It was nice to not worry about any games on Saturday. I like SC playing on Thursday nights. It rough on ticket holders, but for us watching at home it isn’t that bad. A little shake up in the poll at the top, and a lot of shake up at the bottom this week. Let’s get to the poll.

The biggest surprise to me was the switch of Alabama to number 1. While they did look good with their back up QB in the game, Arkansas just lost to A&M and struggled with Missouri State. Did people forget that Alabama could have lost that Texas game if their QB didn’t get hurt, and the refs calling holding on that last drive for Alabama? I think Saban might have intimidated a lot of voters this weekend. Or voters watched too many Aflac and Nissan commercials during the games.

Georgia, Georgia, Georgia… you struggled against Kent State, and you looked like you had no idea how to block a blitz against Missouri. You still have more first place votes than Alabama. That is saying something, that something is a lot of voters have you 3rd or worse this week. You sure Will Muschamp is the answer to your defense? He might need a new prescription in those glasses so he can actually see what the offense is trying to do. I will say that the refs did you no service in the first half of that game. I thought they missed several calls that would have backed up Missouri, and possibly kept their kicker from looking like Lou Groza.

Ohio State is still sitting at third in the poll, and they picked up a few more first place votes. Can’t have those two SEC schools getting al of them. It was nice for you to let Rutgers score first. I thought that was a great gesture to make them feel good for about 5 minutes. The way the score looks, you and the B1G should be kicking them out of the conference. They played you as well as a Sun Belt and MAC team did. I know they are only in the conference for the New York market, but can someone help them get back to being a decent team?

Michigan holds at number 4, the only good thing about that is that it keeps Pickens County at number five. That Iowa defense was the toughest you have faced this year, and you still scored 27. That is what, like half of what you have been scoring. Just think of when you actually have to play a team that is good on both offense and defense. I’m not sure when that game will be, might not happen until the last game on the schedule. It’s saying something that Illinois is the 3rd hardest game left on the schedule.

Clemson is number 5 again this week. You know all their fans think they should be in the top 3 or number 1 at this point. They just beat a top 10 team, so they are better than anyone else in the poll. Just don’t tell them that should be their 2nd loss of the season if ECU could kick a field goal or extra point. NC State should have been a top 10 team as much as SC should be in the top 25. So, Clemson you are about as high as you need to be. I mean, you should have a shot to beat Michigan. But it’s not like I have a lot of confidence in them either. Be happy Gameday was in your "city", and Herbstreit got to gush all over you, your stadium, you game ops people, Dabo, the crowd, the Esso Club, the rock, the hill, and whatever he could work into the telecast.

Southern Cal got back to beating Pac-12 teams like normal this week. That struggle against mighty Oregon State last week was just a blip on the radar. Nothing to see there. Just an off week for sure. It’s not like Utah will beat them by 26 or anything. Oh, Utah did beat them by 26. Maybe it is time to worry about winning the Pac-12 now Southern Cal. Heck, it might be time to worry about winning LA. UCLA showed up in the poll for the first time this week. Hopefully the Oklahoma way of losing to unranked and lower ranked teams stayed in Oklahoma, and it didn’t follow you coach and QB out to California.

Oklahoma State jumped an idle Tennessee to come in at number seven this week. It must have felt good getting revenge on Baylor from beating you twice last year. I guess your biggest concerns right now are TCU and Kansas. My how the Big XII has changed this year. It still appears you have the best QB in the conference, so that should win you some games the rest of the way. The defense has looked good so far this year. That needs to keep going if you are trying to avoid track meets the rest of the season. Just saw that the Bedlam game is not the last game on the schedule. You can’t have a let down no matter how that game ends up if you want a shot at the Big XII title game.

Rocky Top stays at number eight this week. You get to welcome in LSU after they make their debut in the poll this week. You just never know what you are going to get out of them week to week. I guess you can’t count on them getting stupid targeting fouls and getting extra points blocked now. They did look bad in the first half of the Auburn game. They did score 21 unanswered points to close that game out. Just be prepared for anything to happen. The good news is the game is at noon EST. I hope you guys get to bed early to start at 11am local time.

