This is a weird point in the season for my mathematical ratings as the top 8 teams are all undefeated, and the best one-loss team is Oklahoma at #9. However, this is probably the only week this will happen. If Oklahoma beats Kansas St., and I think almost anyone would expect them to (despite Oklahoma’s loss last week and Kansas St.’s undefeated status), they would add about .15 to their score. A win by Houston over Rice, however, would only add about .03 to their score. Houston currently leads Oklahoma by .027. Also, don’t forget that these ratings are designed to pick the best teams at the top. An undefeated team in most cases will have a better argument for #1 than a team with a loss. However, with dramatically different schedules (like Oklahoma will have after next week and certainly in two weeks), a team with a loss may be higher. Also, it’s much easier for an 11-1 team to get ahead of a 12-0 team than it is for a 6-1 team to get ahead of a 7-0 team. By the way, in Week 10, Houston will play UAB while Oklahoma will play Texas A&M, so that would be another opportunity for Oklahoma to improve its rating significantly as compared to Houston.

As I mentioned last week, Boise St. does not have a very helpful schedule in the next two weeks either with a bye in Week 9 and UNLV in Week 10. Oklahoma St. will play Baylor and then Kansas St. To round out the undefeateds, I think many of us already know what Alabama and LSU will be doing the next two weeks (bye for both, followed by LSU @ Alabama); Clemson will play Georgia Tech, followed by a bye week; I already mentioned Kansas St., with Oklahoma, followed by Oklahoma St. (unlikely, but if they make it to the end of the season undefeated, they might deserve to play in the title game regardless of what anyone else does); and Stanford (who had a more meaningful jump) will play USC, followed by Oregon St.

The Alabama-LSU winner is almost assured #1 and may have a significant lead over #2, but it is possible that due to the bye, Alabama will fall at least one spot in the next ratings before getting that chance. LSU is probably safely #1 until the Alabama game.

Lower down in the rankings, the SEC can’t quite keep a third team in the top 10, but South Carolina is knocking on the door. The Cocks play the Hogs in two weeks, and the winner of that game might have a chance. Not a bad under-card to LSU-Alabama. Virginia Tech may not have much staying power with Duke and a bye week coming up.

Michigan St. made a big jump up by beating Wisconsin, which made a similar leap backwards. Arkansas has slipped with a bye week and then Ole Miss last week, but the Razorbacks should pick it back up if they keep winning. USC has also gone up because not only did they beat Notre Dame, but also Notre Dame had defeated Michigan St., so the Irish count for even more than they would have otherwise. Nothing else of note from 11-20.

Southern Mississippi and Syracuse have mostly been lucky, but they did get quality wins in convincing fashion over the weekend. Auburn is still hanging in there despite the loss to LSU. Arizona St. and Cincinnati backed into the top 25 mostly due to others’ losses. Cincinnati’s schedule thus far doesn’t inspire much confidence, neither does their loss to Tennessee, but sometimes not losing is better than playing a good team. With a win next week, Georgia would probably bypass idle Cincinnati. Despite the win over Oklahoma, Texas Tech still has to recover from its easy early schedule and two losses before last week.

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Happy Birthday YouGabSports!! Could David Meggett go all the way?? When is a $40 million guaranteed contract not worth $40 million?? When will College Football players learn?? Football at Wrigley and Yankee Stadium. Is that all? Maybe. You’ll have to find out inside this edition of Rants and Raves.

As ESPN’s Chris Berman would say “Look at the little Meggett Go!!” Look at him go all the way to jail for 30 years. Another stupid football player doing a senseless crime. A South Carolina court convicted Meggett on charges of criminal sexual conduct and burglary. David’s lawyers are going to appeal. This isn’t the first time, nor the second time that the former Giant, Jet and Patriot has had sexual encounter problems. In 1998, Meggett was arrested after he assaulted an escort worker in Toronto. The trial ended in a hung jury. Then, four years later, he was accused of sexually assaulting his former girlfriend in North Carolina. He received two years probation. Some people just can’t learn.

Common now. First the Skins sit Donovan McNabb down because he couldn’t handle the two-minute drill. Then they sign the quarterback to a five-year, $78 million contract with a reported $40 million guaranteed. But wait, It gets worse. The skins get humiliated at home by the Philadelphia Eagles, 59-28. On the heels of the loss, the Skins are reporting that they have an op-out at the end of this season that would pay McNabb only $3.5 million bonus if they cut ties with Donovan. It this a love/hate relationship between McNabb and Coach Mike Shanahan?

Three Southern Mississippi football players were involved in a shooting outside a Hattiesburgh nightclub parking lot. Linebacker Martez Smith is paralyzed from the waist down from a shot to his spinal cord. His teammates, Tim Green can’t talk after being shot in the neck and Derrick Jones was shot in the chest. All are in fair condition.

This weekend, Yankee Stadium and Wrigley Field will be hosts to college football. Yankee Stadium will be hosting Notre Dame versus Army while Wrigley will host Northwestern and Illinois. Wow, a new way to generate money for the Yankees and Cubs.

Did the Florida Marlins just throw away the 2012 season? Why in the world did they trade Dan Uggla to their Division rivals Atlanta Braves? Uggla, 154 homeruns in 5 seasons, gives the Braves the power hitter they desperately need. In return, the Marlins only got utility-man Omar Infante and pitcher Mike Dunn. Omar had a great season, hitting .321 with 8 homeruns and 47 RBIs. Dunn was 2-0 in 25 games with a 1.85 ERA.

Speaking of the Marlins, they really have started to shake things up with their team. Beside getting rid of Uggla, Florida sent the two primary players in the deal with Detroit for Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis packing. Cameron Maybin went to San Diego in exchange for RHP Edward Mujica and RHP Ryan Webb, while Andrew Jones was sent to Boston in exchange for LHP Dustin Richardson.

Tiger Woods is in the news. He wrote an article for Newsweek. In it he says, “It made me think that if I was successful in golf, then I was invincible. Now I know that, no matter how tough or strong we are, we all need to rely on others." Tiger also says “Golf is a self-centered game, in ways good and bad. So much depends on one's own abilities. But for me, that self-reliance made me think I could tackle the world by myself."

Happy Birthday to YouGabSports. I didn’t realize that I have been a member since October of 2009. I posted several blogs from October until the end of December. Then for some reason I stopped. Then, with the end of SN near, I jumped ship (not good for a retired Navy man) in August 2010, and reconnected with YouGabSports. I am proud to say I‘m here for good. I would like to thank everyone for making me feel at home, in particular, Sully, fragnoli, sfelber9 (a fellow Cuse fan) and TheBeezer.

Pictures by: David Meggett - kimoracochran.com, Donovan McNabb - portscasm.com, Martez Smith - media.onsugar.com, Yankee Stadium - students.ou.edu/K/Gabrielle.D.Kellogg-1, Wrigley Field - destination360.com, YouGabSports - YouGabSports