USC Sports Media Poll: Week 7 College Football Top 25
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For the second week in a row, the No. 1 team in the nation was upset...and knocked off handily.
This time it was Ohio State dropping 31-18 to Wisconsin as it was unable to stop John Clay and the Badgers' power rushing attack.
In a bit of a role reversal, Nebraska fell victim to Texas in another top 5 upset. Non BCS-conference contenders Boise State and Texas Christian both dominated their opponents while now BCS No. 1 Oklahoma did the same to lowly Iowa State.
But the most exciting games came in the SEC where Auburn and Arkansas had a shootout for the ages. The game wasn't determined until the Tigers scored 28 consecutive points to win 65-43. It was the highest combined point total in SEC history.
Former top 10 squad South Carolina became an upset victim as well, losing to Kentucky just a week after knocking off Alabama.
Another week means another evaluation of the top teams in the USC Sports Media College Football Top 25 poll.
This week our poll represents five different USC campus media outlets and two successful USC-focused blogs.
The voters (in alphabetical order): Whitney Blaine from USC's television-multimedia news operation ATVN, Dave Dulberg representing USC's student run radio station KXSC, Joey Kaufman of the SB Nation blog Conquest Chronicles, Kenny Legan from the student newspaper Daily Trojan, Alejandro Madrid of the Fansided blog Reign of Troy, Tommy Morris from the sports debate television show Platforum on Trojan Vision and Shotgun Spratling from Neon Tommy.
Note: The "high" and "low" columns represent the highest and lowest individual ranking each team received this week.
| Rank | Team | High | Low | W-L | Comment |
| 1 (2) | Oregon Ducks | 1 | 2 | 6-0 | Oregon is still leading the nation in scoring but is allowing 28.3 points in conference play, including 23 to Washington State. That has to be disconcerting for defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti. (Spratling) |
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| 2 (3) | Boise St. Broncos | 1 | 3 | 6-0 | In recent years, the Broncos have beaten each of the other three teams at the top of the BCS: Oklahoma in the classic '07 Fiesta Bowl, Oregon in '08 & '09 and TCU in the last Fiesta Bowl. (Legan) |
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| 3 (4) | TCU Horned Frogs | 3 | 5 | 7-0 | Boise State may be the national mid-major darling, but if the Broncos need a Batman to their Robin, or a Pippen to their MJ, the Horned Frogs make for a worthy sidekick. BYU’s lone field goal in TCU's 31-3 rout this weekend marked the first time in three weeks the vaunted purple and black gave up a point. (Dulberg) |
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| 4 (6) | Auburn Tigers | 2 | 5 | 7-0 | Not only is Auburn undefeated, they have played a very tough schedule. Their opponents are a combined 25-20. Nick Saban and company may have a legitimate challenger for state supremacy after all. (Madrid & Kaufman) |
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| 5 (7) | Oklahoma Sooners | 3 | 5 | 6-0 | Oklahoma is not deserving of the No. 1 BCS ranking. Even if they beat Mizzou this week, I don't put the Sooners any higher. They beat a lowly Florida State team and a Texas team that found out how to stop Nebraska. (Legan) |
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| 6 (12) | Michigan St. Spartans | 6 | 9 | 7-0 | Head coach Mark Dantonio recieved a loud ovation when he went down to the sideline in the waning moments after coaching his second straight game from a box following a mild heart attack. His team looks confident and could move even higher with a win at Northwestern next week. (Spratling & Blaine) |
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| 7 (8) | Alabama Crimson Tide | 6 | 8 | 6-1 | Alabama's defense bounced back, holding the SEC's top scoring offense to just 10 points. (Spratling) |
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| 8 (10) | LSU Tigers | 6 | 10 | 7-0 | Of the unbeaten teams left in the country, LSU is the worst. They had just 103 passing yards and no passing touchdowns against MCNEESE STATE! They will get demolished by Auburn this weekend. It won't even be a contest.. (Madrid & Legan) |
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| 9 (11) | Utah Utes | 6 | 11 | 6-0 | Boise State and TCU may be getting most of the love as undefeated non-BCS teams, but the Utes are quietly putting together an impressive 2010 campaign of their own. (Kaufman) |
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| 10 (18) | Wisconsin Badgers | 9 | 14 | 6-1 | Bret Bielama and Co. may have gotten your attention for the first time in 2010 by beating Ohio State, but its running back John Clay hopes to keep your eyes fixed on the Badgers. Clay leads the Big 10 with 11 rushing touchdowns -- even more than Heisman hopeful Denard Robinson. (Dulberg) |
