STB College Football Rankings - Week 5

I feel like the AP pollsters could use my help since my rankings seem to consistently prove to be more accurate than theirs. So I'm posting this before theirs comes out, that way if they wanna peak at mine to know who to vote for, they can.

For instance, last week in the AP Poll Mississippi was ranked #4, in STB they were #6. Penn State was #5, what a joke, in STB they were #10. Both those teams lost and will drop in the polls this week. Here's another, Miami was #9 and Virginia Tech #11 in the AP, STB had those teams rankings reversed--guess who won that matchup--yep, Virginia Tech. Not only that, but I had South Florida at #25 and only put Florida State at #23 while the AP bumped the Seminoles all the way to #18 after beating up on BYU and left the Bulls unranked--South Florida won that game and you'll certainly see them in this week's AP Poll. The only blunder I had in last week's rankings was placing Cal at #4--they got absolutely lit up by unranked Oregon.

Without further delay, here are the Week 5 STB College Football Rankings:

1. Florida - defending champs, undefeated, outscored opponents 182-29 so far in '09
   
2. Texas - steamrolling opponents, first big test comes in 3 weeks vs. OU
   
3. Alabama - looking poised to meet the Gators in yet another bigtime SEC Championship
   
4. LSU - not blowing teams out, but not losing
   
5. Virginia Tech - jumped Boise State due to much tougher schedule
   
6. Boise State - quality team in a weak conference, Oregon win looks even better though
   
7. TCU - has beaten two ACC teams on the road
   
8. Oklahoma - stays #8 after a bye week, Bradford should be back for big game next week vs. #19 Miami
   
9. Cincinnati - 4-0 and continuing to steadily climb the rankings
   
10. USC - Barkley back, beat Washington State 27-6
    
11. Ohio State - pitched two straight shutouts after losing to USC
    
12. Oklahoma State - benefited more from having teams ahead of them lose than anything else
    
13. Iowa - beat #10 Penn State on the road, spoiling the Nittany Lions hopes of an undefeated season yet again
    
14. Georgia - next week's matchup with #4 LSU will tell us a lot more about the Bulldogs
    
15. BYU - five teams ahead of them losing helped and they did beat undefeated Colorado State by 19 even when playing below their ability
    
16. Mississippi - proved to be overrated, but then again, so has just about everyone else
    
17. Penn State - allowed Iowa to spoil undefeated season and National Championship hopes two years in a row
    
18. Michigan - already surpassed last year's win total
    
19. Miami - only blemish to Virginia Tech
    
20. Kansas - 4-0 but played no one anywhere near college football's top 50
    
21. California - umm, lost 42-3 to an unranked team
    
22. South Florida - beat #23 Florida State in Tallahassee, outscored opponents 151-27 in '09
    
23. Oregon - destroyed #4 Cal 42-3, only loss was on the road to now #6 Boise State
    
24. South Carolina - beat #6 Mississippi, only loss was on the road to now #14 Georgia by just 4 points
    
25. Auburn - I hate to drop an undefeated team 3 spots after a 24-point win
    

* Dropped from rankings: North Carolina, Florida State, Washington

College Football STB Rankings - Week 4

1. Florida
2. Texas
3. Alabama
4. California
5. LSU
6. Mississippi
7. Boise State
8. Oklahoma
9. Virginia Tech
10. Penn State
    
11. Miami
12. TCU
13. Cincinnati
14. USC
15. Ohio State
16. Oklahoma State
17. North Carolina
18. Georgia
    
19. BYU
20. Michigan
21. Kansas
22. Auburn
23. Florida State
24. Washington
25. South Florida
    

NCAA Football STB Rankings - Week 3

Week 2 was great. Of course, it's college football, what else is new? Anyway, here's the rankings... they're more accurate than the AP or Coaches Polls (and formed totally independent of those by the way). I've briefly explained my top five.

