Latest College Football Rankings

College Football fans here's the latest AP and USA Today Polls and Rankings.

AP Top 25
1. USC (61) 2-0 1,596
2. Oklahoma 3-0 1,485
3. Georgia (2) 3-0 1,437
4. Florida (1) 2-0 1,414
5. Missouri 3-0 1,389
6. LSU 2-0 1,274
7. Texas 2-0 1,140
8. Wisconsin 3-0 1,076
9. Alabama 3-0 982
10. Auburn 3-0 958
11. Texas Tech 3-0 904
12. South Florida 3-0 801
13. Ohio State 2-1 800
14. Brigham Young 3-0 788
15. East Carolina 3-0 781
16. Penn State 3-0 779
17. Oregon 3-0 679
18. Wake Forest 2-0 482
19. Kansas 2-1 445
20. Utah 3-0 428
21. West Virginia 1-1 179
22. Illinois 2-1 163
23. Clemson 2-1 160
24. Florida State 2-0 146
25. Fresno State 1-1 121

Others Receiving Votes
Vanderbilt 63, Oklahoma State 62, TCU 45, Boise State 38, Arizona State 36, North Carolina 31, Virginia Tech 28, Nebraska 21, Tennessee 15, Connecticut 13, Iowa 12, Kentucky 6, Tulsa 6, Northwestern 4, Notre Dame 4, Minnesota 4, Arizona 2, UCF 1, Ball State 1, South Carolina 1.

Dropped From Rankings
Arizona State 15, California 23.

USA Today Poll
1. USC (57) 2-0 1,518
2. Oklahoma (1) 3-0 1,423
3. Georgia (2) 3-0 1,393
4. Florida (1) 2-0 1,335
5. Missouri 3-0 1,294
6. LSU 2-0 1,233
7. Texas 2-0 1,128
8. Wisconsin 3-0 1,027
9. Auburn 3-0 955
10. Texas Tech 3-0 887
11. Brigham Young 3-0 846
12. Oregon 3-0 783
13. Alabama 3-0 771
14. Ohio State 2-1 736
15. Penn State 3-0 724
16. South Florida 3-0 685
17. East Carolina 3-0 508
18. Wake Forest 2-0 498
19. Kansas 2-1 416
20. Utah 3-0 400
21. Clemson 2-1 233
22. West Virginia 1-1 159
23. Illinois 2-1 127
24. Arizona State 2-1 113
25. Florida State 2-0 110

Others Receiving Votes
Fresno State 93, TCU 76, Nebraska 49, Boise State 43, Kentucky 40, Oklahoma State 39, Tennessee 34, Virginia Tech 31, Connecticut 27, Vanderbilt 20, North Carolina 19, Iowa 14, Northwestern 10, California 7, Notre Dame 5, Michigan State 5, Colorado 3, Boston College 2, Ball State 2, Georgia Tech 2, Tulsa 2.

Dropped From Rankings
Fresno State 21, California 25.

source: USA Today.com

Ohio State Buckeyes and USC Trojans renew their rivalry

Arguably two of the top programs ever seen in college football history collide in week 3 of the 2008-09 NCAA College Football Season as the Ohio State Buckeyes visit the USC Trojans.

Ohio State Buckeyes are on a roll starting the season with a 2-0 (win-loss) slate, beating Ohio 26-14 and Youngstown State 43-0, respectively. They come to Trojan’s territory gunning for their third straight win and prove that their win against Ohio was not a fluke.

The only area of concern for the visiting Buckeyes is the status of tailback Chris “Beanie” Wells who was sidelined with an injured foot in their last game. On the season-opener Wells ran for 115 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries in a season-opening 43-0 win over Youngstown State before getting hurt, and he was ninth in the nation last season with 1,609 rushing yards.

Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel said Tuesday he expects Wells will be able to play. The junior told Tressel on Monday that he’s “ready to carry 45 times on Saturday.” “The only way we can be successful on the road at Southern Cal is be at our best, I mean, there’s no way that we can do it if we’re not at our best,” Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel said. “So I think all of us in the whole locker room recognized after the (Ohio) game that we weren’t at our best.”

For the home team, USC will be led by quarterback Mark Sanchez, who is hoping to get USC back into the national title game this 2008-09 NCAA College Football Season after quarterback John David Booty was unable to do so the past two years. The Trojans have played in the last three Rose Bowls, including a loss to Texas for the 2006 national championship after beating Oklahoma for the BCS title the previous year.

Both teams have met in the Rose Bowl seven times and are squaring off for the first time in 18 years in the first game of the 2008-09 NCAA College Football Season between a pair of top-10 teams. USC has won 11 national championships, the Buckeyes have claimed seven. They played for one each of the last two years, but lopsided losses in both games - not to mention last week’s lackluster effort - have left the program with something to prove.


