Is Oregon a Legitimate No. 1? Who is?

When the Aggies downed the Crimson Tide on Saturday the college football loving world was turned on its end. Up till this point in the season it was easy to see and say who the No. 1 team in the nation should be--the defending national champions or more specifically the undefeated defending national champions.

Now that they are no longer the undefeated defending national champs the only thing that is easy to say is that they should not be the No. 1 team anymore. The question now is who should be.

The AP has already come out with its new top 25. Leading the pack is Oregon followed by Kansas State and Notre Dame with Alabama now seated at No. 4.

My gut reaction was that the writers got this all wrong. The Oregon Ducks are all flash and no substance. yes, they are electric and capable of some huge plays with the dynamic athletes that they have on that roster, but is it enough to be the No. 1 team in the nation? My first reaction was no.

Yes, they are undefeated and have won in spectacular fashion week in and week out, but that is largely because they don't play many teams of substance. Of their ranked opponents, only USC is still ranked (Arizona and Washington not so much).

Their first three oppenents ar teams they should be embaressed to have on their schedule. As for the rest of the schedule, well--you can't do anythnig about your conference so I think they've done everything right there. It's just those first three that stick out in my mind.

Oregon has the stats-- No. 3 in total offense, No. 3 in rushing, No. 1 in scoring, No. 3 in pasing efficiency, No. 7 in punt returns, and No. 12 in turnover margin--all stuff that comes with a team caapable of big plays. I just think they have come primarily from teams that would not have stopped a wet dog from scoring.

Do they suck? Heck no! I do think that if they end up playing for the national title that whoever they play will shut down their outside game, keep their playmakers off the field by controlling the ball (which wil not be hard since the Oregon defense is not that great), and will essentially have an easier road to a nation title.

So does that mean that Kansas State or Notre Dame deserve to be the top dog? Not neccessarily.

K-State has not had the toughest of schedules  either. Two of their four ranked opponents are still ranked. They struggled a little against North Texas (yes, it was a 14-pt win, but it was North Texas--come on man!). Of the three teams in question, K-State has the weakest schedule; they come in at No. 33 while Oregon is No. 26 and Notre Dame No. 19.

So is it Notre Dame then? Their scheudle has been tougher, but they have had as much trouble with weaker teams (i.e. Pitt) as they have with the tough guys. Saturday had they dominated BC that would have made a difference, but instead it was just 21-6.

After all this do I know who should be No. 1? Absolutely not. What I do know is that the so called top teams need to start playing each other and proving they are as good as the think they are. All this trying to figure out  who is the best at beating weaker opponents just isn't fun.