2009 College Football Power Rankings - Week 6

Last week Florida and Texas were tied for the top spot in the 2009 college football power rankings. Both teams, interestingly, had byes for the weekend of October 3. You might think that would leave the teams tied once again since neither the Gators nor the Longhorns had the chance to impress nor disappoint.

But this is a great example of how opponent performance can help or hinder at team's power point accumulation. In the case of Texas and Florida, week 6 shines a pretty intense floodlight on the concept.

1. Texas Longhorns (4-0)

355 points

Texas had a very real chance of falling from the top spot in the power rankings for the first time this season as a bye week would inevitably drop UT one win behind several teams with five wins and no losses (such as second place Alabama and fifth place Iowa).

But a perfect storm aligned for the Longhorns thanks to its former opponents. All four teams played on Saturday. And all of them won. Some in dominating fashion (Texas Tech and Louisiana-Monroe) and another in both a dominating and wildly unexpected way -- UTEP's stunning blowout of previously unbeaten, 12-ranked, Big 12 giant-killer Houston.

Add to this Texas' own 54-point humiliation of the Miners just a week before and the Longhorns have easily out-powered a slew of 5-0 teams for the top spot in this week's college football power rankings.

2. Alabama Crimson Tide (5-0)

312 points

The maddening thing about playing big teams early (such as Virginia Tech) is that it sometimes takes a little time for a close (but significant) victory to start yielding power points. The other big team, afterall, still has to go out and live up to its reputation.

The Hokies have pretty much done just that for Alabama, having crushed AP darling, Miami, and successfully pulled a rabbit out of its hat against an emerging Nebraska.

Bama has also notched up strong wins against middle-rung SEC teams Kentucky and Arkansas (the Razorbacks finally showed their tusks by ripping previously unbeaten Texas A&M), but the Tide finds itself failing to best the Longhorns in this week's power rankings thanks entirely to its near meaningless blowouts of Florida International and North Texas -- a pair of fly-weights with just one win and seven losses between them.

These wins do nearly nothing to help Alabama. (If either of those opponents gets on a win streak, that will change.) But Alabama's one-win advantage over Texas is effectively rendered a one-win deficit.

3. Ohio State Buckeyes (5-0)

295 points

2009 started badly for the Buckeyes. First a nail-biting opener (that shouldn't have been) against a respectable (but not that respectable) Navy team. And then, the infamous, length-of-the-field, last minute breakdown against USC.

And both in the Horseshoe.

But the Buckeyes have played much more forcefully in the three games since, dominating those recent opponents (two of which with decent, if not stellar, records). While, in the early going, these are no laurels to rest on, the Buckeyes need merely to continue to win to compete for the top power ranking spot.

The USC loss, in turn, took a new tilt toward helping Ohio State as the Trojans dispatched Berkeley's Rose Bowl hopes in a second, back-to-back conference whipping. The better the Trojans look, the better OSU's loss is.

4. Florida Gators (4-0)

292 points

Bye weeks tend to be momentum killers for teams scrambling to the top of the power rankings. Texas weathered the downtime perfectly, watching all four of its former opponents chalk up wins while the Gators started at a distinct disadvantage with one of its own opponents also having a bye week.

Former foe, Tennessee, managed another moral victory this week, making a ten-point loss to Auburn look a shade closer on the final play of the game but, at 2-3, the Vols are not floating too many power points the Gators' way. Kentucky, meanwhile, got its expected pummeling at the hands of Alabama. UK now sits at 2-2 and is also little help to the Gators' power rating.

Strangely enough, Florida's 73-point dog opener, Charleston Southern, extended its win streak to two this week, giving Florida the smidge of a bonus to stay ahead of Iowa.

5. Iowa Hawkeyes (5-0)

284 points

Quick, without looking it up, what are Northern Iowa's and Arkansas State's mascots? You have no idea, do you? Unless you're a Hawkeye fan -- because those two teams needed but six points total to deal Iowa two losses on the season.

So how on earth, after almost royally screwing the pooch twice, have the Hawkeyes landed at #5 in the power rankings? Well, eeking out those wins, no matter how close -- nor to whom -- is the first step. The other is continuing to ride that big win last week in Happy Valley. Another factor is that, minus the losses that Iowa has dealt out, the Hawkeyes' opponents are a combined 15-3.

The prospects aren't great that those teams will continue such a high winning percentage as conference play starts for three-win teams Iowa State and Arizona. But the Penn State win ought to continue to pay dividends in the future. And, more importantly, Iowa should have no trouble piling up future wins itself.

6. Virginia Tech Hokies (4-1)

277 points

Virginia Tech got sloppy against the keystone Blue Devils from Duke. But last week's thumping of Miami pays off big time transitively as the Hurricanes gave Oklahoma their second loss of the season.

The Nebraska win still looks like a good one. The Cornhuskers' Thursday night ESPN game with undefeated Missouri will shed a light on how much Tech's miracle, come-from-behind win will add to their power score.

The loss to Alabama remains a limited liability.

7. Cincinnati Bearcats (5-0)

273 points

The Bearcats continue to win (if not in overly spectacular fashion). The demolition of Rutgers to open the season remains Cincinnati's high-point which, five games into the season, no matter if you've won them all, has to be of some slight concern.

Indeed, UC has incrementally slipped lower on the power list since the season's start. A big win against a top opponent (such as against 5-0 South Florida on Oct 15) would give the Bearcats a big boost up the rankings. Meanwhile, leading zero-win Miami (Ohio) by ten going into the fourth quarter is a habit the Bearcats should do well to steer clear of.