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| 11 (1) | Ohio St. Buckeyes | 10 | 12 | 6-1 | As shown yet again, Ohio State can't win a big game. They've lost the last three times they've been ranked No. 1 in the AP poll. Why people keep thinking this is a top 5 team year-in and year-out is beyond me. (Legan) |
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| 12 (14) | Stanford Cardinal | 10 | 14 | 5-1 | Heisman hopeful Andrew Luck will get a chance to pad his stats this weekend with Washington State coming to Palo Alto. (Spratling) |
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| 13 (22) | Missouri Tigers | 7 | 17 | 6-0 | Blaine Gabbert had 361 yards passing and three touchdowns against Texas A&M. Missouri will need a similar performance this week when they welcome Oklahoma to Faurot Field. (Morris) |
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| 14 (15) | Iowa Hawkeyes | 12 | 18 | 5-1 | The Hawkeyes did what everyone predicted would eventually happen -- they injured Michigan's Denard Robinson. They may need to injure John Clay when they face Wisconsin this week. (Spratling) |
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| 15 (5) | Nebraska Huskers | 13 | 17 | 5-1 | The Huskers proved one-dimensional. Texas just loaded up eight in the box every play, daring Nebraska to pass. They couldn't. "TMagic" has some work to do. (Legan) |
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| 16 (17) | Florida St. Seminoles | 15 | 18 | 6-1 | Florida State won ugly against Boston College, but they won. Their only loss came against BCS No. 1 Oklahoma...no shame in that. (Morris) |
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| 17 (20) | Oklahoma St. Cowboys | 13 | 18 | 6-0 | Expect plenty of scoring this week when the Cowboys take on Nebraska. Oklahoma State is second in the nation in total offense and they struggle to stop the run, holding only one opponent below 100 yards rushing. (Spratling) |
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| 18 (19) | Arizona Wildcats | 14 | 22 | 5-1 | Either Washington State has continued to improve or the Wildcats seem to be on the decline after losing to Oregon State. Unfortunately, at least for UA, the latter seems to be more likely. (Kaufman) |
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| 19 (25) | West Virginia Mountaineers | 17 | 21 | 5-1 | West Virginia appear to be the cream of the bad crop that is the Big East. But unlike previous years, it is defense that is carrying the Mountaineers. They are third in the nation in scoring defense. (Spratling) |
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| 20 (9) | South Carolina Gamecocks | 18 | 22 | 4-2 | How important is Marcus Lattimore for South Carolina? He amassed 212 total yards and three touchdowns before a sprained ankle caused him to exit less than four minutes into second half with the Gamecocks leading 28-10. After Lattimore left, South Carolina was outscored 21-0 and gained less than 100 total yards. (Spratling) |
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| T21 (13) | Arkansas Razorbacks | 20 | 25 | 4-2 | Arkansas had given up 75 points in its first five games. They gave up 65 to Auburn, including 28 straight to end the game after the Razorbacks had taken a lead early in the fourth quarter. (Spratling) |
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| T21 (NR) | Texas Longhorns | 19 | NR | 4-2 | After two rough weeks, the Longhorns may have salvaged their season by shutting down Taylor Martinez and Nebraska in handing the Huskers their first loss. (Morris) |
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| 23(NR) | Mississippi St. Bulldogs | 21 | NR | 5-2 | Two early season losses to conference foes LSU and Auburn spelled trouble for Vick Ballard and the Bulldogs. But after slaughtering Houston on the road, MSU took its traveling act to Gainesville and the No. 13 ranked defense shut down John Brantley in a hard ought 10-7 triumph. (Dulberg) |
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| 24 (NR) | USC Trojans | 22 | NR | 5-2 | After USC's first dominating game of the season, this team showed its better than critics thought. Its defense is improving each week, and the bye week will only help their injury-riddled depth chart. If the Trojans can bring the same team into the Coliseum in two weeks, look for Ducks fans to go home quacking at an upset. (Blaine) |
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| 25 (NR) | Virginia Tech Hokies | 22 | NR | 5-2 | Shhhh.... The Hokies are quietly creeping back into the college football picture. After the loss to James Madison, Virginia Tech disappeared. While out of sight, the Hokies have eliminated opponents and sit waiting for more teams in front of them to inevitably fall. (Spratling) |
Others receiving votes: Kansas State, Miami (FL), Nevada
Dropped Out: Nevada (LW: 16), Oregon State (LW: 21), Air Force (LW: 23), Florida (LW: 24)
To reach reporter Shotgun Spratling, click here, or follow him on Twitter @BlueWorkhorse.
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