The Contenders and Pretenders of College Football

Verdict: Pretender

Missouri

It was a wild game in St. Louis, but the Tigers managed to beat the Illini 52-42.  Where the heck was the D?  Jeremy Maclin proved he's worthy of Heisman consideration—come to think of it, if it weren't for him, Mizzou would have lost.

Chase Daniel was 26 of 43, but the Tigers' secondary got torched by Juice Williams four times on deep balls.  The Tigers look vulnerable, and the high-flying offense of Oklahoma State on Oct. 11 looks scary all of a sudden.

Verdict: On the fence

Auburn

Tommy Tuberville opened up against one of those cupcakes that has a tendency to upset unsuspecting teams—Alabama found that out last year.  No problem for the Tigers, as they smoked the Warhawks (yep, the name change didn't help them) and kept them out of the end zone.

The running game was solid, and the D and special teams both scored TDs.  The Tigers look solid in every unit, and suddenly, the West looks stronger than the East in the SEC.

Verdict: Contender

Finally, here's a look at the conferences as a whole.

ACC

Stinky, overrated, and a huge disappointment.  Four teams losing, and two of them upsets, is not a great way to start.  And the sexy pick for the ACC crown, the Tar Heels, barely beat McNeese State, 35-27.  The only teams that looked good were Wake Forest (playing the bad news Baylor Bears) and Miami (they beat Charleston-Southern 52-7).

SEC

Mixed bag.  Alabama, LSU, and Florida looked great, while Georgia, South Carolina, and Vandy looked above average.  The rest?  Mississippi State lost to La. Tech, Arkansas barely beat an FCS team (scored the winning TD with 1:49 remaining in the game against Western Illinois), and Ole Miss beat a 7-6 CUSA team that scored 24 points on them.

Big Ten

Uh-oh.  Bring on the boo-birds.  Illinois and Michigan lost, while Wisconsin had problems against the Akron Zips.  That's three of the five biggies in the Big Ten looking mediocre at best.  Penn State made the strongest statement, while Ohio State looked very good—but like Georgia, beatable.

Pac-10

Mixed bag.  USC, Oregon, and Arizona (beat Idaho 70-0!) looked great, and Cal looked very good.  But Arizona State beat Northern Arizona only 30-13, Oregon State lost to Stanford, Wazzu lost to Oklahoma State, and UCLA will lose to the Vols.

Big 12

Slightly below expectations.  Oklahoma and Texas looked great.  Texas A&M lost to Arkansas State, Nebraska and Texas Tech both let cupcakes score 24 points on them, and Kansas let the worst team in FBS football—Florida International—score 10 on them.  Baylor lost, of course.

Big East

Status quo.  South Florida looked great, and West Virginia didn't impress.  Pitt stunk up the place losing to BGSU, Cincy and UConn beat cupcakes, and Rutgers will lose to Fresno State.  Oh, and Syracuse lost to Northwestern.  Sounds about right.

Here's what the top 10 rankings should be.

1. LSU

2. USC

3. Florida

4. Oklahoma

5. Penn State

6. Auburn

7. Ohio State

8. Mizzou

9. Oregon

10. West Virginia

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