Week 13 Power Rankings

Here is how I rank the Top 10 teams in the country as of this weekend.

Rank	Team	Comment
1	Auburn	Auburn has earned this spot with it's solid play throughout the season!
2	Boise	This same Broncos team defeated Oregon and TCU last season.
3	Oregon	Beware of the landmine in Corvallis!!
4	TCU	The Frogs appear headed to Las Vegas, as the BCS will pick cupcake eaters Stanford and Ohio State over them. And don't get me started about the Big (L)East champ.
5	Wisconsin	The Badgers have played the toughest schedule among the 1-loss teams. Bret Bielema continues his "Humanitarian of Year" campaign.
6	LSU	The Tigers appear headed for a BCS at-large bid - unless Auburn loses.
7	Michigan State	Despite being the best Big Ten team, the Spartans will end up in the Capital One Bowl.
8	Oklahoma State	The Cowboys are the only Big 12 team that wins games that they are supposed to win!
9	Alabama	For all of you who think Stanford or Ohio State should be here, ask yourself whether or not you think your team would be the Crimson Tide.
10	Stanford	At least they play real opponents... Ohio State can't really say that.

Mountain West Week 13 Power Rankings

Heading into Week 11, I rank the Mountain West teams in the following order:

Rank	Team	Comment
1	TCU	The Frogs appear relegated to the Las Vegas Bowl.
2	Utah	The Utes earned this spot by virtue of their comeback win over SDSU
3	San Diego State	SDSU is clearly the third best team behind TCU and Utah.
4	Air Force	With a little luck, the Falcons could be in 2nd place.
5	BYU	The Cougars can finish second with a win in the Holy War.
6	Wyoming	The Cowboys finally put it all together and pounded CSU.
7	Colorado State	The Rams should contend for the title next season.
8	UNLV	There's always next season.
9	New Mexico	Which Lobo team will show up for TCU?

Utah - San Diego State Lessons Learned

After losing by large margins in back-to-back games, many wondered how Utah would respond playing a tough conference game on the road. San Diego State jumped on the Utes, quickly and led 27-10 with 5 minutes to go in the half.

Unlike the previous weeks, the Utes answered the call.

Utah scored twice in the last five minutes of the half to cut the San Diego State lead to 3 points. After falling behind by ten points, Utah marched 79 yards for a TD. On the next series, they blocked a punt to take a 38-34. While the defense struggled at times, they picked off QB Ryan Lindley twice in the last 5 minutes to preserve the victory.

A game like this demonstrates the toughness of the Utah players and coaching staff. Lesser people would have quit when they fell behind early. Rather than moping, the Utes kept clawing, scrapping, and fighting until the end. Instead of dwelling on their mistakes, the team moved forward, and made big plays when it counted the most.

College Football Power Rankings - Week 12

Here is how I rank the Top 10 teams in the country, based on what they have done so far:

Rank	Team	Comment
1	Auburn	Auburn has earned this spot with it's solid play throughout the season!
2	Boise	This same Broncos team defeated Oregon and TCU last season.
3	Oregon	Beware of the landmine in Corvallis!!
4	TCU	Their win over SDSU was much better than they will get credit for.
5	Wisconsin	The Badgers have played the toughest schedule among the 1-loss teams. Bret Bielema continues his "Humanitarian of Year" campaign.
6	LSU	The Tigers appear headed for a BCS at-large bid.
7	Michigan State	The Spartans have the inside track for the Rose Bowl.
8	Nebraska	Great teams win games when the breaks go against them. The Huskers are a great team for persevering against Iowa State!
9	Oklahoma State	The Cowboys demolished Texas.
10	Alabama	For all of you who think Stanford or Ohio State should be here, ask yourself whether or not you think your team would be the Crimson Tide!

