don't have as much of a difference-making coach, and they
haven't yet proven they can win in different styles, playing at
different tempos. The defense, though, is legit. One does wish that the
Michigan-Ohio State hype could recede just a bit. Try waiting until Nov.
18, okay?
5. LSU. It will be a slight surprise if the Bayou Bengals lose to
Florida on Saturday. Loaded on defense, and always possessing great
potential on offense. If that potential is ever fulfilled, watch out.
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