YCS/Heisman Watch - Week 7

Finally, a big shakeup in the YCS Standings here at Randall Simon's Sausages. For the first time this season, there's a new #1. Also, thanks to a remarkable performance by Mark Ingram (above) someone might have finally grabbed two hands on the Heisman Race. Forget the BCS, find out the real hierarchy in college PIG, because we tell it like it is!

YCS STANDINGS

1.Alabama (7-0, last game W vs. South Carolina 20-6, up next Sat. vs. Tennessee)

-Finally, Alabama has overtaken their SEC rival Florida as the #1 team in the YCS. You can't ignore how dominant the Alabama defense has looked this season, only giving up 11 PPG. Couple that with the breakout performance of RB Mark Ingram (more on him later), and Bama suddenly looks like the team to beat. The one worrisome point may be the underwhelming play of JR QB Greg McElroy, who's thrown under 200 yards in his last 3 games. Up next is another big conference showdown with Tennessee, who is quietly improving under Loudmouth Lane Kiffin.

2. Florida (6-0, last week W vs. Arkansas 23-20, up next Sat. at Miss. St.)

-Florida falls to second after their escape at home to Arkansas on Saturday. While the Gators defense looked outstanding against LSU the week before, they struggled for big stretches against Arkansas RB Dennis Johnson and allowed big plays through the air to QB Ryan Mallett. One wonders if this is a one-week letdown (similar to last year at home to Ole Miss) or a more troublesome sign of things to come. Still, when it counted, Tim Tebow led his team to a game-winning field goal. It's a good bet this Saturday at Miss. St. won't be as dramatic.

3. Texas (6-0, last week W vs. Oklahoma 16-13, up next Sat at Missouri)

-Texas remains #3 after an ugly, ugly win over Oklahoma in the Red River Shootout. Nothing about the Texas offense, even playmaker Jordan Shipley and QB Colt McCoy looked anything close to last year's form. Give some credit to Oklahoma's defense, but still, Texas needs to get their offense back in shape because, at some point in the Big 12 season, they will need to outscore their opponent to win. This week they'll look to right the offensive ship against a reeling Mizzou that has lost two straight.

4. Cincinnati (6-0, last week W @ South Florida 34-17, up next Sat. vs. Louisville)

-The gap is closing between Cincinnati and Texas as the Bearcats turned in their most impressive performance of the year, beating South Florida handedly in Tampa. You have to think if the uniform read West Virginia instead of Cincinnati and the coach was RichRod instead of Brian Kelly, UC may be even higher up in the national polls. Unfortunately, QB Tony Pike did have to leave the game with a wrist injury, but he should be healthy for their late season battles with WVU and Pitt. In the meantime, backup Zach Collaros showed he is an admirable backup.

5. Boise St. (6-0, last week W at Tulsa 28-21, up next Oct. 24 at Hawaii)

-Much like UC, Boise took care of their biggest hurdle to an undefeated season by winning at Tulsa 28-21. However, because of their weaker conference, and because UC flat-out looked better, they sit 5th in the YCS. Although they are ranked 4th in the BCS currently, that will be as high as the Broncos will travel. The best they can hope for is an invite back to the Fiesta Bowl to topple another BCS school.

6. USC (5-1, last week W at Notre Dame 34-27, up next Sat. vs. Oregon St.)

-Due to their impressive win at Notre Dame, and the crumbling of other 1-loss teams, USC takes the mantle of best team with one defeat. Against a high-powered offense, USC's defense played well enough to win, despite allowing ND to get back in it late. But, unquestionably the story from the game was USC freshmen QB Matt Barkley. The kid threw for 380 yards and showed the hype around him is indeed legit. If Barkley plays like that, supported by explosive Joe McKnight, USC will be tough to beat. Good luck to Oregon St. catching lightning in a bottle for a second straight year by upsetting the Trojans.

7. Iowa (7-0, last game W at Wisconsin 20-10, up next Sat. at Michigan St.)

-The Hawkeyes finally break through the glass ceiling and into the YCS Standing in the 7th spot. While they showed their shaky side early on in Madison, the Hawkeyes ended up dominating Wisconsin, shutting them out in the last 30 minutes. If the defense can put together those types of performances, Iowa should remain undefeated until a date with the Buckeyes on Nov. 14.

8. TCU (6-0, last game W vs. Colorado State 44-6, up next Sat. at #16 BYU)

-TCU for a second straight week fails to move up in the YCS, but not due to any lack of effort on their part. They dominated an outmatched Colorado State in the final 3 quarters to run away with the game. Still, we'll wait to pass any further judgement until after their showdown with BYU this saturday in Provo. Until then, TCU is the team left standing in the musical chairs game that is the current college postseason system.

9. Miami (Fl) (5-1, last game W vs Florida A&M 48-16, up next Sat. vs. Clemson)

-The U continues to roll along as they beat FAMU on Saturday. QB Jacory Harris amazingly seems to get better every week and you can bet if the U somehow gets shut out of the ACC title game, they will make a loud case for a BCS at-large bid.

