close
NCAASlider

ALOST’s Coll. Football Top 25 (Week 13)

Since being reinserted as the starting quarterback on Oct. 26, Clint Chelf has the Cowboys playing its best football, as OSU has averaged 47.5 PPG in its last four games - all wins. (Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
Since being reinserted as the starting quarterback on Oct. 26, Clint Chelf (10) has Oklahoma State playing its best football, as the Cowboys have averaged 47.5 PPG in their last four games. (Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

It is the Big 12’s turn to have its leading names displayed on the marquee Saturday night.  But when No. 4 Baylor squares off against No. 10 Oklahoma State at T. Boone Pickens Stadium, which will be the feature film that the conference wants to run – Glory or A Fistful of Dollars?

Baylor has been as much the juggernaut that Alabama and Florida State have been this season, and a win against Oklahoma State would in all likelihood vault the Bears over Ohio State and into third place in the BCS standings – in prime position to play in the BCS National Championship Game if either the Crimson Tide or Seminoles stumble. With its offense operating with Oregon-like lethality – and at most times, more efficient than the ballyhooed Ducks – the Big 12 can only hope that Art Briles’ charges make the title game in Pasadena and give the conference its role on the grand stage to compete with the SEC or ACC for the ultimate glory in the last year of the Bowl Championship Series.  Or so you would think.

Standing in the way of that Lone Star State fantasy is Oklahoma State and a team that has been flying under the radar almost all season. (That is what losing on the road to West Virginia in September will do.) At 9-1 and only one game back of the Bears in the conference, a win at home will tie the Cowboys with Baylor atop the Big 12, give them the tiebreaker over the Bears and leave OSU a win at home on Dec. 7 against archrival Oklahoma away from being Fiesta Bowl bound. Also, strangely enough, that scenario might mean much more money going into the wallets of the Big 12’s members.

A Baylor loss would eliminate them from any shot at the national championship game, something that the conference would not be too happy with at all in terms of an exposure standpoint. But as long as they rebounded and won its last two remaining games and finished the year at 11-1, the Bears would be an attractive candidate for one of the BCS at-large spots – and with it, an approximated extra $11 million that would go into the Big 12’s bowl revenue war chest. (The payout of a BCS bowl game is around $18 million, as opposed to the Cotton Bowl – which selects the Big 12’s runner-up – which pays out around $7.2 million.) And in a sport (and an organization like the NCAA) in which money talks, the Big 12 may be hearing that chatter loud and clear: Is it about the prestige or the money?  Makes for a pretty good movie script.

The A Lot Of Sports Talk College Football Top 25 for this week is far from Hollywood fiction, however. As always, our esteemed panel of seven includes: Lisa Horne (CFB/NASCAR writer and on-air personality), James Bates (former All-SEC linebacker, captain on the 1996 Florida Gators national championship team, on-air television host and color commentator for Fox Sports 1), T.J. Basalla (super fan, marketing professional, WJPZ Alumni Association President), Basil Mitchell (former TCU standout running back and Green Bay Packer), Matty J. (ThrowTheFlagBlog.com, gifsection.com), Adesina Koiki (ESPN The Magazine/A Lot Of Sports Talk reporter/writer) and an anonymous staff member at a Division I-FBS school.

 

1. AlabamaTidelogo Alabama (174 points, 6 first-place votes)

The Tide face Chattanooga on Saturday which means head coach Nick Saban will really be preparing for Auburn the ensuing week. Alabama’s win over Mississippi State wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win. The Tide still have the tiniest of leads over Florida State in my rankings. (Lisa Horne)

 

2. FSU_Seminoles.svg  Florida State (169, 1 first-place vote)

So the Seminoles, at least for this season, have adopted the “schedule a patsy immediately before a big game to end the season” ploy like many of their SEC neighbors. If Idaho can score more than the three points FSU has allowed in each of its last two games on Saturday, the long trip to Tallahassee might well have been worth all the trouble. Maybe. (Adesina Koiki)

 

3. 173px-Baylor_University_Athletics_(logo).svg Baylor (158)

At this point, Baylor is just messing with us. The Bears were down 14-0 to Texas Tech and then reeled off nine touchdowns. OK, we’ll never doubt you again. (Lisa)

Beat Oklahoma State in Stillwater and Baylor will officially take over the “If Bama or Florida State slip up” lead role. (T.J. Basalla)

 

4. Ohio State Ohio State (155)

If you want to be taken seriously as a national title contender, you CANNOT give up 35 points to a terrible Illinois team. (T.J.)

