College Football Week 12 Preview: Is Oregon No. 1?

So it looks like I bombed last week with my prediction that Alabama would remain undefeated. And now it appears that rather than the SEC winning another mythical national championship, a more likely scenario has them winning another heisman trophy.

Texas A and M's Johnny Manziel is no Johnny come lately to the college football world, even though he is only a freshman quarterback for the Aggies. Prior to last Saturday's victory over the Crimson Tide, Manziel had passed for more than 2500 yards and run for over 900 yards for the Aggies, who, at 8-2, have surprised almost everyone in the first year in the SEC. It is probably not out of the question that Texas A and M head coach Kevin Sumlin might also be the frontrunner for coach of the year.

But enough about last week, on to week number 12. This week's biggest game features the Oregon Ducks, and their video game-like offense, versus Pac-12 rival Stanford, who is also fighting for a berth in this year's Pac-12 championship. The key to this game, of course, won't be whether the Cardinal can stop Chip Kelly's high powered offense; but it will come down to the play of Stanford's offense, led by senior tailback Stepfan Taylor. If the Cardinal can establish the run early, and keep Oregon's offense off the field, they have a chance.

So, will Saturday mark the second straight week that a top three team falls from the ranks of the unbeaten? As much as I'd like to see it, I just don't think it is going to happen. Chip Kelly runs one of the most efficient offenses in the nation, and quarterback Marcus Mariota might be one of the more underrated players in the game. Not that people in Pac-12 country think that, but you would be hard pressed to find anyone on the East Coast who is mentioning his name for Heisman.

Mariota has quitely passed for 2164 yards and 28 TDs, while only throwing 5 interceptions at the same time. He has also added another 516 yards and 3 TDs on the ground for the Ducks, who should remain undefeated, dispatching of the Cardinal 38-20.

In other top 25 action:

10 Florida State at Maryland: EJ Manuel and company inch one step closer to the ACC Atlantic Divison crown, rolling over the Terps, 54-3.

Iowa at 21 Michigan: Will the real Michigan please stand up? Please stand up? Please stand up? Wolverines let the Hawkeyes stay in this one until the end, winning 27-24.

22 Rutgers at Cincinnati: Butch Jones has once again resurrected a program that Brian Kelly left. Impressive indeed. But can I really root for a team whose starting quarterback is named Munchie? Of course I will. Bearcats, 24-21.

Western Carolina at 4 Alabama: Crimson Tide, still mad their undefeated season is lost, go easy on the Catamounts. If you consider 40-10 going easy on someone. Eddie Lacy runs for almost 250 in the win.

Jacksonville State at  6 Florida: After last week's near embarrassment, Will Muschamp's Gators let Jax State hang around too before pulling away 28-14.

Wofford at 9 South Carolina: Jedevon Clowney 14, Wofford 3. Yeah, I think that's all that needs to be said 'bout this one. Gamecocks roll. Oh, wait, that's the Crimson Tide line. Gamecocks still win big, though.

Georgia Southern at 5 Georgia: Cause I'm already over the powder puff teams the SEC plays this week, Bulldogs win.

25 Washington at Colorado:Do I even need to say it?

18 USC at 17 UCLA: In what could probably turn out to be an even more hotly contested game than Oregon-Stanford, Matt Barkley and the Trojans get the inside track to the Pac-12 South title, 24-17.

Wake Forest at 3 Notre Dame: If only the Irish could mount some offense, they might be dangerous. Notre Dame, 28-10.

Ole Miss at 7 LSU: Tigers win big.

Sam Houston State at 8 Texas A and M: Aggies need another big game from Johnny Football to pull this one out, 42-28.

North Carolina State at 11 Clemson: Tahj Boyd, Sammy Watkins and company come up big against the Wolfpack, but it is not enough to wrest first place in the Atlantic from FSU. Clemson 45-17.

Minnesota at 14 Nebraska: Cornhuskers are going to Rose Bowl. You heard it here first. Nebraska 38-17,

23 Texas Tech at 24 Oklahoma State: Red Raiders win one for Leach. What? He doesn't coach there anymore? Well Red Raiders just win. Texas Tech 35-31.

Ohio State (unranked in BCS, 10 in J-Rod Sportszone's top 10 to be revealed later in this column) at Wisconsin: Buckeyes don't need Miller to Smith heroics this time around, winning 27-17.


Upset special of the week West Virginia (home) over No. 12 Oklahoma: Geno Smith, once frontrunner for the Heisman, puts on one of his better perfomances for the Mountaineer fan base, as Sooners are beat 35-28.


J-Rod's Sportszone's Top 10:

1. Oregon

2. Kansas State

3. Alabama

4.  Georgia

5.  LSU

6. Notre Dame

7. Texas A and M

8.  Clemson

9. South Carolina

10. Ohio State

College Football Top 25- Week 11

Week 10 of the college football season was exhilarating. Alabama and LSU did battle in another SEC West Classic, Oregon outlasted USC in a shootout in Los Angeles, and Notre Dame's perfect season continued with a triple overtime win over Stanford.

At the end of the day, LSU's loss once again shook the landscape in both the BCS and AP Top 25 polls. However, I would like to challenge both the AP and the BCS with my first weekly College football Top 25 poll.

Yes, I understand that with 10 weeks of the season behind us, I am a little behind the eight ball. But right now I don't care, I am adding this poll to the blog. I also hope to add a college basketball Top 25 as well.

