BCS rankings came out. It would appear that USF is batting 1.000 with the computer rankings. Wow.

Here's the official top 10:

#1: Ohio State
#2: South Florida
#3: Boston College
#4: LSU
#5: Oklahoma
#6: South Carolina
#7: Kentucky
#8: Arizona State
#9: West Virginia
#10: Oregon

Complete BCS rankings

Sweet mother pancakes.

LSU and Cal both drop off.

If you aren't convinced that a playoff system is sorely needed in college football yet, something is deeply wrong with you. Let the BCS keep their if-this-were-a-"real"-business-it'd-be-an-illegal-cartel bowl system, just don't use it to determine the national champion. Let the national champion determine the national champion. NCAA 1a football is the only sport in college that doesn't do it. Play out the bowls, take the top 8 teams, and have yourself a few more ball games.

USF throttled, and I mean, throttled UCF yesterday. We've said it all year long around these parts, stop Kevin Smith and you've stopped the 1 dimensional knights. After the 64-12 whooping, someone asked me what I feel about the series -- I feel the exact same way I felt the other day. I'll take my medicine year in and year out, I thoroughly believe that its a good thing for "Orlampa." Heck, look at the UF/FSU series -- Florida dominates it 30-19. Most of FSU's wins probably come in the last 10-15 games. It takes awhile.

And I'll go ahead and attack this now. USF fan's are rightfully upset with so many people questioning their top 5 ranking. Let me explain why people are having trouble with it though.. USF is filled with 2 and 3 star talent. A few four stars, and a five star in Alabama-drop-out Mike Ford. Teams like LSU? All four and five stars. I'm not sure there is a legit blue chip anywhere on the sidelines for USF. A team like Oklahoma is bigger, stronger and maybe faster than USF. At least, on paper. The argument is either Leavitt is just that awesome, the Big East is just that lame, or the stars are just aligning perfectly for the Bulls. Or PCP. I mean.. It worked in Miami. Also, you can't under estimate Matt "Don't Poke Me, Bro" Grothe... Who knows though, and with the way this season is going... anything seems possible.

Ohio State is on a roll. Looking at the Big10, I don't see anything in their way. Then again, every time I try to predict who will run the table, they lose. Sooo.. Whatever. This season is getting ridiculous. Go bucks?

Anyone else watch the Hawaii shootout friday night? I'm not sure beating San Jose in overtime qualifies someone for a Top 20 ranking, but man.. that kid can throw.

Louisville drops Cincy. The Cincy vs. USF game should be an interesting one.

Auburn beats Arkansas 9-7. Nine to Seven. 3+0+0+6 = 9, 0+0+0+7 = 7. I'm bored just typing it.

East Carolina beat UTEP to screw UCF out of any CUSA consolation prize. Meanwhile, Marshall's working on a perfect losing season. We are... Horrible. Middle Tennessee, a powerhouse in the south, demolished Memphis. Man, CUSA football sure is impressive... :\

Oh my god! Stanford lost!!! .....Wait.

The saying goes that if internet message boards were purely representative of a fan base, every team would have a couple of starting quarterbacks and fire their coach three times a year. I think it's fair to apply that logic to what goes on over at TheBullsPen.com and other USF hangouts when it comes to discussing the UCF/USF game.

Their most passionate fans have followed Leavitt's lead in dismissing the UCF/USF game as nothing more than an annoyance. There's no rivalry because UCF isn't in a BCS conference, USF has "passed" UCF (certainly not in entrance requirements, graduation rates, campus life or facilities.. but I digress), USF "always wins" (0-2 on the series, USF won with a late touchdown in the 4th last year). Things of that nature.

Here's the rub, USF fans.

Rivalries, specifically "natural rivalries," have very little to do with on (or off) the field actions (or in UCF's case, inaction). A natural rivalry such as this is bigger than anything you say on a message board, any line your coach wants to pitch, any blog post we write and any final score on the scoreboard. It transcends conferences and alliances because it has very little to do with actual football. That's just where we get to watch the two schools face off in any "formal" fashion.

