The second the clock hit 00:00 in Alabama’s 24-15 victory over SEC West divison-rival LSU, the showdown was set.

The rematch of last season’s SEC Championship game that college football fans have been waiting for since the season began will be played. The BCS’ top-ranked team, Florida, will take on the second-ranked team, Alabama on December 5.

Of course, each team has to win out, but that seems like a formality. Florida travels to South Carolina before hosting Florida International and rival Florida State to end the season.

Alabama plays on the road, at Mississippi State, but then host Chattanooga and Auburn.

Mississippi State and South Carolina could present some match-up problems for the Tide and the Gators, but it’s hard to see either team losing. The Gators are 16-point favorites, while the Tide have opened up as 13-point favorites.

After each team faces a cupcake, both teams have to battle their in-state rivals, Auburn and Florida State, but neither rival looks to pose much of a threat.

The Tigers came out of the gate hot, starting the season 5-0 with wins over West Virginia and Tennessee. Since that time, the Tigers are just 2-3 with their wins coming at home over Mississippi and Furman. They were blown out at Arkansas and LSU and lost a home contest against Kentucky. Auburn is on a bye the week before they play Alabama, a luxury that the Tide don’t have, but as mentioned above, the Tide face Chattanooga the week before, so it’s likely they will be able to spend some extra time preparing for the Tigers. Alabama defeated Auburn 36-0 last season.

The Gators shouldn’t have a problem in their rivalry game either. Florida State is 4-5 and has arguably the second worst defense of any BCS school in the entire nation (Washington State). Even with Florida’s struggles on offense, no team has any trouble scoring in bunches against the Seminole defense. Their offense was rolling until Quarterback Christian Ponder separated his shoulder in the Seminoles’ loss at Clemson Saturday. Florida State has to turn to Redshirt Freshman E.J. Manuel and although Manuel is very talented, he has thrown just 4 passes in his career. The Gators have defeated their rivals five consecutive times, including a 45-13 victory over the ‘Noles last season.

The two played in the SEC Championship last season when the 2nd ranked Gators beat the top-ranked Tide in a very tight game, 31-20. The two teams were fairly evenly matched last year and that seems to be the case again this season.

Alabama and Florida have arguably the two best defenses in the country. Florida ranks second in total defense, while Alabama is fourth (Texas leads the nation while TCU is third). The Gators give up 4 yards per play while the Tide give up slightly less at 3.9 yards per play (in comparison Texas gives up 3.5 yards per play but has faced lesser competition).

Both teams have had some major struggles on offense. Neither offense has been all that effective and both Quarterbacks have struggled, especially in the red zone. Tim Tebow has just 11 TDs and 1,531 yards through the air and 578 yards on the ground (3.7 ypc) with 9 more TDs. Greg McElroy is completing just over 59% of his passes and has only 1,721 yards.

The good news for both squads is that both QBs have looked much better in recent games (McElroy vs. LSU and Tebow vs. Georgia).

The Gators average 6.58 yards per play on offense while the Tide average 6.06, but do be fair the Gators have an easier schedule than the Tide. Alabama has seen several better defensive clubs than the Gators have.

As we get closer to December, we will have much more coverage of what will most likely be an epic battle for not only the SEC Championship, but a berth in the National Championship game.

So Much for the Ducks

I raved about Oregon after their blowout win over Southern Cal last week here.

So much for that.

Stanford got out to an early 24-7 lead, was up 31-14 at the half and held on for a 51-42 victory over Oregon.

Last week, Oregon’s defense looked like world-beaters, but after USC managed to put just 14 points on Arizona State and the Ducks’ defense was torched by the Cardinal, they look anything but.

Oregon gave up 51 points and 505 total yards on the ground to a very balanced Stanford attack. Stanford had 251 yards passing and 254 yards rushing.

You can’t blame Oregon’s offense. They came to play. They put up 570 yards and 42 points to make a game of it. Jeremiah Masoli had 334 yards and 3 TDs while rushing for 55 yards and a score. LaMichael James had 125 yards and a TD on the ground.

Stanford Head Coach Jim Harbaugh thinks that his Quarterback Andrew Luck is the best Quartberack in the country. I’m not sure about that but, Luck was very good Saturday, completing 12-of-20 passes for 251 yards and 2 TDs. The real story of the game was Stanford Running Back Toby Gerhart.