Ole Miss survived a visit from Kentucky. Who thought we would be singing the praises of a Lane Kiffin defense? Not me for example. The defense stepped up big on the last two Kentucky drives to force turnovers to preserve the game for Ole Miss. With both offenses being praised all week (Kentucky has the #1 NFL QB, and Ole Miss runs for like 500 yards a game), who knew this was going to be a 1980’s defensive struggle. I just hope that the SC coaches were paying close attention to the game. It looked like you could run against Kentucky in the parts of the game I saw. Please come up with a good game plan for the get go Beamer and Co.

Penn State has made their way into the top 10. All this tells me is that no one is that good after the top 3. I mean, you beat a bad Auburn team and a bad Northwestern team and an ok Purdue team and you get to be in the top 10? I guess enjoy it while it last with you trip to Ann Arbor coming up this Saturday. I honestly haven’t seen a down of Penn State football this year but looking at the schedule and the scores of those games it must be nice to be undefeated. I wish SC could start with its 3 OOC games and Vanderbilt to see what 4-0 would be like. Maybe one of these days SC can start 4-0 again (I know Penn State is 5-0).

Utah saw what Southern Cal did to Oregon State, and then said hold my beer. Utah is trying to make sure no one forgets about them after that beyond inexplicable loss to Florida to start the year. It must have been the humidity in Gainesville. I can only imaging what Utah is planning for them when they visit Salt Lake City next year. Utah has the privilege of playing both LA school the next two weeks starting with a surprising UCLA team. Don’t overlook the Bruins thinking they are still cubs learning to walk. They might surprise you and ruin your date with Southern Cal.

Oregon still is trying to get back into the top 10. Getting a little closer every week with their stop at number 12 this week. Luckily two teams ahead of them both lost conference games this week. If the Ducks are as good as people think, it’s going to be awhile before the need to worry about losing a conference game. Plus, that absolute beatdown against Georgia isn’t holding up as much as everyone thought. That is bad news for South Carolina too.

Well, Kentucky, I guess those Realtree helmets that Ole Miss was wearing were disguising a decent defense in Oxford. Will Levis obviously didn’t see the guy that forced a fumble on the last drive. I’m just kidding. Hey, at least you should have an easy bounce back game this Saturday night against the Gamecocks. At least that I what I want you to be thinking. We will see if the Gamecock coaches learned anything from the Ole Miss tape.

NC State, you had one job to do…one job. You failed. Go back to Raleigh and think about how you disappointed everyone outside the Clemson fanbase last Saturday night. I know Clemson got a couple of defenders back from injury, but as many of them went out the game too. Did you guys secretly give play-calling duties to Satterfield or something? For as much hype as some of the QBs get, I didn’t see anything great from yours. You might have at least 2 more losses on your schedule with an improved Syracuse team and Wake Forest left. Who knew that ECU was going to be your second toughest game in the first 5 weeks of the season?

Speaking of Wake Forest, they are up to number 15 after going to Tallahassee and coming back with a win. I hope that is all they brought back to Winston-Salem. I guess some voters thought that Florida State was actually back again this year. Or they thought that if you take Clemson to 2 OTs, you are actually better than when you played them. I’m not sure how that works to be honest. Just another way that voters did to revise their thinking after a few weeks.

BYU survives a tough rivalry game with Utah State. It looked like Utah States QB was shorter than Kyler Murray. He was still throwing and running all over BYU in the first half. BYU stiffened up a little in the 2nd half to pull that win out. You have a couple of big games the next two weeks with Notre Dame and Arkansas on the schedule. Notre Dame even decided it needed a bye week in order to get ready for you guys. That some respect they are giving you. Arkansas is just looking to have a break after the game after playing 4 ranked teams in a row.