Without further ado, here are my rankings:

1. Alabama- The Crimson Tide continue to roll through the SEC portion of their schedule with an impressive come from behind victory at LSU. Right now it appears that Alabama should not face another challenge until the SEC title game, likely against Georgia.

2. Oregon- Ducks prove once again they have the most explosive offense in the nation in defeating USC. Unfortunately for Oregon, they haven't faced a defense like Alabama yet. Still, they remain the best threat to unseat the defending national champions thus far.

3. Kansas State- Collin Klein delivers an average performance (if you consider 309 yards of total offense average) in the Wildcats blowout win over Oklahoma State. Klein easily the favorite for Heisman right now. K-State the alternate for BCS championship should Oregon or Alabama fall.

4. Georgia- Bulldogs have begun to peak since defeating rival Florida in the World's Largest, er, 'Gathering' two weeks ago. Georgia defensive lineman Javaris James making a push to be the No. 1 overall selection in next April's NFL Draft.

5. Florida- Gators bounce back from aforementioned loss to Georgia by holding Missouri to seven points. Will Mushcamp's squad needs to find its offense, however, if they want to remain in the top 10. We're sending Hannibal, BA, and the rest of the A-Team on the case.

6. Louisiana State- The media has a problem ranking a two-loss squad this high. J-Rod's Sportszone doesn't really care what the mainstream media thinks. The eye test shows that the Tigers are a top five squad, and they are sixth currently due to the loss to the Gators earlier this season.

7. South Carolina- The loss of Marcus Lattimore was certainly huge for Steve Spurrier's squad, but not insurmountable. This team still has enough talent on both sides of the ball to finish with 10 wins.

8. Florida State- Now that it appears the Seminoles 'trap' game is out of the way, FSU is looking for its first 11 win season under head coach Jimbo Fisher. Whether they get there depends largely on the play of quarterback EJ Manuel.

9. Oregon State- The Beavers have a healthy Sean Mannion back at QB, and still hope to supplant Oregon as the North representative in the Pac-12 Championship. They must defeat Stanford before they meet the Ducks, however.

10. Texas A&M- The Aggies have adjusted nicely to SEC play thus far, and, quarterback John Manziel might end up being better than Ryan Tannehill after it's all said and done.

11. Notre Dame- The Irish are wondering what in the world they did to have three two loss teams ranked ahead of them. Well, they almost lost at least three different games to opponents they were huge favorites over, including last Saturday's triple overtime thriller against Pitt. How much longer can Irish eyes continue to smile on Brian Kelly's squad? Something tells me the season ending game versus USC could spoil a 12-0 season, although a trip to a BCS Bowl is almost a lock.

12. Ohio State- J-Rod's Sportszone doesn't care that the Buckeyes are banned from BCS consideration this season. J-Rod's Sportszone also doesn't care OSU is the best team in the Big Ten. Buckeyes' defense is a couple of years away from being championship caliber. Braxton Miller should finish in the top three in Heisman voting.

13. Louisville- The only other undefeated team in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the Cardinals suffer from playing in the Big (L)East conference.  If Cardinals win at least 10 games and win the Big East, they guarantee they won't be the laughing stock of the BCS this season. That title could go to the winner of the Big Ten Championship (which won't be OSU, btw).

14. Oklahoma- The Sooners were preseason favorites to win the Big 12. Now they are looking to get into a New Year's Day Bowl at least, with an outside shot at a BCS at-large spot.

15.  Clemson- Tahj Boyd and company need a little help from Florida State's remaining opponents if they are to make it back to the ACC championship game. If Alabama, Oregon, Notre Dame, and KSU go undefeated, they may need even more help to make it as a BCS at-large team.

16. Stanford- The good news for the Cardinal: they still control their own destiny in the Pac-12 South, as they advance to the Pac-12 title game if they win out. The bad news: Stanford faces Oregon State and Oregon in the next two weeks. If they lose both of those games they may fall to the bottom of these rankings.

17. Nebraska- With wins in consecutive weeks over Michigan and Michigan State, the Cornhuskers control their own destiny in the Legends Division of the Big Ten.

18. UCLA- Bruins, with an impressive win on Saturday over Arizona, are in the drivers seat for the Pac-12 South. If only they didn't have to play Oregon in the title game.

19. USC- Matt Barkley can kiss the national championship, more than likely the Pac-12 championship, the Heisman, and the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft goodbye. But hey, at least he can say he got his college degree.

20.  Texas- If Mack Brown's squad can win two of their next three, his job is safe. Well, let's be honest, his job is probably safe anyway, the folks in Austin have started to get used to mediocrity.

21. Louisiana Tech- I'd be more impressed with this squad if they had actually beaten the Aggies a few weeks ago.

22. Mississippi State- Bulldogs still trying to be a top-tier SEC team. They are not quite there yet.

23. Rutgers- What bowl game this team lands is anyone's guess.

24. Northwestern- Bet you if I said name the three ranked Big Ten squads,  you would have never guessed the Wildcats would be one of them.

25 Kent State- Because the Golden Flashes are the Mid American squad with the more impressive victory (Rutgers).

There you have it, my top 25 for week 11. Please feel free to drop me a line if you disagree. Or just to compliment me on how much fairer my rankings are than the BCS or AP Top 25. Thanks