VIEW FROM THE MIDWEST: OCTOBER 5, 2007

The Top 25 is a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

By Paul Smith / smith@collegeblitz.com

Michigan City, Ind. -- By the time the members current and former of college football's exclusive Top 25 club emerged from their weekend post mortem sessions, it looked like a 9.0 earthquake had knocked down half the landscape.

In almost Howard Cosellian "Down Goes Frazier, Down Goes Frazier!" staccato, down went...

• Former Associated Press No. 3 Florida, losing to Auburn AT HOME on a last-second field goal. More about the Gators' misadventures straight ahead as their fall to No. 9 was only one piece of bad news.
• Former No. 5 Oklahoma, a 27-24 victim at Colorado, falling to 10th spot.
• Former No. 7 Texas, which fell at home to K.F.S. -- Kansas Friggin' State. Lose to a near total stranger to the country club and you fallllllll...to No. 19.
• Former No. 10 Rutgers dropped a 34-24 game at home to Maryland, which received nary a vote for The Associated Press's Top 25. So the Scarlet Knights suffer the Texas Effect and fall to No. 21.

Serious recommendation for the Scarlet Knights. Do NOT lose to No. 24 Cincinnati (a distinct possibility, by the way, given the fact the Bearcats slapped the Knights around Nippert Stadium last November) or your membership privileges might be revoked.

So the college football establishment gets into serious reconstruction mode this week, as Les Miles' L.S.U. Tigers jumped over U.S.C. to attain the No. 1 spot in The Associated Press weekly Top 25.

Well deserved, even if the Other Poll's surrogate voters didn't get it. S.C. barely edged out feisty Washington in Seattle 27-24, which some would call a testament to the Pac-10's toughness, although U-Dub was coming off a loss to Ohio State.

The Buckeyes made an Ohio Statement the week before in knocking off the Huskies 33-14 on that very same field.

So there you have it, a much-altered Top 10 and a Top 25 that creates almost as much fascination as the 2007 Major League Baseball Playoffs, refreshingly without a roster of usual suspects.

With that as a backdrop, your faithful scribbler will attempt 3 Top 20 looks this season at no extra charge, this being numero uno. Why Top 20? Hey, old school habits die hard.

Without further adieu...

1. L.S.U. Right choice. The 5-0 Tigers will face no tougher challenge than this Saturday night an angry bunch of Gators (4-1) slither and splash across the canals and cypress swamps to Tiger Stadium to make what could a final claim to still be a viable national contender. Angry indeed. This miracle creature, Urban Meyer, knower of all things, has had no fewer than 8 of his Gators run afoul of life's behaviorial codes, keeping the Gainesville Police Dept. on ready alert.

2. California. Yep, I have the Golden Bears jumping four sharks, including the Trojans, en route to an impressive 5-0 start. Hey, nobody stops coach Jeff Tedford at the gate and asks for credentials. And after their disassembly of Tennessee and a very impressive win over 4-1 Oregon in one of college football's true snakepits, Autzen Stadium, ya gotta believe. For this week, anyhow.

3. U.S.C. OK, we can't bounce an unbeaten (5-0) team too far down. And the Trojans should make it 6-0 easily with a romp over Stanford at the Coliseum.

4. (tie) Ohio State. Beating the rebooting Minnesota Golden Gophers 30-7 won't raise too many eyebrows, but there is a small backstory here. When Glenn Mason (Ohio State '72) coached the Gophers, they usually spent the afternoon in the Bucks' grill. And O.S.U. played sluggishly for a quarter and a half before pulling away. Much sterner road test this Saturday, as two 5-0 teams meet up in West Lafayette as the Buckeyes face a much-improved Purdue team.

4T. Wisconsin. If there are any Bret Bielema doubters left, they're probably congregating in an abandoned boathouse on a far corner of Lake Mendota. The Badgers are 5-0, impressive in every way, but face a major road challenge at Illinois (4-1) Saturday.

6. South Florida. This is the Rutgers story of 2007. A true feel-gooder that took an electrifying turn with Saturday's powerful 21-13 home victory over Top 5 dropout West Virginia before 68,000 fans. Truthfully, right now, no worse than the second best team in Florida, but it says here the BEST. The defense did more than its job in shutting down the explosive Mountaineers, generally conceded to be the Big East's showcase team.

