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Honorable Mention

Ball State

--Yes, they can play some ball in Indiana, as the Cardinals might be close to being the best team in Indiana. Having just beat the Indiana Hoosiers, and given the state of the Fighting Irish, I believe that the Cardinals could give Purdue a run for best in the Hoosier state. Hey Blank, maybe you can switch allegiances.

 5. Clemson

 --The Tiger nation was saddened this week as one of their own laid in a hospital bed. The team debated wearing “JS” on their helmets as they took the field against instate rival South Carolina State. They were pumped up to win one for the gipper… Okay maybe no one outside of Jimmy Simons’ friends, family, and other s who get Facebook updates knew that Jimmy was in the hospital, but they should have. Regardless, The Tigers rolled 54-0 behind 95 yards from James “Thunder” Davis and C.J. “lightning” Spiller. Clemson looks to become a power in the ACC as quite frankly I am surprised that South Carolina hasn’t produced better football as an entire state. Clemson might just become what, well, South Carolina was supposed to become: another southern powerhouse school. With games at home versus Maryland and Georgia Tech, and on the road versus Florida State, Wake Forest, and Boston College, the tigers have a tough, tough stretch. It remains to be seen how well they will do. I say 7-5 or 8-4 with a trip to the Meineke Car Care bowl. Get Better Jimmy!

4. The Spartans:

--Not the ones from 300, but the boys from East Lansing ended all the Notre dame is back garbage and proved what I have been saying for almost forever; Notre Dame is just a mediocre football team with a ton of hype. Proof? Notre Dame is probably about as good as say, Kansas State, Northwestern, or Baylor. K-State’s Josh Freeman might get a plug now and again, but beyond that you never hear anything about those three schools week in and week out. The Domers are on TV every single week. Everyone knows who the coach is, what condition his knee is in, and how well Jimmy Clausen is doing.

 3. Miami is back…or at least on the road to recovery

--There was a time when the Hurricanes were the most feared team in Division One. The intimidation factor was unreal as a trip to the Orange Bowl was a sure loss from 95% of the teams in the nation. Miami would maybe lose one game a year, beyond that Miami was always in the hunt for a national title. What happened? Ken Dorsey got drafted, and there really hasn’t been anyone to take his place. Brock Berlin was okay at best , Kirby Freeman is now riding the bench at Baylor, and Kyle Wright often throwing the ball to the wrong team. But… Robert Marve might just be the man, as Miami with an offense can get back into the title hunt in a hurry. Does Wake Forest, Florida State, or Clemson (easy Jimmy) really scare anyone? Miami has produced the best running backs over the last few years i.e. Willis McGahee, Clinton Portis, Frank Gore, Edjerin James, and Najeh Davenport. So, with one eighth of starting running backs in the NFL ( with Graig Cooper about to make it 5/32nds) from the “U”, all you need is a Quarterback. However…. Miami is just 2-1, with wins over Texas A&M and Charleston Southern doesn’t exactly sound like a blazing path. We’ll see what they can do down the stretch with tough contest versus North Carolina, Wake, UCF, and Virginia Tech.

 2. TCU

--Last year was supposed to be the year for the Horned Frogs. Early on, they were the talked about BCS buster/Cinderella/good football team from a small market/whatever you want to call it. They were supposed to run the table and get a ticket to the BCS ball. Then the Air Force Falcons tore the club up. After losing to the Falcons they were never the same as they went 8-5 with a win over Houston in the Texas Bowl. So this year, with all the talk being about BYU, the Horned Frogs are 4-0 and looking good. They play Oklahoma in Two weeks that will be the game to see if TCU is for real.

 1. Alabama

--Nick Saban was supposed to be the savior for Alabama. He was supposed to bring the Tide back into the fold. Saban wasn’t supposed to lose to Louisiana Monroe last year. He wasn’t supposed to go to the Independence bowl. Saban has managed to forget all that and has managed to get his team to play some great ball blowing out Arkansas. An unknown admin officer told me that Arkansas gave the game away giving away 21 points. True, but what about the 35 other points that Alabama accounted for. The SEC is simply in a world of its own, as year in and year out different teams step up to play big time ball. Saban has made Razorback fans think that the Darren Mcfadden days were about ten years ago.

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