Written by Mike Furlan

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Furls dropped the word "Power" from his weekly college football rankings this week, because as he puts it, the only power in the country is in Columbus. In the latest version of "The Furls 15" we see a continued shakeup at the top, some new teams entering the fray, and more of the patented Furls cheap shots at the Big East schools.

This week, we are going to drop the Power (and a couple of bad teams) from the “Furls 15” because frankly, the only power in the NCAA right now is in Columbus.  In order to maintain any type of accuracy it would have to be the “Furls Power 1.”  Besides, I like the alliteration. 

1. Ohio State (No Movement):  There should be no question in anyone’s mind that this is the best team in the country, yet there are two displaced West Virginia homers residing in California that insist on giving the Mountaineers the nod.  Whatever, number one in the BCS is the only thing that counts.
2. Michigan (No Movement):  That school up north continues to look very impressive on the defensive side of the ball.  Their offense looked controllable against Penn State without stand out wide receiver Mario Manningham. 
3. Texas (Up 1):  There are athletes across the board in Austin right now and Colt McCoy seems to really be progressing.  The talent level on this team is such that not even Mack Brown could blow the Red River Shootout.  That really says something.
4. California (Up 1):  The Bears continue to win, and do so impressively.  DeSean Jackson gets no press whatsoever, but he may actually be the best wide receiver in the country.  Now if the Bears could play ANY defense they would be a serious threat to Ohio State.
5. Auburn  (Up 6):  The Tigers had dropped considerably following their loss to Arkansas, but they return to the top five this week based on the strength of their win against a good Florida team.  Now if Auburn had any playmakers on offense…
6. Florida (Down 3):  The Gators lost a good game to the Tigers, a game that they probably would have won at home.  These two teams are extremely closely matched.  The game was characterized by Florida mistakes, but I do think that the Gators may be the best combination of offense and defense in the SEC.
7. Tennessee (No Movement):  Tennessee is just one more in a list of evenly matched quality SEC teams.  Why are they ranked at the bottom?  Their coach sucks, and I figure that this alone will cost them the close games (see Florida vs. Tennessee for details).
8. Clemson (Up 1):  We will learn a lot more about Clemson when they play a good Georgia Tech team this week.  I like the Tigers, they play good defense, but they have not really faced any great competition yet, aside from a very close defeat at the hands of…
9. Boston College (Up 1):  Well, I am aware that BC beat Clemson, I just think Clemson is a slightly better team and would win that game more often than not.  The Eagles do not have a ton of talent, but they are extremely well coached and there are very few teams out there that work as hard EVERY single play.  Gritty is a good word to describe them.
10. Notre Dame (Up 2):  I hate moving them up because I am still unconvinced that they are really any good, but they can score points and to quote John Madden, “The team that scores the most points will win the game.”
11. Georgia Tech (Up 2):  The Ramblin’ Wreck looks pretty decent this year.  Their one loss was at home early on to Notre Dame.  Since the loss they have changed their game plan and achieved a lot of success.  What was the new game plan?  Throw the ball high in the air to Calvin Johnson.  Good Thinking!
12. USC (Down 6):  For the second straight week the Trojans plummet in my list.  See ... unlike the AP or Coaches Poll, I do not have to wait for them to actually lose before I can drop them (thank God).  This team is just not very good.  They look like the USC of the 90s and they continue to struggle against the middle of the pack in the Pac 10.  I am not a person that believes that a team must win every game convincingly, but you must win some of them convincingly.
13. Nebraska (Up 1):  This team is the only one in the Big 12 that has a shot at Texas this year or in the foreseeable future.  I am selling my stock in OU, both for this year and the long term.  This team laid an egg against USC, but I do think that Callahan does have this team moving in the right direction.  Will they return to the old ‘Huskers glory days?  I doubt it, but they are much better than they have been.
14. Wisconsin (New to the Poll):  The Badgers have beaten exactly no one this year.  As a matter of fact they lost, badly, to the only good team they faced this year.  They were absolutely shut down by Michigan early on, but have really grown since.  P.J. Hill is amazing and may actually be the best back in the Big Ten and one of the top five in the nation.  This is a team to watch and they should finish the season 11-1.
15. Rutgers (New to the Poll):  Who would’ve thought that State College of New Jersey would be 6-0?  This teams defense is for real.  They absolutely shut down Navy, who had been quietly wracking up huge numbers.  It was a real toss up for me this week, whether I should put Rutgers or Pittsburgh here.  Luckily they place this week and that should take care of that.

Conspicuously Absent? 

West Vagina:  I no longer feel compelled to keep them on this list.  I don’t have to wait for them to lose.  We all know that they are pretenders, just awaiting that first loss. 

Louisville:  The red flags went up for me when I saw them play Middle Tennessee.  Middle Tennessee was able to move the ball on them pretty well, and frankly that is not something that should happen against an elite team.  This week’s struggle against Cincinnati was the final straw and it proved to me that Louisville is GROSSLY overrated.  In my opinion, they are probably more like a “thirty something” team. 

Pittsburgh:  They were number 16.  If they win this week, they will find a spot.

Weigh in with your own thoughts on The Furls 15 here, in the College Sports Bar message board forum here on The Blurbs.