Two similar schools, similar history, similar age in the same geography. High school friends go their separate ways, families are split between them, co-workers work next to each other in cubicles while neighbors fly different flags. There's animosity over medical schools (USF lobbied against UCF's) and BigEast membership (UCF was on the list, crossed off in favor of a more successful basketball program at USF).

The two cities themselves have a history of animosity. Tampa successfully landed an NFL franchise rendering the Citrus Bowl close to worthless while Orlando landed an NBA team. Tampa, quite frequently, seemed to be waiting in the wings for the Magic had Orlando not approved the new arena. Ask residents here what they think about Tampa, and you'll hear a story of two sister cities. One, Tampa, a rowdy, drunken promiscuous sister, and the other, Orlando, a Disney loving, family oriented type. Not exactly a friendly setup for Thanksgiving dinner. (har har).

That sister analogy parallels to the routes each football program has taken as well. Leavitt, who of course denies Saban's comments on the subject, has in fact taken many athletes of questionable character. It worked for Miami in the 80s, and it seems to be working for USF 20 years later. I read somewhere the other day (and will search for the link when I have time) that mentioned USF has had close to 45 recruits ruled ineligible for college ball over the last 4-5 years.

George O'leary, on the other hand, has probably heard enough about the word character to last a lifetime after his resume debacle. There's very little tolerance for missteps at UCF. When he arrived, he kicked off so many players UCF wasn't able to field a spring game. When the season came, he had players playing both sides of the ball to make up for the lack of personnel. He went 0-11 that year, but damn it, they had the highest GPA in the NCAA.

One school has taken a fast paced, high octane route, while the other has made a choice to build up in a traditional, conservative manner. Two conflicting views, both with their own set of advantages and disadvantages. It's hard to deny Leavitt anything when he has his program in the top 5, but maybe it's the Orlando in me -- I prefer George's way even if it means we're shooting for the Liberty Bowl.

Is USF going to find similar feelings amongst fan bases from FAU and FIU? How about Miami or Gainesville? Not likely. I'm sure they would all be great games, as all in-state games are, but it'll never have that feeling of playing the town-down-the-road. David Whitley did some quality investigative reporting proving that the feeling is indeed mutual between UCF and USF students.

All of this adds up to one conclusion -- this game needs to be played, and it needs to be played often.I'm positive that USF will dodge UCF for as long as they can once this contract ends. I'm sure they will kick and scream and piss themselves with anger if UCF ever comes up for BigEast membership. In fact, I think we'll see a completely different BCS structure before USF votes for UCF inclusion. But none of that, absolutely none of it, will affect the behavior of the fans. Fans want this game, communities want this game, players want this game and the local economy wants this game.

The only people who seem to not want this game are Leavitt and all the USF internet dorks. It's a shame that they're more concerned with winning and rankings than they are with students, fans and the communities. The economic benefit, the entertainment enjoyment and the chance to start another proud Florida tradition will suffer because of it.

Can't wait for the game tomorrow. Here's to a fun, injury free one. (cheers)

ECU stomped UCF in greenville and won by two touchdowns. It wasn't quite a "rout," which was the headline the Sentinel ran with, but it certainly was convincing. UCF had 5 turnovers in the third quarter. You can't do that on the road against a team that was a popular pre-season pick to win our division (along with USM). It's easy to look at ECU's record and write them off, but with injuries and suspensions, last night was the first real game they've had with close to everyone on the field. My guess is ECU wins out. For our sake, let's hope they lose one more and we find a way to win the rest of our conference games. My expectation for UCF at the beginning of the season was to be bowl eligible. I stand by that. Three more wins knights, four for good measure.

You know who else had 5 turnovers? USC. All is right in the world when the media darling finally drops a game. To Stanford no less. Prior to the game, Jim Harbaugh, the coach for Stanford, called this year's USC the greatest college football team of all time. Stupid fantasy time zone and their cute little conference. Maybe they've been sleeping through noon kickoffs.

Cal on the other hand, might be the real deal. After the shakeups yesterday (when they had a bye week), where do you put them? #2, #3? #1 is obvious, of course. Good teams find ways to win, and LSU did that over a young gator team. The question there is what to do with UF. Do you keep a 2 loss gator team in the top 10? Being that they were already #9, I'd say that's a giant negative. Certainly top 15 though. At least until the South Carolina game.

