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Jim Young's AP Poll Week 12

Look, I don't really need to explain to you any more how insane this college football season has been. I've pretty much beaten you over the head with it each week as I've kvetched about how hard it has been to come up with a Top 25. You don't need another dose of it, right?

Still ...

This thought occurred to me late last night as I was taking in the carnage of another Saturday: if Virginia Tech had successfully recovered an onside kick by Boston College, the Hokies would be in the midst of the national title hunt.

That kick, muffed by wideout Josh Hyman, gave the Eagles the chance they needed to score the winning TD a few weeks ago in Blacksburg. If Hyman comes up with the kick, Virginia Tech is 10-1 heading into this week's game against Virginia. The Hokies are already back up to No. 8 nationally with two losses. They'd probably be around No. 5 if they still had just one loss.

Yes, Virginia Tech, the team that struggled all game against East Carolina, got drubbed by LSU and needed a fumble on the goal line to escape against UNC is one onside kick recovery from possibly playing for the national title.

Okay, that's enough dead-horse assault for this week. On to the rankings. As usual, my ranking/my ranking last week (the national ranking).

1/1 LSU (1) - The Tigers are looking mighty vulnerable. If Georgia makes the SEC title game, I could see the Bulldogs taking the Bengals down. Or I could see LSU making six fourth-down conversions to pull the game out. It's 50/50 right now.

2/3 Kansas (2) - Word has it that some KU students are walking around campus with shirts that say "Our coach can eat your coach." Awesome.

3/5 Missouri (3) - If you'll remember, back in the preseason I said "Circle your calendars for the KU/Missouri game on Thanksgiving Day. That'll have national title implications." What? That blog entry was deleted? Darn.

4/6 West Virginia (4) -
It's a good thing the BCS computers don't bother with point spread any more. Otherwise, all those late turnovers by the Mountaineers that keep making closer than they need to be would be a real problem.

5/8 Ohio State (5) - Like Jason Vorhees, we just can't seem to kill off the Buckeyes from the national title chase can we? Now they're in the clubhouse, hoping for a few more weeks of what we've seen every week this season - upsets, upsets, upsets.

6/7 Georgia (6) - So let's say the KU/Mizzou winner loses to Oklahoma, West Virginia loses to UConn or Pitt, Tennessee loses to Kentucky (putting Georgia in the SEC title game) and then Georgia knocks off LSU. Ladies and gentleman, your BCS title game - Georgia vs. Ohio State!!!

7/9 Arizona State (7) - Of course, the Sun Devils could make a claim for a title game spot if they can knock of Southern Cal this week and Arizona the next week. Dennis Erickson coaching in another national title game. Proof that karma doesn't exist?

8/10 Virginia Tech (8) - Not completely reversing my earlier graph about the Hokies, but they seem to have found an offense to go with that great defense. I don't see them losing to Virginia or BC in the ACC title game.

9/11 Southern Cal (11) - Finally, I differ from the national poll. Whew.

10/12 Florida (12) - Tim Tebow ... honestly, I'm at a loss for words.

11/4 Oklahoma (10) - Let's face it, these guys were great at home but pretty ordinary on the road.

12/2 Oregon (9) - I feel bad about dropping the Ducks this low, and maybe I shouldn't allow anticipated future results to factor in, but these guys without Dennis Dixon? Yikes.

13/14 Texas (13) - We now return you to the exact same poll as the rest of the AP voters. Yawn.

14/17 Boston College (15) - Your welcome BC. You knew that as soon as I put my faith in Clemson, that meant they were heading for another disappointing loss.

15/15 Tennessee (19) - Vandy's missed field goal that would have beaten the Vols may instead extend their streak of bowl futility and provide further proof that there is no justice in this world.

16/16 Hawaii (14) - The Warriors are starting to win me over. Winning at Nevada without Colt Brennan. Not bad ... not bad.

17/18 Virginia (16) - What happened between that opening 23-3 loss to Wyoming and now? Did the Cavs have a team-wide lobotomy?

18/19 Illinois (18) - Now that Chief Illiniwek has been retired, can we discard the name Fighting Illini and go with "The Zookers" instead?

19/13 Clemson (21) - Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me for eight straight years ...

20/20 Boise State (17) - So it appears that if Boise State knocks of Hawaii the Broncos might end up end in a BCS Bowl game. Don't think they'll deserve it either.

21/23 Wisconson (22) - So these are the Badgers we were expecting to see at the beginning of the season. Thanks for showing up fellas.

22/NR Texas Tech (NR) - Mea culpa here. I got caught up in the moment after the Red Raiders defeat of Oklahoma and didn't consider that I ranked them over another 4-loss team that's more deserving - Auburn. Ah well, guns up everyone!

23/NR UConn (20) - West Virginia should roll over these guys ... right? Right?

24/NR South Florida (NR) - From unranked to No. 2 to unranked back to being ranked. Bulls, meet the 2007 season.

25/NR Brigham Young (23) - Glad to see my peers agreed that the Cougars deserved to crack the Top 25. They're unbeaten in a conference - the Mountain West - that I would argue is superior to the WAC - home of Hawaii and Boise State.


Comments (1)

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Jeff Carlton said:

Jim, I'm not sure the question on Virginia is what happened to the Cavs between Laramie and now, it's: What the bleep happened to Wyoming? They started the year with a couple of solid wins, lost a tough one at Boise State, then went straight into the tank. What are your sources in the Mountain West telling you?

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