The College Football Blog: 2010 Power Rankings (After Week 4)

Power Rankings after Week 4

1. Alabama 4-0 (1st)
2. Ohio State 4-0 (2nd)
3. Oklahoma 4-0 (3rd)
4. Florida 4-0 (4th)
5. Oregon 4-0 (5th)
6. Boise State 3-0 (6th)
7. TCU 4-0 (7th)
8. Nebraska 4-0 (9th)
9. Iowa 3-1 (10th)
10. Auburn 4-0 (13th)
11. South Carolina 3-1 (12th)
12. Stanford 4-0 (NR)
13. Arkansas 3-1 (11th)
14. LSU 4-0 (15th)
15. Wisconsin 4-0 (14th)

Out: Texas (8th).

Explanation: My top 7 stayed exactly the same this week, and 9 of my top 10 teams stayed in the top 10. Nebraska and Iowa got easy wins to move up a spot to 8th and 9th respectively.

Obviously the biggest change in my rankings this week was Texas’ tumble from 8th all the way out of the top 15. This drastic move was based mostly, but not entirely, on the Longhorns’ stunning loss at home to UCLA last Saturday. Ever since Texas’ lackluster win over Rice in the first week of the season I had been underwhelmed by their performance. They had managed to start 3-0, beating Texas Tech on the road in week 3, and they looked destined to be 4-0 going into the Red River Shootout against Oklahoma.

But then disaster struck last Saturday. UCLA had opened the season with a 9 point loss at KSU, and then got hammered 35-0 at home by Stanford, before beating Houston at home on a day that the Cougars lost their star QB and his backup. Texas entered the game as a 16 point favorite, having won 16 consecutive home games. The Bruins had lost 12 of 15 road games, and 12 of their last 13 road games against teams other than Washington and Washington State. But UCLA pulled off the shocker and they were in control for almost the entire game. Texas led 3-0 after the 1st quarter, but the Bruins outscored the Longhorns 13-0 in the 2nd quarter to take a 13-3 halftime lead. UCLA then took the 2nd half kickoff and drove for a TD to make it 20-3. They led 27-6 at the start of the 4th and went on to win 34-12. This was an epic defeat for the Longhorns, and thus I had to drop them out of the rankings. Their embarrassing performance took a lot of the sizzle out of this week’s matchup with Oklahoma.

Auburn held off South Carolina at home to get to 4-0 and they took Texas’ place in the top 10. The Tigers made the biggest move in my rankings this week, climbing 3 spots from 13th to 10th. Despite the loss, South Carolina moved up 1 spot in my power rankings this week from 12th to 11th. This might be Steve Spurrier’s best South Carolina team and they went on the road and nearly knocked off a good Auburn team.

The new team in my power rankings this week is Stanford, debuting at #12. The Cardinal took Texas’ place in the top 15 after they moved to 4-0 with a convincing win at Notre Dame. I moved Arkansas down 2 spots from 11th to 13th, despite the fact that they very nearly beat the best team in the country. I was actually impressed that the Hogs were able to hang in the game against the Tide, but their collapse proved that they are not quite ready to challenge for an SEC title.

My #14 and #15 teams swapped places in the rankings this week. I moved Wisconsin down a spot to 15th and moved LSU up a spot to 14th. Both teams won this weekend, and Wisconsin actually won 70-3, but the Tigers held on to beat West Virginia, and I haven’t been that impressed by the Badgers so far this year.