Sobered Up: Week Four

Well, well, well. Here we are, and Week Four is over already. Weren't we just picking Clemson to get their asses handed to them by Alabama a few weeks ago? On a sad note, this means we're now officially 1/3 of the way through the regular season of 2008. It's really quite deflating if you think about it too long.

We're going to save the in depth opining for later today, but for now let's throw up our Top Ten:

1. USC - How many byes do these guys have? And why so early, USC?
2. Georgia - If you're a Bulldog you have to be feeling pretty good right now. While a few of the teams on this year's monstrous schedule have turned out to be considerably less competitive than previously assumed (here's looking at you, Tennessee and 'Zona State), only Georgia Tech seems to be much better than the Dawg nation pegged them to be. It seems they chose the perfect option with their new coach. Oh, and if you're one of the fans that have been watching AJ Green's YouTube highlights for the past year, foaming at the mouth for a deep threat to materialize, isn't it great when accomplishment parallels potential? Even for one game?
3. Oklahoma - Could easily be in the number two slot, but Georgia's win over Zona State was convincing enough for them to move in. In any case, Georgia beats Alabama convincingly this weekend for the 2nd Annual Blackout game, and Georgia is the clear cut number two, perhaps even number one.
4. Florida - Beat an outclassed opponent, but a road win in the SEC should never be taken lightly, especially at Neyland Stadium.
5. LSU - I love the SEC. A real close game against stacked-with-talent LSU should allow Auburn to work their way back into the Top 15 by the time Georgia plays them.
6. Texas - Texas, you're going to have to start playing some real teams soon.
7. Alabama - As is the case with every game every week, this Saturday is the biggest game of the season. It should be a real slobberknocker.
8. Missouri - Sue is a big fan of holding on acclaim until teams or individuals play worthy opponents, but Chase Daniel proved his mettle last year. This kid's good.
9. South Florida
10. Texas Tech - I really hope Texas Tech wins the few tough games they have this year. Prolific offenses are so fun to watch in late December

JJ here...just a couple of rambling additional thoughts off the top of my head...

Boy, it didn't take long for the Bill Stewart era to turn sour in a hurry. So you're telling me it's actually a bad idea to hand your program over to a guy that couldn't win at VMI? Interesting. I think Pat White and Co. may have killed the whole "talented veteran team strongarms school into picking lovable assistant coach to promote" idea for a little while.

I'm still not impressed with LSU's QB situation at all, and it will cost them down the line. Fortunately, outside of the QB position, they are still on par with USC in terms of talent. Also, I think it's safe to say that you can pencil in any and all LSU/Auburn games into the ESPN Classic rotation from here on out.

What the hell is it with "big" ACC games and field goals? Did that Wake-FSU game remind anyone else of this epic battle?

I love the SEC and everything, but Vandy is not a Top 25 team. They had half the yardage of Ole Miss on Saturday. The Commodores being ranked shows the utter uselessness of Top 25 polls, espicially this early in the season. That said, I will be happy to see them play in a bowl this year.

Georgia Tech's offense looks really, really good. And Paul Johnson is a hardass. That halftime interview where he said two sentences about how crappy his team played before running away from the reporter in disgust was oddly entertaining. His team was up 28-0 at the time, by the way.

Between UCLA's stomping at the hands of BYU and Arizona and Saturday's massacre in Knoxville....this Tennessee team looks like the worst edition of my lifetime. However, I have full confidence in Phil Fulmer to back into keeping his job, somehow.

Wake me up when someone in the Big 12 plays someone decent.

Enjoy the week, kiddos....more later.