Gerhart rushed for a school-record 223 yards on 38 carries and had three scores. He now has 1,217 yards on 233 carries (5.2 ypc) and 16 TDs on the season.

Speaking of Oregon, Oregon and the Pac-10 have re-instated Running Back LaGarette Blount.

Everyone remembers Blount for his punch of Boise State defensive end Byron Hout after a poor performance in which he rushed for -5 yards on 8 carries, but in 2008, Blount was a very good back. In fact, Blount rushed for 1,002 yards on just 137 carries in 2008.

LaMichael James has been great for the Ducks, rushing for 1,043 yards this season, but he is rather small (he’s listed at 5’9, 180 lbs.). Blount is a big back at 6’2, 240. He will give the Ducks a power back so they can have a “thunder and lightning” combo.

I thought Blount’s suspension may have been too severe in the first place. I absolutely agree that there is no place for something like that in college football, but a season-long suspension seemed like too much. After all, he was antagonized by Hout and Hout received no public punishment.

Ponder Out For the Season

You have to feel for Florida State Quarterback Christian Ponder. He was having an excellent season for the struggling Seminoles, but suffered broken ribs during the first half of FSU’s win over North Carolina State. He tried to play with those broken ribs against Clemson but was off all game, throwing a career-high 4 interceptions. Ponder separated his shoulder attempting a tackle after his final pick and will now miss the rest of the season. Highly-touted Redshirt Freshman E.J. Manuel will step in and start the Seminoles’ final three games (@ Wake Forest, Maryland, @ Florida). Ponder finished the season completing 68.6% of his passes for 2,717 yards with 14 TDs and 7 interceptions. He also rushed for 2 TDs.

How can Charlie Weis survive this season?

After another home loss to Navy, the Irish dropped to 6-3 on the season. With games still to come at Pittsburgh, home against Connecticut and at Stanford, Notre Dame will more than likely lose another game and have a change to lose all three. Pittsburgh is a 7-point favorite and I’d expect Notre Dame to be a road underdog against Stanford as well.

After one year at Notre Dame, Weis went 9-3 and won the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award. The Irish were defeated by Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl 34-20. In the middle of that second season, Weis was given a huge, 10-year contract extension just five games into his head coaching career. The n his next year, he went 10-3 and the Irish were blown out 41-14 by LSU in the Sugar Bowl.  In 2007, the Irish won just 3 games and followed that up with a 7-6 campaign in 2008.

That makes Weis just 35-24 at Notre Dame and the Irish have just one bowl win (over Hawaii).

In comparison, Ty Willingham was 21-15 at Notre Dame and Bob Davie had a nearly identical record of 35-25.

If the Irish win out, with their schedule, I still find it hard to believe that Weis would keep his job. After all, he has lost two games to Navy after the Irish had previously won 43 games in a row against the Midshipmen.

Iowa’s luck runs out

I don’t think anyone is surprised that Iowa’s run came to end. They had been living on the edge every week, barely eeking out wins over Northern Iowa, Arkansas State, Michigan and Michigan State. They had to block two field goals to defeat Northern Iowa, had to stop a two-point conversion try and a last-effort drive by Michigan and had to score on the game’s final play to beat Michigan State. After the Hawkeye erased a 10-point fourth quarter deficit against Indiana for a 42-24 win, many were beginning to think that Iowa was a team of destiny and with just three games left, maybe they could complete a perfect season.

Once Quarterback Ricky Stanzi went down, hope seemingly went out the window. Iowa had a 10-0 lead before Stanzi was sacked, injured, and fumbled. The fumble was recovered by Marshall Thomas in the end zone for a Northwestern touchdown to cut the lead to 10-7. The Wildcats would score twice more and Iowa couldn’t muster much of anything on offense.

Iowa had a good run, but you can only live on the edge for so long.

Performance of the Week:

Toby Gerhart, RB, Stanford
Gerharts rushed for 233 yards on 38 carries and had 2 TDs as Stanford upset Oregon.

