Week Five Analysis

The season has passed the one month mark and is in full swing. The cream has risen to the top and things are shaping up. Is Alabama beatable? Yes. Who will do it? That is a harder question. They could easily roll the remainder of their schedule and even if they are a one loss SEC team, they will likely make it to the "Big Game." I had to bartend an event last night and probably watched no more than 20 minutes of the college game this weekend. Pity. However, I must say that the event I worked was quite interesting. It was a get together of an Army National Guard Aviation Regiment (battalion?) and was quite a throw down. There were of course zany and immature antics with drinking games and what not. Typical military type stuff. At least no one had to kiss any one's belly. I remember having to kiss the fat hairy belly of an E-8 during one of our shipboard "celebrations."  Personal hygiene was never an priority with Chief Ward (RIP) as I recall. I dry heave as I think of it. Of course there was no alcohol involved as this was an at sea celebration. No alcohol on a U.S. man-o-war. (Yes I will take the liberty of calling a Coast Guard cutter a man-o-war). One thing I have noticed about National Gaurdsmen before is the lack of formality concerning rank. It is not uncommon to see a Major hanging out with a Sgt and a Specialist or PFC. That is something one does not see too often in the "regular" military. It has a lot to do with everyone being from the same area and in fact some folks working at the same civilian job, knowing each other from high school or college, a teacher hanging with former (and in some cases current) students, etc. True civilian soldiers and an important part of the national defense of our great country. Hats off to them. That being said, on to football. Oh this week my record was 13-7. Fair I suppose. Grand total for the season so far is 70-33.

Alabama rolled over the Gators with ease. The margin of victory is a bit surprising but not the final outcome of the game. It is hard to see who will beat the Tide this year but somebody may sneak up on them. LSU had trouble apparently with Tennessee, but a win is a win. I am sure that they will continue to call for Les Miles' head in Tigerland for whatever reason. Mississippi State further refined their program against a IAA cross state SWAC school. Vandy is Vandy and Auburn easily handled a Sun Belt squad. Anything else of consequence? Not really. Georgia is a joke though. No one in D1 should lose to Colorado, especially by the margin that the Buffs put on the Dogs. They should make a coaching change in Athens right now! Why wait?

The Sun Belt is the Sun Belt. Florida Intl has given some BCS teams problems this year but not so against Pittsburgh. Arkansas State had a commendable performance (I suppose) against Louisville and FAU was spanked by a fair South Florida team. The Cajuns recorded a conference victory over the Mean Green. They need the confidence boost. Oklahoma State comes calling in Lafayette next week.  I still think the conference winner will come down to MTSU or Troy.

The Red River Shootout was a win for Oklahoma. That was pretty predictable, but Oklahoma (a lot like LSU) has been recording victories that are uninspiring. Just doesn't give one the warm and fuzzies as it were. That being said, they did win and a win is a win. Texas is not real good this year. Perhaps not a top twenty five squad. The Red Raiders are certainly falling apart under first year coach Tuberville. Iowa State is not a team anyone should really lose to. Briles is a good coach and may have the Bears in a bowl this year. He did wonders for U of H but Baylor is an exceptionally hard place to win. Colorado sucks but apparently not as much as the Georgia Bulldogs of the SEC. Missouri may be the class of the conference. They were off. Nebraska and KSU meet this Thursday and that will set the tone for the rest of the season for those two squads. Both are winning but are not too impressive. Oklahoma State may make some noise in conference and TAMU will win a few games since the Big XII is apparently down this year.

The Big East collectively won more game than they lost this week. Wow! Of course the competition level was not too tough. Schiano should have taken a better job when he was a hot property. His Knights were embarrassed by Tulane. That should not happen. UConn beat Vandy which is a bit surprising I suppose. I am a tad surprised that one of the Sun Belt squads did not beat a Big East opponent yesterday. Next time perhaps. This conference is weak, weak, weak, Who will be top dog when all is said and done? Probably WVU. They appear to be the only quality team. Perhaps USF. The Bulls do have a quality coaching staff.