 

5. 295px-OregonDucks.svg Oregon (143)

With USC taking care of Stanford, the Ducks are now back in the driver’s seat for a date in the Pac-12 Championship Game. Duck Nation should thank USC for taking care of a team that it could not (Stanford) and be grateful USC is not on its schedule this year. (Lisa)

 

6. 250px-AuburnTigers.svg Auburn (136)

I’m not sure if that deflected-pass-for-a-touchdown miracle was a planned play by head coach Gus Malzahn, but in the words of the immortal Hall-of-Fame baseball player Lefty Gomez, “I’d rather be lucky than good.” Auburn is both lucky and good. Very good. (Lisa)

You want to know why college football is the best? Endings like Georgia-Auburn, that’s why. (T.J.)

 

7. 299px-Clemson_University_Tiger_Paw_logo.svg Clemson (134)

Not to be outdone by Florida State, Clemson also scheduled a glorified scrimmage right before a big game as the Tigers take on The Citadel this Saturday. This is the season finale for The Citadel, and it begs the question, “What did those players do to suffer this end-of-season fate?” (Adesina)

 

Will the return of James Franklin at quarterback boost the Tigers SEC title hopes, or upset team chemistry? (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Will the return of James Franklin from injury boost the Tigers SEC East Division title hopes, or upset team chemistry? (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

8. 100px-Missouri_Tigers_Logo_svg Missouri (124)

Missouri controls its own destiny to play in the SEC Championship Game but it still has Ole Miss and Texas A&M on its slate. A loss to either would send South Carolina to Atlanta due to the head-to-head win it owns over Mizzou. (South Carolina finished SEC play at 6-2.) It’s gut check time in Columbia, South Carolina and Columbia, Missouri. (Lisa)

 

9. TAMU-Logo Texas A&M (113)

Johnny Football can still win the Heisman. He’s got two showcase games left (at LSU, at Missouri) to do his thing. (T.J.)

 

10. Oklahoma State Oklahoma State (105)

It seems a long time ago when Colton Chelf, the former OSU wide receiver and brother of current OSU quarterback Clint Chelf, took to Twitter to voice his frustration over the lack of playing time Clint received in the season-opening win vs. Mississippi State. Now ensconced back under center, can Clint’s dual-threat ability cause problems to Baylor’s much-improved defense Saturday night? (Adesina)

 

11. StanfordCardinal   Stanford (99*)

How bad did Stanford’s loss to USC hurt the Pac-12? Oregon and Stanford are likely out of the BCS Championship Game mix and the league may have lost an opportunity to have two teams in BCS bowls. That’s about a $500,000 revenue loss per team. Ouch. (Lisa)

 

12. South Carolina  South Carolina (99)

The Gamecocks’ opponent this week, Coastal Carolina, is 10-1 on the season and is third in the FCS in scoring at 45.5 points per. If the Chanticleers wanted a stiff challenge in their season finale before the FCS playoffs, then mission accomplished. South Carolina hopes to get good news from Oxford, Mississippi later on in the day with a Missouri loss to the Rebels. (Adesina)

 

13. Msu_head_logo.svg Michigan State (88)

The Spartans’ offense has come to life. For the second time in three games, Michigan State has scored 40-plus points. A potential date with Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game looks very compelling. (Lisa)

 

14. 496px-Fresno_State_Bulldogs_Logo.svg Fresno State (83)

Fresno State should win its final two regular-season games handily against New Mexico and San José State, but that doesn’t mean a BCS spot would be guaranteed. The Mountain West has a championship game, and Fresno would likely take on Boise State, which would be a rematch of a game Fresno State won by only one point, 41-40, on a Friday night in late September. (Adesina)

 

Linebacker Myles Jack followed up his 120 rushing yards at Arizona with four rushing TDs vs. Washington. (Harry How/Getty Images)
Linebacker Myles Jack followed up his 120 rushing yard-effort at Arizona with four rushing TDs vs. Washington. (Harry How/Getty Images)

15. UCLA_athletics_text_logo.svg UCLA (78)

I’m stunned this UCLA-Arizona State game that will effectively decide the Pac-12 South isn’t getting more national attention. It could be one of the more entertaining games of the year. (T.J.)