Ohio State over Purdue. Finally, normalcy in college football.

Illinois over Wisconsin. Sorry Greg. That Ron Zook sure can coach, though.

Did anyone actually watch the USF game? I highly doubt it and I bet the polls will reflect it. FAU had the game in hand until a couple of Big East ref's blew a call on a fumble recovery. FAU punts the ball, two USF players run into each other and fumble. FAU recovers right outside the endzone, Big Easy ref's call interference on FAU. ESPNU announcers, who I believe were borrowed from the local high school press box, acknowledge the error and then immediately go back to blowing smoke up USF's ass. Sooner or later, someone's going to expose this team. For the Big East's sake, they better hope it's not in a bowl game blowout.

Rice over Southern Miss. Memphis over Marshall. Utah over Louisville (hah!). Tennessee over the Dawgs. OK over Texas. Kansas over Kansas State. South Carolina over Kentucky. Maryland over Ga. Tech (go terps).

Wowza.

If this weekend didn't prove the complete worthlessness of polls, then nothing will. Going forward, I think we're still in for some "adjustment" with the rankings. Something just doesn't feel right, and that's based on more than simply seeing USF at #6 ;)

Go SEC teams with Tiger mascots. Gotta enjoy watching grown men cry up in the swamp over a loss to Auburn. After the ref's hit Auburn with 30 yards in false penalties during the final minutes, I was glad to see the game go to the right team. UF may very well be looking at 3/+ losses this year. Call me crazy, but FSU has the same record right now, only their one loss came from an actual ranked opponent. ;) *chomp*

USF beat the crap out of WV Friday night in front of their first ever sell out. I really do think USF is a very good team, but it's hard not to wonder if the Big East will ever decide to play someone of substance out-of-conference. It's really hard to get a sense of how good they might be when there's not a single top 10 (maybe not even a top 25) OOC opponent on anyones schedule. Everyone loves to knock the ACC, but those teams are actually playing people. You don't earn respect from an inflated ranking. You earn respect from knocking out quality OOC opponents.

ESPNU just picked up the USF/UCF game for October 13th though. If the Knights can handle ECU the way they've been playing everyone else, we may have a decent OOC barometer for the big east. Should be an interesting afternoon. Thing is, UCF didn't look all that impressive against ULL (Hold on to the ball, Knights!), and ECU just surprised Houston.

Don't look now, but the Big10 suddenly looks strong again. OSU vs Wisconsin is shaping up to be interesting.

ND still sucks.

Texas finally succumbs to their suckatude. It's only going to get harder for the longhorns. If only they could look forward to playing ND.

Oklahoma, the team that was giving me nightmares for simply looking so nasty, lost to Colorado. Thank god I'm not all that big on gambling, I would have taken OK at 97 1/2.

If Southern Miss is Conference USA's flagship, the conference is in deep trouble. Boise took `em to the woodshed.

Not college related, but how about Daunte giving it to the Dolphins? I like the `phins and all, but man, good for him. Fun to see him find a little redemption in all that mess.

Games to watch next week - LSU vs. Florida: Predicted highlight: Dorsey choke slamming Tebow, nailing him with an elbow drop and pinning him for the three count and the intercontinental title belt. ECU vs. UCF: Predicted highlight: Kevin Smith runs from the 1 yard line all the way back to Orlando. In the first quarter. ECU 17, Kevin Smith - 645 miles.

I'm not a big ND fan. Actually, I despise ND. Talking National Championships, when was the last time ND was relevant? Yet every year, sports writers from around the nation talk about how ND is back and whatever other nonsense they can dream up. ND is now 0-4. "Rah! Rah! For Notre Dame," indeed. Someone yesterday told me that Touchdown Jesus has been renamed to Field Goal Jesus. I guess you have take what you can get...

What happens when a top 10 offense and a bottom 10 defense clash against one of the worst teams in the country? Louisville loses to Syracuse in a squeaker.

