College Football's Top 8 Teams -- Version 3.0

Two weeks of football have been played and you can add USC to the list of schools whose national championship hopes have been dashed due to the lack of a playoff system. However, even if we had a playoff system, their 33-31 loss to Oregon State in Corvallis demonstrates a program in a rebuilding season whose preseason ranking was unjustifiable.

With that said, the stage is set for November 18 when Michigan travels to Columbus to face off with the Buckeyes in a battle of the two best unbeaten teams. The stage is also set for Matt Carroll's latest edition of college football's top eight teams.

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1) Ohio State: Not much to say here. Still looking excellent. Best offense in the nation. Troy Smith has a stranglehold on the Heisman right now. 22 TDs and 2 INTs. Who's ready for Nov. 18th?

2) Michigan: Not much to say here either. Took care of business. Reports are that WR Manningham will be back this week. The best front 7 in the nation and arguably the best D period. Fun stat of the week: Michigan has knocked out 4 QBs in their last 3 games.

3) Florida: This team has been the best one-loss team in the country since they became a one-loss team. This team has a great chance at finishing out the season and getting in the National Championship. A very fast defense and a potent offense to boot. With the toughest part of their schedule complete, they look to be in very good shape.

4) Louisville: The team struggled again against Syracuse, but Brohm should now feel more than comfortable for the big showdown on Thursday night against WVU. They have a couple suspensions heading into this game, but neither should be a factor. I'm excited to see how the WVU defense will handle this offense. They often count on their opponent's offense to make mistakes to create turnovers. Louisville will not be so generous. It will also be exciting to see if the speed on Louisville's D can keep up with the speed of WVU's offense.

5) Tennessee: Two gritty SEC wins in the past two weeks. The game against Alabama was closer than it should have been, but they got the W in the end. Erik Ainge has been fantastic and is getting better every week. WR Meachem is proving to be a great offensive weapon. Their upcoming games are LSU and @ Arkansas. That will prove if they are a top-five caliber team.

6) Texas: Two very good road wins against Nebraska and Texas Tech. A very talented team that now has solid wins to back it up. Colt McCoy is not only playing incredible, but playing with the poise of an upperclassmen QB. He has undoubtedly become the leader of this team. I was impressed with the way the whole team kept their composure after Texas Tech came out and jumped on them early in the first quarter.

7) WVU: Who's ready for Thursday night? A lot of this goes along with my breakdown of #4 Louisville. The offense is fast, spread out, and very hard to defend. Louisville will be far and away the best defense that this team has seen all year. They are fast and can match the speed that WVU has. But Pat White has done an incredible job of making the right decisions on the field, and that could be the difference in this game. This will also be the best offense that WVU's defense has seen all year. This Louisville offense will not make the careless mistakes that their lesser opponents have before.

8) Cal: The three point attack between QB Nate Longshore, RB Marshawn Lynch, and WR DeSean Jackson is lethal. They have scored 30+ points in 6 of their 8 games against decent competition. They have taken control of the Pac-10 with USC's loss, but it will still come down to their game against the Trojans on Nov. 18th. It took OT to beat Washington, but the Huskies have been a team that has given a fight to every opponent they have played this season.

On the radar: Auburn, Notre Dame, Arkansas
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Key Games in the Next 2 Weeks
Nov. 4:
#3 West Virginia @ #5 Louisville (on Thursday, Nov. 2 on ESPN)
#13 LSU @ #8 Tennessee
UCLA @ #10 California

Nov. 11:
#5 Louisville @ #15 Rutgers (on Thursday, Nov. 9 on ESPN)
#8 Tennessee @ #12 Arkansas
#24 Oregon @ #9 USC