Mountain West Week 12 Power Rankings

Heading into Week 11, I rank the Mountain West teams in the following order:

Rank	Team	Comment
1	TCU	The Frogs won the conference with a win over SDSU.
2	Utah	Which is the real Utah team? The team that went 8-0, or the team that lost to a VERY SORRY Notre Dame team.
3	San Diego State	A win over Utah would put the Aztecs in the second place.
4	Air Force	With a little luck, the Falcons could be in 2nd place.
5	BYU	With it's second half surge, the Cougars might end up 7-5.
6	Colorado State	The Rams should contend for the title next season.
7	UNLV	The Rebels pounded Wyoming this weekend.
8	New Mexico	At least they're not Wyoming!
9	Wyoming	Come on, 'Pokes. Did you really lose to UNLV?

Utah - Notre Dame lessons learned

After watching the Notre Dame game, Utah players and fans ought to be embarrassed. Utah lost to a very bad Notre Dame team.

For the second week in a row, the Utah offense cost the team the game. Their inability to sustain a drive kept the defense on the field too long. Furthermore, the Utes refuse to stretch the field, relying exclusively on runs up the middle and short crossing routes.

Utah has continued last week's mental lapses and sloppy play. In the first half, the Utes committed ten penalties. Notre Dame blocked a punt for its first TD, and intercepted a pass to set up the second score. A fumble on the second half kickoff set up another TD, putting the Utes down 28-3.

If Utah does not make some drastic changes, they will not win another game this season. You cannot contend for the Pac Ten title if you lose to Notre Dame starting a true freshman QB.

College Football Power Rankings - Week 11

Here is how I rank the Top 10 teams in the country, based on what they have done so far:

Rank	Team	Comment
1	Auburn	Auburn has earned this spot with it's solid play throughout the season
2	Boise	This same Broncos team defeated Oregon and TCU last season.
3	Oregon	The Ducks continue to score points are a rapid clip. Beware of the landmine in Corvallis.
4	TCU	Huge win over Utah. If Oregon or Auburn lose, they will likely play for the national title.
5	Wisconsin	The Badgers have played the toughest schedule among the 1-loss teams.
6	LSU	The Tigers defeated a very talented Alabama team this week. They will likely get an at-large bid to the Sugar Bowl.
7	Michigan State	The Spartans have the inside track for the Rose Bowl.
8	Nebraska	Back-to-back wins over ranked teams has the Huskers back in the Top 10.
9	Oklahoma State	The 'pokes annhilated Baylor.
10	Utah	The Utes get this spot by default. With Ohio State and Stanford playing creampuffs, I refuse to put them in the Top 10.

Mountain West Week 11 Power Rankings

Heading into Week 11, I rank the Mountain West teams in the following order:

Rank	Team	Comment
1	TCU	After beating Utah 47-7, The Horned Frogs earned this spot.
2	Utah	While the Utes lost to TCU, they're still the second best team in the conference.
3	San Diego State	SDSU controls its own destiny, and can earn the title with wins over TCU and Utah.
4	Air Force	The Falcons won the Commander-in-Chief Trophy by defeating Army.
5	BYU	A solid second half, has the Cougars moving up in the standings.
6	Colorado State	The Rams should contend for the title next season.
7	UNLV	At least they beat New Mexico!
8	New Mexico	The Lobos won their first game of the season, by defeating Wyoming.
9	Wyoming	Come on, 'Pokes. Did you really lose to New Mexico?

Mountain West Week 10 Preview

Week 10 of the college football season brings the most excitement yet. The Mountain West features several crucial contests this weekend. What will happen?

TCU at Utah
#3 TCU (9-0, 5-0) squares off against #5 Utah (8-0, 5-0) in the Mountain West Conference game of the week. The winner of this game ends up with a BCS berth. The loser will end up in the Las Vegas Bowl.