10. Georgia Tech (6-1, last game W vs. Va. Tech 28-23, up next Sat. at Virginia)

-A bit of a surprise as the triple option of Ga. Tech breaks back into the YCS for the first time since Week 2. Give them credit for beating a complete Va. Tech team by simply pounding it down their collective throat, rushing for over 300 yards. The Ramblin' Wreck has played well since their loss to Miami, and also has a claim to a berth in the ACC title game, because nobody left on their schedule should threaten them. We'll leave it to you to sort out the ACC divisional tiebreakers, if you really want to.

Dropped from the YCS: Va. Tech, Ohio St.

Just Missed Out: Oregon, LSU

-Hard to tell who should be more disappointed, Va. Tech for blowing the inside track to a sure BCS berth, and an outside shot at a national title game. Or, Ohio St. for laying an egg the size of the 'Shoe at Purdue. Both teams will be rueing their lost season (for these two programs), but Ohio St. really needs to go back to the drawing board...I think I saw Pop Warner teams running more sophisticated offense over the weekend. Just outside looking in are Oregon and LSU, who were both idle over the weekend, but can improve their resume by winning the big conference clashes that await each.

RSS HEISMAN WATCH

1. Mark Ingram-RB-Alabama (last week 24 rushes, 246 yards, 1TD)

-Mark Ingram makes a meteoric rise to the top of the RSS Heisman Watch after an all-world performance versus South Carolina Saturday night. We told you last week to keep an eye on Ingram, and he didn't disappoint. Ingram is now 3rd in the nation in rushing, but it's the ferocious, powerful style he runs with that makes his candidacy come to life. Ingram will have to keep up the eye-popping numbers though in today's QB-centric sports media, which will be especially difficult now that he has had his national coming-out party.

2. Tim Tebow-QB-Florida (last week 17/26, 255 yards 1TD, 27 rushes, 69 yards)

-Tim Tebow drops down to #2 in the Watch this week, although he had one of his best statistical performances of the season. But, Tebow's Florida offense didn't pass the eye-test the way it has in previous years. However, if JC QB continues to lead from the front, especially for game-winning scoring drives, he'll be firmly in the discussion for the Heisman.

3. Jimmy Clausen-QB-Notre Dame (last week 24/43, 260 yards 3 TDs (1 rushing))

-Jimmy Clausen somehow stays at #3 in the Heisman Watch because, frankly, there's nobody else to fill his shoes. But, it doesn't take an expert to tell you that Clausen is in the race to stay. He'll play on national TV every week, and if ND continues to win against the team's they're supposed to, Clausen will be heralded as a Heisman contender.

4. Tony Pike-QB-Cincinnati (last week 12/25, 140 yards, 2TDs, 1INT)

-Another QB who stays in the Watch by default is Tony Pike. Even though he had to leave the game in the 2nd half, Pike was a big reason the Bearcats built a lead on the road against South Florida. If Pike misses any time at all though, his candidacy will take a big hit, even if he comes back and performs well later this season in marquee matchups.

5. Kerry Meier-WR-Kansas (11 catches, 103 yds, 1 TD)

-Another QB rounds out this week's Heisman Watch, except he currently plays wide receiver. Kansas wideout Kerry Meier cracks the list more for his consistent performance all season than his stats in last week's loss to Colorado. Meier has an impressive 54 catches and 6 TDs on the season and has had double digit catches in each of his last 3 games. Passed over for current QB Todd Reesing, it's a testament to Meier's character that he stuck with WR long enough to become an accomplished target for his former competitor.

Dropping Out of the Race: Ndamukong Suh's cameo in the RSS Heisman Watch was a suitable tribute to his dominance, but it's going to be hard for any defensive player to stay in the Watch when your team gets trounced 31-10 at home. Still, Suh is going to make an NFL team happy for years to come when he gets drafted in the near future.

Keep an Eye On: The Mysterious Harris Poll

With a lack of other appealing Heisman candidates, we ask you this week to keep an eye on the Harris Poll. Only in existence since 2005, the Harris poll has become 1/3 of the powers that be that will decide who plays for the national championship. The poll is a "random" combination of 114 voters, consisting of former coaches, players, media members, and administrators. Created by Harris Interactive, nowhere was I able to find the current members of the poll. Past members range from Terry Bradshaw (already proven to be dumber than a chicken) to Harvey Schiller, a man who was once in charge of World Championship Wrestling. Of course, this situation should give any true fan yearning for a playoff pause. Is this secret conglomerate who may or may not know anything about college football worse than the AP writers, or the Sports Information Directors who make up the Coaches Poll? The answer is probably not, but, as long as polls like this and computers decide national championship instead of teams and players, there will always be a shroud of mystery around the BCS. (Forgive the conspiracy theories, but this JFK week on the History Channel hasn't exactly helped my inner paranoia...)

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. Tune in later this week for our NFL recap as well as the return of our What are the Odds feature where we'll preview the start of the NBA season. Also, we'll give an in-depth look into the shocking move of the WNBA's Detroit Shock to Tulsa...ok, maybe not. But until next time, as always, it's bye for now!