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NCAA College Football 2008

As the NCAA College Football 2008 kicks off next week with a 14-game schedule, NCAA College Football teams have already geared up and made up the adjustments to win the coveted crown in College Football.

There are three exciting games that you should not miss next week, August 28 as the 23rd seed Wake Forest Demon Deacons visit the Baylor Bears to mark the start of the NCAA College Football 2008.

Last season proved that Wake Forest’s 2006 success was no fluke and that the program will continue to be a contender in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The success was not as substantial, but still the Demon Deacons put together a nine win season and hung in the Atlantic division race. With a host of defensive players returning and a majority of the skill players on offense, Coach Jim Grobe will look to take the next big step this year.

With 15 starters returning, Wake Forest doesn’t go into the season with a whole lot of questions, which is a major change from past seasons.

“We’ve been in the position before where we’ve come into August without a very good feel about our starters,” coach Jim Grobe says. “We’re in a pretty good situation now where we’re trying to develop our depth.”

Other key returnees for Wake Forest in this year's NCAA College Football 2008 are LB Stanley Arnoux, LB Aaron Curry, CB Brandon Ghee, OT Jeff Griffin, QB Brett Hodges, LB Chantz McClinic, G Barrett McMillin, S Kevin Patterson, DE Matt Robinson, K/P Sam Swank.

With Riley Skinner’s efficient quarterback play and a quality tight end like Ben Wooster, the offense just needs a decent running back to be effective. Enter Josh Adams. As a freshman Adams rushed for 953 yards and 11 touchdowns and is expected to become one of the top backs in the conference now that he has a year of experience under his belt.

For the home team of the Baylor Bears, there is more excitement in Waco for NCAA College Football 2008 right now than there has been for a long, long time. New head coach Art Briles will bring his high octane offense to the Bears, but does he have somebody who can run it?

The system’s glory days were at Houston under quarterback Kevin Kolb. Returning starter Blake Szymanski is not Kolb and neither is Miami transfer Kirby Freeman, but those two will battle it out for the starting job. Even if Szymanski or Freeman picks up the offense quickly and the defense can manage to stop somebody, the conference is loaded this year.

This should be a better team overall and at least there is excitement and hope with the new coaching staff, but the record will probably look about the same as it did last year.

Another exciting game College football fans should not miss is the game between the North Carolina State Wolfpack and the South Carolina Gamecocks. The good news for the NC State Wolfpack is Jamelle Eugene is back after rushing for a team high 667 yards last season, but more importantly so are Andre Brown and Toney Baker after missing much of last season with injuries.

Add sophomore Curtis Underwood to that list and the Wolfpack suddenly have four quality runners. However, there are just so many holes to fill and none are more important than at quarterback. Daniel Evans took a majority of the snaps last year, but his 12 touchdowns and 13 interceptions did not endear him to anybody.

South Carolina Gamecocks’ side - this is the supposed to be the year where everything comes together for Coach Steve Spurrier at South Carolina. After a few years of getting his players into the program, Coach Spurrier finally has some quality depth to work with. A couple upsets here and there is not good enough anymore and consistency will be the key if Coach Spurrier is ever going to make the Gamecocks a winner in the Southeastern Conference. The breakthrough season has not arrived yet, and 2008 might be the year for South Carolina Gamecocks.

South Carolina lost its last five games of 2007 and will be breaking in new starters at quarterback and tailback. There is also a new defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator this coming NCAA College Football 2008.

The third featured game of this season opener will be Oregon State Beavers battling Stanford Cardinal.

Oregon State Beavers have overcome the doubters and slow starts the past two seasons to finish third in the Pac-10 each year and record 19 total victories. Questions will be answered on the importance of Yvenson Bernard to Oregon State’s offense. His running back averaged over 110 yards per game during his senior season and reached the endzone a total of 14 times. Redshirt freshman Ryan McCants has the potential to be better than Bernard but he still has to prove it. Senior Patrick Fuller only carried the ball ten times last year and it seems like it is already McCants time to shine.

Carry over the momentum for the Standford Cardinal as they ended last year’s season with a resounding victory over California. Defense will be the goal for the Cardinal’s to reach a bowl game. And with nine starters returning to the unit, that should not be a problem. Linebacker Clinton Snyder is coming off a great year in which he tallied 96 tackles, eight sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss. The junior is expected to become even more of a leader on the field now that he is an upperclassman. With Pat Maynor and Chike Amajoyi also back, the linebacker corps will be extremely strong. Safety Bo McNally will lead the secondary.

Indeed, this will be an exciting NCAA College Football 2008 as teams will slug it out to win the championship in NCAA College Football.