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News-Gazette Top 25

After a long break, The News-Gazette again is voting in The Associated Press poll. Here are the teams staff writer Bob Asmussen rates as the nation's best:

TEAM AP/ESPN TODAY'S GAME

1. Florida (6-0) 2/1 at Mississippi State

2. Texas (6-0) 3/3 at Missouri

3. Alabama (7-0) 1/2 vs. Tennessee

4. Boise State (6-0) 6/5 at Hawaii

5. TCU (6-0) 10/7 at BYU

6. Cincinnati (6-0) 5/6 vs. Louisville

7. Iowa (7-0) 7/8 at Michigan State

8. Southern Cal (5-1) 4/4 vs. Oregon State

9. LSU (5-1) 9/10 vs. Auburn

10. Miami (5-1) 8/9 vs. Clemson

11. Penn State (6-1) 13/11 at Michigan

12. Oklahoma State (5-1) 14/12 at Baylor

13. Oregon (5-1) 12/14 at Washington

14. Georgia Tech (6-1) 11/13 at Virginia

15. Virginia Tech (5-2) 15/15 Idle

16. West Virginia (5-1) 22/22 vs. UConn

17. BYU (6-1) 16/16 vs. TCU

18. Houston (5-1) 17/18 vs. SMU

19. Pitt (6-1) 20/19 vs. South Florida

20. Utah (5-1) 19/20 vs. Air Force

21. Texas Tech (5-2) 2 1/24 vs. Texas A&M

22. Kansas (5-1) 24/21 vs. Oklahoma

23. Ohio State (5-2) 18/17 vs. Minnesota

24. Central Michigan (6-1) NR/NR at Bowling Green

25. South Florida (5-1) NR/NR at Pitt

Game of the Week

TCU at BYU. The Horned Frogs need to keep winning if they want to play in a BCS game. BYU has an outside shot to get back into one of the big games, but would need to win out and have somebody beat Boise State. You can't completely count TCU out of the national title game. Because of the difficulty of its closing schedule, they can climb quickly as long as the teams ahead of them get picked off. The Horned Frogs need to root for an upset a week.

Game of the Weak

Ball State at Eastern Michigan. They enter the weekend with a combined 0-13. The overall record is a bit deceptive. Except for a 24-point loss at Auburn, Ball State has played close. The Cardinals lost five of their other six by 10 points or less. Eastern Michigan hasn't played as many close games, losing by 48 at Central Michigan and by 28 at Michigan. But the Eagles lost by just three at Northwestern.

NCAA Football 2010 says ...

Purdue 14, Illinois 7. Illinois takes a 7-0 lead at halftime on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Juice Williams to Jeff Cumberland. Purdue ties the game early in the third quarter on Joey Elliott's 59-yard completion to Keith Smith. Smith scores the lead touchdown on a 61-yard catch later in the quarter and the Boilermakers hold on. Purdue's defense limits the Illini to 83 yards and forces three turnovers. (NCAA Football 2010 record: 3-3).

Coach on the hot seat

Dick Tomey, San Jose State. The former Hawaii and Arizona coach might be running out of steam with the Spartans. His team's lone win this season was against a Division I-AA school. Three years removed from a breakthrough 9-4 season, the Spartans are in danger of their third consecutive bowlless season. Tomey raised expectations and now might be a victim of his own success.

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