Thanks to Lee coming back this week to give his top-25. I tweaked and will respond to what I changed below in Lee’s explanation. As always, there is until Wednesday to make changes so make the case in the comments.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	—
2	Michigan	—
3	West Virginia	1
4	Florida	4
5	Louisville	1
6	Texas	3
7	Auburn	—
8	Tennessee	3
9	California	1
10	Southern Cal	5
11	Notre Dame	2
12	Arkansas	—
13	Boise State	6
14	Rutgers	1
15	Boston College	1
16	LSU	2
17	Wisconsin	1
18	Oklahoma	3
19	Wake Forest	3
20	Clemson	11
21	Georgia Tech	4
22	Texas A&M	2
23	Washington State	3
24	Virginia Tech	2
25	Oklahoma State	1

1. Ohio State: The offensive line remains weak, and allowed too much penetration against Minnesota. Fortunately, Troy Smith easily outran most of the pressure (we’ll see if he can continue this against the best front seven in college football on November 18th). Beyond that, there are few glaring weaknesses on this team. Explosive offense, aggressive defense, clearly the best team in the country this week.
2. Michigan: Struggled a little against Northwestern, although the weather clearly played a major role in this (as it did for the Ohio State/Penn State outcome). Best defense in college football. The offense seems to be doing just enough to win, and that’s why I have them at #2 this week. But maybe they’re just saving the big offensive explosion up for November 18th.
3. West Virginia: On a bye week, I’ll just reiterate that it was reassuring to see Pat White throw so well against UConn last weekend. If WVU develops a reliable passing game for when defenses throw eight men in the box, look out world. All this being said, the Mountaineers are 2.5-to-1 point underdogs Thursday night. If they crush Louisville while Michigan struggles at home against Ball State, damn straight I’ll move the Mountaineers up to #2.
4. Florida: Looked a little less than overwhelming in edging out Georgia 21-14 in the World’s Largest Source of Jokes About Banning Alcohol. But who else could I put in front of Louisville? Everybody else in the SEC looked even more underwhelming.
5. Louisville: Bye week. The last time I saw them, they weren’t exactly dominating Syracuse. So, I’m picking them to lose at home Thursday night. WVU has too much on offense, especially if White throws well again. Tiny little Papa Johns Stadium won’t offer that much of a homefield advantage (half of it will be Mountaineer fans anyways), and Brian Brohm has been off since he came back. So, yeah, I think the Cardinals will be dropping next week. But, I still think that they’re better than…
6. Texas: Pulled one out of the fire in Lubbock. I know that Tech is tougher than they’re ranked, and I know that Tech always plays the Longhorns tough. But still, a one-loss team has to do better than that against an unranked opponent to stay in the top five.
7. Auburn: Underwhelming win in Oxford. I know that the SEC is allegedly the toughest conference in the country, but come on. This is freakin’ Ole Miss. War Eagle has to grow an offense before they can move ahead of Texas.
8. Tennessee: OK win, when you consider that it was against the Old Ballcoach. Yeah, California has been looking better than Tennessee lately, but I just can’t forget what the Vols did to them in Knoxville earlier this year.
9. California: On a bye week, what still sticks in my mind is the struggle against the admittedly-well-coached-but-still-unranked Huskies. Yeah, Cal has looked better than Tennessee, Auburn, or Texas at times this year. But, once again, I can’t put them ahead of a Vols team that humiliated them.
10. Notre Dame: Beating up Navy impresses nobody, especially after UCLA should have had your season last week. Plus, you’re not going to get any sympathy from me after “60 Minutes” drooled all over you last night (In the national championship race? Quinn is among the Heisman Trophy favorites? Did ANYBODY at CBS bother getting a perspective on ND from outside of South Bend!?). Incidentally, I’m the last guy that can complain about language. But being from New Jersey is no excuse for shouting that crap on the sidelines when you’re representing one of the most visible symbols of Catholicism in America. I can’t believe that I’m about to say this, but clean it up… now I’m going to Hypocrisy Hell for sure… [Get a grip, Lee.]
11. USC: You suck. You’ve sucked ever since that Arkansas game. Your demise has been imminent for weeks now. Thank God somebody finally put this lame horse out of its misery. I love that this screws Notre Dame’s strength-of-schedule too. [I’m willing to keep them above ND at this point.]
12. Arkansas: Yawner against Louisiana-Monroe (and somebody’s gonna have to explain the Louisiana state higher educational system to me sometime… are ULL and ULM just branch campuses of LSU?). Think that they’d lose to USC again?
13. Rutgers: Underwhelming against Connecticut, who just put eight men in the box and ran all over the Knights. WVU and Louisville are both way better than Rutgers. [Which is why I couldn’t put them this high.]
14. Boise State: Suddenly, that dominating win over Oregon State back on September 7th is starting to look impressive all of the sudden… The computers will LOVE the Broncos now. [Funny thing, Boise State winning out may really mess with the ACC thanks to one of several BCS “Big East” rules (I’ll have more about that later).]
15. Wisconsin: Go ahead and accuse me of having a Big Ten bias again, Chas (while everybody around here accuses me of having a Big East bias – which, hey, I won’t dispute). But the Badgers just keep on winning with a physical offensive line and power running game – the way they have ever since Barry Alverez left South Bend. Yeah, they didn’t exactly dominate Illinois on Saturday, and that’s why I can’t list them any higher than #15. But the Zooker is starting to build something at Illinois (look out Buckeyes), so this isn’t entirely a surprise. Watch Wisconsin line up against Penn State’s defense this Saturday. This will be the game where Wisconsin proves whether or not it belongs in the top 20. [Let me get this straight. At home, against Illinois — improving or not — and having to come back 24-7 to win 31-24 are grounds for this team to get this high? If it weren’t for the dearth of teams, I’d want to drop them. Big 11 Bias!!!]
16. Boston College: Best team in the ACC? For the moment, it sure looks so. Once again, its nice to see all those former Big East teams do so well in the ACC.
17. LSU: Bye week.
18. Oklahoma: Surviving without Peterson. Beating Missouri so soundly was impressive. [I’m debating putting them ahead of LSU. LSU has the talent, but I trust Oklahoma to actually win games.]
19. Wake Forest: The Deacons still haven’t really beaten anybody, but I can’t put a 7-1 team behind…
20. Virginia Tech: Second best team in the ACC? Well, after that Thursday night performance, I certainly can’t put them behind… [A nice recovery after two prior conference stinkers, but not worthiy of top-20.]
21. Clemson: CHOKE!!! And that, is why you’re Clemson. But at least you beat… [And ACC dreams of two BCS bids in one season go down the drain once more.]
22. Georgia Tech: Nice come-from-behind win. Too bad it was only against Miami.
23. Texas A&M: Sneaking back into my top 25 after beating a bowl-bound Baylor team (hey, that’s a big deal in Waco). [This one feels like a house of cards, but I will leave it alone.]
24. Washington State: The Cougars only losses are to USC, Cal, and Auburn. They beat Oregon and did a lot better against UCLA than Notre Dame did. A phoenix is rising from its ashes up on the Paloose.
25. Oregon: OK, but lost to Wazzou. So you can’t pass them in my rankings. [For beating Portland State? I said Oregon was dead to me last week and I meant it. So now Lee actually ranks them. OK State is more deserving this time. Or maybe Tulsa.]