 

16. 150px-NIU_Huskies.svg Northern Illinois (63)

The win by the Huskies over Toledo last night secured NIU’s place in the MAC Championship Game in Detroit, where they will take on either Buffalo or Bowling Green. Just as impressive, last night marked the Huskies’ 24th consecutive MAC victory as well as their 15th straight road triumph. (Adesina)

 

17. UCF_Knightro_logo UCF (61)

The Knights have the spotlight all to themselves tonight as they host Rutgers. Unlike some other teams, UCF does not have to worry about style points.  Win their remaining three games, and a BCS spot is theirs. And because they defeated Louisville and don’t play Cincinnati this season, UCF could actually afford a loss and still come away with a big January payday. (Adesina)

 

18. LSUTigers LSU (55)

Les Miles will have had two weeks to prepare for Texas A&M. Let’s hope his team is better prepared now than the last time his team had a fortnight of preparation—the one that showed up at Alabama. (Lisa)

 

19. WisconsinBadger.svg Wisconsin (51)

An Axe game (Wisconsin-Minnesota) with both teams ranked?!?! (T.J.)

 

20. Louisville_Cardinals.svg Louisville (49)

The Cardinals can only sit and wait. That, and also wonder how a 1-9 Temple team scored more points (36) on Central Florida than they (35) did. (Lisa)

 

21. 75px-Arizona_State_Sun_Devils_trident_logo Arizona State (45)

In a comment I made a few weeks ago about Arizona State, I said its chances of winning the Pac-12 South was going to hinge on its road form. After two straight road wins (and five straight wins overall), the Sun Devils are a victory against UCLA in the Rose Bowl away from clinching their spot in the Pac-12 title game. (Adesina)

 

22. OU-Logo  Oklahoma (33)

Trevor Knight is slated to start at quarterback this week for the Sooners as Blake Bell recovers from a concussion. If the last game Knight started under center (West Virginia on Sept. 7) as well as the offense’s performance with Knight directing it against Baylor are any indications, the Sooners should be on high upset alert in Manhattan against Kansas State. (Adesina)

 

23. 100px-Interlocking_USC_Logo.svg  Southern California (17)

The Trojans have three losses but this isn’t the same team that lost to Washington State, Arizona State and Notre Dame. Ed Orgeron may have coached his way into USC athletic director Pat Haden finally removing that interim tag after that 20-17 victory over Stanford. (Lisa)

Maybe not just yet. Defeat crosstown rival UCLA to complete the in-season turnaround and then Orgeron would be in serious business. (Adesina)

 

One of the best all-purpose players in the ACC, Duke WR Jamison Crowder has 956 receiving yards while averaging 15.7 yards per punt return. (Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
One of the best all-purpose players in the ACC, Duke wideout Jamison Crowder has 956 receiving yards while also averaging 15.7 yards per punt return. (Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

24. 120px-Duke_text_logo.svg  Duke (13)

I know, I cannot believe Duke (8-2) is here either. Head coach David Cutliffe should be in every voter’s mind when Coach of the Year ballots are handed out. (Lisa)

The Duke Blue Devils control their own destiny for a berth in the ACC Championship Game. Let that sink in a bit. (T.J.)

 

25.  125px-MinnesotaGoldenGophers  Minnesota (10*)

Feel-good team of the year? Feel-good team of the year. (Lisa)

 

Others receiving votes:

Ole Miss (10 points), North Dakota State (7), BYU (1), Cincinnati (1), Notre Dame (1)

* – To break ties, we used a three-step criteria; 1) higher number of first-place votes, 2) higher number of ballots (out of six) the teams appeared in, 3) highest single ranking by an individual pollster (e.g. if Team A and Team B are tied cumulatively and appeared in all six polls, but Team A’s highest ranking by an individual pollster was No. 7 and Team B’s highest ranking by an individual pollster was No. 9, Team A wins tiebreaker)


Facebook Comments Box

Leave a Response