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About the Top 25
Downtown Magazine's NCAA College Football Top 25 is not a poll like AP or USA Today/Coach's polls, or a computer generated rating system like the BCS, but an objective ranking system based on visual and statistical observations of college football teams in Division 1-A.
The rankings, published weekly - usually on Monday - are representative of what our expert editors believe to be the best teams in college football respective of conference play and strength of schedule leading up to the traditional bowl games. Downtown Magazine strives to present the Top 25 in a manner that is objective, non-political and respectful of the standards of NCAA football. |
Penn State, Boston College, Notre Dame crack Downtown Magazine Top 10
Joe Paterno's Penn State Nittany Lions and the UCLA Bruins dealt death blows to post season aspirations for Ohio State and the Cal Bears on Saturday.
The Buckeyes sauntered into Happy Valley with a lone loss to Texas as their only blemish, but Penn State proved to be better defensively and came away with an upset 17-10 win. The effort improved Penn State to 6-0 and #8 in Downtown Magazine's College Football Top 25 rankings. The Buckeyes, with their 2nd loss on the season, tumbled ten spots to #15.
In the PAC 10, UCLA upended Cal, 47-40, in a battle of unbeatens. The Cal Bears, who had been ranked #6, allowed 19 4th quarter points by the Bruins, the final score coming on a 2-yard plunge by UCLA running back Maurice Drew as time expired.
The Bruins, who like Penn State, were unranked just 2 weeks ago, moved up to #12 as the Bears dropped to #13. Both teams are in pursuit of #2 USC in the PAC 10 race. The Trojans polished their resume with a 42-21 over pushover Arizona, improving to 5-0. Both Cal and UCLA have USC on their radar, however. Cal plays at USC on November 12, while the Bruins close out the season at home in the traditional finale on December 3.
Both Cal and UCLA have legitimate reasons to think they can beat the Trojans. Cal was the last team to beat USC, that occurring on the last weekend of September, 2003, and lost to them 23-17 last season. The Bruins played USC close in a 29-24 loss to end last season.
USC, with the nation's longest winning streak (now at 26), faces a stern test this coming weekend when they travel to South Bend to take on Notre Dame. The Irish, idle this past week, moved up from #13 to #10, and are only a 44-41 overtime loss to Michigan State short of undefeated.
Elsewhere in the Top 25, Texas remained at #1, handily dispatching familiar rival Oklahoma by a 45-12 tally. Virginia Tech remained anchored at #3 with a 41-14 win over Marshall. Georgia proved their mettle in an exhilarating 27-14 win at Tennessee and stayed at #4. Florida State moved up from #7 to #5 with their 41-24 victory over Wake Forest as idle Alabama moved up to #6 and Miami took the #7 spot, romping over Duke, 52-7.
Boston College improved from #11 to #9 as they took care of well-regarded Virginia, 28-17.
For the complete Top 25 college football rankings, plus Fearless Rick's weekly College and NFL picks, visit the Downtown Magazine web site. Rankings are updated every Monday, college picks on Tuesday and NFL picks each Wednesday.
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