Out with the new, in with the old
Terry's new Sweet 16 | |||||
First number denotes AP ranking. | |||||
1 | 1 | 1 | 4-0 | ||
2 | 2 | 2 | 4-0 | ||
3 | 3 | 3 | 5-0 |  1 | |
4 | 5 | 4 | 4-0 | 3 | |
5 | 4 | 5 | 4-0 | 1 | |
6 | 6 | 6 | 3-1 | 2 | |
9 | 8 | 7 | 3-1 | 2 | |
8 | 7 | 8 | 3-1 | 2 | |
11 | 11 | 9 | 2-1 |  6 | |
10 | 9 | 10 | 5-0 | 1 | |
12 | 12 | 11 | 4-1 | 4 | |
7 | 10 | 12 | 5-0 | 4 | |
20 | 16 | 13 | 4-0 | 1 | |
15 | 13 | 14 | 4-0 | ||
13 | 15 | 15 | 4-1 | 10 | |
14 | 14 | 16 | 5-0 | NR | |
Dropped out | |||||
19 | 19 | NR | 4-1 | (13) | |
NR = Not ranked last week. | |||||
Some traditionally powerful schools are having better seasons than most people expected. Penn State certainly added its name to that group with a blowout of Minnesota, and Alabama shot up the polls by blasting Florida.
USC 38, Arizona State 28 Recap - Box score
It looks like USC enjoys flirting with disaster. This one seemed a whole lot scarier than last week's win over Oregon – only this time, Matt Leinart got to sit back and watch his backfield mates do most of the work.
LenDale White and Reggie Bush put on an unbelievable display of power and speed. Bush did nothing to hurt his Heisman chances, but I'm sure he was even their best running back against the Sun Devils. White had 197 yards, including the final touchdown that assured the win.
USC has shown some cracks in its armor the last couple of weeks, but the Trojans remain No. 1. But national champions all seem to have defenses that don't allow points, and that's an area where USC must step it up. As for ASU, Sam Keller put up a lot of numbers, but unfortunately he followed up a streak of 131 passes without an interception by tossing five picks.
Texas 51, Missouri 20 Recap - Box score
If USC wants to take a day off and drop a game, Texas will be glad to take over the top spot. Unlike last year, the Longhorns pounded Mizzou, racking up almost 600 yards. Vince Young had his typical incredible day, rushing for 178 yards and a touchdown and throwing for a couple more against a defense that entered the game ranked fifth in the nation.
Texas' only negative: 135 penalty yards. Mack Brown will be looking to eliminate that prior to Saturday's Biggest Date on the Schedule, the Red River Shootout.
Virginia Tech 34, West Virginia 17 Recap - Box score
Whether VT truly is going to contend for the national championship will come down to the continued improvement of Marcus Vick. At West Virginia, Vick had the most complete game of his career. Not only did he show the running ability of his older brother but also he was almost perfect in the passing game, tossing only two incompletions. He looked so calm and collected it was almost as if he was taunting the Mountaineers in four long scoring drives.
At 5-0, the Hokies look like the most complete team in the country.
Alabama 31, Florida 3 Recap - Box score
If it took Urban Meyer two years at Bowling Green and two years at Utah to take their programs to new heights, I don't know why we thought it would take less time for it to happen at Florida. In Tuscaloosa, the Gator Nation found out a return to the top won't come overnight.
It was clear to see that one team was tougher, faster and more prepared. Now the jury's out on the spread option offense that Meyer has brought into the SEC. The biggest question mark about the spread option is its effectiveness when you need tough, hard-nosed running. And when Florida was stuffed on a critical goal-line stand, it was a big turning point. Meyer's first big challenge at Florida will be getting his team to respond after this loss.
As for Mike Shula, this clearly is his biggest win with the Tide, whose faithful now really have something to cheer about. With a great defense, big-time playmakers and a senior quarterback (Brodie Croyle) who looks like he'll be playing on Sundays, you can forget this talk about being a dark horse. Alabama officially is one of the lead candidates to play for the SEC title.
Florida State 38, Syracuse 14 Recap - Box score
As crazy as it would have seemed a few years back, Florida State definitely is flying under the radar when it comes to teams that have a chance of playing for the national championship. But looking ahead, the Seminoles very well could enter the ACC championship game undefeated. With a dominant defense and great athletes at every skill position on offense, the only real question mark has been the development of quarterback Drew Weatherford.
But each game Weatherford has gotten better. He threw for three TDs against the Orange. He still is making a ton of mistakes, though, and must continue to improve. Also, FSU is flirting with disaster if it doesn't find a way to improve its running attack. A day will come when the Seminoles need to control the game with Leon Washington and Lorenzo Booker, and there's no reason FSU shouldn't be better running the football.
Michigan 34, Michigan State 31 (OT) Recap - Box score
Much like Tennessee against LSU a week ago, I felt Michigan would win just because it had to. Can you imagine Michigan having three losses by Oct. 1? With as much talent as the Wolverines have, you just knew they would come out swinging.
Nothing has diminished my regard for Michigan State. This clearly is the best Spartan team John L. Smith has had. But a victory like this for Michigan just shows not only how good the Wolverines can be but also how disappointing it is to see them with two losses.
I didn't realize that Michael Hart was so valuable to this team, but the Wolverines are 3-0 with him and 0-2 without. He torched the Spartans for 218 yards. With Drew Stanton and Chad Henne both looking great at times and not so good at others, the presence of Hart was the difference in this game.
Penn State 44, Minnesota 14 Recap - Box score
Penn State's transformation into an explosive wide-open offense has become a reality. The Nittany Lions look talented and sleek and don't lack for playmakers. I'm particularly impressed with wideout Darrick Williams, who also can line up at running back.
The Nittany Lions totally shut down the nation's leading rusher, Laurence Maroney, while rushing for 365 yards of their own. Who would have thought Penn State would be one of the last three unbeatens (along with Ohio State and Wisconsin) in Big Ten conference play? We'll find out this week against Ohio State just how good Penn State is.
