After Week 10 Which Team Stands Out From The Rest

At this point in the season last year there was one team that stood out amongst all others, and that team was the Florida Gators. Despite an early loss to Ole Miss, the 08 Gators were one of the most dominant collegiate football teams in recent history. The 2008 Gators average margin of victory was 30 points and averaged almost 45 points per game in route to their second BCS National Championship in three years. And all that was accomplished against some of the best teams in college football.

So far this season there hasn't been a team that has dominated their opponent week after week quite like the 08 Gators did (post Tebow speech). Now I'm sure Longhorn fans will disagree because after 9 games Texas is winning by an average of 29 points and putting up 41 points a game, very Gator-esque numbers, and the defense is one of the best in the nation allowing opponents an average of only 12 points a game but Texas has only faced two ranked opponents so far, one being a relatively bad Oklahoma squad that could only muster 3 points against an even worse Nebraska team. But since it was the Red River Rivalry I suppose that one could be overlooked.

The 09 Florida squad is a really good football team, defensively they're just about as good as it gets. Tim Tebow isn't putting up the epic numbers that we've all come to expect from the phenom but the Gators are leading the SEC in rushing offense, total offense, passing defense and total defense. Their average margin of victory is by 25 points and they average 35 points a game which statistically says the Gators are dominating their opponents but this is the same team that only scored 13 points against LSU, had to kick a last second field goal to beat Arkansas and struggled to put away Mississippi State. Not to mention they've only played one ranked team all season.

Before the South Carolina game I truly thought that Alabama was hands down the best, most complete team in the country but that was before Greg McElroy decided to have a nuclear meltdown at the quarterback position. Granted he did show improvement against LSU (very little) but be that as it may McElroy still lacks the confidence he had at the beginning of the season to be an effective leader and the Tide will need him to regain that composure if they want to beat the Gators in the SEC Championship game. Alabama's offensive line has only allowed 9 sacks so far this season which is a bit of a surprise considering the fact that they lost three starters from a year ago and their defense is the best in college football. The Crimson Tide has also played more ranked opponents than Florida and Texas put together and I haven't even mentioned Mark Ingram yet.

The bottom line is there isn't one team that stands out from the rest this year, the three teams I mentioned above are without a doubt the best three in the country and I'd be willing to bet that one of the three will be National Champs come January 2010. If any TCU or Boise State fans read this they'll probably be upset that neither one was mentioned in this debate of National Championship probabilities, well if both teams played more than one reputable opponent during the year they might get a little more consideration, until then get used to being left out. And before you get upset ask yourselves this: could TCU or Boise compete week after week in the SEC or Big 12? The answer to that question IMO is a resounding NO.

One team that's on the outside looking in and I feel does deserve some recognition is Georgia Tech. Despite needing OT to beat Wake Forest last weekend the Yellowjackets are one of the best teams in football this year. In actuality this year's team is better than the 1990 UPI National Championship squad.

Well folks there you have it, and remember you heard it from the Lotterman.....