My Top Ten as of This Morning

1 - Texas
2 - Alabama
3 - Iowa
4 - Florida
5 - USC
6 - Cincy
7 - TCU
8 - LSU
9 - Oregon
10 - Ga Tech/Penn State/Boise St/Oklahoma (tie)


Do I think Texas or Iowa (or Florida, for that matter) would beat Alabama? No. They all have weaknesses. But so does the Tide. There is no overpowering, dominant team this year. Texas can't run the ball a lick. Iowa hasn't played anybody and their QB turns the ball over too much. Florida's offense is crippled by their inability to pass downfield. I predicted elsewhere that Mississippi State could beat Florida (man, did I catch some hell!) and they damn near did it. Alabama has a similar situation in that they no longer force defenses to respect their passing game. Defenses load up to stop the run and McElroy isn't able to stretch the D.

It's gonna get really interesting the next few weeks.

As far as Bama's win, I still haven't completely recovered. A couple aspirin and two very nice nurses at the local hospital helped after my heart attack, but I'm still convalescing.

The shoulda lost talk, though is strange to me. We were up 12-3 with about 3 minutes left. Mark Ingram, who had never fumbled since dropping a rattle at age 4, had the ball ripped loose. The Alabama defense then allowed their first TD in 3 weeks. Next, whilst I cowered in a closet, the Vols recovered an onside kick that everybody on earth knew was coming. Then Terence Cody asserted every ounce of energy left in his mammoth body and blocked his second FG attempt of the day.

In my mind, Bama shouldn't have lost the game. Blocking field goals is part of the game, is it not? They busted their asses and won. And knew they would win it...even as Tennessee lined up for that kick. The players said they had no doubt that FG wouldn't go through. Not that that means shit. Julio Jones gets so high on blocks, it's a wonder any FG gets up. But for Cody to penetrate as far as he did...wow. Amazing.

The Birmingham News headline was a classic on Sunday: GOOD OL' ROCKY BLOCK.