The Heisman Race

1. Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama
Last week: 22 carries, 144 yards, 5 receptions, 30 yard
Season: 175 carries, 1,148 yards, 8 TDs, 24 receptions, 216 yards, 3 TDs
2. Colt McCoy, QB, Texas
Last week: 33-of-42, 470 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT
Season: 231-of-317 (72.9%), 2,447 yards, 17 TDs, 9 INTs, 1 TD rushing
3. Case Keenum, QB, Houston
Last week: 40-of-60, 522 yards, 3 TDs
Season: 325-of-458 (71%), 3,815 yards, 28 TD, 5 INT, 3 TDs rushing
4. Jimmy Clausen, QB, Notre Dame
Last week: 37-of-51, 452 yards, 2 TDS, 1 INT
Season: 209-of-308 (68%), 2,770 yards, 20 TDs, 3 INT, 1 TD rushing
5. Tim Tebow, QB, Florida
Last week: 15-of-20, 208 yards, 1 TD, 16 carries, 27 yards, 1 TD
Season: 114-of-173 (66%), 1,531 yards, 11 TDs, 4 INT, 155 attempts, 578 yards (3.7 ypc), 9 TD

My Top 25

1. Alabama
2. Florida
3. Texas
4. Cincinnati
5. TCU
6. Boise State
7. Georgia Tech
8. LSU
9. Pittsburgh
10. Utah
11. Iowa
12. Ohio State
13. Houston
14. Oregon
15. USC
16. Penn State
17. Miami
18. Oklahoma State
19. Arizona
20. Wisconsin
21. Virginia Tech
22. South Florida
23. Clemson
24. Stanford
25. West Virginia

Game of the Week
#11 Iowa @ #12 Ohio State
3:30 PM, ABC
The Line: OSU – 17

Iowa Quarterback Ricky Stanzi doesn’t have very good numbers at all (2186 yards, 56%, 15 TDs, 14 INTs) but he had a knack for making a big play down the stretch. James Vandenberg was awful replacing Stanzi went down with an ankle injury in Iowa’s 17-10 loss to Northwestern. Vandenberg was 9-of-27 for 82 yards and an interception. He also missed a wide open Iowa receiver late in the fourth quarter on a play that could have tied the game.

Iowa has been very ineffective running the ball this season. They have just 1,192 yards in 10 games. That’s just 119 yards per game and only 3.4 yards per carry. Against a top-flight defense like the Buckeyes, I don’t see how Iowa is going to be able to move the ball without Stanzi. Actually, I don’t see how they would be able to score against this well-coached Buckeye defense even if they had Stanzi.

Penn State entered last week’s game averaging just under 31 points per game. They scored 7 against the Buckeyes and their one touchdown came on a controversial 4th-and-one where it looked Daryll Clark’s sneak may have been stopped short. The Lions finished with just 201 total yards

Ohio State, on the other hand, rushed for 190 yards per game and averages 4.7 yards per rush even with a mostly ineffective passing game. Terrelle Pryor was still relatively ineffective last week against Penn State, but he made big plays when he had to (2 TD passes) and managed the game well, avoiding a turnover. The Buckeyes put 228 rushing yards on a very stingy Penn State defense. That’s almost as many total yards as Penn State gave up per game coming in (254).

I’m not sure the Buckeyes will score enough to cover, but I think their defense is going to dominate and the game will never really be in doubt.

What Else to Keep an Eye On

#13 Houston @ Central Florida +5.5
Noon

The Knights hung with Texas for 2.5 quarters before losing 35-3. Case Keenum is coming off back-to-back 500 yard games and Colt McCoy shredded the Knights for 470 yards last week. The Knights do have some talent on their roster, especially on the defensive line. If UCF has Quarterback Brett Hodges and Running Back Brynn Harvey back from apparent injuries, they may be able to give the Cougars a game.

#2 Florida @ South Carolina +16
CBS, 3:30

I thought the Gamecocks’ stingy defense might give them a chance in this game, but they have given up 31 to Tennessee and 33 to Arkansas in the last two weeks. The home crowd may keep South Carolina in the game early, but they just don’t have enough on offense to beat the Gators.

(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and a contributor at NFL Mocks Subscribe to his RSS feed and add him on Twitter to follow him daily.)

Miami Quarterback Jacory Harris overcame a dreadful start to lead the Hurricanes to a 21-20 victory over Oklahoma in front of a crowd of 45,000 at Landshark Stadium Saturday night.

Harris started the night off about as bad as he possibly he could. Harris threw an interception on each of Miami’s first two drives that helped Oklahoma get out to an early 10-0 lead. Harris would bounce back, finishing the game 19-28 for 202 yards and three touchdowns. Harris did not throw another interception.

