Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 1441 of 1503)

Anyone tired of all the controversy surrounding the BcS yet? Playoffs anyone?

1. Ohio State (12-0)
Previous Rank: #1
Buckeyes 42, Wolverines 39. Troy Smith – 29 for 41 for 316 yards and four touchdowns. Jim Tressel’s game plans. ‘Nuff said.

2. Michigan (11-1)
Previous Rank: #2
That vaunted Michigan defense that everyone talked about got shredded for 503 yards, including 187 on the ground. The Wolverines offense deserves credit for racking up nearly 400 yards and 39 points on a tough OSU defense, but why was Michigan’s game plan to get into a shootout with arguably the most explosive offense in the country?

3. Florida (10-1)
Previous Rank: #3
Urban Meyer is one of the loudest supports for bringing a playoff system into college football. Meyer can officially change his title from head coach of the Florida Gators to head coach of the Florida Gators and the Voice of the People.

4. USC (9-1)
Previous Rank: #4
The Trojans are like the pesky little sibling to a Florida program that just wants them to vanish. If USC beats Notre Dame this weekend, that would make four ranked opponents, including three in a row, that the Trojans have beaten this year. That’s one more win over a ranked opponent than the Gators have. However, USC did lose to an unranked Oregon State team while Florida suffered its only loss to a once highly ranked Auburn program. I can feel the aggravation building from Gator Fan now.

5. Arkansas (10-1)
Previous Rank: #5
The Razorbacks are an interesting team. Arkansas certainly doesn’t wow you other than Darren McFadden, but yet the Razorbacks still find ways to get it done every week. Nothing suggests that Arkansas is a better team than Florida, yet that’s exactly why the Razorbacks might have one more upset in their bag of tricks.

6. Notre Dame (10-1)
Previous Rank: #8
Now here’s a dilemma. If the Irish beat USC in Southern Cal this weekend, one could make a strong argument that ND has every right to play in the national championship. However, the Irish’s one loss was to Michigan and how could ND get in over a Wolverines team that completely embarrassed them in South Bend earlier this season?

7. Texas (9-2)
Previous Rank: #7
So, Kansas State blows out Texas, but then plays hapless against Kansas. That just re-affirmed to me that if Colt McCoy doesn’t get hurt against the Wildcats a few weeks ago, we might be talking about an OSU-Texas rematch instead of OSU-Michigan.

8. LSU (9-2)
Previous Rank: #8
I should probably move the Tigers down a few pegs considering they almost lost to Ole’ Miss. The problem is that I don’t know who is really better behind LSU.

9. West Virginia (9-1)
Previous Rank: Unranked
Do I put a West Virginia team ahead of Louisville, because the Cardinals beat the Mountaineers? Or do I put a Rutgers team ahead of Louisville, because they beat the Cardinals? No and no. First of all, after watching this conference the past few weeks, it should be determined that only one Big East team should be ranked in the top 10 at any one time. And second of all, the Cardinals lost to Rutgers, who turned around and lost to Cincinasty for heaven’s sake. I truly believe that with Pat White and Steve Slaton, WV tops Louisville on neutral ground.

10. Wisconsin (11-1)
Previous Rank: Unranked
With all the hype surrounding Ohio State and Michigan this season, the Badgers have gone virtually unnoticed. Wisconsin has quietly put together a solid season, with its only loss coming to Michigan on the road. Freshman bowling ball P.J. Hill has quite a future in the land of the cheese.

Certainly no one can take away what Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr has done in his coaching career. He has won a co-national championship, has never had a losing season and turned around a program that lost five games in ’05. But after watching Carr lose to Jim Tressel for the third straight year, one has to question whether or not he’s turning into the John Cooper of this rivalry.

Cooper won a share of three Big Ten titles while coaching at OSU, but will mostly be remembered for his 2-10-1 record vs. UM. He was essentially run out of Ohio with crippling losses to Michigan in ’93, ’95 and ’96. Carr is now 1-5 lifetime against Tressel and it’s not far-fetched to think his doom may soon resemble Cooper’s.

The bottom line is that Tressel not only coaches a good team year in and year out, but also wins that big game. Carr seems to only have one of those virtues down pat these days.

Here are your college football players of the week.

Remember, if you feel that another player was worthy of higher honors than the two I chose, post the athlete and let me hear why you think he or they were more deserving.

Offensive Player of the Week: Troy Smith, QB Ohio State
I doubt that this one will catch much flak. Smith tore apart Michigan for 314 yards and four touchdowns in the Buckeyes 42-39 victory over the Wolverines. As mentioned in my recap of the big game, Smith had great vision while seeing the entire field, had sharpshooter accuracy and showed great mobility when forced from the pocket. Smith’s performance was good enough to overcome three OSU turnovers and put the Buckeyes into the national title game.

Steve Slaton of West Virginia has to be mentioned too. Slaton had a total of seven yards heading into halftime of the Mountaineers game against Pittsburgh. He must have recharged the battery in the locker room, because Slaton emerged from the locker room to amass 345 total yards and four touchdowns in WV’s 45-27 win over the Panthers.

Defensive Player of the Week: Jolonn Dunbar, LB Boston College
Dunbar was an absolute maniac in BC’s 38-16 win over Maryland. Dunbar stole the show for the Eagles with two fumble recoveries for touchdowns and a team-high 14 tackles. No other defender in the country had a bigger performance than Dunbar.