NCAA Football - Arizona Jumps 10 Spots in Polls

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Another week of college football and a couple of more teams are solidifying their place in the college polls and this one was a little hard to handle. You see, I was born and raised in Iowa City, Iowa, home of the University of Iowa from the Big Ten. Though I moved away before high school both my parents attended Iowa and I spent lots of time visiting grandparents and family there long after I moved away.

I was at many Iowa football games throughout the glory years of the Rose Bowl teams of the late 1950's and into the 1960's and when it came time to go to college Iowa was on my short list along with Yale, the University of Missouri and a few schools far away. In the end I opted to go far away to get a fresh start on life and I chose the University of Arizona in Tucson where I played on the basketball team and was to get a shot at baseball.

Late last Saturday night Iowa played Arizona at Tucson and I had somewhat mixed loyalties since both were in the top 25. Just the year before the two teams met and Iowa won 27-17 at Iowa City as both teams went on to great years with Arizona only tumbling bad when they faced Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl. It was a great learning experience for the Wildcats as they were humbled 34-0. But it left them understanding what it would take to be among the elite football teams in America.

Now I also had mixed loyalties in that game since I lived in Nebraska for 12 years, got to know the coaches and Husker players, and both my kids graduated from Nebraska. In fact I was in Nebraska during the years they rise to the top of the NCAA football ladder and won a slew of national championships.  Ironically, the Big Red of Nebraska are joining the Big Ten next year and will be in the same division as Iowa.

Now living on the east coast I had to stay up until almost 2 am to watch the Iowa - Arizona classic and was stunned as Arizona roared to a 27-7 lead before the Hawkeyes starting clawing their way back into the game. In hindsight I knew that anyone from the Midwest playing in the southwest desert was in for a shock as Iowa football was not played in 100 degree nighttime temperatures.

But I also knew these two programs, along with Nebraska this year, all have young coaches among the best in the nation and one should never count them out. Iowa roared back and tied the game with just a few minutes left. When they missed the extra point on their last touchdown it looked like the game might go into overtime.

But the Wildcats held their poise and marched right back down the field to score. When Iowa got the ball for a last minute drive the Arizona defense rose to the occasion stopping the Hawkeyes 3 times in a row for losses and holding on for a 33-27 victory which resulted in Arizona jumping 10 spots in the national polls.

Iowa still has a great shot at the Big Ten title and high national ranking while Arizona is a valid contender for the PAC Ten title. Nebraska, who pounded Washington at Washington 56-21,could easily take the Big 12 title and national title. Someone has to win and someone has to lose but only in NCAA football can both teams walk away with their heads held high as we were treated to what college football is all about.

AP Top 25



• 1.Alabama (53)
• 2.Ohio St. (5)
• 3.Boise St. (1)
• 4.TCU
• 5.Oregon
• 6.Nebraska
• 7.Texas (1)
• 8.Oklahoma
• 9.Florida
• 10.Arkansas
• 11.Wisconsin
• 12.South Carolina
• 13.Utah
• 14.Arizona
• 15.LSU
• 16.Stanford
• 17.Auburn
• 18.Iowa
• 19.Miami (FL)
• 20.USC
• 21.Michigan
• 22.West Virginia
• 23.Penn St.
• 24.Oregon St.
• 25.Michigan St.

College Football Top 25 from CPT Sports Research

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It is that time of the year when the bad stuff, politics, gets pushed off the front pages and the good stuff, college football, gets pushed on and this year there are some new wrinkles that could influence the outcome of games more than crooked agents whose influence hopefully will fade away.

This is the year major college conferences lost their minds and now have names with little relation to their membership. Follow me? Then try this. Perennial powerhouse Nebraska is leaving the Big 12 after this season and joining the Big Ten. Colorado will be leaving the Big 12 for the Pac 10.

By next year the Big Ten will have at least 11 teams but still be called the Big Ten while the Big 12 may still be called the Big 12 with only 10 teams and the Pac 10 will probably still be called the Pac 10 though they may have 12 teams.

If you can follow all that there is a place for you on the Obama economic team. If not trust me. I should know about the conferences. You see I was born in Iowa City, home of the University of Iowa from the Big Ten and I grew up being fed a steady diet of Big Ten games. Earthquakes took place when Ohio State or Michigan squared off on the gridiron with the Hawkeyes.

When I was a Big Ten diehard the only outside schools that had a chance of beating the Big Ten were Notre Dame and Penn State except for those crazy teams in the PAC Ten we faced in the Rose Bowl every year. When the Big Ten played USC or UCLA on New Year's Day very strange things happened out west. However, in the late '50's Iowa won two Rose Bowls as the Big Ten Champion so all was well.

Of course no other conference in the country could compete with them, until I went to school in the mid '60's at the University of Arizona who had just joined the Pac 10 when I got there. Suddenly the run and gun offenses of the Pac Ten became a focus of attention and my view of the western boys changed ever so slowly.

By the late '60's I had moved to Nebraska and in Big Red country you cheered for Nebraska or got kicked out of the state. I got to know the coaches, athletic directors and some of the players and when the NU football stadium filled every Saturday it became the third largest city in the state. The Big Eight thanks to NU and Oklahoma became my favorite and when Texas and other southern schools joined them and it became the Big 12 it was killer conference.

Fact is ever since I moved to Nebraska the stadium has been sold out and the team finished in the top ten in the final polls about 22 of the last 25 years or something like that winning five national championships and playing for a whole lot more. Now that was football. Both of my kids graduated from Nebraska so they continued the tradition long after I left.

Then I moved to New Jersey in the 1980's and had two choices for a local football team, Rutgers or Princeton but we all know the Ivy League really doesn't play football so I cast my hopes on Rutgers because I found out it was really the University of New Jersey with a classy name. Lo and behold by the time I moved to Kentucky Rutgers had developed a respectable program for a school of eggheads.

When I lived in Lexington, Kentucky of course I suddenly became a fan of the SEC where there are too many teams to count but one could always count on Florida, Alabama and LSU pushing for a national championship with supporting help from Tennessee or a Mississippi school.

About 8 years ago I moved to the Washington, DC metro area so I could be free of college football bias and conference addiction and could write an independent and unbiased outlook on our favorite fall past time. We all know the only football in our nation's capitol is the dropped passes and fumbles by our politicians.

So here is my objective look at the upcoming season and my first poll of the top 25 college football teams. As always, viewer comments are expected, especially those who think I overlooked your teams. Time will tell but I would like to hear from different conferences.

The CPT Top 20

1. Iowa

2. Nebraska

3. Arizona

4. Alabama

5. Ohio State

6. Texas

7. Florida

8. Virginia Tech

9. TCU

10. Wisconsin

11. Miami

12. Oklahoma

13. LSU

14. Oregon

15. Penn State

16. Georgia Tech

17. Boise State

18. Arkansas

19. Rutgers

20. Kentucky

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

That's it folks, the pre-season top 25 in College Football from the most objective source in America. Of course we all know the polls will change every week but for the moment this is how we see things through rose colored glasses.  As for the final 5 teams in the polls, rather than act like I know it all as most pedictors do I admit I don't so you write in your favorite teams in the last five spots as it is the only time anyone can be in the Top 25, and it may be the first time for some you pick.

Every college football team deserves to be ranked because it takes a lot of guts and hard work to even make a college team.  In honor of the unsung heroes who don't attend Alabama, Ohio State, Nebraska, Iowa or the rest of the giants, tell me about your local teams that deserve this one time to appear in a Top 25 poll.  We have the rest of the fall to tell you who earns the rankings on the field.

Cheers...   
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