8. (tie) Auburn Tigers (5-0)

268 points

Junk points made Auburn's win in Knoxville look closer than it was. West Virginia's win over Colorado on Thursday gives the Tigers another little boost. Auburn gets another good test next week with a trip to Arkansas. The Razorbacks are capable of making big plays and scoring points against some stiff defenses.

8. (tie) Pittsburgh Panthers (4-1)

268 points

The Panther offense has looked solid against some not-so-solid defenses. The schedule gets considerably tougher in short order with Rutgers, South Florida, Notre Dame, West Virginia and Cincinnati still left to play. Pitt will likely beat at least some of these teams, but expect the Panthers to be forced down the power rankings as the season goes on.

10. USC Trojans (4-1)

260 points

The Trojans were thisclose to starting the year 1-2. But with the return of freshman phenom, Matt Barkley, USC is back to leading the charge for the PAC-10 crown. Oregon, obviously, will have a thing or two to say about that.

Ripping Cal was necessary to get USC back in the national discussion. The win over the Buckeyes keeps them inching up the power rankings.

Mark Albracht's Power Rankings Halftime Show:

A Wolfman Walks His Chupacabra.

11. (tie) Boise State Broncos (5-0)

256 points

All the Broncos do is win, win, win. Year after year. So you can probably forgive them for being up on UC-Davis by only 11 points with less than a minute to go (before tacking on the final score). The 19-8 win over Oregon to start the season is looking better and better as the Ducks raised holy hell up and down the West Coast these past two weeks.

Boise State should continue to win the remainder of the season as there is no one left on their slate remotely in the same solar system with them right now. So, the bright side is an almost assured 13-0 regular season finish. The downside. The BCS won't be impressed. Nor should they be.

11. (tie) Penn State Nittany Lions (4-1)

256 points

Nittany Lions having no trouble with all non-Hawkeye teams on the slate. One more pastry to devour (hosting Eastern Illinois) and then Penn State will need to start earning its keep.

13. LSU Tigers (5-0)

255 points

Undefeated, but not overly impressive in victory. LSU's 8-point win over Washington is awesome when compared to the Huskies' own win over USC. But that doesn't do a whole lot to temper the fact that it's still just a narrow win over a 2-3 team. Add in an even narrower win over another 2-3 team (Mississippi State) and you will see why, even with beating Georgia at home, LSU is still not able to crack the upper half of the rankings.

14. Kansas Jayhawks (4-0)

254 points

Beating the crap out of three nobodies and besting previously unbeaten Southern Miss (now twice-defeated thanks to Alabama-Birmingham) gets Kansas a spot inside the Top 15.

15. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (4-1)

250 points

Georgia Tech looked a heck of a lot better against Mississippi State than LSU did. And the Yellow Jackets were also the first to expose North Carolina as perhaps a team not worthy of national rankings. Virginia subsequently solidified this notion by getting its first win of the season against the Tarheels (something William & Mary had managed to stave off in the opener).

The severity of GT's loss to Miami has vacillated with the Hurricane's highs and lows. And Clemson's surprising 2-3 turn keeps Tech from acquiring any clear trajectory in the power rankings.

16. South Florida Bulls (5-0)

249 points

South Florida is set for a clash of Big East titans on October 15. Any kind of win over 5-0 Cincinnati will send the Bulls up the power rankings. They can use the help as their 17-7 takedown of Florida State doesn't shine so luminously anymore.

17. BYU Cougars (4-1)

234 points

How did the same team knock of Oklahoma by one and then lose to Florida State by 26? As long as they can summon the Sooner-beaters for their October 24 match with TCU, the Cougars should stay constant on the power ranking list.

18. TCU Horned Frogs (4-0)

230 points

TCU is 4-0 against teams that have dropped ten games already. Before the season, you might have expected wins against Virginia and Clemson to yield decent returns. But the Cavs and Tigers are the smallest power point growers so far on TCU's win tally.

19. Stanford Cardinal (4-1)

220 points

They're 3-0 in the PAC-10 giving Stanford the sole current lead in the conference race. They brought Washington back down to earth after UW's thrilling knock-off of USC. They delivered UCLA its first loss of the season.

Then why is Stanford ranked so low? Beaten opponents have a combined record of 7-11. Stanford's loss vs. 3-2 Wake Forest further drops it down the rankings.

20. Oregon Ducks (4-1)

219 points

The Oregon Ducks are on the warpath, demolishing previously unbeaten and 6th-ranked Cal 42-3, followed by hapless Washington State 52-6. It's good that Oregon has a little momentum because they have an impending trio of interesting road trips (to UCLA, Washington and Stanford) with a game against USC at Autzen Stadium thrown in the mix.

If the Ducks can run the table against those four teams, it will go a long way to finish shaking the rocky start they had against Boise State (an 8-19 loss) and Purdue (against whom they narrowly escaped playing in overtime).

Those first two games are what's keeping the Ducks tethered to the bottom of the rankings. But the seven-point win over Utah should produce some returns for OU as the Utes head into a very manageable Mountain West slate.

Teams just missing the cut:

Miami (204) Missouri (202) South Carolina (198) Nebraska (193) Ole Miss (191) Oklahoma State (179) Wisconsin (176) Oklahoma (175) Michigan (168) Boston College (161) Notre Dame (153)