GoldenBlogs Top 25 - Week 2

A lot of blowouts and not too many upsets in week 2, so there isn't a whole lot of significant movement on our top 25.  That changes this Saturday, when The Showdown between USC and Ohio State blots out all other media coverage.  Some other games are scheduled for Saturday, I'm sure, but I haven't the faintest idea what those matchups might entail.

Well, I do know about one matchup:  Cal at Maryland this Saturday morning.  You may have missed it in all the "OMG TREE SITTERS COME DOWN PRAISE BE TO TEDFORD OMG!!!" madness going on here today, but we did a Q+A session with fellow SBN blogger Testudo Times, who covers the Maryland Terrapins.  Be sure to check it out.

Anyway, here's our preliminary ballot for Week 2:

1	Southern Cal	--
2	Oklahoma	2
3	Georgia	1
4	Florida	1
5	Missouri	2

The top 4 remain the same from last week, but there is some minor shuffling, as Oklahoma passes Georgia and Florida for the #2 spot.  USC is unanimously our #1 team right now, and though none of us can agree on the order of the next three, Yellow Fever, CBKWit and myself all have Oklahoma, Georgia and Florida in some order.  This will all shake out as the season goes on, I'm sure.

6	LSU	2
7	Ohio State	2
8	Texas	1
9	Wisconsin	1
10	Oregon	1

West Virginia, what happened?  3 points?  That's all you could score?  WVU has had a couple high-profile no-shows during their run of success over the last few years, but I've never seen their offense so thoroughly stifled.  The upset loss to East Carolina nearly sends them tumbling out of the top 25 altogether.

Ohio State also tumbles a couple of spots due to its struggle with vaunted MAC power Ohio.  The Buckeyes may not publicly say they are worried, but I saw most of that game, and I didn't see a team that was ready to take down the Trojans, Beanie Wells or not.  Everyone else pretty much moves up a spot.

11	East Carolina	15
12	Penn State	5
13	Texas Tech	1
14	Auburn	1
15	Arizona State	1

East Carolina!!  Where did you come from?!  Their second upset in as many weeks (and third in a row, going back to last year's Hawai'i Bowl defeat of Boise State) lands them just outside the top 10.  Really?  Sure, why not.  If we were doing a straight résumé ranking, they'd sit at #1.  I don't truly know if they're better than Penn State or Texas Tech, but I'd sure as heck tune in to find out.

Speaking of Penn State, they absolutely clobbered Oregon State.  I think that might have more to do with OSU not being good as opposed to PSU actually being good, but they get a nice bump for their efforts.

16	Alabama	--
17	California	4
18	Kansas	3
19	Illinois	3
20	South Florida	2

Bears up 4 after handing Washington State their worst loss in history, at home no less.  I still remain skeptical, and would like to see them face some real competition (read: Arizona State) before declaring them Top 15 material.

Oh yeah, and if you're keeping track, South Florida is the best thing going for the Big East right now.  Considering the Bulls needed overtime to dispense with Central Florida, that's not a good thing.  Consider yourself on probation, Big East.

21	Brigham Young	2
22	Utah	3
23	Wake Forest	3
24	Fresno State	--
25	West Virginia	19

BYU and Wake Forest won ugly against inferior competition, and if I thought there were other teams that deserved ranking, I probably would have included them instead.  You don't dock BYU for winning the way they did (horrible celebration flag + blocked long extra point), but you can certainly fault them for essentially playing Washington even.  At this point, I think UCLA can take them.

Wake Forest?  Almost losing at home to Ole Miss?  Damn, son.  You gotta do better than that.  And don't think that win at Baylor is going to hold much credibility.  As bad as the Big East is, Wake is still the best (only?) thing going for the ACC.

And don't think you're getting off the hook, West Virginia.  You're lucky you're still ranked at all.  Actually, I didn't rank them, but both YF and CBKWit included them at the end of their ballots, so WV gets to hang around.  For now.

South Carolina succumbs to the 'Lose to Vanderbilt and you're out' rule.  Similar rules exist for Baylor, Duke, and Stanford, among others.  Wanna stay in the top 25?  Don't lose to any of those teams.  I admit it was probably a little foolish to even rank the Gamecocks last week after an ugly win vs. North Carolina State, but do not worry; I shall not be making the same mistake again soon.