Bob’s College Football Power Rankings: Week 3

With summaries this week, despite the fact that I’ve only watched 2.6 games this season (more on that later).

1.      Florida (3-0)

The defending National Champions are still the best, until they lose a game, but was Tennessee a quality win, or just another cupcake?  The Gators season will start and end on October 10^th in sweet Baton Rouge.  
2.       Texas (3-0)

In Colt McCoy I trust, as my preseason choice to win the Heisman and play for the National Championship continues to roll against lesser teams.  The day of reckoning will come, as per usual, against Oklahoma on October 17^th during the Red River Rivalry.
3.       LSU (3-0)

A win that once looked surprisingly too close is now the best road win of the season (by my measure) as Washington has proved it isn’t the Huskies of the Tyrone Willingham Era.  While taking care of cupcakes doesn’t prove anything to me, winning the next two road games will; and could also set up a monster showdown against Florida.
4.       Alabama (3-0)

Yawn . . . an early season win against the Hokies is the only thing keeping Alabama this high, for now.  The Crimson Tide will have plenty of chances to prove themselves as the SEC is again (unfortunately) looking like the best conference in the country.
5.       Ole Miss (2-0)

I didn’t want to put the Rebels this high, but Houston Nutt’s boys have taken care of their two buy games, when other teams have lost.  With four of the top 5 teams from the SEC, they will have many chances to prove themselves down the road (and I will probably get ample time to drop them to a more expected level).
6.       Miami (FL) (2-0)

Probably the only team in the country to open the season against four consecutive ranked opponents, if the Hurricanes are unbeaten in two weeks the rest of the country will have them ranked this high as well.  If not, they still look like one of the top teams in the ACC.
7.       California (3-0)

We don’t really know what we have with the Golden Bears yet, but with Pac-10 season starting next week, we’ll know pretty soon if Jeff Tedford will win his first Conference title this year (doubtful).
8.       Boise State (3-0)

As much as I wanted BYU to be the BCS buster this year, I really should have looked more carefully at the schedule to see that Boise State will probably win the rest of their games and return to another match-up with the big boys.
9.       USC (2-1)

If Washington can beat USC, shouldn’t we (Notre Dame) be able to beat them as well?
10.    Penn State (3-0)

Fact: Penn State needs an annual series with ND more than ND needs an annual series with Penn State.  If I could have ranked them lower, I would have, but the next four teams all have losses to their name.
11.    Oklahoma (2-1)

Yes, I have them ranked significantly higher than the team they lost to.  That’s just how it goes.  Now if they can beat the Hurricanes next week, I’ll bump them ahead of USC.
12.    Ohio State (2-1)

I hate Ohio State more than any other team (even more than USC), but I have to respect the two schools for playing each other the past two years, and can’t punish the Buckeyes too much for that loss.  Now I will fault them when they lose to Purdue in a few weeks.
13.    Virginia Tech (2-1)

Are they the class of the ACC, or are they just another team in the cluster of silliness that is the most competitive conference in America?  We’ll find out next week.
14.    Washington (2-1)

If USC can’t beat Washington, how are we (Notre Dame) supposed to?
15.    Cincinnati (3-0)

As of now this team plays no ranked teams all season and I’d love to see them go undefeated and watch a 1-loss team play for the championship ahead of them.  Not only would that be awesome, but it would force Brian Kelly to find a better job. . .
16.    TCU (2-0)

One of those under-the-radar teams looking to bust the BCS this year has a schedule that makes it incredibly possible if they can get past the Mormons.
17.    Michigan (3-0)

Time will tell what last weekend’s ND-Michigan game actually means, but I have a feeling the Wolverines might be back in contention for the Big Ten title sooner rather than later.
18.    Houston (2-0)

I was only acutely aware that they had a football program until they beat OK State last week (don’t tell Andre Ware).
19.    BYU (2-1)

They scheduled to make a run at the BCS, and it came back to bite them.  There’s still plenty of time though, and if they win out they will deserve it more than the men from Boise.
20.    UCLA (3-0)

Dare I say that their two wins against BCS conference opponents means more than people think it does?