Will the real No. 4 team please stand up?
This is getting ridiculous. As far as I can tell, there are three teams atop the Football Bowl Subdivision - Florida, Texas and Alabama - and everyone else is just happy to be playing each Saturday.
The Gators, Longhorns and Crimson Tide deserve a different classification for how much better they are than everyone else. Call it the Juggernaut Subdivision. Or better yet, stop ranking those three in the weekly polls. Instead, order the remaining teams in the Wannabe 22.
And if you're not one of those three, any loss isn't considered an upset.
It has really gotten bad when this week's resident in the No. 4 spot - underachieving LSU, who should've lost at Mississippi State last week - is considered an underdog at one-loss Georgia this week.
I'm sorry Bulldogs, but no top-five team should be an underdog, even on the road in a conference game. That's absurd . . . or maybe just a blunt way of showing what Vegas oddsmakers think of the Tigers' talent.
Cal took a No. 6 ranking into Oregon and was slaughtered. Last week's No. 5, Penn State, lost 21-10 at home to Iowa. The Hawkeyes are good, but the Nittany Lions aren't and never were a top-5 team. It's simply a byproduct of needing to fill spots.
Certainly, I'm being partly facetious, but the truths are there. Barring extreme injury (sorry, Tim Tebow), UF, Texas and Alabama are the best three teams in America.
The Gators are tied for third in total offense and rank fourth in total defense. The Crimson Tide have the nation's second-best defense and sit at No. 8 in total offense. The Longhorns, with possibly the weakest stats so far, are tops in the nation in scoring offense and only 17th in total defense, although they're No. 2 in rushing defense. Even if Texas' numbers are weak, Colt McCoy suits up at quarterback each week, one of the country's top-three QBs.
But what about No. 4?
I thought LSU would be very good coming into the season, and although the Tigers have the talent, they've struggled to put it together so far.
No one will ever sell me on Boise State being a top-five team. I'm supposed to buy a home win over Oregon as proof the Broncos are real? Not happening. Not completely your fault, but get in a real conference and win four or five really tough games a year against top competition.
USC has a top-10 defense but is struggling offensively. The Trojans check in at No. 55 in scoring offense, averaging 28.5 points per game, a far cry from the past. With the recent loss of running back Stafon Johnson, remaining road games against Cal and Oregon and a freshman starting quarterback, the Men of Troy will fall again before bowl season.
That leaves two realistic options - the team that deserves to be No. 4 right now and the team that has a very good chance of taking the four-spot down the road.
Virginia Tech should have the little four next to its name on scoreboards during TV broadcasts. The Hokies are 3-1 with their only slip-up being a 10-point loss against the Crimson Tide. With back-to-back wins over ranked teams, including last week's shellacking of Miami, VT should be No. 4 and very well could be next week if LSU falls at Georgia.
By December, however, we could see the resurgence of a team that was thought to be part of the Juggernaut Division - Oklahoma.
The Sooners were hampered by the injury to their star quarterback, and if Sam Bradford eventually becomes himself again this fall, OU could be a force to be reckoned with. Its defense has put up back-to-back shutouts, impressive even against lesser opponents. A date with Miami on Saturday poses a chance to make a statement, and the annual date with Texas could be another classic.
But that's plenty of speculation. For now, there are three teams and then everybody else.
Sometimes, three is considered a crowd. This year, it's the talented few.
