The American Catholic College Football Rankings - Week 1

I'm honored to be a contributor to the only college football poll that matters:

So we’re trying a new feature here at TAC. Since we noticed we have a lot of college football fans, we thought it might be fun to start our own rankings system. This way, we have an excuse to talk college football every week in a Catholic setting. B/c we thought of it this week, this ranking is coming out on Thursday but the others should be coming out on Mondays.

Here’s how it’ll work. People will send in their rankings and I’ll assign points to them (25 for 1st, 24 for 2nd, etc.) and then average out the points and rank the teams according to that. Then I will take that score along with the computer models and…just kidding. No computer models.

My hope is that it’ll build and we’ll get more people involved (and if you want to submit rankings, let me know-you don’t have to write for TAC). At the end of the year, we may even do a special bowl pick-em thing if it seems popular enough.

Rankings follow after the jump

Since this poll is a collaboration of several writers, there are obviously some opinions as to rankings that do not reflect my own thinking and are thus, by definition, wrong.

Therefore, so that you can see the correct top-25 rankings, I am going to reveal how I voted this week:

1. Alabama - Until someone knocks off the defending champs, they're still #1.
2. Boise State - Shocker, I know, that I'm not going with Ohio State. But Boise beat a Top 10 opponent, while Ohio State beat Marshall. If the Buckeyes take care of business against Miami this week, they'll leapfrog back to #2.
3. Ohio State - See above. That said, I think that if Ohio State stays healthy they may have the team to beat at the end of the year.
4. Oregon - 72-0 (and shutting it down after the 3rd quarter or else they might have put up 100) is impressive regardless of whom one is playing.
5. Texas - Not sold on them, especially now that McCoy has moved on, and they looked pretty anemic at times on Saturday. But the cliché is actually true with respect to the Longhorns: They don't rebuild, they reload.
6. TCU - It is inexcusable that the two most consistently outstanding college football teams in the Lone Star State over the last decade don't play each other on an annual basis. But I suppose the Longhorns know they have a tough enough time with Oklahama every year to then be foolish enough to play the Horned Frogs, too. If the Big 12 ever looks to replace Colorado and/or Nebraska (or to boot Missouri from its ranks), TCU would be the perfect replacement.
7. Nebraska - Returning to glory just in time to join the Big 10 + 2 next year.
8. Iowa - The Hawkeyes, if Stanzi stays healthy (a HUGE "if" after seeing him go down again on Saturday), are the biggest impediment between Ohio State and another run to the BCS Championship game.
9. Florida - Meh. The scoreboard might not have reflected it, but they got whipped for 3 quarters by the worst Division 1 team in Ohio.
10. Miami - The one that regularly plays in Florida, not the one that went down to Florida and whipped the Gators for 3 quarters. The Hurricanes looked impressive Saturday. If they can go into Columbus and upset the Buckeyes, we may be seeing the return of "The U" to national prominence. God spare us from the thuggery.
11. Virginia Tech - Tech is not going to fall very far in my rankings after narrowly losing to my number 2 team, who had to score a last-minute touchdown to overcome the Hokies. After starting out excruciatingly slow on Monday night and falling behind 17-0, the boys from Blacksburg made an impressive and valiant recovery to take the lead against Boise State and hold it until late in the game. If they run the table the rest of the season (not unheard of), and if enough teams ahead of them lose (again, not unheard of), we could very well see a BCS championship rematch of the game we watched on Monday.
12. Oklahoma - This ranking is achieved by recruiting success and reputation only. I'm just not impressed overall with the Sooners. They are the REAL perennial underachievers every year in both the regular season and their BCS appearances. For all the crap the Buckeyes take for their BCS bowl record (which is a solid 5-3, including a National Championship), it is the Sooners who have to be embarassed by their paltry 2-5 showing in BCS bowl games, including losing 4 straight (one of them to Boise State).
13. Wisconsin - Another key stumbling block to Buckeye success this year. The Badgers never seem to get any of the hype, but they're always in the thick of things at the end of the year. An impressive bowl victory over Miami has given them momentum going into this season.
14. Florida State - Jimbo Fisher has the Seminoles back on track. Unfortunately, in the coming years, we might have to get used to seeing 3 Florida teams sitting near the top of the rankings.
15. Georgia Tech - Another underappreciated team that always seems to the last one standing among the wreckage that is the ACC over the last several years.
16. Arkansas - Not sold on them yet, but everyone else seems to think the Razorbacks have something to be excited about this year (besides their first time having a Homecoming Queen with all of her teeth).
17. Penn State - Joe Pa just keeps going and going. An impressive first game from his new freshman quarterback turns what looked like a question mark going into the season into an exclamation point going into this weekend's game against the top-ranked Crimson Tide.
18. USC - Cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater. Same dirty tactics, different theater. Lane Kiffin returns to the place where he learned how to cheat at the feet of the master, and where the student athletes major in creating new and inventive ways to cheat that no one else ever thought of before.
19. Georgia - The Dawgs perennially vie with Oklahoma in competing for the underachievment crown.
20. LSU - Bayou Bengal fans should be a little worried after last week's game. It's not quite time to hit the panic button just yet, but that was one sorry showing in the 2nd half against the 2nd and 3rd team of a basketball school. Les Miles ought to be a LOT worried about keeping his job. Les ain't more anymore.
21. Auburn - The other team in Alabama has sort of dropped off the radar screen of late, having been overshadowed by its powerhouse in-state rival. This won't be the year they step out of the Tide's shadow.
22. South Carolina - A good start to the season; but let's wait to see how the Ol' Ball Coach finishes the season.
23. Michigan - A strong showing against one of the favorites in the Big East, UConn, propels the Wolverines into my top 25.
24. Notre Dame - Okay, I admit this is a reach. We'll see how the Irish do this week against Michigan.
25. North Carolina - How do you drop the Tar Heels out of the top 25 after they almost beat LSU with their 2nd and 3rd team players and their back-up point guard?

Your feedback is, of course, encouraged. Just so long as you realize that any opinion expressed that is contrary to something in my vote talley will be, by definition, wrong.


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