College Football Ranking Week 7: Oklahoma Not No.1 Team, Bama & LSU Are Better

Let's start this with one statement.

Oklahoma has a fine football team, and that destruction of Texas on Saturday afternoon in Dallas was extremely impressive. I have no problem saying the Sooners are right there with Wisconsin and a notch just below Alabama and Louisiana State when discussing the best teams in college football.

But, you say, the USA Today Coaches Poll has Oklahoma ranked No. 1. Don't the coaches know more than you?

Of course they do. That said, 26 of the 59 voters agree with me that either the Tigers or the Crimson Tide should be first. So, it's not like I'm bucking a unanimous say-so.

Why not the Sooners?

To me, it has less to do with Oklahoma than it does with Alabama and LSU.

First, the Southeastern Conference has won the last five BCS national championships. That's a half-decade of complete dominance. And it might be fair to say the Tide and Tigers are as good, and maybe better defensively than the previous five champs.

If anyone can end that run, perhaps it is OU. After all, the Sooners rank fifth nationally in average passing yards, ninth in average points scored and 10th in points allowed.

They have a talented quarterback in Landry Jones, and he has a top-flight go-to target in Ryan Broyles. They also are stout defensively.

But Alabama has a defense that looks—in size and performance—like it should be playing on Sundays.

Only three teams all season—Arkansas, Penn State and Florida—have reached double figures in points against the Tide. The Razorbacks did it with a high-powered offense that hasn't been held to fewer than 38 points by any of their other five opponents this year, the Nittany Lions scored late against 'Bama's reserves and the Gators jumped on the visiting Tide for 10 quick points before being shut out the rest of the night.

While Alabama bullies its foes into submission, LSU uses its tremendous team speed to demoralize opponents.

Sure, Oregon and West Virginia put up 27 and 21 points, respectively, against the Tigers, but if you watched those games, you'd know they were way out of hand by the time the then-No. 3 Ducks and then-No. 16 Mountaineers added some late scores.

The Sooners are going to face some quality tests late in the year at No. 18 Kansas State (Oct. 29), home versus No. 23 Texas A&M (Nov. 5—the same day as LSU at Alabama), at No. 24 Baylor (Nov. 12) and home against No. 7 Oklahoma State (Nov. 26).

However, those offensively potent teams don't exactly bring it defensively like the Tigers and Tide. By the time the BCS championship game rolls around, OU won't have played anyone (save for Florida State, which has proven to be overrated) best known for stopping its opponents.

The Sooners can beat anyone in a shootout. However, when you face someone like Alabama or LSU that is unwilling to allow the game to go in that direction, then you have to adjust.

I like my chances with the Crimson Tide and Tigers in that situation.