NCAA Football Top 25 Week Six: Florida Prevails, But Alabama Remains No. 1

It was an exciting week of college football, highlighted by a matchup of Florida at LSU. Florida prevailed with superior defensive play. But as you can see below, it still wasn't enough to get Florida the No. 1 ranking.

1. Alabama—Beat Mississippi 22-3. Their defense looked dominant in yet another impressive win for the best team in the country. Their entire body of work is still stronger than Florida's for now. Regardless, the argument over who is the top team in the country will likely be decided in the SEC Championship game.

2. Florida—Beat LSU 13-3. A week ago, I was pretty sure that the winner of the LSU-Florida game would be my new No. 1. And Florida's defense did look particularly dominant. But, im still not sure how good LSU actually is. SEC play is never easy, but Florida now has its toughest game behind them.

3. Boise State—Took the week off. And moved up over Texas? Here is my reasoning: Boise State has beaten Oregon (a Top 10 team). Texas's best victory is over a 3-2 Texas Tech team. Every game that Oregon wins strengthens Boise States case to be included in the national championship game over any one-loss BCS team.

4. Texas—Flirted with disaster against Colorado for a half, then pulled away. Fear not, Texas fans. If you win out, you will play for the national championship. Florida and Alabama will play each other, and Boise State will win out, but an undefeated Texas will (obviously) be ranked higher than an undefeated Boise State.

5. Iowa—Beat Michigan 30-28. They seems to play up and down to their competition, but they are 6-0, with road wins at Penn State and Michigan. They have the second longest win streak in the nation. And they are deserving of this Top Five ranking.

6. TCU—Beat Air Force 20-17 on the road. TCU's toughest game remaining is at BYU on Oct. 24. If they can get past BYU, the road is paved for an undefeated season and BCS bid. If TCU and Boise State go undefeated the rest of the season, who will be ranked higher? Probably TCU.

7. Virginia Tech—Destroyed Boston College 48-14. They continue to be the best one-loss team in the country. Interesting stat: in even numbered weeks, Virginia Tech has outscored their opponents by an average of 44-10. In odd numbered weeks, Virginia Tech has actually been outscored by their opponents by an average of 24.7-25.

8. Oregon—Down 3-0 at UCLA at halftime, Oregon scored a special teams touchdown, a defensive touchdown, and an offensive touchdown in less than four minutes, taking a 21-3 lead. Oregon eventually won 24-10.

9. Cincinnati—Took the week off. Has a huge Big East showdown game against South Florida next week.

10. USC—Took the week off.

11. Ohio State—Had one of the best wins of the weekend, defeating an undefeated Wisconsin team, who has given Ohio State many problems over the years. The main reason they are not higher is because I have a problem with rating them above USC.

12. LSU—Lost to Florida 3-13. They played Florida close and tough and played great defense. Their offense was nearly absent the entire game against probably the best defense in the country.

13. South Florida—Took the week off. They host Cincinnati next week in what looks to be the biggest game in the Big East this year.

14. Nebraska—Beat Missouri 27-12. They are definitely one of the best one-loss teams in the country, they were in control for most of the game at Virginia Tech, but gave it away at the end. Nebraska is literally one play away from being a Top Three team right now.

15. Kansas—Remains undefeated after defeating Iowa State in a shootout, 41-36.

16. Miami—Beat Florida A&M 48-14. It remains to be seen how their wins over Florida State, Georgia Tech, and Oklahoma hold up, but they have gone 4-1 playing probably the toughest schedule in the country up to this point.

17. Oklahoma State—Picked up a solid win over Texas A&M on the road, 36-31. They remain a dark horse contender for the Big 12 South title.

18. BYU—Beat UNLV 59-21 on the road. BYU's road schedule is ridiculously easy this year, their remaining road games are: at Wyoming, at San Diego State and at New Mexico. But they play TCU, Air Force and Utah at home. If BYU wins out, do they have a chance of playing anything but a mid-level Pac-10 team in the Las Vegas bowl? If they win out, do they have a chance at a BCS bowl?

19. South Carolina—Barely beat Kentucky 28-26 at home. They will have to play the game of their lives to come up with a victory next week, as they play Alabama on the road.

20. Oklahoma—Sam Bradford is finally back and played well, leading Oklahoma to a 33-7 victory over Baylor.

21. Penn State—Destroyed Eastern Illinois 52-3, the last opponent  of their cupcake non-conference schedule this year.

22. Utah—Down 17-3 late in the third quarter, Utah stormed back, beating Colorado State 24-17 with 21 unanswered points to win the game. Their only loss is by four points at Oregon.

23. Georgia Tech—Beat Florida State in a shootout 49-44. Their option attack has been consistently spectacular this year. Their only loss is to a very good Miami team.

24. Notre Dame—Took the week off. They could easily be 2-3 or 5-0 at this point. But 4-1 is good enough for a Top 25 ranking.

25. Houston—Moved to 4-1 by beating Mississippi State. They are 3-0 against BCS schools this year, and are deserving of a Top 25 ranking, even after last week's loss to UTEP.

Knocking on the door

West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Missouri, Auburn, Wisconsin.

Here is a link to my rankings from last week.

Please post your questions, comments and what you disagree with below!