FanNation - The Republic of Sport

The TRUE Top 25 - 2008 2^nd Edition

1. USC Trojans - The Trojans had a bye week to get ready for what looks like a Beanieless Buckeye squad and they are at home, a win against Ohio State does cement the Trojans at the top of the TRUE Top 25 for the foreseeable future.

2. Florida Gators - The Offense struggled early against Miami, but the Gators eventually took the game over with a 26-3 victory. There is no question Florida is the top program in the state, but Miami showed some promise for the future in this game.

3. Georgia Bulldogs - The first real test of the year is the Saturday for UGA when they take on the Ole' Ball Coach's Gamecocks.

4. Oklahoma Sooners - The Sooners handle their business against a underrated Cincinnati Bearcats team, is this the year that we stop referring to them as Chokelahoma? There is a long way to go, but the Sooners are a great football team. They put 52 points up against two of Cincinnati's corners, both legitimate NFL prospects.

5. Missouri Tigers - What an offense, it is now two consecutive games where the Tigers have scored 52 points.

6. Ohio State Buckeyes - The Buckeye's let Ohio hang around till the fourth quarter before eventually putting the Bobcats away, this does not bode well for OSU heading to USC.

7. LSU Tigers - Still hanging around the Top 10 with a victory over Appalachian State. The defending champs would like to play a normal schedule this year, but the weather has had the Tigers thinking about more pressing issues.

8. Auburn Tigers - Auburn has a great defense and an offense that is coming together, the Tigers are becoming a very dangerous SEC team.

9. Texas Longhorns - Another team concerned with the weather, this week's game against Arkansas has been postponed.

10. Wisconsin Badgers - PJ Hill is carrying the Badgers, the biggest question for Wisconsin this year will be whether or not they can win on the road.

11. East Carolina Pirates - Two consecutive upsets, NO, this is a very good football team who has a very good coach.

12. Arizona State Sun Devils - The Sun Devils proved that they are still in the upper echelon of the Pac 10 by dominating Stanford 41-17.

13. Alabama Crimson Tide - The inconsistency of last season may once again be a problem for the Tide, a week after destroying Clemson, Alabama's special teams is the only reason they were able to beat Tulane, there is still a lot of work for Nick Saban with this squad.

14. Texas Tech Red Raiders - Texas Tech has a very soft early schedule, it is the games later in the season that will prove how good they really are.

15. Oregon Ducks - This team just wins with any QB they play, the Ducks quite possible may be the most underrated program in the Pac 10, maybe even the nation.

16. Kansas Jayhawks - The first real test of the year for the Jayhawks this Friday against South Florida at Raymond James. Nobody can complain about a soft schedule this year, can Kansas prove themselves to the nation, or are they who we thought they were?

17. South Florida Bulls - Horrendous clock management almost had the Bulls upset against UCF, will the coaching staff learn from that lesson? They had better, South Florida is the only team left in the Big East with BCS title hopes. But at least they are no longer in Conference USA with no shot at a BCS Bowl unless a team can run the table, and while East Carolina may, with George O'liar as the Knights coach, they never will.

18. Penn State Nittany Lions - Joe Paterno has a good team, but we won't know much about them till Big 10 play, as Penn State has scheduled the bottom feeders of the BCS conferences to begin the year, they play Syracuse this week.

19. Brigham Young Cougars - Quite possibly, the luckiest team in all of college football this year, their BCS hopes were kept alive because of a HORRIBLE JUDGEMENT CALL. The excessive celebration penalty against Washington was a judgement call, don't listen to whoever governs the officials who did this game, the officials determined the outcome of the game and that is simply inexcusable.

20. Wake Forest Demon Deacons - Wake barely survived Ole' Miss with a last second field goal, the ACC's respectability is hanging by a thread.

21. Illinois Fighting Illini - A great offense, but Ron Zook is still looking for the defense to step up.

22. Fresno State Bulldogs - How good are the Bulldogs? We will find out this week against Wisconsin.

23. West Virginia Mountaineers - The Mountaineers were handled by East Carolina, for a spread team, West Virginia doesn't defend it very well.

24. Clemson Tigers - Clemson got back on track, **** Citadel 45-17.

25. UCLA Bruins - UCLA takes on BYU this week, can they handle the Cougar offense, that is if the officials don't determine the outcome of a BYU game.

26. Utah Utes

27. Tennessee Volunteers

28. Arizona Wildcats

29. Boise State Broncos

30. California Golden Bears

1. SEC - Still the class of college football, it will get repetitive, but this probably what I'll write all year.

2. Big 12 - Until a drastic upset the Big 12 will hold firm at #2.

3. Pac 10 - The left coast is still underrated after USC.

4. Big 10 - This week will prove exactly how far or close the Big 10 is to the Pac 10 when Ohio State plays USC, I have a feeling it will probably show how far.

5. Big East - Only 1 contender for the National Championship left after 2 weeks into the season, it beats the ACC who have none, sorry Wake.

6. ACC - See Above.

1. Ohio State @ USC

2. Kansas @ South Florida

3. Wisconsin @ Fresno State

4. UCLA @ BYU

5. Georgia @ South Carolina