Like I said, use the comments to let me know what should change and why.

Anyone else watch much of the UConn-Rutgers game last night? UConn, if not for it’s own ineptitude and RU’s defense, had a real shot. RU scored 2 of its 3 TDs off of special teams and defense. UConn, going into that game had the 2nd worst run defense in the Big East. They held Ray Rice to under 80 yards. Care to guess how?

”They packed the box,” Rice said. ”They did a great job. I’m just happy we came out with a win. That’s the biggest thing: we’re 8-0.”

Someone send a tape of that to DC Paul Rhoads.

The Huskies have the best pass defense in the BE, in part because their run defense is so porous it’s easier to run. The Huskies, understood that their best shot on defense was to sell-out against the run, trust in their secondary and the fact that Teel and his receivers suck (11-24, 0 TD, 1 INT). Doing that also limited the best receiving weapon on the Scarlet Knights, TE Clark Harris since he had to stay and block most of the time (only 2 catches).

Now I’m getting pissed about the Rutgers game again.

I feel completely behind on the basketball stuff at the moment.

It’s year 2 of the New Big East, but thankfully the final year of the TV pandering schedule.

I hope everyone has been clicking over to Big East Basketball Blog for much of the link goodiness. Among the stuff mentioned is bit more about the JUCO verbal Cassin Diggs. Plenty of links to stories about and after media day. As you would expect for the team picked to win the conference, plenty of talk of Pitt in the various stories.

This is a kind of fun bit, asking questions of the various players at media day and just listing them. Some may not matter much like “If you could invite three people, past or present, to dinner, who would they be?” invite aren’t that interesting (though, Aaron Gray showing a lot of comfort in the media glare put Maria Sharapova on his list).

What’s the toughest place to play in the Big East?

Juan Palacios, Louisville: “Carrier Dome. With that depth perception, you need at least a day or so of just shooting before you’re ready to play a game there.”

Dan Fitzgerald, Marquette: “The RAC at Rutgers. The locker room is real small and the fans are loud and non-stop.”

Aaron Gray, Pitt: “West Virginia. Before my first game there no one told us about their Mountaineer mascot shooting that musket. I’m standing ready to sing the national anthem. And the gun goes off. Shocked? That’s an understatement.”

Terrence Williams, Louisville: “UConn’s Gampel Pavilion. Usually on the road we have some of our fans. But at UConn everybody’s for UConn. When they’re screaming it seems the floor is moving and the rim is shaking.”

Terrence Roberts, Syracuse: “Pittsburgh. The fans, oh my goodness, they’re just on you. At every point in the game, I feel like they’re going to just rush the floor.”

Frank Young, West Virginia: “Villanova. The students are right on top of you and they chant, `Pittsburgh,’ which is our big rival.”

Wesley Matthews, Marquette: “Louisville. It was so hot. When I left the locker room, I was sweating. It was the hottest place I’ve played, indoors or outdoors.”

Anthony Mason Jr., St. John’s: “UConn is crazy. A big arena. It’s loud. The fans are crazy.”

Jeff Green, Georgetown: “Pittsburgh. I’ve never experienced anything like that. The stadium was actually rocking.”

Levon Kendall, Pittsburgh: “Syracuse. It’s half a football field. It’s a strange feel. And the fans are pretty ruthless. Last year a guy heckled us the entire warmup.”

Mike Nardi, Villanova: “Pittsburgh. Their students are all along the side of the court and they are loud. Plus, you have to play Pittsburgh.”

Pitt being at 5th (tied with UCLA) in the Coaches’ preseason poll seems about right. It isn’t just me, right? Despite the professed non-desire to coach against each other, doesn’t it seem that something is going to make a Pitt-UCLA game happen in the next few years?

As for the Fan Fest and Blue-Gold Scrimmage, big thanks to Omar and Yi for the first-hand reports of what they saw. Going into this season I was a little worried about how the team will feed Gray the ball. That still seems to be something of an issue. Considering I jumped on the Mike Cook bandwagon early, I’m very happy to read that he looked good. As they both agreed, there was a lot of intensity in the scrimmage. Not bad blood or being pissed, just both teams trying to take it to the other. I have to make one of these some time.