Each week during the college football season, About.com college football writer Tim Hyland will rank the Top 25 teams in the country. His updated rankings—and his comments about each of the ranked teams—will be posted each Monday.
Weekly Recap: Poor Iowa. Just two weeks back the Hawkeyes were flying high—undefeated on the season and making a big push for a national title. Then, well, everything fell apart. Up 10-0 against Northwestern on Nov. 7, Iowa saw quarterback Ricky Stanzi sacked (and injured) in his own end zone. Northwestern recovered the quarterback’s fumble to make the game 10-7, Stanzi left the game with a badly injured ankle and, just like that, the dream season was over. Northwestern would go on to lose to Northwestern that day, and followed up that loss with another this week against Ohio State. As a result, the Hawkeyes have tumbled all the way down to No. 15 in this week’s About.com Top 25. The Hawkeyes are a legitimately good football team. But without Stanzi, they’re simply not the same team that roared out to 9-0 start. Sorry, Iowa. Meanwhile, TCU shoots up to No. 2 after its impressive win over Utah, and USC falls all the way to No. 22 after getting blown out by Stanford.
1. Alabama: Still think they’re the team beat.
2. TCU: I’ve seen more from TCU than I’ve seen from Texas or Florida.
3. Texas: Colt McCoy coming alive at the right time of year. I don’t think he’ll be denied, folks.
4. Florida: Never got the sense that South Carolina was actually going to beat the Gators.
5. Cincinnati: Pitt lurking.
6. Boise State: Put Idaho in its place.
7. Georgia Tech: ACC title on tap for the Jackets?
8. Pittsburgh: Dion Lewis is a truly special talent.
9. Ohio State: Just a hunch: Michigan is going to push the Buckeyes to the limit this week.
10. Oregon: That loss to Stanford doesn’t look so bad now.
11. LSU: Struggled with Louisiana Tech.
12. Penn State: Outside shot (still) for a BCS bid. Just have to win next week at Spartan Stadium.
13. Oklahoma State: Outside shot (still) for a Big 12 title.
14. Wisconsin: Blew the doors off Michigan. And Wisky rarely blows the doors off anyone.
15. Iowa: If Stanzi doesn’t go down against Northwestern, I believe Iowa would still be undefeated.
16. Stanford: Jim Harbaugh doing an incredible job in Palo Alto.
17. Virginia Tech: Really can’t figure this team out.
18. BYU: Some good wins. Some ugly losses.
19. Clemson: The C.J. Spiller show.
20. Utah: Ran into a buzzsaw against TCU.
21. Nebraska: Big fourth quarter against Kansas.
22. USC: Where’s the defense, Pete Carroll?
23. Oregon State: Beavers still have a shot at the Rose Bowl. Yep, it’s true.
24. North Carolina: Very nice win over Miami.
25. Temple: The Owls are now 8-2, folks. 8-2!
Knocking on the Door: Miami, Rutgers, Navy