With Heisman-winning Quarterback Sam Bradford still unable to play due to a right shoulder injury and All-American Tight End Jermaine Gresham already out for the season, the Sooners got another huge blow. Senior Wide Receiver Ryan Broyles, who entered the game 22 receptions for 309 yards and an impressive seven touchdowns in just four games, fractured his left shoulder blade and had to leave the game with the Sooners ahead. Broyles is the Sooners’ leading receiver and after he exited the game, Landry Jones and the Oklahoma offense started to fall apart and never really got back into their groove. Oklahoma was forced to use Running Back Mosis Madu as a Wide Receiver and had only one real reliable target throughout the night in Wide Receiver Cameron Kenney, who entered the game with just three career receptions.

Oklahoma had a lot of success running the ball. DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown combined for 151 yards on 34 carries, but Stoops and company kept trying to move the ball through the air. Strange thing to do when you have a redshirt freshman Quarterback out there.

Mark Whipple’s Miami offense also probably threw the ball a little too much, but with all of the success Whipple has had thus far, it’s hard to question his play-calling. Graig Cooper could not get going, rushing for just 21 yards on eight carries, but his teammate in the backfield, Javarris James, had a career-high 150 yards on 15 carries.

Oklahoma was down by just four and faced a 4^th down on Miami’s 22 with 4:18 to go. Rather than go for it and take the lead, Stoops opted to kick a Field goal to cut the lead to one. Thanks to a good running game, a gutsy call by Mark Whipple and an excellent throw by Jacory Harris, Oklahoma wouldn’t see the ball again.

Stoops’ big game strategies and abilities used to never be called into question, but after his recent string of big game losses that include three losses in BCS National Title games, one has to wonder what Stoops is thinking with some of his decisions.

Miami is obviously one of the most improved teams in the country and I admire Randy Shannon for all of the adversity that he is overcome, but I still think he has some work to do as a game day coach. But, with Shannon’s excellent recruiting abilities and his fantastic coaching hires (especially the hiring of Offensive Coordinator Mark Whipple, who has turned the offense around), he has put himself in an excellent position to be successful.

Harris still struggles when he has pressure put on him. He threw two interceptions early on and had a dropped interception that would have certainly been a pick-six. When Harris is protected, he makes excellent decision and is one very good Quarterback. His offensive line kept him clean throughout the second half, which enabled the ‘Canes to win the game. I don’t necessarily think that Miami is “back.” Miami being back, by their standards, makes them one of the five best teams in the nation every year. The ‘Canes aren’t quite there yet as evidenced by their blowout loss at Virginia Tech, but the team is very close and is no doubt on the right track.

Cal – The Most Overhyped Team in the Nation?

California entered the season with a top-10 ranking, a Heisman contender Running Back and lofty expectations. It took just a few weeks to take Cal out of the top 25 all together.

A week after being destroyed at Oregon, the Bears returned home to face Southern Cal in what was supposed to be the biggest game in the Pac-10 this season.

If it was, somebody forgot to tell the Bears. Cal was embarrassed for the second straight week, losing to Southern Cal 30-3. Jahvid Best managed just 47 yards this week, nine less than he had at Oregon a week ago. If his Heisman campaign didn’t come to an end last week, it has now.

Southern Cal, whose offense has struggled throughout the entire season, put up 457 yards. Freshman Quarterback Matt Barkley was 20-35 for a career-high 283 yards, while Cal Quarterback Kevin Riley completed just 15 of his 40 pass attempts. Southern Cal built a 20-point halftime lead and never looked back.

Cal’s Pac-10 title hopes are all but over while Southern Cal has a chance not only to win the Pac-10, but to get back into the BCS National Title picture as well.

“That’s how we play,”  USC Senior Safety Taylor Mays said. “We know what we have in the locker room, and we’ve been playing close to our potential for the last few weeks.”

USC’s October 24^th matchup at Oregon and their date with Stanford this November in the Coliseum should decide the Trojans’ fate in the Pac-10.

Cincinnati Continues to Fly Under the Radar

With an NFL quality Quarterback, Tony Pike, an NFL quality Wide Receiver, Marshawn Gilyard, maybe the hottest coach in the country, Brian Kelly and a 5-0 record, you’d think Cincinnati would be talked about by every pundit and analyst in the country.

They’re not.

If you look at the team’s overall body of work so far in the season, few teams have been as impressive as Cincinnati. They started the season with a blowout 47-15 win over Big East rival Rutgers, a team that many expect to contend for a Big East title .

