Every week, members of Bleacher Report's college football community cast their ballots in the BR Top 25. A sampling of their rankings, analysis, and commentary is reproduced here. If you would like more information on the BR Top25, including an opportunity to cast your vote, send an email to trey@bleacherreport.com.
1. LSU
2. Kansas
3. West Virginia
4. Ohio State
5. Missouri
6. Arizona State
7. Georgia
8. Virginia Tech
9. USC
10. Florida
11. Oklahoma
12. Hawaii
13. Oregon
14. Boise State
15. Illinois
16. Tennessee
17. Texas
18. Virginia
19. Boston College
20. Connecticut
21. South Florida
22. Wisconsin
23. Cincinnati
24. Auburn
25. Arkansas
The toughest question of all right now: where do you rank a Dennis Dixon-less Oregon?
Michael Rice
Looks like LSU has righted the ship and maintained the navigation towards the National Championship. If the Tigers can win their next two games they will play in the title game, but against who is the other question. Will they play KU, Mizzou, West Virginia or somebody else. This weeks games will help weed out some teams that may not belong. West Virginia vs Conn will be a telling game, so will the game of the week KU vs. Mizzou in Kansas City, where the winner will play again in the Big 12 Championship game. If OU loses this week, then Mizzou or KU will play Texas as long as the Horns win. Oh how the Big 12 and the rest of college football gets crazier and wilder each and every week.
Tristan Threlkeld
Kansas is the only remaining unbeaten team from a BCS conference. How can you POSSIBLY not put them #1? Oh that's right: because they were not supposed to be good. We're not used to them being good, therefore they're not that good.
LSU has won their last four conference wins (forget about that loss to Kentucky, apparently) by an average of 8.5 points a game while Kansas has won their last four conference games (period) by an average of 24.5 points.
The only logical conclusion is, of course, that LSU is number one because they play in the SEC and that means they're playing the best talent in the nation.
Guess what LSU? Louisiana-Monroe beat Alabama by a touchdown too.
Robert Martin
1) LSU- The Tigers have the most big wins among undefeated and no loss teams. They've earned their #1 ranking.
2) West Virginia- They'll drop next win after the Missouri-Kansas winner takes their place. They caught a break when Oklahoma lost to Texas Tech. Now all they'll need is the Missouri-Kansas winner to lose in the Big 12 Championship Game. If that happens, West Virginia will be facing LSU in the BCS Championship Game.
3) Kansas- Win the next two and they'l be playing for a National Championship.
4) Missouri- Win the next two and they'll be playing for a National Championship.
5) Arizona State- The Sun Devils will get a nice boost if they beat USC, but they'll still need a lot of help to jump into the #2 spot. If either Kansas or Missouri lose in the Big 12 Championship Game, then some voters may be swayed to put Arizona State over West Virginia at #2.
6) Ohio State- The odd team out. They don't really have any resume building wins other than Michigan and Wisconsin and both of those teams are unranked in my poll. They'll need everything to break right to get into the National championship Game.
7) Georgia- They're ahead of Oregon because one of their losses is to a team currently ranked while neither of the teams that knocked off Oregon are ranked right now.
8) Oregon- Wins over Cal and Michigan are still good but not great. The USC and Arizona State wins give their resume much more muscle than Oklahoma.
9) Oklahoma- Their win over Missouri continues to shine, but losses to Colorado and Texas Tech are bad ones. The win over Missouri is still better than USC's win over Cal, hence their higher ranking. If Kansas beats Missouri, the Sooners will slip below USC and Florida.
10) USC- They're kind of deadlocked here, even if they beat Arizona State. They can't jump Oregon, and they might not be able to jump Oklahoma. Only if Missouri loses will the Trojans move up considerably. I'll probably have them at #7 if they do.
11) Florida- Their loss to Georgia cost them a trip to the SEC Championship Game. A high single digit ranking is where they'll probably top out.
12) Virginia Tech- They can't jump over the other two loss teams because of their conference and their performance against LSU. A win over Virginia will further distance them from #13 Tennessee, but it wont allow them to jump over Florida, USC, or the Kansas-Missouri loser.
13) Tennessee- Their loss to Alabama dooms their chances at moving up, but their wins over Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Miss State, and especially Georgia give them a nice core of wins to stand on. If they can get to the SEC Championship Game and knock off LSU, they'd be in the Top 10.
14) Virginia- They'll jump over Tennessee with a win over Va Tech. Whichever team wins will most likely have control of the #12 spot.
15) Boston College- Big gut-check win at Clemson to keep them from free-falling.
16) Illinois- They're living on a loss to Missouri and a win at Ohio State.
17) Boise State- Big game with Hawaii this week. They could enter the Top 15 with an impressive win.
18) BYU- They blasted Wyoming 35-10 at Wyoming. Their game vs Utah this week is their final one against a good team.
19) Texas- The Longhorns keep winning games and have looked more impressive the more the season advances. They weren't even in my poll two weeks ago.
20) Cincinnati- The fact that they beat UConn keeps them a spot ahead of them. Wins over Oregon State and South Florida are also nice.
21) UConn- Neither of their losses is real bad but they don't have any signature wins unless you count South Florida. The West Virginia game is their season. A win will rocket them up possibly seven or eight spots.
22) Auburn- The best four-loss choice out there. They don't have any crippling losses and they have a wins over Florida and Arkansas. Beating Alabama wont do much to boost them in the polls and Utah and Hawaii have a chance to leap frog the Tigers with victories.
23) Hawaii- If they want to be conisdered legit, they beat Boise State. If not, their whole season is a mirage.
24) Utah- They're 8-3 with wins over Oregon State, Louisville, UCLA, New Mexico, and a 50-0 drubbing of Wyoming. A win over BYU will push the Utes into the Top 20.
25) Texas Tech- They've done nothing except beat Oklahoma this year. With so many teams disapperaing late in the year, the win over Oklahoma is enough for a Top 25 bone.
Erick Blasco
Another week of fun. I thought it was supposed to become clearer as the day got closer, but guess not.
1. LSU (2)
2. Kansas (3)
3. West Virginia (4)
4. Missouri (6)
5. Hawaii (7)
6. Ohio State (8)
7. Oregon (1)
8. Arizona State (9)
9. Georgia (10)
10. USC (11)
11. Boise State (12)
12. Oklahoma (5)
13. Virginia Tech (13)
14. Texas (14)
15. Boston College (15)
16. Virginia (16)
17. Florida (17)
18. Tennessee (18)
19. Uconn (22)
20. Illinois (25)
21. BYU (NR)
22. Air Force (NR)
23. Clemson (19)
24. Wisconsin (24)
25. Texas Tech (NR)
Jared Reback
There is still a lot of movement at the t op to come. LSU will lose to Georgia in the SEC championship. Kansas will beat Missouri but lose to Oklahoma in the Big 12 final. They will still have a very impressive resume and deserve a BCS title shot.
West Virginia will struggle to win out but will do so. That leaves Kansas and West Virginia in a BCS title game that won't pull in the average viewer, but will be very exciting for the college football fanatic who loves offense. The over/under will start at 80.
I, like most voters, am reserving judgment on Arizona State until they match up against USC. With a win, they'll be a serious national championship contender, though the media isn't recognizing them as such right now.
Frank Swanagan
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