YCS/Heisman Watch - Week 5

Our YCS and Heisman Watch is back, and shockingly...not a lot has changed. That's right, the Season of the Upset Part II decided to take a week's hiatus as all of the major national title contenders held serve. So, who was able to make a move? Is anyone closer to threatening an idle Superman in the RSS Heisman Watch? Find out all your answers...now!

YCS STANDINGS

1.Florida (4-0, last week idle, up next Sat. at #4 LSU)

-This just in...Tim Tebow is awake and alert, watching tv and reading! No word on when this breaking news occurred, but you can be sure we here at RSS don't really care if Tebow will be tuning in to MNF or House tonight. The important news is that Tebow didn't practice today and until he does, the Gators and their fans will be on pins and needles. Odds are he suits up, but how effective he'll be in the bayou is anyone's guess...

2. Alabama (5-0, last game W at Kentucky 38-20, up next Sat. at #20 Ole Miss)

-Mark Ingram finally sprang back to life with a career day at Kentucky. QB Greg McElroy continued to manage the game effectively, and has only 1 interception all season. Still, Nick Saban couldn't have been happy to give up over 300 yards to a Wildcat offense that is less than potent to say the least. The defense will have to rebound quickly against an Ole Miss team looking for redemption after a disappointing loss at South Carolina.

3. Texas (4-0, last week idle, up next Sat vs. Colorado)

-The Longhorns still find themselves in the top 3 due to nobody else really impressing us this past weekend. This week is nothing more than a glorified scrimmage against Colorado before the Red River Shootout in two weeks. Interestingly enough, a healthy Sam Bradford may be the best thing for both Texas's national title hopes and Colt McCoy's Heisman hopes.

4. Cincinnati (5-0, last game W at Miami (OH) 37-13, up next Oct. 15 @ South Florida)

-The Bearcats move ahead of Boise by virtue of actually playing a D-I football team this late into the season. It's nice to see the rest of the pollsters have caught up with us here at RSS by putting Cincinnati into the Top 10. They'll earn even more respect if they win on the road at South Florida, perhaps their toughest remaining Big East test.

5. Boise St. (5-0, last game W vs. UC Davis 34-16, up next Oct. 14 at Tulsa)

-Ok, so Boise may have played down to their competition against UC Davis. Still, if you're a BCS Buster, you have to beat a I-AA team at home. Much like Cincinnati, Boise faces their toughest remaining road test at Tulsa on the 14th. If they don't play much better...one of the other WAC teams may sneak up to bite them.

6. LSU (4-0, last game W at Georgia 20-13, up next Sat. vs. #1 Florida)

-Wow, did LSU pull another rabbit out of its hat to win between the hedges. While it was a gutsy win, and they have a legit chance of beating Florida, something needs to be addressed. Enough with the excessive celebration penalties! I can understand if a player makes a throat-slash, or pulls out an IPhone to tweet on the field, but trying to legislate the emotion of beating a conference rival is ridiculous. And when it begins to change the course of a game, things have gone too far. Don't look for anything to change though because that would require the conferences to admit they were wrong in the first place. The collegiate presidents and conferences are too chicken to do anything about it except issue a lame half-apology. Anyway, as always you can expect a full preview of the big SEC Showdown later this week on RSS!

7. TCU (3-0, last game W vs. SMU 39-14, up next Sat. at Air Force)

-Count TCU among the BCS Busters still alive after a routine victory over SMU. What was even more impressive was the helmetless block on one of TCU's touchdowns. Effort like that to go the extra mile gets teams like TCU into the BCS.

8. Va. Tech (3-1, last game W at Duke 34-26, up next Sat. vs. Boston College)

-Va. Tech continues to lead the way of the one-loss teams, although that grip isn't as strong after an unimpressive win at Duke. The Hokies are going to have to do better against a weak rest of the ACC because other one-loss teams will play stronger competition down the stretch. Teams like USC and Ohio St. have already narrowed the gap and could soon overtake Va. Tech in the YCS...of course, don't expect that much thought to go into the AP/Coaches Top 25.

9. Ohio St. (4-1, last game W at Indiana 33-14, up next Sat. vs. Wisconson)

-Ohio St. continues to fly under the radar after their loss to USC. Terrelle Pryor isn't Vince Young yet, but given time, the Buckeyes offense could be something special. A 100-yard day from RSS friend Brandon Saine is also a sight for sore eyes. We'll see if the Bucks have learned anything from their loss to USC when they face fellow Big Ten unbeaten Wisconsin on Saturday at the 'Shoe.