The Bears then went out to Corvallis and came away with a very impressive road win over Oregon State, ending the Beavers’ 26-game home win streak over nonconference opponents. It is never easy to go across the country and play a football game, especially when you face a perennial Bowl team who rarely loses at home.

Cincinnati has given both Rutgers and Oregon State their only loss.

Cincinnati struggled with Fresno State, but Fresno is a team that took Wisconsin to overtime at Camp Randall Stadium and for the most part, kept up with Boise State.

I’m not calling Cincinnati a serious national title contender – they’re not – but they have been quite impressive and Head Coach Brian Kelly deserves all the credit in the world for what he has done with Cincinnati’s football program.

We will see what the Bearcats are really made of a week from Thursday when they take on the unbeaten South Florida Bulls, fresh off road wins over Florida State and Syracuse. The Big East will officially have a front runner after that game.

Auburn’s Offense Continues to Impress

What happens when you a dump a coach who has had great success and even turn in an undefeated season (Tommy Tuberville) and sign a coach who has had one major head coaching gig  and went 5-19 over those two seasons (Gene Chizik)?

A 5-0 start, of course.

Auburn has been one of the most surprising teams in the country this season. Gene Chizik’s first move was his best move. Chizik hired Offensive Coordinator Gus Malzahn. Under Malzahn, the Tigers are averaging 512.8 yards of offense per game. Auburn currently has the fifth ranked offense in all of college football after ranking 104^th a season ago when the Tigers finished 5-7.

The Tigers defeated Tennessee in Neyland Stadium on Saturday by a final score of 26-22. Auburn was in control throughout the game, allowing 16 of Tennessee’s points to come in the 4^th quarter. This included a touchdown by Tennessee that came with no time remaining when the game was no longer in doubt.

After a shaky 2008 in which he split time with Kodi Burns, Auburn decided on Chris Todd as their starting Quarterback.

Good decision.

He is completing nearly 60% of his passes and has 12 touchdowns and just one interception. He had just five touchdowns and six interceptions last season.

Former starting Quarterback Kodi Burns isn’t being left out. He is 3-of-7 with 46 yards and a touchdown out of the Wildcat formation. He also has rushed for 83 yards and four touchdowns.

Running Back Ben Tate has 540 yards on 97 carries and his backup, Onterio McCalebb has 416 yards on 67 carries. Auburn is running and passing the ball with great efficiency.

We thought we’d have a three-horse race in the SEC West and after Ole Miss’ slip-up at South Carolina, it seemed like Alabama and LSU jumped to the front of the pack. Well, they may have company in the Auburn Tigers.

Performance of the Week

Donald Buckram, Running Back, UTEP

Buckram rushed for an astounding 262 yards and four TDs in UTEP’s 58-41 upset win over the 12^th ranked Houston Cougars.

The Heisman Race

It wasn’t a big week for the Heisman contenders.

Both Texas Quarterback Colt McCoy and Florida Quarterback Tim Tebow had bye weeks.

Houston Quarterback Case Keenum had another huge game, going 51-76 for 536 yards, 5 TDs and 0 interceptions. Seems like that would boost him up the list, right? Wrong. Houston was defeated by UTEP 58-41. On a team like Houston, if you lose a game to a UTEP team that Colt McCoy’s Longhorns beat down 64-7, you fall out of the race. It’s unfortunate for Keenum because the loss was not his fault – there’s not much more he could have done.

As I mentioned earlier, Cincinnati Quarterback Tony Pike continues to impress. He passed for 270 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception in a 34-13 win over Miami (OH) Saturday.

Notre Dame Quarterback Jimmy Clausen is flying up the charts after another big game. He had 422 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception in the Fighting Irish’s comeback overtime victory over Washington. Clausen has 1544 yards, 12 touchdowns and 2 interceptions and is completing 67.6% of his passes on the year.