7. Kentucky. Basketball school, hah. The Wildcats have entered virtually every Southeastern Conference conversation. A new look, a new era, and a totally-unexplored territory. At 5-0, the 'Cats could make a major statement with a Thursday night win at No. 11 South Carolina.

8. Boston College. This is the Eagles' first visit to the Top 10 since the Doug Flutie era a generation ago. Entirely deserved. At 5-0, the Eagles look primed for a strong run at the Atlantic Coast Conference title in only their third year. Who knew? Jeff Jagodzinski had a tough pair of shoes to fill when Tom O'Brien left for A.C.C. rival North Carolina State, but B.C. is cranking out win after win, altho it struggled to beat I-AA in-state rival Massachusetts. Ryan may be the nation's best quarterback.

9. Florida. Still good, still defending national champions, but the Gators (4-1) showed some vulnerability against Auburn and could wind up with as many or 3 or even 4 league losses before it's all totaled up. Tebow's still the goods at q.b. How much of a distraction are the numerous legal troubles?

10. Oklahoma. How to judge the loss at Colorado? Big 12 making a case as a competitor to the Pac-10 and S.E.C. as among the nation's best? I think not. But the Sooners are still dangerous and have some major weapons. Sked-makers did the Sooners no favors this week. The opponent: Archrival Texas. A chance for either school to make a case for continuing national contention.

11. Georgia. Mark Richt's team is 4-1, but up against it at Tennessee Saturday after an impressive win over Ole Miss.

12. South Carolina. Ahhh, the ol' ballcoach, Steve Spurrier, his team off to a 4-1 start, relishes his chance to make some serious dents in the S.E.C. establishment. The win over under-personneled Mississippi State was night. But reality check comes Thursday night vs. No. 7 Kentucky.

13. West Virginia. Tough to punish the Mountaineers this much, but with what happened this week, it is not unrealistic to witness this kind of freefal. With Syracuse a tad improved but not exactly prime timers, this Saturday, W.V.U. (4-1) doesn't figure to run a two-game losing streak.

14. Oregon. Despite the upset by Cal, the Ducks (4-1) are formidable and should lick their wounds vs. "Idle" this weekend before visiting Washington State.

15. Texas. It's not a mortal sin to lose to K-State, which has a history of hassling the Longhorns, but the cruelty of polls can best be understood when they just notice, "Hey, Texas lost at HOME to K-State? Down!" Playing Oklahoma may be a nice antidote for wounded self-respect. Or not.

16. Virginia Tech. Glennon has been a nice surprise at quarterback and the Hokies' defense is a prime reason Tech is 4-1. Very tough game at No. 22 Clemson Saturday.

17. Missouri faces a daunting challenge to its 4-0 start when No. 25 Nebraska comes to Faurot Field. But that 40-34 opening win over Illinois is looking better by the week.

18. Hawaii. The win over Idaho looks good as the Rainbows upped the record to 5-0. But Utah State, even in Honolulu, might be a different story.

19. Arizona State. At this point, the Pac-10's hidden gem. But after Washington State this weekend, that 5-0 record gets seriously tested.

20T. Cincinnati. New coach Brian Kelly was seemingly up against it in replacing former Jim Tressel defensive coordinator Mark Dantonio, who left for Michigan State, but last year's nice 8-5 season is this year's 5-0, with the season's biggest challenge, revenge-minded Rutgers this Saturday in New Jersey.

20T. Purdue. A team on a mission. The last 3-4 years in West Lafayette have not been kind and coach Joe Tiller has heard it from the 60,000 assistant coaches. But Saturday will be a stiff test for this year's Boilermakers. A spread-the-field offense which Tiller may try to rejigger a bit to resemble Florida's vs. one of the nation's best defenses. A.B.C. TV backdrop. A natural.

Contributing mightily: The Plain Dealer's Bill Livingston, The Columbus Dispatch's indomitable trio of Tim May, Ken Gordon, Bob Baptist and The Ohio State University sports information office.