10. USC (4-1, last game W vs California 30-3, up next Oct. 17 at Notre Dame)

-Hard to tell whether USC's domination of Cal says more about USC or Cal's annual nosedive. Still, it's hard not to be impressed with USC's offensive talent around freshman Matt Barkley. Still, the next 3 games (@ ND, Ore St., @ Ore.) will decide whether this team plays in the Rose Bowl or...well, some other high-profile bowl game worthy of USC's presence (hint, sarcasm, hint).

Dropped from the YCS: Houston

Just Missed Out: Iowa, Miami (Fl)

-Only one team drops out of the YCS, and unfortunately, it's one of the BCS Busters. Despite a Herculean effort from QB Case Keenum (see more below), Houston didn't have enough defense to stop UTEP. Although they won't crash the New Year's Day Party, whatever bowl they play in should be entertaining. Earning back some respect was Miami and QB Jacory Harris for their win over Oklahoma. Losing respect was Iowa, who struggled to beat Arkansas St. at home. Although the Hawkeyes are undefeated now, this still looks like a 3-loss team.

RSS HEISMAN WATCH

1. Tim Tebow-QB-Florida (last week idle)

-Perhaps a sign of the weak Heisman field, Tebow remains in the pole position just for being able to walk and chew gum at the same time. Of course, his aspirations of becoming the second two-time winner depend on how long the cobwebs hang around from his concussion against Kentucky. One has to think the target on his back will be even bigger than normal against LSU.

2. Tony Pike-QB-Cincy (last game 23/42, 270 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT)

-Tony Pike does his best Frogger impersonation as he leapfrogs his way into 2nd place on our Heisman Watch. While his place may not last long, Pike deserves to be recognized for doing something few QBs in the country could do, bring the Cincinnati Bearcats into the national football discussion. His team will go as far as his play takes them this season.

3. Jimmy Clausen-QB-Notre Dame (last game 23/31, 422 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT)

-You can't keep a good man down for long, an adage being proved by Jimmy Clausen as he slowly works his way up the RSS Heisman Watch. Another GW TD drive Sat. against Washington adds to the Clausen lore and his stats have been eye-popping, including leading the nation in passing efficiency. While he will probably sew up an invite to New York, he can begin to make a serious push by doing something former Golden Boy Brady Quinn couldn't do, beat USC.

4. Colt McCoy-QB-Texas (last week idle)

-Colt McCoy unfortunately doesn't have the stats, or the aura of Tim Tebow to keep his spot safe after an idle week. The Texas QB was always going to be hard-pressed to repeat his amazing stats from last year, but he needs to do his best to call back to last year's high standards. Of course, if his team is for some reason the last of the unbeatens at the end of they year, he may win the award by default. But, that scenario is whimsical at best, so McCoy's Heisman season could be hanging in the balance.

5. Case Keenum-QB-Houston (last week 51/76, 536 yards, 5 TDs

-Case Keenum stays only because of those outrageous statistics in a loss to UTEP. If only one of these gunslingers could play on a team with even just an ounce of defense...although I guess if that were the case, they wouldn't need to throw 76 times. Nonetheless, what the Houston's loss really means is that the race is probably down to 3 or 4, unless something truly dramatic happens.

Dropping Out of the Race: Nobody...how about that? Once again, the field for New York is certainly narrowing. While there's room for the bottom, I think everyone knows in the back of their minds that Tebow, McCoy, and Clausen should go ahead and book their downtown hotel rooms now.

Keep an Eye On: Other Undefeated Teams

-While the YCS ranks the undefeated teams that matter, there's always room for a cinderella to sneak in to the Top 10. As time goes along and conference play heats up, each of the remaining unbeatens (Iowa, Kansas, Auburn, South Florida, Missouri) should stumble somewhere along the way. However, they all bear watching until some conference foe puts them and their fans out of their hopeful state of mind. Until then, keep an eye on these teams, just in case one of them still has a bagel in the loss column come November.

That does it for this week's YCS/Heisman Watch. As always feel free to let us know what you think by posting a comment. Also tune in tomorrow as we wrap up a crazy week in the NFL, which will be light on mentioning a certain QB playing tonight. Until then, it's bye for now!