My Top 25

1. Florida
2. Alabama
3. Texas
4. LSU
5. Virginia Tech
6. Cincinnati
7. Boise State
8. USC
9. Miami
10. Ohio State
11. TCU
12. Oregon
13. Iowa
14. Oklahoma State
15. Penn State
16. Auburn
17. Kansas
18. South Carolina
19. South Florida
20. Nebraska
21. Brigham Young
22. Georgia Tech
23. Ole Miss
24. Wisconsin
25. Oklahoma

Game Of The Week

#1 Florida @ #4 LSU, 8 PM EST, CBS

The Line: Florida – 8.5

With Florida Quarterback Tim Tebow’s status up in the air, I’m surprised that the line is so high. I know that LSU has struggled and Florida returns the majority of their two-deep from the team that won the 2008 National Championship, but 8.5 points is a huge spread for any team going into Death Valley, especially at night. LSU has won 32 straight night home games.

This is a difficult game to gauge because of the unknown status of 2007 Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow.

Florida has had it easy outside of a closer than expected win against Tennessee while LSU has, for the most part, struggled. They needed a goal-line stand to defeat Mississippi State and had to score with under a minute to go to defeat Georgia last week.

I think, because of some close wins against inferior competition, LSU has flown under the radar, but the Tigers are already 3-0 in the SEC and have two impressive road wins, defeating Washington, who is just 2-3, but is 2-0 at home, and Georgia, whom the Tigers defeated 20-13 in Athens. Georgia scored 41 and 52 points in their first two SEC contests against South Carolina and Arkanas, but were unable to get on the score board until the fourth quarter against the Tigers. LSU shut down the Georgia running game and really only allowed one offensive player – superstar Wide Receiver AJ Green, to do much damage against them. LSU ran fairly well throughout the game. These close games could work to LSU’s advantage because they have proven they know how to win these games and should be confident when a game comes down to the wire.

There are a few keys for LSU if they want to win this game.

The Tigers must slow down Florida’s running game. They have averaged more rushing yards than any team in the country (307.5 yards per game)

This will force Florida’s Quarterback, whether it’s Tebow or his backup, John Brantley, into throwing to their unproven Wide Receivers against LSU’s talented secondary.

LSU must establish the run themselves and have Quarterback Jordan Jefferson play extremely smart football. This will allow LSU to control the football and keep the Gator offense off of the field.

Unfortunately, I don’t trust Jordan Jefferson and the Tigers offense to do that. I’ll take LSU to cover but Florida to win the game.

Upset Alert

Boston College @ #5 Virginia Tech – 13.5

The Eagles are coming off an emotional win against Florida State and Virginia Tech struggled to defeat Duke last week. The Eagles will be full of confidence and have traditionally played the Hokies tough. Although Boston College has lost two straight ACC Championship games to the Hokies, the Eagles have defeated the Hokies three straight times during the regular season. I like the Eagles to keep it close, but in the end, I think Tech has too much talent for the Eagles to match.

#22 Georgia Tech @ Florida State -2.5

Seriously, who decided to make FSU a favorite? Not only have they looked awful in their last two games (losses to USF and BC), but now there are rumors of Bobby Bowden retiring or being forced out and dissent among the coaching staff.

#2 Alabama – 6.5 @ #23 Ole Miss

Before the season, this was billed as the game of the year in the SEC West. Ole Miss nearly took down Alabama last year in Tuscaloosa. Ole Miss Quarterback Jevan Snead will have to have a phenomenal game and that is something that he is yet to do this season. Still, Ole Miss has enough talent and the home crowd behind them to pull the upset if Alabama makes some mistakes, but Alabama Quarterback Greg McElroy has played excellent football, so I wouldn’t bet on the Tide’s offense making too many mistakes.

Georgia @ Tennessee – 2

Someone explain to me why Tennessee is favored.

#25 Wisconsin @ #10 Ohio State -13.5

The Badgers gave Ohio State all they could handle last year before Terrelle Pryor’s game-winning touchdown run late in the 4^th quarter last year and have traditionally given the Buckeyes trouble. With that being said, it will be difficult to knock off the Buckeyes at home, but I can see the Badgers covering.

#13 Oregon – 6.5 @ UCLA

Oregon has to be riding high. They are 4-0 since their loss at Boise State, knocking off two consecutive ranked teams (Utah, Cal) and then blowing out Washington State 52-6 last week. The Ducks go to Washington, host USC and travel to Stanford from October 24^th-Novemeber 7^th in a stretch that will decide their season. Unfortunately for the Bruins, Oregon has a bye next week, so will not be looking ahead. UCLA is much improved. They had back to back wins at Tennessee and against Kansas State before dropping a game at Stanford last week 24-16. Kevin Craft has played fairly well for the Bruins since taking over at Quarterback against Kansas State and the UCLA defense has been very good outside of Toby Gerhart’s 134-yard performance for Stanford last week. If UCLA can play keep away from the Oregon offense, they have a chance.

