Week 7 College Football Discussion

Week 7 College Football Chatter

   There is a lot to tackle today..... So let's get it started with a look at the updated AP Poll.

AP POLL

1. Alabama

2. Oregon

3. Clemson

4. Ohio State

5. Stanford

6. Florida State

7. Georgia

8. Louisville

9. Texas A&M

10. LSU

11. UCLA

12. Oklahoma

13. Miami

14. South Carolina

15. Baylor

CollegeFootball2Day's Poll

1. Alabama

2. Oregon

3. Clemson

4. Stanford

5. Florida State

6. Ohio State

7. Georgia

8. Louisville

9. UCLA

10. Miami

11. LSU

12. Texas A&M

13. Oklahoma

14. Baylor

15. South Carolina

   I think Georgia might be in a little bit of trouble with a couple injuries suffered in the game against UT. It will be interesting to see if Georgia can hang around and keep winning.

   Ohio State slipped some in my ranks, but not because of their game against Northwestern. It was a good win, no doubt, over a ranked team, but I put into question the strength of schedule for Ohio State. The B1G Ten used to be pretty well respected, but that is not the case anymore.

   Baylor is the biggest surprise, in my opinion. I haven't watched hardly any of their games this season..... Then I watched their game this past week. Anybody see a defense slowing down Baylor's offense? Now, don't misunderstand me, they are beatable.... But it's going to take a lot of points.

   Louisville is in a tough place half way through the season. There is not much more they can do to move up. Yes, they have to keep winning, and they have to do it convincingly, but I don't think they will get to the top 3 or 4 without some teams losing 1 or even 2 games. Like it or not, that's the way it is when you play in the AAC, formerly the BIG EAST. 

  Conference Power Rankings

1. SEC

2. PAC-12

3. BIG 12

4. ACC

5. B1G Ten

6. AAC (Formerly the Big East)

Let the debate begin. Send me your teams rankings and conference rankings. Disagree with my rankings? Hey, that's fine.... Tell me why they are wrong. Send anything and everything college football to Jeremy.cf2d@yahoo.com ; post to our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/collegefootball2day

Reader Questions

 Tim Shay writes: How much do you think Michigan should play Jake Ryan this week at Penn State? Clearly the Nittany Lions aren’t quite as strong as we might have thought at the beginning of the season – though certainly Michigan cannot take that approach again or they will lose this time – but Ryan was the Wolverines’ best defender a year ago, and the Wolverines could definitely use some help on that side of the ball.

   Thanks for the question Tim. I think Michigan has to play him, no doubt. They have to get him back in the groove before bigger games come along.....like Ohio State. I would give him a couple drives in each half. I don't think playing him on every drive in the first half and then sitting him in the second is really the best approach. I think he has to get a feel for playing in all 4 qtrs, but play every other drive or in certain situations in the redzone, etc. I think ultimately it comes down to how Jake Ryan feels. If he gets out there and doesn't feel real good about pushing himself, then sit him. If Michigan can play to their potential, then they should be able to handle Penn State without Ryan. Thanks again Tim.

     These next questions/comments comes from Bill Ritchie. He and I have had some interesting debates on various topics, but this last one has me scratching my head and wanting to hear from more fans.

Bill: Once again Louisville takes care of business and wins easily while Georgia needed luck and an OT to beat a bad UT team and OSU has to come from behind to beat Morthwestern. Yet they still remain above us in these polls that don't even come close to actually ranking teams based on skill but on hype.

Jeremy: Louisville played Temple. OSU played a ranked team.... When can Louisville say that outside of a Bowl Game?

Bill: Rutgers and UCF will be ranked in the top 25 by seasons end. Cincy may be too, be that as it may I don 't think it should be a popularity contest. You have the best record you should have a shot at the championship without regard to "strength of schedule" which is all in the minds of the imbeciles that do the rankings.

Jeremy: It's sad really.... Just sad. I guess everyone should try to schedule the weakest teams out there just so they can go undefeated.... That's not how it works... Nor even should it work that way.... Sad... Strength of schedule is everything... You must play the best if you want to beat the best... It's as simple as that.

Bill: Bama does. Their nonconference schedule is embarrassing.

Jeremy: Alabama plays some ranked teams from the SEC.... However, I certainly agree that their Non-conference schedule is a joke.

Bill: Again ranked by people who have an SEC bias. We beat the SEC every time we play them. We could beat Bama, Georgia, or A&M with no problems just like we did Florida.

Jeremy: Bill, you certainly are entitled to your opinion, and while I agree that Louisville could beat a few SEC teams, I don't think they could do it every week. Boise State is a great comparison to Louisville. Boise State could win that one big game every season but I don't think they could handle playing 3 or 4 big games like that over a 5 or 6 week stretch. Louisville will get more respect after they join the ACC. Sure, the ACC has its flaws, but when you bring your Cardinals to play Miami, Clemson, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, and play in a conference championship, I promise Louisville would get more respect.

Thanks Bill, I always enjoy the discussions on Facebook. I would love to hear from more Louisville fans and maybe some other fans who want to weigh in on this. Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/collegefootball2day Join in on the debate, or bring another topic in.... Anything College Football.

James in Tallahassee writes: I think you are right about FSU holding back on defense. They will show a little more against Maryland, but I think they are saving something for Clemson. Having not yet seen the Maryland game yet, what are your thoughts about the Clemson game? Will FSU be ready?

Thanks James, and sorry that the Reader Question segment was postponed last week. I think we can both agree that maybe we still haven't seen FSU's TRUE defense. They ended up shutting out Maryland. I don't care what people say about Maryland being overrated. Maryland is now 4-1, and I still think Maryland is going to win 8 games. Maybe they don't end up in the top 25 at the end of the year, but shutting them out proves we weren't seeing the whole picture with FSU. To be fair, the shutout against Maryland may be a little skewed too.... If Maryland's starting QB doesn't get hurt in the first half, you think they would at least found the end-zone once, right? And I don't have to keep saying this, but all of the college football world is pointing to that Clemson game. My thoughts on Clemson? Yikes, I hate to even start speculating on a game that is 11 days away. Honestly, at this point I see a game similar to last year's game in Tallahassee. Clemson is going to try to use FSU's aggressive approach against them. I think this game will be a shootout for a little longer than it was last year. There again, unless there is something we are missing about FSU's defense. Give me a week before you want me to speculate anymore about this game.... Those around me know I don't handle games like this very well....and it's not the 'during the game' that bothers me. It's the days and hours leading up to the game that bother me....

Thanks again, everyone.