TCU jumps from out of the poll all the way up to number seventeen. I’m not sure how that works when Kansas State was just sitting at #25 after beating Oklahoma. I mean, they even played against QB1 the whole game. It wasn’t like they hit the QB late after he was already sliding or anything. I will say the refs did miss a PI call after that play that was pretty obvious. I would have thought that would have been obvious if the game was at Oklahoma. Firing long time coach and program riser Garry Patterson has paid off for you so far this year. The next two weeks will determine how far up in the Big XII you will be later. Noted football powerhouse Kansas is the next game.

Another high riser from out of the poll is UCLA. Beating high flying Washington has catapulted you into the poll this week. No one really knows how good they really are, and no one really knows how good you are either. I guess this week’s game against Utah will prove the voters made a good decision to prop you up at number eighteen or not. It might be a bit of a yo-yo ride for you if you lose and tumble out of the poll.

Kansas is the 3rd team in a row that has made its way into the poll from the unranked this week. The Duke win might be the most impressive accomplishment so far this year. TCU will be tough this week. But, you have them at home and they could be a little off after crushing Oklahoma. Now that the meat of the Big XII schedule is here, we will see how for real Kansas actually is. I know everyone in Lawrence is exited for the rest of the season. At least until you lose a couple of games and then they will turn to basketball. Don’t worry Kentucky fans have already done that.

Speaking of the state of Kansas, here is hated rival Kansas State. You barely break into the top 25 after beating a top 10 Oklahoma, but then move up 5 spots after you beat the team that almost beat Alabama? Plus, your rivals just jumped ahead of you in the poll. That voodoo stuff from New Orleans is some weird stuff. If you didn’t lay an egg against Tulane, who knows where you would be today? Now, don’t be really miserable by losing to the team that Kansas just beat. I’m not sure you can come ack from that.

Washington drops down the poll 6 spots to number 21. I guess voters think you deserve another chance to prove them right in jumping you up in the poll after you beat a suspect Michigan State team. They will not be able to say that a ranked team beat you either after UCLA loses to Utah this week. At least you have some easy games in October. That should help out Oregon when they beat you in mid-November. You could give them a shot at the CFB Playoffs.

Syracuse has never been happier that Purdue has won a game as it was last Saturday when they beat Minnesota. I guess that is what all the voters are thinking at least. Plus, there aren’t that many other 5-0 teams that they can put in the poll right now. At least you get a week off before you have to play a pissed off NC State team. I actually don’t care how good you guys are this year, just beat Clemson. I doubt that will happen, but I’ll be a big fan if it does.

Mississippi State comes in at number 23 basically replacing the team it beat on Saturday. That was a good win against Texas A&M. It sill baffles me a little that you got manhandled by LSU a few weeks ago. I mean Auburn had them down 17-0 before they woke up. Arkansas will either be out for blood this week, or they will roll over with ease. I’m sure Sam Pittman will try to have them ready, but I’m not sure how they react after the Alabama loss. Hard to believe you still have 4 teams ranked 13th or better left on the schedule.

Cincinnati comes back into the poll after their week one loss to Arkansas. You guys have a little work to do to claim the highest group of 5 team label this year. I guess BYU is an independent right now, so technically you are the highest ranked right now. There aren’t any big games left on the schedule to really get the voters’ attention either. The SMU and UCF games will at least get some people looking.

LSU if the final team in the top 25 this week. Of the field goal team could block, they might be 5-0 right now. The Mississippi State win looks better now that they are ranked. And ranked ahead of you. Interesting how that works out right. Same record, and the team you beat is ranked ahead of you. Just one more thing to think about when people vote in this poll. Important game against Tennessee coming this weekend. Too bad it will be a noon EST kickoff. Will we see any new uniform combination this week with a top 10 team coming to Death Valley?

What do you think people got right this week in the poll? Did Georgia deserve to be jumped by Alabama? Does anyone really know what they are doing? What kind of a shot does SC have this weekend up in Lexington?

As always, Go Cocks!