Week 8 Analysis

This week did a little better with a 14-6 record for a grand total thus far of 104-59. There were some darn good games over the weekend and the better teams are rising to the top although it is still a very very difficult season to predict. Is Alabama going to run the rest of the schedule? Would Auburn be all that good without Cam Newton? Is Boise State ever going to get any respect? Just how bad is the Big East? A lot of questions left to be answered before it is all said and done. On to the analysis.

Sun Belt: The Trojans are the best team hands down. WKU recorded the their first Sun Belt. FIU is up an coming despite the record with MTSU  and FAU a bit of a disappointment thus far. Looks like the Trojans for the New Orleans Bowl. I don't see how anyone else will make it.

Over in the SEC it appears that Georgia is somewhat back on track. It won't likely be enough to save Richt though. Tennessee has a long long way to go and Mississippi State is just not that bad of a football team. Auburn may now be the team to beat and could possibly play for all the marbles but Newton better stay healthy. If he goes down then Auburn is probably no better than Mississippi State; a good team but not one ready to challenge for the top spot in the SEC much less the national title. The Hogs will likely continue to win and should find themselves in a pretty decent bowl game. Florida is down of course but still a dangerous opponent for anyone. Of course Bama is not to be counted out for top spot in the SEC or the nation for that matter.

Oregon appears to be the class of the Pac 10 and a very very good ballclub. They need to be on the lookout for the Trojans this week. They may be the fourth number one in four weeks to be knocked out of that spot. Doubtful, but it is a strange season to be sure. Stanford, Arizona, Oregon State and perhaps Washington (despite their record) are the only other quality teams in conference.

The WAC is the WAC. Boise State will win hands down and should get a BCS appearance. Nevada and Hawaii are good teams with perhaps Fresno State and Idaho making a bit of noise yet.

The Mtn West is going to be between TCU and Utah. Probably TCU is the better team but the game has yet to be played. That is about it in conference. SDSU is much improved and Air Force is still a good ballclub.

The Big Ten is still rather interesting with Wisconsin, Michigan State and Ohio State likely to be the teams to find themselves on top. MSU is still undefeated which is a bit surprising. Not sure if they are on par with the other two aforementioned teams. I put them on par with Iowa. Very good but not quite there yet. Time will tell. Northwestern is a good team and Illinois probably is not that bad. One can't forget about PSU and Purdue I suppose. They are decent teams and will go bowling. Michigan will lose at least two more before it is all said and done.

The Big East is terrible. WVU is still probably the best team despite the loss to Syracuse. Pitt may be improving. Not much else to say here.

The ACC is still up in the air. Va. Tech, Clemson, FSU and Miami appear to be the teams that are best in conference. I guess NC State can not be ruled out. All will go bowling. Not sure who will play for the ACC Championship though.

The SEC is a powerful conference or at least the Western Division. Five of six teams in the West are rated in the top 25 with two of them in the top 10. Pretty impressive. The East is down this year with only South Carolina ranked. I would not count out Florida to make a run in the East though. Which is the best team. I still go with the Crimson Tide.

The Big Twelve is starting to make some sense. Oklahoma has been playing on borrowed time and that was proven last week. Oklahoma State was somewhat of a pretender. Just how far has Texas fallen? There is some definite rebuilding going on in Austin. Baylor has made it into the top 25 for the first time in a long long time. The Aggies finally found someone they could beat and Nebraska is likely back on track after a dismal performance the other week against the Horns.

The Mid American is still a bit of mystery with a number of teams poised to play for all the conference marbles. I would keep Toledo, Northern Illinois, Ohio and Temple at the top of the list with Miami of Ohio still a longshot.

Over in CUSA Houston may be getting it back together a bit after taking down a pretty good SMU squad. The power this year certainly seems to be in the East with East Carolina and UCF looking very good. USM may still be in it. I would look for East Carolina to somehow sneak into the top 25 before it is all said and done. Ruffin is taking up where Holtz left off. The big game this week will be the UCF/ECU match up. That will likely set the course for those two squads for the rest of the year.

I will try to get some predictions for week 8 up as soon as possible. Have a good week.