My new Top 25 in College Football

If you are looking for the official rankings, you can find the AP, Coaches, Harris, and BCS polls once they are released by following this link.

Here are my top 25 teams. You are welcome to post your list or critique mine in the comments area. I have included my ranking from last week in parentheses.

1(1) Ohio State (Proving many of us wrong each week)
2(2) Boston College (Owners of the most amazing moment so far this season)
3(3) Oregon (Another impressive win this week)
4(5) Arizona State (Still unbeaten! I am shocked!)
5(4) LSU (Had to move the undefeated Sun Devils past them. Sorry Tigers fans!)
6(8) Kansas (Another team earning respect with each victory)
7(7) West Virginia (The class of the Big East, even with the early stumble!)
8(6) Oklahoma (I'm just not convinced that this team is really that good)
9(12) Missouri (Benefitting mainly from other teams losing in front of them)
10(15) Hawaii (An undeserving team that I must move up to other teams getting upset)
11(16) Michigan
12(23) Georgia
13(10) Virginia Tech
14(21) Auburn
15(11) Florida
16(9) South Florida
17(17) Texas
18(13) USC
19(14) Kentucky
20(24) Boise State
21(22) Alabama
22(NR) Connecticut
23(25) Troy
24(18) South Carolina
25(NR) Air Force

Dropping out: #19 California, #20 Penn State

My fantasy Top 25 college football rankings going into this week

Go ahead and give me some feedback in the comments section or post your top 25 there.

1. Ohio State (reluctantly-they have something to prove this week)
2. Boston College (but I think they'll go down tonight)
3. Oregon (like them better than LSU for #3)
4. LSU (solid team playing a very difficult schedule)
5. Arizona State (we'll see if they can keep it up)
6. Oklahoma (incredibly unimpressive at Iowa State)
7. West Virginia (been great since the loss at USF)
8. Kansas (I think they're for real)
9. South Florida (tenacious defense earns my respect)
10. Virginia Tech (think they will win tonight and move up a bit)
11. Florida
12. Missouri
13. USC
14. Kentucky
15. Hawaii
16. Michigan
17. Texas
18. South Carolina
19. California
20. Penn State
21. Auburn
22. Alabama
23. Georgia
24. Boise State
25. Troy

If you want to see who the AP, Coaches, Harris, and BCS choose, you can find them here.

Poll Added - Ohio State vs. Penn State

I've been swamped with midterms lately and I just haven't had time to post much. Things have settled down somewhat, so I am going to start posting regularly again. I have just posted a poll about the Ohio State at Penn State game and I am going to post my opinion of the top 25 in a few minutes.

My picks for tomorrow's college football games

Here are the games I will probably bet tomorrow. I am not betting the "straight up" thing, that's just to tell you who I think will win the game.

SU=straight up winner
ATS=against the spread winner

Rutgers at Syracuse
SU=Rutgers
ATS=Rutgers -17

South Carolina at North Carolina
SU=South Carolina
ATS=South Carolina -7.5

Virginia Tech at Duke
SU=Virginia Tech
ATS=Duke +14.5

Georgia at Vanderbilt
SU=Vanderbilt
ATS=Vanderbilt +7

Army at Central Michigan
SU=Central Michigan
ATS=Central Michigan -13.5

Texas at Iowa State
SU=Texas
ATS=Iowa State +16.5

Illinois at Iowa
SU=Iowa
ATS=Iowa +5

Missouri at Oklahoma
SU=Oklahoma
ATS=Oklahoma -12

You like my picks or do you think I need to commit myself to an asylum? Tell me!

College Football Turnover Report

It seems like most of the college football games hinge on turnovers. Teams that take care of the ball usually get the job done and those that do not are doomed to failure. When betting on college football, this is one of the main factors that influences who I play. Out of the teams playing in college football this week, here are the teams with the best and worst turnover margins.

Net Turnovers +8 or Better
Cincinnati +15 (playing Louisville this week)
Boston College +10 (playing Notre Dame this week)
California +11 (playing Oregon State this week)
LSU +12 (playing Kentucky this week)
UConn +9 (playing Virginia this week)
East Carolina +11 (playing UTEP this week)

Net Turnovers -8 or Worse
Pittsburgh -8 (playing Navy this week)
Minnesota -14 (playing Northwestern this week)
Houston -8 (playing Rice this week)
Oregon State -9 (playing California this week)
New Mexico State -13 (playing Louisiana Tech this week)
Marshall -8 (playing Tulsa this week)
North Texas -8 (playing UL-Monroe this week)

If I were going to use this info to pick one college football game to bet this week, I would take California minus the points over Oregon State. This is a matchup of one of the best college football teams against a mediocre one. Cal knows how to take care of the ball and Oregon State has been a turnover machine so far.

College Football Polls and Rankings - Fantasy Top 25

I used the phrase "Fantasy Top 25" in this post for two reasons. First, I want to suggest that the pollsters are living in a fantasy land with their rankings. Too often they just move teams up or down for winning or losing with little consideration for the competition they are facing.

The other reason why I called this post "College Football Polls and Rankings - Fantasy Top 25" is because I am curious to learn what you have to say about the current rankings of college football teams. Post your top 25 and critique mine.

Here are my Top 25 College Football Teams so far this year:
1. LSU
2. Ohio State
3. California
4. Oregon
5. Missouri
6. Boston College
7. Oklahoma
8. South Carolina
9. South Florida
10. West Virginia
11. USC
12. Arizona State
13. Cincinnati
14. Florida
15. Virginia Tech
16. Illinois
17. Kentucky
18. Hawaii
19. Tennessee
20. Indiana
21. Florida State
22. Wisconsin
23. Auburn
24. Kansas
25. Texas

I think they seriously need to consider pulling voting rights from some of these AP journalists and college football coaches.

Just posted a Purdue/Michigan Poll

I decided to get things started by picking a game that is expected to be a good game, according to the oddsmakers, and posted a poll on the right hand side of the page. Make your pick and post your comments/arguments about the game on this post.

I'll get the ball rolling by saying that I expect the Michigan Wolverines to come right out of the gates and blow the Boilermakers out. Last week was practically the first game of the season for Purdue. Up until their game against Ohio State, Purdue had faced a cast of nobodies. Despite their weak early season schedule, Purdue has still managed to give up nearly 390 yards per game and that is clearly unacceptable for a team that has played such a soft schedule.

The Wolverines aren't anything to write home about either, but they have won four straight and they are starting to put the smack down on inferior college football teams. I was very impressed by their win against Penn State and every Purdue victory pales in comparison to that Wolverine win. I like the Michigan Wolverines to stomp the Purdue Boilermakers by roughly 3 TDs.

Final Score - Michigan 38, Purdue 17

College Football Smack!

I am a big college football fan. I watch it religiously, even garbage games on TV like last week's Rice at Southern Miss game. I bet on it, I argue about it, I live and breathe it. That is why I am creating this blog.

Don't be shy at my site. Join into the conversation, mix it up with me and the other visitors, and stir some stuff up if you want. Be my guest! I'll start it up by saying that I am an Ohio State Buckeyes fan and they are the best team in the country this year. Even though the Buckeyes have never beat an SEC team in a bowl game, LSU fans better watch out if they finish the season undefeated because we are going to give you a rude awakening. (Cal fans don't matter much because they will lose to USC anyways!)