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Fresh off the Florida State - Miami thriller (I really thought Florida State deserved another try with :01 second on the clock, but lets not get into the horrid clock mismanagement in the last :45 seconds...), here is my preliminary Top 25 going into Week 2. I will post a finalized Top 25 once I make my Week 2 picks Wednesday afternoon.

WEEK TWO PRELIMINARY RANKINGS
#1        Florida Gators
#2        Alabama Crimson Tide
#3        Texas Longhorns
#4        Southern California Trojans
#5        Oklahoma State Cowboys
#6        California Bears
#7        Brigham Young Cougars
#8        Mississippi Rebels
#9        Boise State Broncos
#10      Penn State Nittany Lions
#11      Texas Christian Horned Frogs
t, #12   Oklahoma Sooners
t, #12   Virginia Tech Hokies
#14      Ohio State Buckeyes
#15      Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
#16      Louisiana State Tigers
#17      Nebraska Huskers
#18      Notre Dame Fighting Irish
#19      Miami Hurricanes
#20      Kansas Jayhawks
#21      Georgia Bulldogs
#22      Cincinnati Bearcats
#23      North Carolina Tarheels
#24      Utah Utes
t, #25   Oregon State Beavers
t, #25   Florida State Seminoles

A. Talk about opening duds. Iowa 17, Northern Iowa 16? Needing to block TWO field goals at the end of regulation to survive? That's I-AA Northern Iowa. William & Mary 26, Virginia 14? Richmond beating Duke? Maryland and Oregon's lifeless showings? Cincinnati's 47 - 15 beat down of Rutgers at home, the same Rutgers many felt could win the Big East? That's just the beginning.

B. Ohio State, 31 Navy 27? I know Navy is no cupcake, but surviving Navy at home, the "vaunted" Shoe, when you're ranked #6, dark horse title candidate at least looking to win the Big Ten? Not so good, especially with a soon to be top 3 USC coming to town in a week. The same USC that crunched San Jose State (a potential bowl team at least) 56 - 3 despite an absolutely horrible 1^st quarter. Things do not bode well come 9/12. Barring a miraculous showing by Ohio State and an absolutely horrible game for USC, I am expecting a 45 - 17 type score in favor of the Trojans (give or take a FG).

C. Things just don't seem to work out for Bob Stoops since that 2000 national title. While I realize the loss of Bradford hurt the Sooners against BYU, the Sooners would have had a game with or without last year's Heisman winner. The Sooner's line play was absolutely horrible. Not only that, the Sooners continuously shot themselves in the foot with foolish penalties and blown defensive assignments. Need I mention the defensive meltdown on BYU's game winning drive? While the Sooner defense played slightly respectable, they also could not stop BYU when it mattered most, and had BYU not had four turnovers, this game could have been a Boise State - Oregon type showing in BYU's favor. Stoops will find it hard pressed to collect his second title at OU without developing a crunching type defense of old (2000 - 2003, sans the 2003 XII title game). The Sooners have regularly had multiple defensive meltdowns every year for quite a while now, which is why I have never been completely impressed with defensive coordinator Brent Venables.

D. What in the world was Coach Hawkins thinking when he declared Colorado would win 10 games in 2009. I'm sure that prediction didn't figure a loss at home to Colorado State, after which Colorado State fans proceeded to rush the field and celebrate AT COLORADO'S OWN FOLSOM FIELD. Nothing worse than having your hated rivals fans nearly tear down the goalposts in a chaotic celebration in your OWN stadium after rushing the field.

E. Either Washington is drastically improved, or currently #11 LSU is not as good as their ranking shows. How about both? LSU didn't win this game, Washington lost it. The Huskies went into the LSU red zone five times, settling for four field goals, and posting one turnover. Not to mention the missed field goal, fumble at the LSU 5, 11 penalties for 83 yards, and the interception returned for a touchdown. Washington outgained LSU 487 - 321, the same Washington that has now lost 15 games in a row. Even after the 487 yard showing against the "vaunted and much improved" defense, I found Les Miles' adamant endorsement of his defense hilarious. Unless they get a lot better without haste, LSU could post another 2008 type showing.

Review of Week 1 Picks
Top Ten of Week:       5 - 5 (50%)
Best of The Rest:        8 - 2 (80%)
Overall:                      13 - 7 (65%)
Notes:                        Not the start I was looking for (in particular with the big games of the week), but hopefully I rebound and get better with the year as I did in 2008. Week 2 Picks will go up tomorrow afternoon.

Week 1 Picks Link