College Football Rankings 2011 Week 2: 5 Teams That Aren't as Good as We Thought

Oops. I could have sworn that we had these programs pegged correctly in initial college football rankings. Unfortunately, these handful of teams proved to be just pretenders in Week 2 gridiron action.

I’m still a little peeved in being proven wrong by some lackluster performances, but that is the way of the college football world.

I can’t say it wasn’t fun watching some of these teams falter. Parity is a good thing. Reality checks may be the last just thing in this world. With that in mind, let’s make fun of some teams that failed to impress.

1. No. 21 Missouri

 This team has the horrible disposition of being a team standing in the way of an extremely underrated team. The Tigers then gave the game, and their season, to the leg of kicker Grant Ressel. I have always said that kickers are good for two things; making easy field goals and losing huge games. There is no in between. Ressel accomplishes the latter with a missed 48-yard kick.

2. No. 16 Mississippi State

 My bad. I guess Vick Ballard couldn’t use smart play to trump less than stellar athletic gifts. I also thought the Bulldogs had a rare opportunity to show their smash-mouth football.

As I started to lose that thought, Chris Relf was stopped at the goal line in a last ditch effort to save the game from disaster struck. It seems Auburn is a team we should worry about after all.

3. No. 15 Ohio State

 I knew the growing pains from the Jim Tressel era would be hard, but the Buckeyes should never struggle against Toledo, ever.

It took a miraculous Chris Fields punt return and a late defensive stop to get past what should have been a cupcake game. Toledo may have come to play, but better teams should squash sentiment from the get go. I don’t care who you are missing due to suspension. The Buckeyes third-stringers could give Toledo a game.

4. No. 12 South Carolina

 What the hell are the Gamecocks doing getting wrapped up in a battle with Georgia. These are not the same Bulldogs that came into 2010 as contenders. They are the depleted squad that was dismissed by Boise State a week ago.

The Gamecocks simply can’t let an overrated offense accumulate close to 500 total yards. That is the kind of porous defense that will get you trounced from the top 15. They got very lucky on Saturday.

5. No. 11 Virginia Tech

 This is a tough nut to crack. Virginia Tech was facing a under-appreciated East Carolina squad. My issue was with the Hokies offense. Logan Thomas was shoddy, and the line was rife with mistakes.

This is not the kind of team that makes you stand up and shout “top 10.” They will need to be a lot more poised if they want to continue up the ladder.