Poll Watching

So the Bears have risen two rankings per week, to number 8 (well, technically tied for 7 with LSU in the Coaches Poll). they started at 12 in the Preseason, moved to 10 after week one, and now, after the big victory against Eastern Washington, are at 8.

Why did this happen? Because each week two teams ahead of the Bears lost. So, taking a look at this week, let's see if a Bears victory would do anything for us.

BYU plays Florida State. That is actually quite a good matchup. I have to applaud BYU for scheduling pretty good teams this year. Florida State in Bowden's last year is a nice move. But FSU has no chance of beating BYU in BYU's home opener. BYU went on the road to be Oklahoma. They are not going to panic too much about Florida State, who barely escaped Jacksonville State last week. While both are able to put the same amount of yards on the table, BYU is scoring, while Florida State is having a more difficult time. BYU is an 8 point favorite. That being said - this is probably the game that I would say has the biggest possibility of being a stepping stone for the Bears this week. Just wait until you see the other slop on display:

Penn State plays the Temple Owls. Ouch - 30 point favorites. This is a nice game for the Nittany Lions after they played powerhouses Syracuse and Akron. I guess Paterno really wants to have more wins than Bowden.

Ole Miss (Mississippi) is playing Southeast Louisiana. No line available for this game - I wonder why. Mississippi already beat Memphis, which is not a good team this year. But odds are they will continue to roll through the slop until the get to that Killer SEC schedule. You know the one - where they play Vanderbilt, Miss State, UAB (ugly), Northern Arizona, and then Tennessee (where UCLA just won after having less than 200 yards of offense). LSU, Auburn and Alabama are their only real competition. These guys will go 10-2 and have not played anyone.

Alabama is playing North Texas. See above for future schedule. Actually, they even have a weaker schedule. If they are not undefeated going into the Conference Championship game, then they are a joke.

Sc is playing Washington. There is a chance of a letdown after the Ohio State game, but playing at Washington and beating his former coaches, I do not think that Carroll is going to let that happen. This should be a blowout.

Texas is paying Texas Tech. Tech beat them last year, but they are playing in Austin this year. Not bloody likely. Revenge game for the longhorns. I thought that Texas should have been the team in the BCS game last year, but it was not to be. If Tech beats them, they deserve to be a top 15 team. And the big 12 needs to take 4 or 5 steps down the ladder in terms of overall respect. They have good offenses against crappy Big 12 defenses. But BYU beat Oklahoma, and Houston beat Okie State. Are they really that good?

And finally, Florida (who I believe is pretty good) against Tennessee and the Lane Kiffins. If there was ever a team that you really wanted to beat...There is no way that Florida loses this game. Kiffin is the kind of kid that you just wanted to pummel, and Urban Meyer has the tools to do it. Although I would LOVE it if Florida lost. But it is just not going to happen.

So there you have it Bear fans. This week, we are playing to keep place. But wait til next week...when nobody plays anyone again. Except for Cal at Oregon. Then USC. Then UCLA. That is a tough road to hoe, my friends. The sad thing is, people will not give us credit for it, because at the start of the year there is not enough movement in the standings. By the time we play UCLA, most of our competition will still be playing their creampuff schedule. The Bears will be looking down the road at mid level teams, while the other guys will be playing "Name" teams. It could make for an interesting year.

Of course, none of it matters if we do not win each game. But there it is - while this front loaded schedule is probably good for us in that we seem to have a more mature team compared to others in the Pac 10 (SC, UCLA), we also will not have any Marquee wins down the stretch. And we will probably have some close let down wins against mediocre teams - kinda like going to play So Miss and only winning by 14 points. And having Mack Brown on his knees once again.

GO BEARS!!