The TFFE Top 25: After Week 8

#1 Ohio State (8-0, #1 week)
The one team that is not only taking care of business, but winning in a fashion befitting of a #1 team. That defense is excellent.

#2 LSU (7-1, #2)
Same old, same old. That defense is very good, and hey, so is the offense. No longer at juggernaut status, though.

#3 Oregon (6-1, #4)
Um, hello? Oregon's lack of national publicity amazes me. The defense is somewhat suspect, but that offense might just be the best in the nation. The balance makes it amazingly dangerous - QB Dennis Dixon can take over the game and win it, and that's if RB Jonathan Stewart doesn't do so himself.

#4 West Virginia (6-1, #5)
As I said, WVU's a boring team to write about at the moment - they always play pretty much as expected. They're a very good team! They like to run a lot, dontcha know.

#5 Florida (5-2, #6)
I was going back and forth between WVU and Florida, but decided to give the one-loss team the benefit of the doubt. Plus that secondary's still a concern, even if one that can be overcome.

#6 USC (6-1, #9)
Yeah, they seem back at full strength. Cue the Jaws theme.

#7 Oklahoma (7-1, #3)
Ehhhh. That Iowa State game makes them look that much shakier. The CU performance has gone from a one-time thing to showing that they can be vulnerable, which knocks them down a tier.

#8 Missouri (6-1, #8)
Another team being slept on, if nowhere near to the degree as Oregon's been. If the Texas Tech game is a sign that they have a defense, they're a darkhorse national title contender.

#9 Arizona State (7-0, #12)
They've looked good. They've been untested, though. An undefeated year may be out of the question, but they seem at the level where they can beat three of Cal, Oregon, USC and UCLA.

#10 Michigan (6-2, #15)
Hey, why not? Part attrition, part beating a fellow top-25 team without the most consistent star player in the nation.

#11 South Carolina (6-2, #11)
Ehhhh. The Vandy loss was nothing surprising, and they beat Kentucky, AND the top 25 has a soft underbelly this year, so the Gamecocks hold steady, even if it's at a weaker #11 than last week.

#12 Kentucky (6-2, #13)
Another attrition ranking. They're still in the upper-level team, no shame in losing to two teams legitimately better than you.

#13 South Florida (6-1, #7)
Yeah, they lost to Rutgers, but that seems to be them on a bad night rather than a true indicator of their playing level. Still a very good team, and one that has a lot of reasons to like them, unlike...

#14 Texas (6-2, #14)
Just going along, beating Baylor and Iowa State. They haven't played all that great, but they have all that talent. Really just begging for someone to knock them off.

#15 Penn State (6-2, #18)
Anthony Morelli's playing well, but I have no confidence in him keeping that up. That said, he's been playing well, so I'll keep them up here until he assuredly proves me right.

#16 Wisconsin (6-2, #19)
Still a really good team. That run defense is still a question mark, but the overall level of play shows there's a lot to like.

#17 California (5-2, #10)
Still pretty much the best possible iteration of an archetype of a Pac 10 team - a bad defense makes every game a shootout, but that offense is good enough to make up for it 95% of the time. The OSU loss can be chalked up to Kevin Riley, but as for this week, well, that was part of the 5%.

#18 Boston College (7-0, #16)
Matt Ryan: Heisman frontrunner? Really? Oh, I forgot how great he was against ARMY.

#19 Alabama (6-2, --)
Huzzah, the offense showed signs of life. They almost definitely won't keep up the pace they did against Tennessee, but again, they showed signs of life, which means they're deserving of this ranking now.

#20 Illinois (5-3, #17)
Still a perfectly fine second-tier team. If their opponent has a good run defense, they'll likely be beaten. If not, watch out.

#21 Kansas (7-0, #25)
They're good! Not great, but very good.

#22 Virginia Tech (6-1, #21)
The second-best team in the ACC. I'm shocked it's worth a ranking this high.

#23 Georgia (5-2, #24)
Perfectly Fine Two Loss SEC Team.

#24 Rutgers (5-2, --)
That Ray Rice fellow is very good. Mike Teel's spotty, but the Knights are an all-around above-average team.

#25 Virginia (7-1, --)
They actually kicked the crap out of Maryland despite the final score. If they keep playing like that, they'll deserve that record.