It was a long road trip to College Station (which is one reason this is later than usual) and another one looms this weekend.
But it was another indication of why college football is so unpredictable. You think it’s going to be a dog weekend and it’s fascinating.
You go in with certain perceptions and come away with different ones. At any rate …
THE NOT-READY-FOR-PRIME-TIME
COLLEGE FOOTBALL TOP 25
1. Alabama: Nick Saban may scold the media again this week but his team should roll over Arkansas.
2. LSU: Tigers showed they are still one of the teams to beat this season.
3. Southern Cal: Matt Barkley looks like he’s heading towards a Heisman, but the defense is still shaky.
4. Oregon: Ducks still looking like a team that could win it all.
5. Oklahoma: Sooners’ big games are still to come.
6. Georgia: Jarvis Jones has a shot at getting my Heisman vote.
7. West Virginia: Mountaineer fans believe this is the year.
8. FSU: We’ll always wonder how many points they could have scored if not for the weather.
9. South Carolina: Steve Spurrier now has a running wuasrterback and a passing quarterback.
10. Clemson: Tigers have one of the nation’s best offenses.
11. Michigan State: Spartans are team to beat in the Big 10ish.
12. TCU: Horned Frogs’ schedule is in front of them.
13. Ohio State: Urban Meyer is going to ride Braxton Miller as far as he can take Buckeyes.
14. Virginia Tech: Talk about a team under the radar.
15. Kansas State: Are the Wildcats really that good or is Miami that bad?
16. Texas: Longhorns ready for a test.
17. Arizona: RichRod has it going on.
18. Tennessee: Huge game Saturday for the Vols and Derek Dooley.
19. Florida: Gators need to keep momentum going the right way.
20. UCLA: Maybe the second most surprising score was UCLA beating Nebraska.
21. Oregon State: Oh, why not?
22. Notre Dame: Irish pulled it out late vs. Purdue.
23. Oklahoma State: Cowboys have some regrouping to do.
24. Arkansas: probably last week in the rankings for the ‘Backs.
25. Louisville: Charlie Strong has a big-time quarterback in Teddy Bridgewater.
SEC FOUR-PACK
1. There is a reason why we at The Sun ranked Georgia’s Jarvis Jones the top player in the SEC and he has made us look good. Playing with a sore groin, Jones dominated the fourth quarter of the Bulldogs’ win over Missouri. You have to give Georgia credit for coming back in a tough environment to win.
2. OK, enough with the John L. Smith jokes. We get it. He’s brought the L back to Arkansas. He’s not named John W. Smith. Look, I thought the hire made sense in the summer. Now, it doesn’t look good. But in the end, Arky lost because Arky still doesn’t play defense.
3. Can a coach go from a national title to the hot seat in less than two years? Well, it would appear that has happened with Gene Chizik, who is now 16-12 in his non-Cam Newton seasons. A lot of heat is being directed at Scott Loeffler, the former UF assistant who took over for Gus Malzahn. Loeffler was hardly a sexy hire and it doesn’t seem to be working out very well.
4. It will take awhile. Florida’s game at Texas A&M didn’t feel like an SEC game even though it was played like one and the atmosphere was tremendous. But there wasn’t enough anger after the game from their fans. They seemed to genuinely like the Gator fans who made the trip.