1. Florida - blowing out a bunch of nobody's, but giving no reason to drop
   
2. Texas - shaky start in Laramie, but finished strong winning 41-10
   
3. USC - went into horseshoe and won, with true freshman starting QB
4. Alabama - schedule looks good til Oct. 10 when Bama goes to Mississippi
   
5. BYU - showed upsetting Oklahoma wasn't fluke, beat Tulane 54-3
   
6. California
7. LSU
8. Boise State
9. Mississippi
   
10. Penn State
11. Oklahoma
12. TCU
13. Virginia Tech
14. Oklahoma State
15. Georgia Tech
16. Georgia
17. Utah
18. Ohio State
19. Cincinnati
20. North Carolina
21. Texas Tech
22. Michigan
23. Miami
24. West Virginia
25. Nebraska

The Hall of Fame Just Took on New Meaning

Today Michael Jordan, the greatest player in the history of the game, will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. There really is no need whatsoever for discussion on this topic--Michael Jordan is hands down the absolute greatest basketball player, and quite possibly, athlete, of all-time.

Just in case some of you either ignorant, or too-young-to-know folks read this, here's a brief list of Jordan's accomplishments:

• 6 NBA Championships
• 6 NBA Finals MVP Awards
• 5 NBA MVP Awards
• 14-time NBA All-Star
• 3 All-Star game MVP Awards
• No. 1 All-time in career scoring average (let's face it, once a guy has played at least 10 seasons, career scoring average becomes far more important than who scored the most total points by staying years after their prime had passed them by and thus putting up a few more points along the way)
• NBA Rookie of the Year
• NBA Defensive Player of the Year
• 10-time All NBA First Team
• 9-time All-Defensive First Team
• 2 Slam Dunk Titles
• 2 Olympic Gold Medals

I could go on, but that should more than end any argument that anyone else even holds a candle to His Airness. Sure, I've heard the arguments for Wilt or Kareem or Russell or even Oscar Robertson, but let's be realistic, while those guys were great for their time, they would get steam-rolled by Jordan. In fact, they'd get steam-rolled by guys Jordan steam-rolled i.e. Hakeem, Ewing, Barkley, etc.

Don't get me wrong, I know those players were all great, but Jordan not only racked up the stats like Wilt or the Big O, but he also won the Championships like Russell and Kareem. Beyond that, he did it each and every time as the clear leader, best player, and go-to guy on his team-something NO ONE else can say.

As for the young guys, i.e. Kobe and LeBron--Kobe is talented and competitive, plays tough defense, has four championships and is actually a better outside shooter than MJ--but he's not MJ. Jordan NEVER lost in the Finals. Never. 6-0. Kobe is 4-2, pretty darn good, but it's not 6-0. Not only that, but three of Kobe's were won when Shaq was Finals MVP and the best player on the team. So from a winning standpoint, Kobe isn't there. And guess what, his stats aren't as good either. And LeBron has no championships. Here's how the three stack up stat-wise.

Kobe: 25.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 4.6 apg, 1.5 spg
LeBron: 27.5 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 6.7 apg, 1.8 spg
Jordan: 30.1 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 5.3 apg, 2.4 spg

Anyway, I'm gonna stop now. I'd love to hear your thoughts/comments, especially if you're dumb enough to disagree! I just want to wish His Airness my congratulations on a special day. The Hall of Fame is a big deal, but it will be even bigger for those who get inducted from here on out because the greatest to ever lace 'em up will be there.

NCAA Football STB Top 25 - Week 2

Wow! What an opening week in college football--especially for non-BCS conferences! Boise State took down Oregon in a big win for the WAC against another ranked BCS conference school. The Utes extended their win streak, beating Utah State 35-17. Then of course came Saturday and the whole country enjoyed a gift from the Mountain West when BYU shocked the world in defeating last year's runner-up Oklahoma 14-13 in Cowboy stadium. The BCS should have more problems this year than ever. Just look at the new STB rankings!

1. Florida
2. Texas
3. USC
4. Alabama
5. Oklahoma State
6. California
7. Mississippi
8. BYU
9. LSU
   
10. Ohio State
11. Boise State
12. Oklahoma
13. Penn State
14. TCU
15. Virginia Tech
16. Utah
17. Georgia Tech
18. Notre Dame
    
19. North Carolina
20. Georgia
21. Oregon State
22. Miami
    
23. West Virginia
24. Cincinnati
25. Texas Tech

* Dropped from rankings: Oregon, Florida State, Iowa