(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger an an avid college football fan. Subscribe to his RSS feed and add him on Twitter to follow him daily.)

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#	+/-		Team	Comment
1	–		Georgia Bulldogs	I have to rank Georgia as #1, only because they beat Florida last year when Tim Tebow had a bummed shoulder. The battle in Jacksonville between the two SEC East rivals will be great theater.
2	–		Florida Gators	Tim Tebow did everything last season but he won’t have to this year. Chris Rainey is probably going to emerge as a star beside Cornelius Igram and Percy Harvin in the nation’s most potent offense.
3	–		USC Trojans	USC is the program every athletic director in the country wished they had. With Mark Sanchez under center the Trojans are once again loaded with talent and should run through the Pac 10 with ease.
4	–		Ohio State Buckeyes	Back to back national championship games and back to back embarrasing losses to SEC teams once they get there. Don’t even begin to ask me why two SEC teams are ahead of the Buckeyes.
5	–		Oklahoma Sooners	What Sam Bradford did last season was amazing, but he was overshadowed by Tebow’s record breaking year and the fact that OU has struggled in recent BCS games. Expect them to bounce back in a big way this year.
6	–		West Virginia Mountainners	You are reading it here first (gulp)….Noel Devine will be better than Steve Slaton was during his career if he can stay out of trouble in Morgantown. He has all the talent in the world.
7	–		Clemson Tigers	Here’s the team I think could surprise a lot of people this year. They’ve probably got the most talented backfield in all of college football; Cullen Harper, James Davis, and C. J. Spiller.
8	–		Missouri Tigers	Chase Daniel led Missouri to a #1 ranking going into the Big 12 Title game last year. This year their goal is to prove that last season was no fluke. They have the talent to do that very thing.
9	–		Wisconsin Badgers	Is Wisconsin really the nation’s 9th best team? I feel as if there is a small bit of separation between the top eight and the next tier of teams. The Badgers have P. J. Hill and Travis Beckum and they seem like a good place to start.
10	–		Texas Longhorns	I actually like Colt McCoy, although it seems no one outside of Texas does. The big question for the Longhorns is at running back after losing Jamaal Charles to the NFL Draft.
11	–		Auburn Tigers	Kodi Burns will be the starting QB for Auburn, and the Tigers should be very good. The SEC West race appears wide open and should be Auburn’s for the taking.
12	–		LSU Tigers	The first problem in Baton Rouge is trying to find a replacement to Ryan Perrilloux. It appears Harvard transfer Andrew Hatch will fill that spot. With that talented defense it may not matter who starts at QB for the defending national champions.
13	–		Kansas Jayhawks	Were the Jayhawks a fluke last season? I sure hope not. Quarterback Todd Reesing is the real deal when it comes to running the spread offense.
14	–		Texas Tech Red Raiders	I keep talking about how WR Michael Crabtree is a can’t miss prospect. At least I’m not the only one who thinks that way, I actually heard ESPN college football analyst Joe Schad say that Crabtree could catch 30 TD passes this year.
15	–		South Florida Bulls	I am a Matt Grothe fan. The kid has a great arm and understands the game of football. Plus somebody has to challenge West Virginia in the Big East right? Why not the team that actually beat the Mountaineers last season?
16	–		Virginia Tech Hokies	The ACC looks like it is headed for another very down season. Despite losing Brandon Ore by dismissal the Hokies should still be one of the favorites to win the conference.
17	–		BYU Cougars	The next tier of the top 25 seems to be here. BYU has the nation’s longest winning streak and is led by quarterback Max Hall. Their battle against Utah to end their regular season November 22nd could be for a BCS bowl.
18	–		Tennessee Volunteers	The Volunteers are the 5th SEC team already listed here, and yet people ask who the strongest conference is. Last year they made the SEC Championship game after blowout losses to Florida & Alabama, so there’s no telling what to expect.
19	–		Utah Utes	I really think that either BYU or Utah will be playing in a BCS Bowl game at the end of the season. The Utes get both TCU and BYU at home, so they should be favored in both of their tough games.
20	–		Arizona State Sun Devils	Rudy Carpenter and the Sun Devils are out to prove that their amazing turnaround in 2007 was a fluke ( a word I’ve used a lot in this article). They play both USC and Georgia, which means they will be a team to watch.
21	–		Penn State Nittany Lions	I’ve seen Penn State ranked as high as the top ten by some experts’ rankings and as low as completely outside the top 25 in others. I think Maurice Evans will be great, but can they find a succesfful quarterback?
22	–		Michigan State Spartans	Even losing Devin Thomas I think the Spartans can be very good in 2008. If they can win their opener at California and survive games against teams they should beat (ND & IND) then they could get Ohio State at home at 7-0. Think of that OSU fans.
23	–		Fresno State Bulldogs	The last two seasons WAC teams have made BCS Bowl games. This year Pat Hill’s bunch has a tough schedule; Rutgers, UCLA, Wisconsin, & Boise State but if they can somehow manage to escape those four with one loss then they should be in the top 15 when the final polls are released in January.
24	–		Illinois Fighting Illini	Quarterback Juice Williams is very inconsistent but if he can play well all season (which I know he is capable of) then Illinois has a chance to play in the Rose Bowl again.
25	–		Pittsburgh Panthers	LeSean McCoy is one of the nation’s best running backs, but he will have to carry this Panthers offense. Last year he ran for 1,328 yards and 14 TDs.

