College Football: BlogPoll Top 25, Week 8

RANK	TEAM	RECORD	PR	SOS	NEXT GAME
1	Oregon	6-0	1	50	v. UCLA (10/21)
2	Oklahoma	6-0	4	15	at (16) Missouri
3	Auburn	7-0	5	38	v. (7) LSU
4	Boise State	6-0	8	55	IDLE
5	Alabama	6-1	7	46	at Tennessee
6	TCU	7-0	9	64	v. Air Force
7	LSU	7-0	11	36	at (3) Auburn
8	Michigan State	7-0	13	76	at Northwestern
9	Wisconsin	6-1	18	88	at (18) Iowa
10	Stanford	5-1	12	13	v. Washington State
11	Ohio State	6-1	2	81	v. Purdue
12	Nebraska	5-1	3	53	at (15) Oklahoma State
13	Florida State	6-1	14	69	IDLE
14	Utah	6-0	20	110	v. Colorado State
15	Oklahoma State	6-0	21	85	v. (12) Nebraska
16	Missouri	6-0	22	47	v. (2) Oklahoma
17	Arizona	5-1	16	27	v. Washington
18	Iowa	5-1	17	78	v. (9) Wisconsin
19	South Carolina	4-2	6	18	at Vanderbilt
20	Arkansas	4-2	10	24	v. Mississippi
21	Virginia Tech	5-2	NR	58	v. Duke
22	West Virginia	5-1	NR	135	v. Syracuse
23	Miami	4-2	25	23	v. North Carolina
24	USC	5-2	NR	19	IDLE
25	Texas	4-2	NR	14	v. Iowa State

Ohio State (realistic) scenarios: This is the only logical place for the Buckeyes in this poll.  While there are dozens of cogent arguments for placing them higher, none of those arguments includes placing OSU above Wisconsin or Michigan State.  Moreover, it is hard to see Ohio State moving up significantly considering their next 4 weeks include a bye week and 3 threes teams with a collective 2-5 in the Big Ten.  OSU’s next moment for serious consideration will be its road game at Iowa on Nov. 20.  That’s a month away.  Time to get better.

Trendspotting: There are only 10 undefeateds in this week’s ranking and 3 of them reside in the Big 12: Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Missouri.  At least one of them will gain a blemish as Oklahoma plays at Missouri this weekend.  Oklahoma State gets its toughest test hosting a surly Nebraska team.

Trendspotting 2: The Big Ten has 4 teams on my ballot this week: Michigan State, WIsconsin, Ohio State, and Iowa.  Respectable, right?  What’s not respectable is the greatest strength of schedule of any of those teams (according to Jeff Sagarin’s numbers) is 76th.  That schedule rank belongs to Michigan State.  The others?  Iowa (78), Ohio State (81), and Wisconsin (88).  I am no mathematician, but with numbers like that it seems impossible to imagine that any Big Ten will be viewed favorably in the SOS category and, consequently, by the computers.

Going up: Teams formerly left for dead.  Virginia Tech, Texas, and USC are starting to flex their muscles, if only slightly.  With a less-than-daunting schedule ahead, do not be surprised to see the Hokies ride a 10-game winning streak into the ACC Title game.  Of course, this is the ACC, so I have surely spoken too soon.  USC, on the other hand, has a rough schedule coming up so this may not last long.

Going down: Recent Alabama opponents.  Win or lose, the Tide’s last 2 opponents dropped a combined 23 spots.

Don’t forget to check out this week’s complete BlogPoll on SB Nation and all the other Ohio State voters.