College Football’s Top 25 after 10 weeks

#18 Texas

I really thought we were headed for another classic Oklahoma – Texas championship game in the Big XII and that the Sooners would get their shot at revenge versus the Longhorns, but Will Grier and the Mountaineers ripped their hearts out on Saturday in that epic back-and-forth game.

Now the Horns have to hope that WVU slips against TCU or at Stillwater along the way to the season finale against Oklahoma since they now own the tie-breaker and could face OU in consecutive games. However, at this point it seems more likely that Texas will take themselves out of the race over these next two weeks.

First the travel to Lubbock to face the best 5-4 team in the nation, which I think can beat just about anybody in this conference, and then Iowa State visits after having won five consecutive games probably, including WVU, OSU and TTU. Texas is back – at least somehow. They defeated USC and TCU convincingly in consecutive weeks before handing Oklahoma their only loss of the season, but they barely beat Baylor at home and now have lost two straight.

Sam Ehlinger and those two receivers he has around him have been outstanding, but the Longhorns run game leaves something to be desired unless the QB carries the rock and their defense hasn’t looked anything like they did early on in the year. Outside of the Baylor game, they have surrendered almost 42 points in their last three close games.

What made me think they could be actual contenders was the fact that they run real pro concepts defensively under Todd Orlando instead of simple quarter coverages like most Big XII teams, but they are right down the middle among all 130 qualified teams in points allowed.

#19 Iowa State

These guys might be my favorite team in the country right now. The Cyclones lost three out of their first four games, including Oklahoma and two tough road tests at Iowa and TCU, but since then they have reeled off four straight, including a victory at Bedlam, versus then-sixth-ranked West Virginia and a red-hot Red Raiders team.

Whichever QB Iowa State inserts into the lineup seems to work and they have two of the best skill-position players in all of college football. Running back David Montgomery is already far and beyond all the other guys in my draft evaluations because of his ability to make defenders miss and run through contact.

Hakeem Butler is one bad boy at the receiver position, with the size to win contested catches and the speed to run away from defenders. That play on Saturday versus Kansas when he mossed his DB and then threw him off to walk into the end-zone might have been the play of the year.

Their defense may not be among the best in any statistics, but they could be the only unit that has 15 players with at least one sack, in addition to seemingly always coming up with a turnover when their team really needs it to seal the deal. Combine that with an offense that has turned the ball over just nine times all season and Matt Campbell’s crew has found a recipe for success.

If they travel to Texas and defeat the Longhorns and WVU at least loses their final game of the season against Oklahoma, the Cyclones can make it to the Big XII championship game. With three losses on their resume, they obviously won’t do anything beyond their conference, but I truly believe they can run the table and knock Oklahoma and with them the entire conference out of the playoff race.