The Kansas City Star reported on Thursday that the Chiefs are having a quarterback battle, but it isn’t for the the starting spot. No instead it is for the No. 2 spot on the depth chart. That’s because Brodie Croyle has already been rewarded the starting job by head coach Herm Edwards.

“It’s his team now,” Edwards said. “But he knows that, really to win them over, he’s got to win.”

Nothing against Croyle but I followed his college career at Alabama very closely and never saw him as an NFL quarterback. Even when asking the biggest Crimson Tide fans I know about Croyle’s starting role in Kansas City all I get is remarks like, “Croyle a QB? In the NFL? (laughter)” or “he will never make it.”

I agree completely, and being a Florida Gators fan I don’t often agree with my Crimson Tide brethren.

This time around I do though.

Why? Well every time I drive around my hometown, about 30 minutes from Tuscaloosa, I always see a bumper sticker that says “honk if you sacked Brodie.” That’s because during his senior season, in his final Iron Bowl game, Croyle was sacked seven times against in state rival Auburn. He was completely immobile and actually ran into quite a few sacks.

It’s actually one of the more talked about game’s in the rivalries recent history, and considering Auburn has dominated it the last five years there isn’t a whole lot of things for Crimson Tide fans to discuss that have went well. That leaves Croyle’s final Iron Bowl as the main thing Alabama fans like to complain about constantly.

Croyle has not been impressive in the 11 NFL games he has played in either. As he enters his third season in the league the 25 year old will still have to deal with the fact that he’s thrown more interceptions than touchdowns. For the record that’s six touchdowns, and eight interceptions for Kansas City’s starting quarterback.

I can’t believe I’m using starting quarterback and Brodie Croyle in the same sentence.

I know that young quarterbacks have to get on the field in order for the team to know whether or not they are the longterm answer, but I just don’t know what Kansas City has seen in Croyle to point them in that direction.

I really have nothing against the guy. He’s a great competitor and he seems like a smart kid. He makes good decisions on the field most of the time, but is inaccurate and doesn’t have an overpowering arm.

Throwing to Tony Gonzalez and Dwayne Bowe will certainly help Croyle. Gonzalez is experienced and will run be a great target when the young quarterback finds himself in trouble. Bowe is growing up in a hurry and has developed into one of the better young NFL receivers. Last year the two combined to catch 169 passes for 2,167 yards and 10 touchdowns.

That’s more touchdowns that Croyle has thrown in his entire NFL career, although it has been in limited playing time.

Let me say this Chiefs fans. Croyle was a third-round pick out of Alabama, meaning this isn’t a situation where you have to play the guy because he has already signed a huge rookie contract. Why are they already announcing Croyle their starter? Why not let some guys come in and fight over it? That’s the main thing I don’t understand, but there’s a reason Edwards (who I like a lot) is an NFL coach and why I’m not.

Maybe it will work out for the Chiefs. Maybe Croyle will be amazing and develop into one of the better young NFL quarterbacks over night. I just don’t see it happening.

Edwards says famously that “you play to win the game”, so maybe Kansas City can figure out a way to win “the game” with Brodie Croyle under center. Good luck.