The best and worst teams apparently like the way things are, as No. 1 Alabama stayed undefeated and winless No. 120 Eastern Michigan, well, lost again. They remain where they’ve grown accustomed to in week 11 of Pool’s Power Rankings.
Iowa lost last week and nearly left the top 10, while Oregon and Penn State were successful at failure, leaving the elites shaken – but not stirred. Akron left the bottom 10 – for now – as it knocked off Kent State last week.
This week features three key, good matchups: No. 7 Iowa and No. 12 Ohio State play to likely decide the Big Ten, No. 4 Texas Christian University looks to stay undefeated against No. 11 Utah and No. 5 Cincinnati has the same challenge against No. 20 West Virginia.
For the week’s worst, turn to the Western Athletic Conference and the Sun Belt for a slew of games between teams from the bottom 20 – the crown jewel being the WAC’s No. 109 Utah State against No. 113 San Jose State.
Now for the rest of the shining stars and black holes, or what I like to call the top and bottom 10:
Top 10
1.) Alabama (9-0, 47.3 Average Win Percentage, 0 Average Loss Percentage) secured a spot in the Southeastern Conference championship game last week after a 24-15 win over LSU. Next opponent: Mississippi State (75)
2.) Texas (9-0, 61.4, 0) jumped two spots after a 35-3 win over Central Florida last week. Next opponent: Baylor (73)
3.) Florida (9-0, 67.3, 0) The Gators chomped Vanderbilt, 27-3, last week and are on track for a date with Alabama, but the old ball coach stands in the way. Next opponent: South Carolina (47)
4.) TCU (9-0, 71.1, 0) didn’t look ahead to this week’s big matchup and handled San Diego State, 55-12, last week. Next opponent: Utah (11)
5.) Cincinnati (9-0, 73.4, 0) held off a rally last week from Connecticut and won, 47-45. Next opponent: West Virginia (20)
6.) Boise State (9-0, 80.7, 0) continues to let WAC opponents hang in, and that hurts its chances for a BCS game. However, it won again last week over Louisiana Tech, 45-35. Next opponent: Idaho (30)
7.) Iowa (9-1, 54.8, 63) lost starting quarterback Ricky Stanzi and its first game last week against Northwestern, 17-14. Next opponent: Ohio State (12)
8.) Georgia Tech (9-1, 65, 1) needed overtime, but its option offense ran to a 30-27 victory over Wake Forest last week. Next opponent: Duke (59)
9.) Pittsburgh (8-1, 59.5, 72) took it to the Big East punching bag known as Syracuse with a 37-10 win last week. It’ll take a break from conference play this week. Next opponent: Notre Dame (39)
10.) Houston (8-1, 70.3, 102) returns to the top 10 for the first time since starting 3-0, but needed to rally last week for a 46-45 victory over Tulsa. Next opponent: Central Florida (62)
Bottom 10
111.) North Texas (2-7, 105, 65.7) doesn’t play the same defense it did when “Mean” Joe Greene anchored the line for the Mean Green. Take last week’s 33-6 loss to Louisiana Monroe as an example. Next opponent: Florida International (107)
112.) Vanderbilt (2-8, 118.5, 45.4) wasn’t expected to defeat Florida last week, and it didn’t. Another win looks hard, as Kentucky and Tennessee are the only opponents left. Next opponent: Kentucky (55)
113.) San Jose State (1-7, 121, 38.6) helped Nevada extend its winning streak to six last week after taking a 62-7 drubbing. Next opponent: Utah State (109)
114.) Washington State (1-8, 13, 42.4) found out why Arizona is nationally ranked last week after losing, 48-7. Next opponent: UCLA (77)
115.) Ball State (1-8, 119, 76.3) had a bye to study tape of Northern Illinois, and what it saw could’ve been terrifying. Next opponent: NIU (45)
116.) Miami (Ohio) (1-9, 75, 52.9) was nearly the first team last week to defeat Temple since Penn State did so in week three. Too bad Temple had a clutch kicker who led them to a 34-32 win. Next opponent: Bowling Green (79)
117.) Rice (0-9, 0, 69.9) finally kept the score close, but had the same result in a 31-28 loss Southern Methodist University last week. Next opponent: Tulane (98)
118.) New Mexico (0-9, 0, 71.4) continues to wander aimlessly through the desert after a 45-14 loss to Utah last week. Things don’t look like they’ll get better. Next opponent: BYU (19)
119.) Western Kentucky (0-9, 0, 75.3) met the ying to its yang in the Sun Belt, as first-place Troy took it for a 40-20 win last week. WKU fired coach David Elson on Monday, after seven years as the head man. Next opponent: Louisiana Monroe (66)
120.) Eastern Michigan (0-9, 0, 80.9) forgot to play defense and couldn’t score in the red zone again in a 50-6 loss to Northern Illinois last week. Good news: Its next opponent is 0-3 against teams from Michigan. Next opponent: Western Michigan (88).
