TGULP: Week 5

Here goes, again, Beauford's picks first then mine:

1. Oklahoma..... Bama
2. Bama..... Oklahoma
3. Mizzou..... Mizzou
4. LSU...... LSU
5. PSU....... Texas

B2: Heavy is the crown, or some shit like that. Regardless, Oklahoma gets to wear it for now, but as invincible as they've looked, I think their time is coming. All Alabama has done is beat 2 highly ranked opponents (at the time, at least) on the road. That's good enough for the 2 spot, especially given the rest of the top-dog SEC implosion. Upon hearing that Georgia would be donning all-black for the game, the Alabama S&C coach quipped "they'll be going to a mother-fu4%@ funeral." Indeed, good sir, indeed. Mizzou continues to impress, and should have no problem mowing down the B12 North. LSU gets the bump from sheer top-dog attrition. Penn State - having just won their first game against a real football team - finds themselves in the drivers seat for the Big Ten, and in the top 5 nationally. With the Big Ten as apparently weak as it is, Penn State could make some noise nationally before this thing is over - as scary as that prospect is.

Champ: This marks the first time this year B2 and I have not had the same team at the top of the poll. Alabama's resume is unmatched in the country right now, sorry Oklahoma, but you're second fiddle to the Tahhhhde right now. This is an enormous jump for the Tide in my side of the poll, but like I said, nobody else has done what they have thus far this year. I am not jumping Penn State over Texas, which will all be moot if Penn State manages to run through the coming weeks unscathed... or until the Texas/Oklahoma fake rivalry game comes around (real rivalries go to each others' campuses by the by). Mizzou not playing Oklahoma during the regular season is a shame at this point.

6. Texas.... Penn State
7. BYU..... BYU
8. Ohio State.... Utah
9. Georgia..... Texas Tech
10. USF..... USF

B2: Texas impressed me this weekend with a solid defensive performance and accurate QB play. Really, Texas and Penn State should be 5a and 5b at this point, but I'm a Big Ten guy, and as such, Texas takes a back seat. If they can beat Oklahoma, you'll see them probably vault into the mix for that coveted 2 spot. BYU is rollin' against nobody, but hey, that's what BCS "busters" do. And that brings us to Ohio State and USC, which is, like, Arg!?!?. I know USC beat Ohio State. I also know that USC then proceeded to lose to an Oregon State team that is marginal at best, and bad at worst. As I said in a previous post, I think that Georgia and Ohio State have the most impressive losses to date, and they are ranked thusly. For explaination as to how Ohio State is ranked higher than USC, I offer this, which is unweildy and probably illogical: In my mind, OSU loss against highly ranked team > USC's loss against a nobody, despite the fact that the loss came against...USC. Yeah, put that in your pipe and smoke it. USF moves up via attrition.

Champ: Now it gets fun... BYU, Utah, Texas Tech, and USF all step into MIGHTY big shoes this week thanks to some serious carnage in the upper echelon of the ranks. USF is slowly managing to catch my attention... begrudgingly. I'm not showing any preference to a one loss team over these unbeatens just because of their names at this point. I don't think a Top 10 team gets to lose to a nobdoy (AHEM... USC) and stay in the Top 10. BYU and Utah are a pain because they don't play anyone except each other, but one cinderella punching doll isn't too terrible come BCS season (right Hawai'i?). I concur with what B2 is going to say about TT in the next group.

11. Texas Tech.... Georgia
12. USC.... USC
13. Florida.... Ohio State
14. Auburn.... Florida
15. Utah... Virginia Tech

B2: Texas Tech has finally put up enough points to get noticed, I suppose, although I still think they're going to get whalloped by the two B12 frontrunners. USC and Florida are mirror images of each other - still in the hunt after 1 loss, but needing some help. Auburn is in the same boat, having spent the week in unranked purgatory. I think the three 1 loss SEC teams plus USC are all still pretty good, and will each fight for a spot in the top 5 after this all shakes out. Utah is largely moot until they play BYU, at which point the winner will more than likely get to be the BCS beat-down team de jour.

Champ: Georgia stays in front of USC based upon my opinion of what each team has done so far. USC lost to Oregon State.... Oregon State has been TERRIBLE this year. Quick sidenote, had that loss been by another top ranked team not named "USC" you would've seen a much bigger drop by the MSM. I cannot put OSU in front of USC after what the Trojans did to the Buckeyes, I just can't. Va Tech moves up after another tough road win.

16. Boise..... Vandy
17. Vandy..... Northwestern
18. Michigan State..... Michigan State
19. Wisconsin...... Wisconsin
20. Virginia Tech..... Auburn

B2: Boise and Vandy are both on the clock. I'm not sold on either of them, but so far they deserve the right to be here. Michigan State may actually be the 2nd best team in the Big Ten. As long as Ringer gets his 150+ yards, that team is tough to beat. Seeing as I was never sold on Wisconsin, they should probably be even lower than this. For as poorly as Michigan played in the first half, Wisconsin proved that they could play poorererer. Michigan still isn't a good football team (although they're closing in on resembling a team that knows that they are indeed playing football). Virginia Tech won at Nebraska, and time will tell how impressive that was, if at all.

Champ: Vandy gets some recognition. Michigan State will be exposed when they encounter a defense, Jevon Ringer will not be running 40+ times for 200 yards against the defenses of Penn State, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio State, go ahead and mark it down now. Completely disagree with the "Wisconsin playing poorerer" comment. It is literally impossible to play poorer than the following: 5 turnovers, 20 total yards, -7 yards passing, one first down. Read that again. Michigan came out and flat outplayed Wisconsin in the second half to the tune of 27-6. Not turning the football over five times and actually, you know, picking up yards with scoring drives of 80 yards, 85 yards, and 77 yards will do that. Wisconsin drops, but they were beaten, they didn't give it away.

21. Wake..... Boise
22. Oregon.... Fresno State
23. Northwestern.... Oregon
24. UCONN.... Wake
25. Ball State.... Ball State

B2: Does anyone care about these teams? Probably not. Wake is still in the driver's seat to win the ACC, FWIW. Oregon? Northwestern? Uconn? Ball State (yes, that's right, I've got Ball State ranked). Who cares? Not me.

Champ: I'm quickly realizing that ranking 25 teams is really pointless. Once you get to 20 you've covered all you need to cover. Thusly, no breakdown here and no defense of my picks as they simply don't matter.

TGULP Week 5:

1. TIE: Oklahoma and Alabama (3)
3. Mizzou (6)
4. LSU (8)
5. TIE: Texas and Penn State (11)
7. BYU (14)
8. TIE: Texas Tech and USF (20)
10. TIE: Georgia and Ohio State (21)
12. Utah (23)
13. USC (24)
14. Florida (27)
15. Vandy (33)
16. Auburn (34)
17. Va Tech (35)
18. Michigan State (36)
19. Boise (37)
20. Wisconsin (38)
21. Northwestern (40)
22. TIE: Oregon and Wake (45)
24. ***Fresno State (48)
25. TIE: Ball State and ***UCONN (50)

Due to various ties, there are 26 teams tanked. Wheee.