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Finally we get a week with a handful of top-25 teams playing each other. With those games, we have some shake-ups in our new power rankings.
1. Alabama. The Crimson Tide are disgustingly good. They haven’t been tested yet, but I don’t see an offense in the country that can put up points on this defense … again. Not to mention that the Tide’s offensive line belongs in the NFL.
2. Oregon. Well folks, now the Ducks have a defense. Scary. At this point, I would be shocked if they don’t go undefeated. We could end up with a very interesting scenario if Oregon and Florida State are undefeated at the end of the season while LSU and/or Alabama end up with one loss.3. LSU. The Tigers struggled on Saturday with a defense that is simply not very good. LSU’s offense is not clicking on all cylinders, and it’s going to need to in order to beat Alabama on Nov. 3. The road only gets tougher before then with games against Florida and South Carolina. If the offense doesn’t shape up, LSU will lose both those games and the ’Bama game will mean nothing.
4. Florida State. I don’t believe the Seminoles are one of the two best teams in the country, but I think they’ll end up in the national title game. They just passed their toughest test of the season against Clemson. It should be smooth sailing until the ACC title game.
5. Georgia. I’m really starting to buy the Bulldogs, so this could be trouble for them, but I believe that Georgia may be the best bet to beat Alabama this year. Aaron Murray and the offense don’t make a lot of mistakes, and the defense is as solid as any in the country.
6. South Carolina. This is the best team that no one is talking about. Quarterback Connor Shaw completed 20 passes in a row against Vanderbilt last week, and the defense seems to get better and better as the weeks go by.7. West Virginia. The Mountaineers keep finding offensive playmakers to showcase. Geno Smith struggled against Maryland but Tavon Austin whipped out a 13-catch, 179-yard performance with three touchdowns. Personally, I cannot wait for the match-up between the Mountaineer offense and the K-State defense on Oct. 20.
8. Kansas State. I was not buying Kansas State going into the season, and the Wildcats still have a long way to go in a deep Big Twelve, but beating Oklahoma in Norman was a big step in what could be a conference championship season.
9. Stanford. I have been back and forth on Stanford all season. I am still trying to figure out how the Cardinal defense stifled USC two weeks ago, but this is a sold team. It goes without saying, but the Cardinal are smart and execute to their strengths very well.
10. Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish will be tested more and more as the season goes on, and the jury is still out on Notre Dame like it is on Michigan, the team it just beat. The first real test will be on Oct. 13 when Stanford goes to South Bend.
11. Florida
12. Clemson
13. USC
14. Ohio State
15. Texas
16. TCU
17. Oregon State**18. Louisville**
19. Nebraska
20. Oklahoma
21. Mississippi State
22. Arizona State
23. Michigan State
24. Rutgers
25. UCLA
For more rankings, opinions, weekly predictions and bowl projections, visit BYUtahInsiders.com.
Trevor Amicone is the founder of byutahinsiders.com, which covers BYU, Utah and national college football with weekly polls, bowl projections, opinions and analysis. Follow its new Twitter page at @BYUtahInsiders and Trevor's at @TrevorAmicone.