How `bout them bulls? USF is another team that I don't care much for, but they sure did throttle UNC. I don't think USF has beaten anyone ranked above #50 by Sagarin yet this year though. Lots of folks are questioning their top 25 ranking, wondering if it really is deserved. I actually think that it is. Grothe is simply incredible and Mike Ford has shown tons of potential. Next week against WV should be a great game.

Miami walked all over Texas A&M. Makes you wonder if OK is just that good, or if A&M was just that overrated. Kyle Wright is playing the way he knows how, so Miami may be on the verge of getting their act together. Randy Shannon is going to get them turned around in a hurry.

Speaking of Oklahoma. My god. That is all.

Florida showed some vulnerability against Ole' Miss. Either that, or they simply started to fall asleep in the third. I didn't see the game, but looking at the box score, that's probably about right.

I know some folks who were big on Alabama's team this year. I'm just not buying it and think it's another case of a storied program everyone wants to return to the prime time, but isn't quite there yet. Losing to UGA makes me feel a tad bit vindicated in that assessment. I wouldn't be surprised if they finish with 4, maybe 5 loses this year. A winning year, and something to be proud of, but certainly not the Alabama of old. We'll see.

And finally, UCF. Yesterday was a tremendous day out in east Orlando. Every kink that I noticed with the stadium against Texas was rectified. Water aplenty, perfect traffic flow, polite fans and most importantly, a big win. UCF has a long way to go until they're in the national limelight, but I'll tell ya, George O'leary is building the program up right over there. The foundation they've laid looks to be really strong. As far as the team, Kevin Smith broke 100 yards rushing in the 2nd quarter, and then pretty much sat the rest of the way. It was 42-0 by halftime. JuCo transfer and backup quarterback Mike Greco played for the first time in the 2nd. 11 for 12, 151 yards, 77 yards rushing on 10 carries. All he was missing was a jump-shot pass into the end zone. I like this guy, and I really like the idea of teams having to prepare for both Greco and Israel. Bring on the dual-qb threat, and bring on Week Five football!

Man alive. What a great weekend of college football.

Typically, week one football is a mess. I guess, this year was no exception, except the outcomes were a bit different than usual. If you live here in the States and still don't know about the Michigan game, then you really need to consider canceling your WoW account and joining the rest of us in laughter. Suckers.

I had started the season thinking we could see another Big 10 vs SEC match up in the national championship. Ohio State has lost a little bit of its punch this off-season, and really, that only leaves big blue in the conference. Everyone else sucks (you heard me, Wisconsin.). The SEC, for the record, will be represented by LSU, not Tim Tebow (you heard me, Sentinel staff).

Turns out I was completely wrong about Michigan. Maybe Wisconsin does have a chance in the Big10. LSU vs USC in the NC game would be a media field day though, and may finally settle that tired debate once and for all (pac10 is overrated). I should make it clear that I'm not mentioning LSU over and over because I'm a fan of them or the SEC -- in fact, I'd enjoy nothing more than watching the SEC beat each other into irrelevance. It's just LSU's defense looked dang fast the other night.

ND got blown out by Ga. Tech, which makes Baby Jesus very happy, regardless of what TD Jesus has to say about it.

FSU lost to Clemson. I'm not sure what FSU did to justify a top 20 ranking, they finished the season last year completely out of it and then fired 5 of their coaches. If nothing else, their first half on the football field was going to be ugly as sin -- which is exactly what happened. The ACC should be fun to watch this year though. Clemson, Ga Tech, Wakeforest all have non-traditionally strong teams. Va. Tech showed weakness, FSU and Miami are rebuilding. I thought the OK/Miami game would be Randy Shannon's official coming out party, but after OK knotched up 70+ points on their cupcake opponent, I'm not so sure. Miami beat Marshall, but not by 70.

Cal over Tennessee -- pay back's a bitch.

UCF over NC State was absolutely thrilling to watch. The knights learned how to run to the ball and tackle. UCF developed a tolerable pass rush, and their corners are even better. Kyle Israel and his WR's need to work on their pitch and catch a bit though, because the defense looked beat up and tired in the second half. Kevin Smith can't do everything, even if he is a monster. An absolute monster.

Some big games coming up this weekend -- can't wait to see the Auburn/USF game, notably.