The ACC is still up in the air. Miami recorded a nice win over Clemson and that says something. Harris needs some more seasoning before Miami can be considered a contender for the BCS Title. Won't happen this year. NC State was taken down by VA. Tech. I figured Beamer would probably find a way to right the ship before it was all said and done. BC lost to Notre Dame. That is a shame. FSU recorded another win. They may be shaping up.  Nothing else of any consequence in this conference. I am a little surprised that ECU did not beat the Tar Heels though.Who will be top dog? Still hard to tell with at least five teams having a shot. None will challenge for the National Championship though.

Zook's squad turned in a commendable performance against one of the best teams in the land. Ohio State is the only team in this conference that likely has a shot at the National Title. A very good shot, I may add. I was never a believer in Wisconsin (or Iowa for that matter). Iowa did handle Paterno's team though. Michigan State is still probably not for real the win over the Badgers notwithstanding. While many teams in the Big X are pretty decent only one is a great team. I am still thinking that the National Title game will be between the Buckeyes and the Crimson Tide. A lot of football left to play though.

Well well. The Trojans were taken down. Good for Washington. Not that it matters. USC is of no consequence regardless. This is the first loss of many that will be suffered by the program under this Kiffin. Oregon and Stanford are two quality teams with Oregon coming out on top in Saturday's match up. Oregon may have a shot at the "Big Game" should Ohio State or Bama falter. UCLA is turning out to be a pleasant surprise for the Bruin faithful. They should land in a quality bowl this year. Oregon State and Arizona are not too bad. Will Tedford get the Bears rolling again? He might. He is a good coach. No one else seems to matter much in this conference. Well, perhaps ASU.

CMU sure faltered Saturday against a Ball State squad that they should have handled with relative ease. I would not count out the Chippies quite yet however. Toledo should not have allowed Wyoming to record a win against their program. The Rockets are quite good. Ohio had her problems with EMU, but Solich found a way. The Bobcats need to get on track and are not to be counted out. Temple had a scare against West Point but are probably a legitimate top twenty five squad. Golden knows his business and no mistake. Don't count out Jerry Kill and his Huskies either. Northern Illinois is a sleeper in this conference.

What a nice win for Tulane. A victory, any victory, is something for the Green Wave. ECU probably should have beaten NC. SMU beat Rice but it was not apparently all that easy. U of H was off. It will be interesting to see how they fare the rest of the year without QBs 1 and 2. Certainly one can not count out USM, UCF, or perhaps UTEP (maybe Tulsa) in this conference to make a run. Memphis is a long way from being competitive. Right now I am leaning to a USM vs SMU championship game.

Utah State recorded a nice win Saturday although it must be noted that BYU is not a good team. Still a good win for the Aggies though. Idaho appeared to right the ship this week. They should make a minor bowl this year. Akey is a good coach and has instilled some pride in the program. Pat Hill squeaked by a IAA squad. Perhaps Fresno State is not all that this year. Nevada is a good team. A very good team. Boise State is now in the part of their schedule that will have the pundits screaming that "they don't belong" in the BCS. Well they do, but ESPN announcers have just a bit too much to say about the game. That is unfortunate as many of them are dolts. Hawaii is fair at best as is Louisiana Tech. Look for the Broncos to roll with a possible hick up against Nevada. Fresno State always seems to play them tough also.

Utah, TCU and Air Force are the only teams in this conference that matter. TCU struggled some against Colorado State but that was (probably) an anomaly. Air Force took down a decent Navy squad and Utah was off. Nothing else in this conference really matters. I am a bit surprised that the Cowboys beat the Rockets of Toledo but such is the game. I suppose that when Utah leaves for the PAC 10, this conference will come down to Boise State (who comes over next year) and TCU. That is of course assuming that TCU does not become part of the Big Twelve. "Realignment" in the college game is just beginning I fear.

Look forward to the Week Six predictions coming out later in the week. Hell maybe today. I don't want to clean the house. I am not in charge of that however. I will do whatever I am informed will be my tasks.