This matchup might be the best game in conference history. Both teams enter the game ranked in the Top 10 in both scoring offense and scoring defense. Utah's underrated defense will make the difference in this game. After turning in its worst performance of the season last week, the Utes will stuff the run, and force TCU QB Andy Dalton to beat them. While Dalton is the best QB in the Mountain West, he will not make enough plays, to defeat Utah's wide-open offense. The Utes win at home, and earn a much- deserved apology from ESPN Radio!

Air Force at Army
While the TCU - Utah will get the most publicity, the Air Force - Army game means even more to these academies. Air Force (5-4, 3-3) can break Navy's eight-year stranglehold on the Commander-in-Chief trophy with a win. Army (5-3) needs to defeat the Falcons, and then defeat Navy on December 11th.

This matchup features two triple-option attacks. While both teams rank in the Top 10 nationally in rushing, the team that passes the ball with the greatest success will win the game. While Air Force has the better secondary, Army has a much better pass rush, recording 20 sacks in 8 games. The Falcons win a tight game on the road, with QB Tim Jefferson making the difference.

UNLV at BYU
The UNLV - BYU contest features two teams going in opposite directions. UNLV (1-7. 1-3) has struggled all season, with its only win coming against winless New Mexico. After starting out 1-4, BYU (3-5, 2-2) has won 2 of its last 3, and can qualify for a bowl with a strong finish to the season.

Both offenses have scored points when they ran the ball successfully. BYU will establish the ground game early, controlling the clock, and keep the Rebel defense off the field. The Rebel offense will not fare well against an improving Cougar defense. BYU wins this game, and keeps its bowl hopes alive.

Colorado State at San Diego State
Colorado State plays at San Diego State this week in an important game for both teams. With a win, CSU (3-6, 2-3) will remain bowl eligible. The Aztecs (6-2, 3-1) still control their own destiny in conference play, and need to win out to take the conference crown.

This game will be a shootout. QB's Pete Bell and Ryan Lindley will have big games against suspect secondaries. The Aztecs will make more plays on defense, and keep pace with the Utah - TCU winner in the Mountain West race.

Wyoming at New Mexico
Wyoming travels to New Mexico to round out the conference schedule. A Wyoming (2-7, 0-5) win offers a chance to escape the Mountain West cellar. New Mexico (0-8, 0-4) comes into the game still seeking its first win of the season.

While New Mexico continues to improve each week, they do not have the talent to beat Wyoming. Cowboy QB Austyn Carta-Samuels has a big day, as Wyoming records its 3rd win of the season.

Utah - Air Force Lessons Learned

For those that missed it, Utah defeated Air Force 28-23 in Colorado Springs on Saturday. With this win, the Utes set up a battle of unbeatens, as they face 9-0 TCU in Salt Lake City this weekend. ESPN and the College Gameday crew will be on location for this showdown.

Saturday’s game demonstrated the following things about this year’s Utah team:

• The Utes can force turnovers - All season long, Utah has been on the negative side in turnover margin. This weekend, the Utes forced 3 fumbles, and 2 interceptions. The first two fumbles occurred deep in Utah territory where the Falcons would have certainly scored.


• Utah can run the football when they need to - Saturday's offensive game plan resembled Vince Dooley's "three yards and a cloud of dust" offense. The Utes ran the ball a season-high 51 times, taking advantage of the smaller Falcon defenders. In addition, by running the ball so frequently, the Utes ran a very "vanilla" offense, giving TCU very little to glean from this weekend's game.


• The Utah D comes up huge in the clutch - While the defense did not have outstanding numbers, they played very well when it counted. The Utah defense stopped the Falcons on 4th down twice in the 4th quarter when the game was still in doubt. In addition, they forced turnovers in the 1st quarter, which prevented Air Force from taking an early lead.


• Utah has yet to open the full playbook. - While the Utes played conservatively on offense, they did sneak in an additional wrinkle this weekend. Utah ran a fake field goal in the third quarter with kicker Joe Phillips picking up the first down. After picking up the first down, the Utes scored their final TD, which ended up as the deciding score.