The best team in the country continues to be an afterthought.
The squad is undefeated, top 15 in the nation in points allowed and points scored. It has a dual-threat quarterback capable of beating you in the air and on the ground, a punishing running attack averaged 268 yards per game and an opportunistic, stifling defense.
Need a hint? How about the lone top-10 program that didn't struggle in what was the wildest college football weekend in years, is atop the rugged SEC West and has outscored its five opponents by a combined 210-72?
If you still aren't aware, it's OK. There is no reason to question your college-football expertise.
Nobody else is talking about Auburn, either.
Despite the Tigers' 5-0 record, their absolute dismantling of LSU Saturday night, even though they reached the BCS Championship game last season, nearly upsetting Florida State, and have one of the nation's very best quarterbacks in Nick Marshall, they have flown under the radar.
This past weekend was all about who lost, from Oregon, Texas A&M and Alabama to Oklahoma and UCLA. Eleven teams in the Associated Press's top 25 fell. Top-ranked Florida State struggled at times against Wake Forest, Notre Dame needed a last-minute touchdown pass to knock off Stanford.
But Auburn treated rival LSU like a sparring partner unequipped to share the same field, led by Marshall's four touchdowns and 326 total yards. Unlike all of these other pretenders, who have been exposed for weak schedules, head coach Gus Malzahn scheduled a nonconference trip to perennial Big 12 contender Kansas State, a game that has prepared Auburn for the brutal SEC West.
All the talk this week undoubtedly will surround Mississippi State, after the Bulldogs knocked off Texas A&M, their second win over a top-10 opponent. It will be about quarterback Dak Prescott's brilliant five-touchdown performance. By early Saturday evening, after Auburn takes care of business again, maybe the Bulldogs will have the nation's attention.
In the meantime, Marshall and Malzahn just will keep on winning in anonymity.
Hit and Mich.
The ugly times roll on for the maize and blue. Another loss, this time to newcomer and expected Big East doormat Rutgers, combined with Arizona's upset at Oregon. What does Arizona have to do with the Wolverines? Their coach, Rich Rodriguez, was previously at Ann Arbor.
Rodriguez failed at Michigan, reaching just one bowl game in three miserable years. Yet, he has thrived in the desert, leading a football renaissance at traditional basketball school Arizona and has the undefeated Wildcats atop the Pac-12 and — believe it or not — on the outskirts of the playoff race after this wacky weekend.
Can't Syr' clear
The best thing you can say about Syracuse football is basketball practices have begun. The Orange, at 2-3 after their ugly 28-6 home loss to unimpressive Louisville, have become a gridiron wasteland under Scott Shafer after previous coach Doug Marrone, now the head man in Buffalo with the Bills, seemed to have turned it around. Of their two wins, one came in double overtime against FCS foe Villanova. Oh, and Florida State and Jameis Winston are coming to the Carrier Dome next Saturday. Fortunately, Jim Boeheim and Co. are still around.
Good sport
Performance of the week: college football. Yes, that's right. The entire sport. It was a memorable weekend that saw three of the nation's top four programs — Oregon, Oklahoma and Alabama — go down. Five of the top 10 and 11 top 25 teams fell for the first time ever. Arizona State knocked off USC on a Hail Mary at the horn, Notre Dame beat Stanford in the final minute. We may never have a weekend like this again.
Top 10
1. Florida State (5-0) (Last week: 1)
All that stands in the Seminoles way of another undefeated regular season is Notre Dame in two weeks. The rest of the schedule is a glorified walkthrough.
2. Auburn (5-0) (5)
Dual-threat quarterback Nick Marshall is the best player in the nation nobody talks about.
3. Mississippi State (5-0) (NR)
The SEC whipping boy is now the bully, beating two top-10 ranked foes for the first time in school history, after treating Texas A&M like a jayvee squad.
4. Mississippi (4-0) (NR)
Ole Miss, off to its best start since 1962, made us believers after rallying to knock off Alabama.
5. Baylor (5-0) (7)
Maybe the Big 12 paper tiger was Oklahoma, and not Baylor, all along. The Bears, coming off a 28-7 manhandling of Texas, will get tested Saturday against TCU.
6. Notre Dame (5-0) (8)
There is magic in the air in South Bend after the Irish's thrilling victory over Stanford. Let the hype for Notre Dame's trip to Tallahassee begin.
7. Michigan State (4-1) (9)
The Michigan State defense has its swagger back, after limiting Nebraska Heisman hopeful running back Ameer Abdullah to 45 yards on the ground.
8. Alabama (4-1) (4)
The Crimson Tide's loss at Ole Miss was technically an upset, but not if you paid close attention to Alabama's uneven play each week.
9. Arizona (5-0) (NR)
First was the Hail Mary victory over Cal and now the stunning upset at Oregon. Arizona's emergence is one of the season's biggest surprises this fall.
10. TCU (4-0) (NR)
The Horned Frogs' top defense deserves your attention. It shut down Oklahoma when it had to, coming up with big stops and turnovers in the upset of the Sooners.
Dropped Out: Oregon (4-1), Oklahoma (4-1), Texas A&M (5-1), UCLA (4-1)
New: Mississippi, Mississippi State, Arizona, TCU
On the Bubble: Oregon, Oklahoma, Georgia (4-1)
Heisman Watch
QB Jameis Winston, Florida State
The defending champion better turn it on. With seven games left, Winston has thrown half as many interceptions and 32 fewer touchdown passes as he did a year ago.
RB Todd Gurley, Georgia
Ho hum, 163 yards and two more touchdowns for the electric Gurley, who just might be the Heisman favorite at this point.
QB Marcus Mariota, Oregon
The notion Oregon's loss to Arizona in tandem with Mariota's mediocre performance knocked him out of the Heisman race is nonsense.
QB Dak Prescott, Mississippi State
The Tim Tebow comparisons have, unfortunately, begun. Spare the poor kid, who doesn't need that unwanted extra pressure.
QB Everett Golson, Notre Dame
That was a Heisman moment Saturday afternoon, Golson shaking off a mini-slump with a 23-yard touchdown pass on fourth down in the final minute of Notre Dame's win over Stanford.
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